Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

(A bove) Zippin' through a Prospectors Gold Rush snowfield. (Below) Jim Fishbeck (166)and Larry Roeseler (200)wound up in an SRA dead heat. if his vocabulary was stuck. "I'm so happy, I'm so happy" was all this reporter could get out of the excited youngster when the rac e was over . He finall y managed to add. " I put it all together." The Team ra ce fin al ized the da y's events and after Wayne Martin and Rusty Clarke went down on th e fifth la p, it was John Taylor and W.arren Barr all the way. Twin brothers. Martin and David Vogel had their work cut out for them . They came up from 12th position to ace out The Hawaiian and Lee Montgomery for second. Race results pending . Snow hits Prospectors Gold Rush D-37 Enduro By Larry Langley RED MOUNTAIN , CA , FEB. 4 36 The 300 entrants to the Prospectors M.e. D· 37 enduro .were greeted by clear skies which afforded them a clear view of the surrounding area whichwas covered, and I mean covered. with snow from the storms during the preceeding week. While most of the enduro course seemed ridable on Saturday (acco rdi ng to the Prospectors) everyone was very concerned with the second half of the second loop in the hills south of the Teagle Wash cam p. A few Double A riders showed up to get a feel for the area as the upcoming Chaparrals National Enduro on February 18 will run in the same area . Local enduro riders were rid ing with th e likes of Mike Hannon , Ri ck Munyon and five time National Champion Dick Burleson. All post entered which was a smart move since the earlier numbers were breaking trail. Riders coaxed their very cold bikes to life and promptly at 8:01 , the first four rid ers set off down a frozen sa nd wash . The first loop crossed Trona Road and generally ran in what the BLM calls the Radarnacher Open Area between Trona Road and Jon Stillman had the bit in hi. teeth at the Prospectors run. f Highway 395. Speeds were 21 , 18 and 24 mph and attainable even on the frozen trails and icy washes. A check at the first possible opportunity at 3.5 mil es caught a few riders early and then two more checks at the next two possibles had everyone on their toes. The Prospectors set up seven checks in all on the loop which is probably three more than normal. Check F had riders concerned as the flip cards were a minute off. Number One 200cc class rider Jay Tullis on his XR ·185 Honda mis-read his mileage and came around the comer before the check a good f ive minutes early, realized his error and conveniently "crashed. " J ay made a good show of changing spark plugs and trying to ge the bike started as the clock ticked off towards his arrival time . Finally J ay got it going but he wasn't complaining as they marked his card a minute late instead of five minutes early. Jay is now in early contention for an academy award for best short subject. Riders soon learned that on the north side of the hills the snow hadn't melted and could be treacherous while the south side facing the sun usually had snow-free trails to offer. One tum onto a sandwash was particularly memorable as it was covered with a good two inches of solid ice. Speedway style seemed to be the hot setup. Riders didn't encounter heavy snow until the north side of the railroad tracks where they got a taste of what was waiting for them on the second loop , as the snow was well over a foot deep . The second loop headed northeast into the Spangler Hills. The Prospectors did a good job of scouting in trails in the heavily used areas but the speed averages would have been way too slow if it hadn't snowed. As it was the checks were very attainable for the A riders , anyway . A new , speedometer was used about three miles into the loop and apparently the new marking bike was one which has a notoriously bad reset capability. The mileage started becoming very erratic. The sp eed changes and mileage markers kept everything pretty much in control until Check J which was located at 65.9 miles, j ust three miles past check I. Riders calib rated their speedometers at the 65 mile sign and rode up a hill thinking they would stop in free territory at the top which was right at 65.8 miles and surprisel There was Check J a full . 1 mile off in mileage just .8 mile from the mileage - ma rker. Some of the better riders hit it th ree minu tes early! The check is under protest (the Prospectors have the dubious honor of ha ving the onl y mileage protests in the last two yea rs since th e mileage markers went into use). Un fort unately it was also the second loop tiebreaker and if it gets thrown. out on ly the fi rst loop tiebreaker will be used to break ties. Now the cou rse set off across the valley into the snow covered hills. The snow was so deep that you could have easily skiied there, Not much fun for riding motorcycles but the Prospectors in their wisdom allowed the loop to continue, even though their pre,sweep riders didn't make it around the loop. The riders caught them abou t halfway through the section. The first 20 rows of riders had it pretty tough as the snow in places was two feet deep. There was two really memorial spots. The downhill and the uphill canyon. The downhill has a rather steep sand downhill leading into a tight canyon. The "gr oove" was a disaster because it was ice and riders who chose to use it found themselves sliding down faster and faster . The only way to stop was to crash into a snowbank. The hot tip was to get off into the virgin snow which allowed some control over the bike . Following th e downhill was an uphill wash that seemed to go on fore ver. Most riders couldn't get out of first or second gear and paddled their way to the top. Very exhausting. The later numbers had the trail broken in much better and were able to cope. Burleson reportedly used fifth gear an d zipped right up. The biggest disappointment for the riders who busted their ass to maintain the schedule was that there wasn' t one solitary check in the whole section . There was an ' observation check consisting of a couple of checkers who arrived too late to set up a secret check. Most of the riders felt that if the clu b ran the sect ion, they should have insu red at least one check there . As it was they had to change th e course to take ou t an up hill which couldn' t be made in the snow . Therefore the finish check became the "check" for the section. While the earlier numbers had a tough time making it to the finish on time (only three riders in the first 20 rows made it), the later numbers arrived early fairly . easily . Luck of the draw. At the finish line , riders were swapping snow stories and one of the best I heard was how National Enduro winner T om Webb (C-A) was passed on the downhill by Berzerko Mazenko. Unfortunately Mazenko wasn't on his bike. There were rumors he almost started an avalanche but I couldn't confirm them. Who won? Won't know until after the District 37 Competition Committee hears the protest on Feb 8. Could be Mike Hannon on his new 400 Kawasaki or maybe Mike Adams who picked up a Maico sponsorship and was riding his Wheelsmith-prepped 250E Magnum . Maybe even the National Cham p himself who enjoyed the ride but thought it was a bit slow. His teammate, A.C . Bakken, was ou t on his new OR-390 Husky but had a rear fiat on the first loop . A.C . is planning to try for the Six Day team again this yea r. Burleson was riding a new WR-390 Husky which might be the hot set -up for enduros. All in all it was a very int eresting enduro but if it hadn't snowed, there probably would have been 50 zeroes which doesn't make too man of the

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