Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News 1979 03 28

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/126403

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IAbove) Check 8t the 49'er enduro.IBelow) Check signs g!ve 811 the Info you need. IBottom) Keep your scorecard handy but secure. When the number mBtches yours, you're doing fine. Champi'onship Enduro Checkpoint How it w orks 16 Although the stan and finish and maybe a noon gas stop with layover are known controls I n eniJuro, and you are not penalized for being early at those points, most checking stations are at unknown places along the course, hidden from view until you' re on th em. One might be just inside the woods at the far end of a swampy section that's sure to cau se a lot of riders trouble. Another could be over the crest of a steep, sandy hill. A deep , tre ache rous river crossing is likely to ha ve a chec k just beyond it, where you could be caugh t lat e, Just as likely is a chec kpoi nt at th e en d of a long . fast road sect ion . If you try to get ahead a little for the tou gh trails sure to follow , you ma y burn the check and get the hot po ints that hurt your score s~ muc h. But even if they're hidden, all checks are clearly marked so you'll know wha t kind you're coming into, and the ir pla cement is limited somewhat by the rules . Flags displayed at each checking station tell you whether it's known , secret, emergency or observation, and mark the exact line where you'll be clocked in . A plain yellow ' flag identifies all known controls, and a plain white one all observation checks , where time is not taken. The ones you 're most concerned with , though, are the red and white diagonal flag of the secret checks and the green and white diagonal flag identifying the station as an emergency (tie-breaker) check. The rules state all these flags must be at least 18 x 18 in ch es in size, conspicuously displayed, and mark the exact checking point. The rules also sta te checking stations cannot be farther apart from each other than 40 miles. and not less than five miles (thre e miles in meets of 100 miles or less). They cannot be located less than two miles before a gas stop or three miles after it , and if a check is located in a town or city it must be at the entrance to the town so riders won't be delayed by traffic lights, speed . limits or con~tion. Experienced riders know all this and use it to their advantage. They also know that the exact location of each secret checkpoint is limited further by the requirement that the mileage to it from the last known control must be computed in whole tenths of a mile , and th e time to a whole minute, not a fraction of a minute. And they know when the time or distance is off. If it is, they file protests.. Such accuracy has been the goal of enduro sponsors for a long time, but it was often elusive. Now with quartzcontrolled electronic digital timepieces designed specifically for checkpoint tim ing , co rrect scoring is more probable. That is, if the clocks are properly set in the first place, and if the riders don't happen to have more sophisticated timers than the people running the enduro. . You know you've come upon a check when you spot a small group of people and the identifying flags. Often the red and white flags of a secret checkpoint and the green and white of an emergency check are together at the same place. This means two sets ?f times will be recorded - one In minutes , and the other in minutes and seconds. At all but observation checks there must be at least three officials. One is the timer, who calls out the time of arrival (or departure in the case of the start or a checkpoint after a noon layover). Another official enters the time and your riding number on the checking sheet, which is also known as a back-up sheet. The third official enters the time on .your time card or receipt. It's your responsibility to see that these entries are made for you.

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