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/126308
_ ._._._.~._._._._._._ _._._._._._._._._._._._--._.~_._. . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ .•._._._._.. Western hotline .. . ~ 0.. < One member of t he UEA isn't k eeping up at the CRC Pucker Bunny Enduro. Covering the desert floor with a golden-green glow , millions of desert candles lit the way for more than 800 enduro riders at learning teamwork and competition at the same time. Loop one snaked its way about the fan on the south slopes of the Rand Mountains between Galileo Hill and H ighway 395 _ The course was easy as befits a loop set up expressly for beginning riders. The riders made up for the lack of d ifficult terrain b y creating their own difficulties. I took a spot at a road crossing with a little ridge to get some p ictures and caused a great deal of emo tiona l trauma among the younger riders who felt compelled to show off for the camera. Crossed up jumps look cu te but let's face it , when you 're c rossed, you 're not in complete control. At least one rider found that out rather suddenly, when he found himself in a p ile at my feet . The soft ground was kind and perhaps the lesson was painless. The 35-mile loop took less than two • hours to finish and then the Begi nners had a chance to rest while everybody got serious for the second loop. This course followed some old race trails to the north and west into the Rands. There was still good traction, but some , of the higher ground had begun to dry and brought up a little dust for those who were missing it. Bopping down a sligh tly damp sandwash was a lot of fun . The course turned up a pleasant little hill. Well , it would have been pleasant if there hadn't been a check about a third of t he wa y up . No problems for the big bikes, but the sm a ll two strokes were having fits. The UEA riders thought it was so easy they occ asiona lly ran int o each other j ust to add spice. C alifornia Rac ing Club 's Pu cker Bunny Enduro . The early morning sun b ounced off of wet pavement and dampened desert daisies. Camping Saturday night had been somewhat wet but the night-time showers left plenty of moisture in the ground and made for superb traction and virtua lly no dust. The rains did cause some of the rough -and-ready types who like to slee p in the back of open pick-ups to r econsider the merits of enclosed campers. A little water never deters the intrepid motorcyclist , and at 8 a.m . the first riders left on loop one in beautiful weather and su rrou nded by wildflowers. Loop one on a family enduro sees all th e little kids , the big kids , the' young and old kids and combinations thereof. It is a heartwarm ing sight to see all the buddy teams with parent and child e njoyi ng spring }n t h e d ese rt a nd After this check , the course ran through miles of cross-grain drainage with walls and edges freshly sharpened by the rains. Makes for interesting ridingl Going up and up around Government Peak, the course finally found its way out of all th e loose shale ca nyons and into the finish , where some of the earlier riders found the desert's version of the Good Humor truck waiting. Another 35 miles of fun ? Well , in the words of Sam O rrick , CRG's number one end uro rid er , " It was a nic e ride - Wow!" It looks like two riders came out with perfect scores; the overall winner . was Chet Rec tor , riding a Husky in the Open A class; and another perfect sco re was Grant Palenske (Ya m), Open B. Incidentally ,.. at only one seco nd off was Garner PaJenske, a lso Open B on a Yamaha . Results in Results Section. • . (Continued to page 26) The Open Pro class sa.w another close battle between Doug McGowen (Mon /Wheelsmith) and Jim Lowe (Mai/L&L) . Every week these two come out to DeAnza and mix it up. While they were in front of the' first round , DannyJean held down thi rd on his box-stock 1T 500 . Scott Cavness (Suz) got around Jean . but couldn't ca tch the leaders. On th e eighth lap , McGowen was on top when he ran into trouble and fell. This ga ve Lowe an easy win . It just wasn 't McGowen's day as he repeated the performance in the second rnoto. Without him to worry about , Lowe cruised in for another easy win . The overall standings went Lowe, Cavness , Jean , David Aleman (Ya m ) and McGowen . . The 125 cc Pro class saw Robert Gray (Yam) take a close one from rookie Expert Craig Gormley (Yam). This was only Gormley's second Pro race , but he led most of the first moto , Third place went to Chris Saunders (Suz) . Results in Resu lts Section . 800 tackle CRC Pucker Bunny Enduro By Te rry Rezek RAND MOUNTAINS , CA , APR . 9 Danny Jean took third Open Pro at DeAnza on a box-stock TT5OO. Nelson controls DeAnzaMX By Ron Lawson , JI SUNNYMEAD, CA , APR. 9 Drew Nelson (Suz ) took control of DeAnza's large 250cc Pro class Sunday, proving he has what it takes to win . At th e start of rnoto on~, he rocketed into the lead followed by Dave Eropkin on a White Bros . Yamaha and Robbie Brand on a FMC Yamaha . - Nelson slowly secured himself in the lead , but Eropkin was having a hard time ho lding off Brand for second. The two diced back and forrh'for the first 10 laps, but finally Brand stabilized in front . While those two were g oing for it, Bill Pelto (Ya m / YO R) , Danny Burtt (Suz / R edlands Su zuk i) and Tony Pena (Mon) were battlin g for fourth. Pena , I began to drop back at the same tim e as Jerry Raymer began to pick up places on his YOR Yamaha . Raymer pass ed Burtt on the 10th lap. then Pelto fell , giving him another position . At : the end of th e race , th e order was Nelson , Brand, Eropkin. Ra ymer and Burtt. In th e next round , it was Nelson in th e lead again. Pena was with him on th e first lap . but soon fell ba ck , allowing Eropkin and Brand to fight for second place. Up front, the ra ce looked like a replay of the first moto with Eropkin and Brand dicing it out whil e Nelson enjoyed a small lead. After th em , however, th e order was quite different. Rich Franklin (Yam/ Covina Cycle Center) establ ished himself in fou rt h, leading R aym er and Da vid Hopkins (Hus ). Burtt was involved in a dice with Mark McPerry (Yam) wh o eventually ca me out on top. They went across th e lin e with Nelson ahead of Brand and Eropkin and that 's al so h ow the o verall st and~ngs wen t. . I • 23,. .»