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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126436
Winner Mike Hannon and tuner Rocky Williams at the start. Drew Smith took second, only a few seconds off the winner's pace. AMA National Enduro Series Hannon cuts Big Boot down to size By Delbert Longbrake EUREKA, CA, OCT. 28 Kawasaki's Mike Hannon squeaked by Suzuki's Drew Smith to take the overall victory for the. second consecutive year at the Far West M. C. Big Boot National Enduro. Hannon beat 22year-old Smith by mere seconds; the decision was made by combining the seconds from the two tiebreaker checks. Hannon was 6 off 57 seconds and Smith was off 64 seconds. The Big Boot National Enduro, once called the Big Foot, is run in some of the most beautiful country you would ever expect to fmd anywhere. The area is very wild and scenic seeing elk and deer grazing among the giant redwood trees and green ferns is commonplace. Not commonplace (but still claimed) are sightings of Bigfoot; this is the hean of Bigfoot territory. . This fear's staning area was a mere 14 miles from the waves of the Pacific Ocean and the small friendly town of Arcata. But in those 14 miles, the elevation rises from sea level to 2262 feet at the staning area near Lord Ellis Summit. Old abandoned Highway 299 was used for the actual stan. The highway and most of the surrounding land now belongs to the Simpson Lumber Company, who was kind enough to allow the Far West M.C. to use it for their enduro. There's been some pretty wild weather up in the mountains of the Pacific Nonhwest in the past few weeks and while the club members were laying out and marking the course, one of the work panies got caught in a snowstorm and nearly froze. Meanwhile, some cows decided the course markers looked good enough to eat, so they. did. As if that wasn't enough, beavers decided to fall a tree, one of the few that had $urvived a windstorm, and naturally, they chose a tree that had a route marker on it. They fell the tree, drug it to their dam, and it's lying there now, with the marker pointing straigh~ do,wn. The club finally got everything together as the race date rolled around. . It rained nearly all day Saturday but the weather cleared for Sunday's race. The first four of the total 11117 entrants left at 8:01 a.m. First AA rider out was Don Sanford of Odessa, Texas. Don on his 400 Maico, "the 4:>O's wheelie too much, and use too much gas," left on minute 20. Drew Smith, piloting a 2:>0 Suzuki, staned all by himself on minute 22. Big George Hendrix, a northwest AA rider, was out on minute 24. 250cc Honda rider Rick Munyon left-on minute 26 and the last AA rider to head out on the 102.8 mile course, Mike Hannon, left on minute 28. After Hannon left the line and was out of sight, a green Kawasaki jacket could be. seen heading away from the staning line. It turned out to be none other than Kawasaki's, and specifically Gaylon Moiser's motocross mechanic, Rocky Williams. Rocky has been traveling the enduro circuit for four weeks and turning the wrenches on Hannon's 400 KDX. It was somehow strange to see Rocky among the enduro folks; no big crowds around him and not a lot of pressure. Rocky said he's really enjoyed working the enduros "nd in fact likes to ride them himself. Hannon's KDX featured many of Rocky's tuning tricks. For example; the steering angle was kicked out from the stock angle of 28 degrees to a more stable 29 degrees. Hannon's bike also featured a modified rear brake setup, utilizing a non-floating system. The backing plate was hooked directly across to the swingarm, and the rear brake actuating rod was turned up on top of the sWingarm to prevent damage from rocks and other objects. Works Performance shocks were bolted on the rear. When asked how he liked having a motocross "super tuner" working with him, Hannon replied "Great! We've finally got'our act together." Rocky always adds a lot of color to any event he attends. The last wave of riders got away from the stan line at 9:115. From the stan, iiders rode on 1.4 miles of slick pavement at a speed of 24 mph. The first check was 14 miles down the line. Reports came in later of many bikes off to the edge of the slick paved road but, fonunately, no one was hurt or even needed assistance. After the short section of pavement, riders turned off onto trails which were a composite of clay and granite. Jim Crook, the Far West M.C. Enduro Steward and main force behind the Big Boot, estimated that the A riders would be three-four minutes late by check two. This section contained high prairies, then dropped down into tight trails which wound through thick alder trees. There was also a lot of water, both on the ground and in the thick foliage which crowded both sides of the trail. Many riders commented . that it was very dark through this particular section and that they almost really needed their headlights_ Speeds dropped from 24 to 22 to 18 mph in these sections. Everything was going smooth at this point and there wasn't too much going on back at the stan; everyone was just waiting for their riders. All of a sudden, riders staned coming into the stan/finish. The word spread fast all heck had broken loose. About six miles out of check two, 114 miles from the start, there was an uphill about ~.'s of a mile long. Earlier riders who had pre-ridden the course had no problem making it over the top. But, due to previous weeks of rain, the large number of riders and the narrow trail leading up the hill, a huge bottleneck formed. Drew Smith commented that, "a lot of luck was involved." What he meant by that was - if the rider happened upon the hill while there were not too many riders stuck on, or coming back down the hill, there was no real problem. Hannon, Smith and Sanford all had to do some pushing to get over the top because of traffic. This infamous hill turned out to ~ the deciding factor for all AA riders. Up to that point, all AAs had zeroed the first two checks all lost points on the third check after the hill. . A very large percentage of the 80100 riders who dropped out did so because of that one hill. Many Band C riders never even' got to see the hill because of all the riders backed up. Most of these riders went around to the highway, back to the stan/fmish, and didn't complete the course. The 200 plus riders who made the grade headed on for check three. The course came back through the staning area, back down the pavement and into the gas check which was 42.5 miles from the stan. Most of the riders were surprised when they discovered they had returned to the staning area. From the gas check on, it was a timekeeper's event. The trails went up two high ridges, Fern Prairie and Wire Grass, and then onto 40 foot wide logging roads. The speed resumed to 24 mph and it was very ~ to overcook it. In fact, Sanford stated that Drew Smith had passed him on this section, which would put Smith two minutes hot. When Smith saw who he had passed, he backed off. At key time, 12:48, riders started coming into the finish. Again, most riders couldn't believe they had come back to the stan/finish for the third time and from the third different direction. Hannon and Smith knew they were very close, but Drew figured Mike was probably the winner. Drew stated later, "I just didn't get it together after the hill." He had removed his goggles because of mud and water, and was a little apprehensive about riding without them. Hannon didn't look tired at all as he