Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

glance but one wou ld almost ha ve to want to go over the side to do so. An exce llent downhill brought the rid ers int o the fin ish check. The downhill dropped the riders into a short, steep and twisting fall - like water flowing down a funnel. It was fini shed qu ickly and the riders were back in camp and warming up a few minutes later. Paul Traves and Tom Mills spent a little longer time out on the course than the others. Tom went over the side of the trestle and broke his pelvis in the fall. Paul was crossing the trestle and came upon Tom's bike which was hanging partly over the edge of the planking. He saw Tom below and went down to help: "1 didn't have any first aid stuff and I felt bad because there was nothing I could do except try to make him comfortable and wait for the medics. " So he stayed with Tom until the medics came. Eventually Tom was helicoptered out. But Paul was some 64 miles out from the camp area , the riders had all gone through and it was getting late. H e got d irections from a ranger that should ha ve taken him di rectly back to camp by a shorter route. Instead he became lost. After riding fu rther he came across a sign indica ting that he was 26 miles from the start area at Deer Creek. Ther e wer e course arrows as well , bu t he couldn't tell if they were pointing towards camp or awa y from it so he decided to stay on the road. It was getting darker now and he was running out of gas. Overhead whirled th e helicopter that was evacua ting T om from th e tr estle. He sign a led with th e headl ight of his IT400C - S.O.S. - severa l time s but the copter went on . H e ha d very littl e gas left now a nd no matches. Paul thought it best to sto p and wait for help. Nigh t was coming on fas t. Using th e grounded spa rk plug and som e of his small 'su pply of gasoline he got a fir e going. The wind was picking up and clouds were piling up overhead. He bu ilt a rough shelter around his bike using tree branches and crawled into it as the snow began to fall . The fire was at the lean to 's op ening and he could keep warm as long as the fire was going strong. He spent th e nigh t sleeping and waking, ga th ering firewood a nd wa iting for th e m orn ing to come. W ith daybreak came rai n. "T he snow wasn 't that bad but I became very wet and cold when th e ra in started . I stood right over th e fire to keep wa rm . Sometimes I would fa ll asleep on my feet and fall int o th e fire . I st a rted worrying ab out hyp othermia. "I had to walk further and further for wood , and dry wood was getting harder to find . Once when I was looking for wood I saw the prints of a big cat in th e snow and close by th e prints of a deer. I rea lized that it was j ust me and ' th e environm ent and I had to do what I could to su rvive." Getting weak a nd d izzy, he found a Coer's can and filled it with wat er. After hea ting the water on the sp uttering fir e he d rank his breakfast. The ra in was pouring down . but it was light enough to m ak e out the road . He m anaged to start his bike, but could rid e it onl y a very short distance before he was completely out of fuel. He pushed for awhile , gave up , and began walking. Hours lat er - about 2:30 p .m . Monday - he met the rescue team al ong the road , th ey in a four wheel d rive. _ "Hey, you gu ys looking for me?" " If you r name is Paul we are ." "T ha r's m e." o IAbove) Sometimes enduro scoots demand an escort down steep hills. like this one from the Winter Enduro.IBelow) You can always ride down. however, , 34 overhead p rom ised snow . It was bitterly cold th roughout the day - th e only warm up ca me from th e exert ion required in the tough sections. The first loop was mostly fire road. The timekeepers rolled into the first check knowing that something was am iss however ; as it turned ou t the check had been set up in the wrong spot. It was thrown out but the other five were right on the money. As usual in Northern California t he perennial dust was a bit of a nui sance in places al ong the course. But it wasn't a major haz a rd as in som e past enduros this year, with th e result tha t the great majority of riders carried on . in to t!Ie second loo p after a 15-m inu te ' . gas check. The second loop took th e rid ers through a creek crossi ng (in wetter years this body of wat er would ha ve been described as a m ere run -off trickl e) and then up a very long, snaking ridgeclimb that was almost fun unless the rider got hung up in th e barbed wire fence that paralled th e path. Later the course ran over th e wide , stone covered fields which th e Sonora Pass M.C . alwa ys finds for th eir end u ros. The tr adi tional trestle was also run ; the tr estle is a kind of bridge, a re mai nd er of the ol d loggi ng ra ilroad , that hangs out on timber pillers from the side of a steep ravine . _ Wide boards are nailed to the ties to ride on. and it looks dangerous at.first So with thi s rather casual greeting Paul was de livered from th e hard test of survival. His buddies were back at the van when he arrived at camp and they were joyously happy to see him . Later on th ey all went out and retrieved Paul's bike . Paul rode it out - " It was so great just to ride it out of that place, knowing that it was over now , that I had held myself together and made it." Later they celebrated with hot showers and steak dinners in Sonora. Before heading back to the Bay Area they stopped off at the hospital in Sonora to see how Tom Mills was doing. Tom had been informed that his ' benefactor was missing, was extremely worried and was happy to see Paul again . While lying in great pain beneath the trestle Tom had told Paul that he would never ride another enduro. Pa ul and his buddies asked him joki ngly : "Well Tom , are you go ing to ride again?" and Tom said , "O h sure, it was only a pel vis," Ferraro, Wood and Preston take Sidewinder wins By Sallee Hilton SACRAMENTO, CA , NOV. 11. T he second of this three ra ce seri es sta rted off with the three wheelers and a spectacular win for Liz Power. Lady Liz got off the line in front in all three motos and d id battle with several of the guys who tried to tak e the lead awa y from her, unsuccessfull y. Ph il Minahan (Su z) led the 125 Pros off th e line , on ly to crash. Mark Hilton (Hon) took over the lead and stretched it out ahead of David Woodall (Suz). Jon Yourd (Yam) and Mike Preston (Su z) diced for t hird. Just before reaching the white flag . Hilton laid it over too far in a tu m and lost control, and the race went to Woodall. Preston got the second and Yourd third. The second moto lead was being debated by Yourd and Don Ferraro (Suz) while Preston and Woodall argued over third . Ferraro took over as front runner . The picture remained the same to the finish . Ferraro also won the third moto , but had to work up to the front which had be en controlled by Yourd and Woodall. After putting his charge on , Ferraro fought a super battle for th e lead , taking over in the las t lap. Woodall went down while bidding for second. but pushed across the line in time to save his third. Ferraro, for Inland Cycles. claimed the top cash, Yourd picked up the money for second. The 250 Pro races turned out to be dominated by Dave Wood on hisJim & Jim's Yamaha , and Kendall Powers also on a Yamaha. Wood won the first two motos. The first was no big problem, he led every lap , with Powers chasing him. In the second round , Powers became mo re aggressive and got by Wood . briefly. Wood reclaimed the lead , then Powers , then Wood . etc . Wood was in front when it counted. Powers took over the final moto , and it was Wood's tum to do the chasing. The over a ll win went to Wood , with Powers getting the well earned second , and Jeff Loff (Su z) was thi rd over all . Michael Preston (KTM) took two of th e Open Pro wins , Tim Lamhan getting the other . .Results in Resu lts Sect ion . •

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