Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126296
; == s t ., ., Deser ., •.·..v ·.. · ·..· ., · v ., · "". "". ., WJ ~otline 00 - 1:"'0") 0:: W Cl z :::l w "" "" ~ > '" (Jl Yahoo - no dust (just rocks) at the Silve r Do llar Enduro. UEA stages super Silver Dollar Enduro By M ike Klinger BARST OW , CA . J AN . 29 United Enduro Association staged a not he r outstanding end uro this weekend at Sidewinder Road, just six mil es south of Barstow . The 8 a .rn, starti ng tim e was right on schedu le, and as they day progressed . t he temper ature rose to a bout 75 deg rees . UEA th rew some added a tt ractions int o th eir enduro. On bot h loo ps, en gines of all bikes were silent un til the time sta rter gav e th e respe ctive minute th e OK to hit th e gas . •Also . throu gh out th e en tire 61 mil es, UEA had post ed sm a ll signs d ispla ying var iou s quotes' and instru cti on s, like Huskys do it long er; Beware: Cam el crossing: Ye Ole Downhill and Wilson s Suicid e Ridge. The signs stim u la ted laughter and som e thinking as everyone powered their way over th e trai ls. EI loopo numero uno headed directl y north of Sidewinder Road to ward the low foothills . The entire "---= ~ loop consisted of long, flat , dustless trails and some 20 foot steep uphills and downhills. What a roller coaster ride! Some other spice was added to the first loop as th e UEA had included fou r chec k points with the fina l check no t a known check. Loop on e turned ou t to be a good wa rm· u p session for the de ma ndi ng second loop. At the start of loop two , UEA pulled no pu nchesl One hundred ya rds after t he start banner. th e tra il ro cket ed up the ta llest hill of th e day . First a nd seco nd gears wer e used to cres t t he hill . turn a 90 degree left -b ander a nd d ive straigh t down to th e floor of th e d esert , But that's not al l. Aft er plunging to th e floor , th e riders attacked the same hill , on ly on th e north slope! Atop the hill th rou gh th e jagg ed - rocks, th e trail led into ridge running in the crisp -clean a ir. Leaving th e peak via a goat trail , the orange markers directed th e rider s into th e vast desert . The remainder of th e 31 mile loop p layed in th e ad jacent foothills of the Sidewinder Road are a . In a capsu le view, the day offered a family first loop , a very cha llenging second loop , and good-looking finisher pins ; a well-organized race . For over 700 entrants, th e weekend was a fine kick -off for the 1978 end u ro seaso n . Almost to the fin ish line at the Silve r Do llar. Desert riders turn to water sports at CRC/GP. Haase, Saltzman, Bland, and Pinchard take Pro wins at CRC Vagabond GP By Jerry G. Welton INDIAN DUNES , CA ,JAN. 29 Ron Haase and his Yamaha International Cycle Shop mount led Ron Gibson and the rest of the 250cc Open Pros and Amateurs off the sandy start and on to t he motocross section of the course. At th e completion of lap one they had already begun to pull away from the rest of th e pack. About halfway through the 45 minute race , Bill Saltzman moved into a firm third. Meanwhile Gibson and h is Cycle Products "Vest KT M , were in hot pursuit of Haase ,when a la p ped rider hit him causing his front forks to freeze. Saltzman and his Bill Saltzman M .C . Husky took over seco nd place. Haase too k the overall win without a ny sweat and Sa ltzman took a well deserved second. despite _a bad start and three get offs ea rly in the race. Gibson managed to wheel his inj ured bike across the finish line for third . David Rogaczewski rode a fine consiste nt ride in the Open Amateur class as did R icha rd Bland (Suz) and Enrique Dibos (MSI) in th e 250cc Exp ert -Amateur classes . The 125c c Pr os were led for a long time by Bill Barlow and his 125 Yamaha with Bill Pinchard a nd Mike Sh oemaker running right on his tail pip e . Shoemaker. who had missed th e 100cc race and was riding with the 125s inst ead , moved into second at one point ea rly in the race but the larger displacement bik e of Pinchard's moved back up a few laps later. Todd Ba usch was the leader of t he 125cc Amateurs until the hard cha rge of Les Toffel pushed him back to second. Toffel worked his wa y u p to th ird but dropped out lat er with unknown problems . Pincha rd kep t pressing th e one handed peace sign art ist Barlow until he grasped the lead . Pincha rd continued on for th e win with Barlow and Shoemaker seco nd and third Pro. Fourth overa ll went to Bau sch . Bobby Ryan kept it steady a nd up on both wheels for fifth overa ll and second Ama teur. Bill Saltzm a n dropped the ha mmer off the line a nd from that point on th e . .. . .,. . . . ....... "... race was ' for second place. Sa ltzman ra n away from the veteran racers b y lapping the entire field twice . Dave Hutchens and Alex Shakas battled for second and after exchanging positions several times Hutchens finally took firm command, Gary Short and his 250 Campbell Suzuki had moved up to fifth from a last place start , only to be black flagged . He was issued the wrong number for the race and was thought to be riding out "Of class, but after confronting th e offi cials it was determined that an error had been made and Short was able to continue, only after losing several minutes of precious race time. The fin ish was all Saltzman with Hutchens and Sha kas rounding out second and third . Short still managed to regain fifth at th e end. . Paul Birchfield (Yam ) pulled a great start but got off hard before completion of the first lap . By th e time he got himself toge ther, he had lost t hree pos itions . W ith in three laps he had rega ined the lead and remained virtua lly u ncon tested for th e d uration of the event. Steve Hu tchens (Yam) and Rob in Busse (Yam) ran one, two from start to finish with heads up close co mpetition between the two of them throughout the race. Mike Stewart (Suz) showed the Begi nners the wa y ho me in the same race. In the 100cc Expert class Matt Whiting and his Yamaha were dominate as was Les Toffel in the Amateur class, Torsten Corum in the Novice class and Beginner Nick Larson . First overall Mini was Expert Don Best. The final even i of the day was the team race . Ironm a n Bill Saltzman just couldn't get in eough riding for the day . Not satisfied with only the two fine rides he 'd put in earlier in the day , he decided to ride the l ro nm a n class in the tea m race. Bill rode the full 90 minute event solo; fell once or twice , got a flat rear tire which ca used him to do some front wheel acrobatics, and still the desert ace came ou t the overall winn er. t The cou rse gave motocrossers t he benefit of th e doubt by u tilizing most of th e international cou rse and about a m ile of the sa nd wash river area. The' cou rse ha d been rerouted th e dar before th e event because th e two strea m crossings were too deep . With safety a nd cha llenge in mind , CRC hadset up yet a nother excellent race . Resu lts in Resul ts Section. • •I r:, "'",.