Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Malcolm Smith-sponsored Mike Bell rode his Yamaha to second overall, first 250, with 38 points. Grant Palenske was third with 40. > Larry Roeseler ran out of gas, borrowed enough to get to the gas stop, and proceeded to win the 170-mile Tecate 250 bV 13 points. Roeseler tops Teeate250 enduro By Larry Langley TECATE, MEXICO, DEC. I Team Husqvarna's Larry Roeseler overcame running out of gas to win the resumption of the famous Tecate enduro hosted by the Los Ancianos M.e. of San Dit:;go. Roeseler dropped just 25 points on a tough, challenging course described by many veteran riders as the most challenging they 40 have ridden in the long series. This year's enduro was re,vamped, and ran as a one day event. In previous years the event ran 500 miles over two days. As would be expected, a twlXiay event req uires an enormous amount of time and effort from the organizers. Predictably, the club members su:££ered burn-out and suspended organizing efforts after the last two-day enduro in 1982'. This year the Los Ancianos decided to condense their event'into 250 kilometers - about 170 miles. As usual, the advertising for the enduro called for 300 experienced riders and 244 responded. Out of those, 228 brave souls (five riders per minute) left the starting line promptly at 6:31 a.m. for a day of riding that most would not forget for a long, long time. The Tecate has always attracted a who's who among motorcyclist enthusiasts and this year was no exception. This event drew Malcolm Smith, Mike Bell, Dan Ashcraft, Drew Smith and Dave Bertram - to name a few. The course was run totally at a 24 mph average. The last time the whole course was run at24, two points won it. Roeseler's 25 point~ was the only score under 30. Runner up Bell lost 38 points for second overall, first 250. D-37 number one enduro rider Grant Palenske (Han) came in third overall with 40 points lost. As the scores Desert rider Dan Ashcraft had a good ride going until drowning out. indicate, points dropped were substantial even for the top, fast riders. Only 105 hardy riders made it to the finish line without houring out. The first miles to lunch were best de'scribed by one rider as a "hundred mile motocross." His description wasn't that far off. Tight, tight trails through the manzanita at first and second gear had riders battling to Slay on time and mostly losing. Water crossings, trails through rock fields and goat trails overlooking'river bolloms were the highlights. The first section was a long 60 miles to the first gas stop, that saw many riders carrying extra gas. It was needed, because the ground was wet providing super traction but also requiring extra horsepower to power through the conditions. At the first gas, RoeseIer made a mistake that almost cost him the overall win - he had a front tire problem and only took on a galIon of gas before fixing the tire. In his haste, he forgot to completely fill up and ran out before the gas stop at the lunch break. Luckily he was able to borrow some gas and got in to lunch, but he did drop a fe~ extra poinJs in doing so, In the meantime, desert ace Dan Ashcraft was having a good ride until he took the wrong line at a water crossing and buried his new SOOXC Husky to the tank! By the time he got it unstuck and pumped the water out of it, he had houred out. A great many of the riders who DNF houred out (over one hour late at a check) at luncl). The constant pressure of the tough course took its toll and most chose to hang it up either voluntarily or otherwi.se. Some were just too exhausted to continue. roo ISDE rider Drew Smith (Han) was riding fast and somewhat out of control. He tried to pass a rider on.a rock ledge and promptly flipped his bike end over end. It was later discovered he was riding without the left footpeg. "It throws the balance off somewhat," said Smith. "It makes it a little hard to handle in the tough stuf£." Lunch was again handled by the crew of the Mag 7 bunch - a volunteer group of people who really take care of the riders. This year's lunch wasn't very long _ it was only 44 minutes. Scot Harden crashed pretty hard and injured his hand. Fearing a broken wrist, he decided to drop out. X-rays later determined that it was just a bad sprain. A couple of unidentified riders had the misfortune of falling into five foot deep rain trenches. It took some hel p from other riders in gelling their bikes out. Marking was mostly adequate. In some spots turns were marked with ribbon rather than arrows, but nobody got seriously lost. Riders still going after Iunch were either doing very well or just trying not to hour out. The section after lunch was fun and not too di££icult except for the tight sandwashes. Malcohn Smith ate it big time when he hit a rock in fifth gear passing Senior rider Ron Fry in a big sandwash. • Smith's Husky £1ippeq end over end and bent the radiator in a big V but luckily it didn't leak. Incidentally, Smith donated a bunch of funnels to be l,Ised at the gas stops. At the last gas stop, there was only ~O miles to go. At the finish there were stories that could fill a book. Later on the last stragglers came in - Dana Bell was one of them. She houred out before lunch but kept riding. Shejustwanted fa finish the course even if she wasn't a legal finisher. . • Results OVERALL: 1.

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