Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Key time is the official start of the enduro. perha ps 8:00 a.m . At exactly 8:01 the first riders leave; at 8:02 the , second group departs , and so on unt il all riders have left the line . 1£ you're riding on the 15th mi nute , with a number like 15B or 2j5, you want the , minute hand on your watch to be exactly at 12 on the dial when you get the signal to go . That way it will read accumulated time for the run. But you have two choices - set it so you start at 8:00 .. or set it so you start at 12:00. Either way will work " but your time notations on the route sheets 'a re slightly different . They begin with 8:00 if that is key time and that is where you plan to set your watch, and they begin at 0:00 if you plan to set your watch at 12:00. The first way you are ab le to compa -re the posted key time at each checkpoint directly with what you wa tch says to determine if you're early or la te. By using 12:00 for " the start, you are really beginning with zero. Ho urs and minutes that pass are acc umulated tim e (e .g . 2:18 means you've been riding two hours, 18 minutes), corresponding exactly to times on the route sheet, which started with 0:00 , if you're on schedule. This is the preferred method . when . flip cards are being used at check and you can tell you're on time when your minute is displayed. Numbers on the route sheet have fewer digits much of the time (2:18 compared to 10:18 on an enduro with a key time of 8:00 , for instance, after two hours and 18 minutes) and so are easier to read while riding. But take your pick . Setting your watch either way is easy if you don't get confused by subtraction. but you's better do it a few minutes early, before you push your motorcycle up to die line. Check the starter's clock for official time and temporarily set your watch to that. if you're going to be using key time. or to the same n um ber of minutes before or after 12:00 if you 're going to run accumulated time . Now subtract the number of your riding minute from what your watch says and set it to that, trying to keep it as close as possible to the even minute. After you've done all that, take another look at the officia l clock , subtract your number and see if ' your watch is correct. When the minute in front of you is flagged away the minute hand of your watch should be one minute a head of the 12. When the starter gives you the signal to go. get away as quickly as possible. bu t remember it's not really a race. Dead engine starts fou l up even expert riders occasionally. so stay cool and start your bike the way you usually do . Then get going! Even though you have some free territory ahead of you (either three or five mi les, depending on the length of the enduro) where the rules say there can't be a secret check to catch you hot. start timekeeping immediately to get your mind warmed up to the job . You may be going faster than the average. but you should know how much faster so you can get back on schedule by the end of the free territory. Then beware. (Starting tactics are different out est , where there is a speedometer heck at the end of the first three or rve miles so you can determine how uch of a correction to make for the ifference between your ' speedo and he one used to layout the course.) eeping t ime on the trail Since 24 mph is the common speed verage. it helps if you develop a feel or how fast this is and what you have o do to keep close to such an average. ost of the really consistent enduro inners have this highly tuned sense of peed. which they got through regular ompetition, and they are able to ride etter and faster because of it. They're ot looking at their instruments all the 'me so they can pay attention to IOpp. pagel Concentration on riding and timekeeping make Jac k Penton a w inner. IAbovel Mi nimum timekeeping equipment: route sheet holder and an enduro pacer or good speedo. along with a watch. IBelowl Computers are common. This one by Digitronics can be pre-programmed asvou ride for the next average speed. tactics and reading the trail ahead. as well. To do this you have to break down 24 mph into units you can rem em ber easily. What's sim ple for one person may be difficult for a nother because each of us uses different gimmicks to jog our brains. Bu t if you go 24 miles in one ho u r , you go half that, 12 miles, in half an hour. and half that, six miles, in 15 minutes. Six miles every 15 minutes is pretty easy to rem em ber , isn't it , but maybe two miles every five minutes works better? 'In other words, one mi le every 2~ minutes. or a tenth of a mile every 15 seconds. I like the mile every 2 ~ minutes , myself, because even though it's a fraction and I'm somewhat of a mathematical incompetent. I can visualize a mile clicking off once between every fiveminute ma rk on my watch and once on each five-minute mark . Every time the odometer rolls over to another mile my watch (or your's) sho uld have the minute hand either exactly on a fiveminute mark or halfway between them if a 24 mph pace is being maintained from the start. The rea l value of having some of this basic information ' programmed into your bra in is not so much to let you know if you 're early or late at any given point during an enduro (a route sheet with time notations on it lets you do a more accurate job of that) , as it is to give you a check on your pace whenever you need to know . and to give you something to judge against when you have to catch up when , you're running late, or slow down to avoid arriving hot at the next check. You'll know, for instance, that if ' you're 10 minutes late that's four miles. which you can make up in half an hour if you can increase your average speed to 32 mph for that length of time. Any time you're la te and you can do uble the average pace for the number of minutes you were late. you'll be back on time. Doing it is no t so easy. though, unless you 're in an easy section. When there are speed changes in an enduro (at least one change is suggested for all nationa l championship runs). you have to adjust your ' thinking to new sets of figures. which may slip your mi nd when you need them. With your rqute sheet marked correctly at the new speed, you have an easy way of checking your progress, but if you're able to remember that at 18 mph you cover two, thirds the distance you do at 24, or ' at 30 mph you cover 25 percent more, then you'll still be able to judge your pace approximately, even in a western meet with its many small shifts .in speed. ' ' Sophisticated timekeeping' gear You're probably going ha with the ba i . timekeeping speedo, watch and route sheet holder - until you start getting penalized heav ily for arriving 'ea rly at checks. Then you look for help in your on-bike computations. There are several very distinct categories , of equipment you can buy for this. and the easier they make it fo r you, the more they cost. They range fro m simple speed-time-distance calculators to expensive miniature com p u ters using space-age components. Not many years ago you saw lots of calculators on enduro bikes. Today, they a re pretty rare. Airplane pilots and boat operators use them for dead reckoning, the most basic form of navigation. All they a re is a circular .slid e-rule on which you can speedily figure the distance or time for a given speed. The ones made specifically for enduro are simpler and easier to read than tilt more detailed and accurate calculators designed for navigation. 1£ most of the meets in your area have a 24 mph average and speed changes are very unusual, the 24 mph 'endu ro pilot is probably the answer. Developed originally from the VDO "Championship Enduro," copyrig-ht © 1977 bv Steve Booth and Brian Palermo, is avaj la ble direct from th e pub l isher , Pa ragon Pu bl in I ions, 3106 Sweetbrier . Lafav e t te , CA 94~49 for $5.95 postpaid. 'Ca liforn ia

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