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/126401
Everybody involved anxiously awaits the results. minutes ahead of schedule to allow for problems along the way. Sometimes parking is lim ited , and there's a jam of vehicl es trying to get to the gas stop. Your crew may be forced to walk a long way with a gas can to the plac e the end uro trail crosses or comes into the road. When the crew is there it should get ready for you and then try to make itself obvious by some identifying signal or sign you've prearranged. Flags and balloons are used, but a distinctive van or pick-up, parked where . it's not obscured by other vehicles , will be just as easy to spot. All this sounds obvious, doesn 't it? But at every enduro there's always someone riding up and down trying to find his crew or his gas, losing precious minutes and sometimes being forced to borrow gas from another crew , or quit . Make arrangements ahead with your crew . Maybe have them park before each gas stop, or past it, so you' ll know where to look when you come upon the long line of vehicles. And if you won't need fuel at every point designated on the route sheet or gas map, make sure they know where you'll expect them to be and what you'll want ready besides gas. If you drop out 36.. . ._._. _ _ It's important to decide ahead what your crew should do if you don't show . up and you're over an hour late. When I'm pitting, I usually wait another hour at the gas stop, then work back __tp~_a!~ _ile.aft.1Lu."! t..e.!! .o .rp~~!. } .ha t , .'!. cross the course, or I go to the last place my rider was seen . If I come upon a ch eckpoint, I find out if my rider has been through. This helps narrow down where he is. Sometimes other riders will have the information I'm looking for . If I can't find him , I give up looking and go back to headquarters, knowing a pick-up crew will sweep the entire course after the last competing rider. The ones with broken-down bikes will eventually be hauled in . This is th e most nerve-wracking part of being crew on an enduro - trying to find a missing rider. All kinds of awful possibilities go through yl1Ur mind , but chances are the rider isn't missing. You just don't know where he is, and he doesn't know where you are. Most times , even if you spend hours searching , the day ends up happy for both of you once you find each other. Bike s have right-of-way - If you crew is inexperienced, be sure to warn them a bout driving on roads used as part of the enduro route. Bikes have the right-of-way because they are in the event. Pit crews should watch out for riders trying to pass, and let them through as tho ugh each one is their rider. If they see a rider in the rearview mirror, it's a good idea to slow down slightly and squeeze to the right. This not only gives him room to pass, but makes it qu icker for him so the danger is less. If it's dusty or riders are approaching from ahead and the road is too narrow for two-way traffic , the crew should come to a stop if • there's time . And near 1 ,a~ 'i Jtpps