Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

; ; Desert Hotline E o L _ V.lle, - Red Mounbln _ Pinter City - SurchllPt - SIdewinder ROlId - Superstition Mounbln - J. .n - R..... Mounbllns - Luc_ V.IIe, - Red Mounb 00 (j') (Above) A steep embankment near the finish of the CRC Gullywhomper made things interesting. (Below ) Rider hits check one minute late. Holstead hauls at esc Gullywhomper Enduro By DeVore Fortney Photos by Marcel Fortney LUCERNE v ALLEY , CA . MA Y 18 With the 1980 California Racing Club end uro season at its midway point - five races in the books and five races yet to run - t he 26 Sen ior riders are once agai n establish ing th emselves as th e dominant fac tor. Open A + 40 rider Harold Holstead d id th e trick t his time by not only be ing the overall winner . bu t by being on e of on ly two com petitors who lost less than a minute. Harold lost 26 seconds on th e co u rse wh ich was three less than Ken Cater (O pe n A) d ropped . The surprisingly high scroes for this ~a ce co nstitu te a major change in CRC endu ro course layout but actually ad he re closer than ever to th eir cla im of a "relatively easy but ch allenging course with no bottlen ecks and an emphasis on timekeeping." After the trouble ca used by bottlenecks in last month's Bob cat Enduro whi ch left both A rid er s and Beginners co m pla ining , it was ob viou s a new a pproac h was need ed . T he di ffe re nces wer e notable fro m th e begin ni ng of th e first loop as a 6 mph section just over five mil es out put everyone's, timekeeping . skills. 10 • the . test. While th e section did wea ve aro und some big boulders it wasn't so difficult tha t you couldn't go fas ter than 6 mph. So everyone watched thei r clocks closely and rode ca refu lly around each boulder just waiting for that check to grab them early. Sure eno ug h, at 8.4 m iles th e ch eck was hidden down in a gully and managed to lure more riders in ea rly than a bar advertising free beer. Among the riders who weren 't fooled (besi des the seasoned veterans who never get trapped by sect ions like this) were the winners of the "first loop only." Tops here was Stacy McBride who was only on e second off to take the women's 250cc B class . Stacy was followed by Michelle Keast and the m ysterious Ms. Cheeseburger who both lost only five seconds at the firs t check and were perfect everywhere else. Could this be women's intuition? Other super timekeepers on the first loop were Dennis Gouvion (125cc C16) 'who just barely beat his brother Danny (80cc B); Sheri Sams (125cc WB). Jeff Berner (IOOcc C·16), Denny Walker (200cc C-16) , Scooter Tiche' (80cc C) , and Richard Heymond (O pe n C- 16). For everyone else the race was only half over as the second loop still had to be run . By just looking at th e route chart one could see things were different as th e first 10 miles were all at 30 mph. Since th e course started at the end of th e dry lak e and immediately headed for the hills the A riders like Guy Biggs (Open A + 30) , Doug Daniels (250cc A), Joe LaPorte (250cc A + 40 ), and Craig Lair (200cc A) all knew they would have to go as fast as they could over the dusty flats in order to keep from getting too far behind when the trail got twisty and speed was out of the question. Their instincts made them winners as the course stayed for miles in little canyons that were one tum after another with quite a few well-placed rocks to make sure only one line was available. It was very easy to lose a minute at the first checkand two more at the second. Guy , Doug, Joe , and Craig all kept their losses to one minute and were only matched by a few rising stars: Logan Casteel winning the 250cc B class , Da vid Rees in his last rid e as an Open C , Mike Wilcox as an Open B, and young Don Goettling in the under 16 class. After the 30 mph sect ion things settled down to a more sedate speed. Except for all the riders trying to get back on time . it was possible to enjoy th e scene ry a b it and relax. Havin g th e specia l test section right off th e start is an excellent id ea as everyone is rested from th eir break and ready for it. The last couple of m iles 'served to wak e everyone up with a sand wash containing rock ste ps and long stretches of deep whoops guaranteed to get that body pumping. A steep em bankment right before the finish provided comic relief for both spectators and riders. Going by the input of the 535 riders entered. the course design was a success and it may be thai CRC has finally hit upon a formula to satisfy both A and C riders. The Sidewinder on June 8 at the rarely used Barstow area will wrap things up for the summer. Make it on out to guard against a summer shortage of Bench Racing stories! Result s lWOLOOPS OPEN A + 40 : I • Hilfold Holstead. OPEN A: 1. Ken Cater. OPEN A + 30: I . Guy Bigg s. 250 A: 1. Doug Daniels. .2iGA~30 : .1 ,RoII Webb .. 250 A + 40: 1. Joe laPort e. 200 A: I . Creig Lair. OPEN B: 1. Mi ke W ilco x. OPENB + 30: I . Mervyn Murrll"(. OPEN B + 40: 1. J im Edmundson . 250 B: 1. Logon Casteel . 250 B + 30: 1. Ed Bloch . 250 B + 40 : 1. Roben Blandon. 200 B: 1. Clerke W ingfield. 200 B + 30: 1. Bill Herndon. 200 B + 40 : 1. Ted Seen. 200 6-16: t, Oon Goettling . 200 6-16: 1. Ken Trippel. OPEN C: 1. DlMd R.... OPEN C + 30: 1. Bill Pollock . OPEN C + 40 : t , Gory Hol lenson. 250 C: 1. Tim Martin. 250 C + 30: 1. Richard Cook. 250 C + 40 : 1. Bob Imhor . 200 C: I . J im Berg es. 200 C + 30: t . Archie Morris. 200 C + 40 : 1. Olaf Lee. I25 C: 1. Peull.usoier. 125 C + 30: 1. Joe T,eweel<. FIRST LOOP 250 WB : I . Staev MeB,ide. 200 WA: 1. Michelle K..... 250 : I . Ms. CheMeburger. 125 WB : 1. Sheri 5ams. 100 C-16: 1. Jeff Berner. 125 C·16: 1. Dennis Gouvion. 200 C·16: 1. Donny Wa lker. OPEN C-16: 1. Richard Heywood. 80 B: 1. Donny Gouvion. 80 C: 1. Scooter roche'. steams steams to D-38 win By Loretta Pipk in SUPERSTITION MTN .. CA , MAY 3 Mike Stearns, aboard a 250 Maico, smoked it for the overall win in District 38's last desert race before summer break. How" ever , summer had al ready sne aked in and the temperature was to climb to 102 before the end of the 80 miles. The course led over the infa mous sand dam which has made more than a few riders give it up even when it isn 't hot. Leon Livingston broke for the early lead and built a fa ir cushion but had Craig Corda chewing away at it , fol lowed by the 250cc twins Mike Stearns and Paul Eddy. Don Mathews was closing on Eddy when Eddy seized . The new position was short lived as Mathews lunched a gearbox . Into the second loop Livingston was fighting a soft tire a nd Corda was having all kinds of bike problems but managed to keep it running. Livingston d id not pit for the tire and the slow leak put him on the trailer before the end of th e round . Corda's throttle stuck open, sucking all kinds of sand. In the melee Stearns whisked past , stronger than ever. The order of the day seemed to be flats , seizing and fatigue , but not Stearns as he was smokin'. At the home check he pulled in with a big grin and a two minute lead. Corda kept his machine together for second overall and Dale Stevenson moved int o th ird spot with Jim Ribley fourth. Roger Adsit took the Vet Expert class and Jack Neeley topped the Senior d ivision. Finishers received fin ishe r's p ins and a coo l one at home check , com p limen ts of th e Fudpucker Ra cing Team who have been doing the hustling for the goodies. • Result s OPEN EX: 1. {;raig Corda ISuz); 2. Oale Stevenson (Yam): 3. Jim Ribley (Hus). 250 EX: 1. Mike St earns (Mai); 2. Ron' laffranchi {Yaml: 3. Roccy Tuggle (Husl. 125 EX: 1. R.J. Norgard ISuz); 2. Mark W ebbef {Suzl; 3. Richard Dobbs (Yaml. OPEN AM : 1. Alan Klumph (Honl ;2. Lee Tevis (V..m). 250 AM: 1. Gorden Clark lHu s); 2. Tom Scrimigeour (Yam). OPEN NOV : 1. Roger Lopez ISuz); 2. Shawn Devlin (Hus); 3. Mark Bradford {Honl . 250 NOV: 1. Terry Betcher {Yam}; 2, Mi ke Heinkel (Suz); 3. Dennis Sanford lYaml. 125 NOV : 1. Dilfyl Holm es (Yam); 2. Joe Graves (Suz); 3. R~nd y Byers (Suzl . VET EX: 1. Roger Adsi. (Yaml ; 2. Rober. Larsen (Hus). VET AM : 1. Don Holden (Yam); 2. Frank Cook (Hus). VET NOV: t . Roger Sochs (Yaml; 2. Robert Kuester IHsu). SR EX: 1. Jack Neeley IYam); 2 . Charles Baker (Han!. SR AM : 1. Chic Dimond (Kaw l: 2. Gary Pendleton ISuz)•

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