Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Randy Hawkins defeated a star-studded f ield of enduro riders at the Tecate 250K. He edged Larry Roeseler by one point for the win . , A loose rear sprocket bo lt ended what could 've been a top 10 ride for former enduro National Champion Dick Burleson . Hawkins edges Roeseler at Tecate 2S0K Enduro By Kit Palmer TECATE, B.C., MEXICO, DEC. 5 H usqvarna rider Randy Hawkins made the trek from his home state of South Carolina payoff with the overall victory at the 12th ru n ning of the Los Ancianos M.C.' s T eca te 250K Enduro. Hawkins . d ~opped 25 p<;nnts en route .t,o victory, bea ting Ka.wasa kl s Larry Roeseler by Ju st one point after the 150-p lu mile, for-A- riders-only enduro. Roeseler had .a shot at the overall victory but his KX250 ran out of gas during the first of three sections (loops ) causing him to drop about five points. Nonetheless, it was Hawkins Roeseler captured second overall despite running out of gas during the f irst section. The mishap cost him the overall victory. claiming the hard-earned victory, despite It being his first ride at the pr estigious Tecate 250K enduro. " 1 enjoyed it a lot ," said Hawkins. " I p'lan on coming back again next year If 1 possibly can. They just need to push all these rocks into a pile and plant some trees here, ya know." This year 's event, held 14 miles east of the small town of Tecate, featured three loops, the first one being the longest at 58 actual ground miles . The trails were mostly extrernely tight, covering a variety of terrain: sand washes , rocky sections, hills and an endless supply of jersey tearing Manzanita bushes. A rain .storm Friday night before the event drenched the Tecate trails, providing near-perfect riding conditions by the 6:46 a.m. start. After the second loop was a 38minute lunch break, followed by the fina l 36-mi le section. It was a close battle for third overall and the Open class victory between Husky's Dave Bertram and Californian Rick Daniel , who was riding a Yamaha YZ490. Both riders tied at 27 points apiece, but when the tie-breaker points were tallied, Bertram edged Daniel, thus taking the Open class win. "1 Just didn 't rea lly push hard," said last year's Tecate winner Bertram. " 1 just wasn't on , today." Despite having his rear sub-frame fall off his bike late in the enduro and riding without timekeeping equipment, Colorado's Fritz Kadlec claimed the 200cc class win riding a Kawasaki KX125. Kadlec finished one point off Daniel and Bertram's pace with a 28. Second in the 125cc class went to Honda rider Ed Arnet who posted a 43 point score and an eighth overall finish; third 125 with a 64 point score was Kawasaki 125cc rider Donnie Simone (12th overall.) " H ell , 1 had no idea what was going on without timekeep ing equipment," said Kadlec. "1 just followed Larry (Roeseler) pretty much all day. The enduro was great, . no dust, 1 lo ved it." Sixth overall and third Open finisher was Honda-mounted Bren t Wallingsford, who edged fourth 250 Grant Palenske by one point, 39-40. Riding a Honda CR250, Pa lenske said, "I had a good ride going, but at the start of the day we got into a bottleneck. " The bottleneck happened shortly before the first check which was four miles out on a tight, narrow uphill trail over a rocky section. It claimed many riders. "There was about five or six riders there when 1 got there," said Palenske, "and 1 dropped a couple of points because of that, 1also didn't have an odo the first two loops, causing me to bum a couple of checks. The cable got full of din and just broke. At the lunch stop, 1 just changed the whole drive unit and cable, and 1 was fine the rest of the . last loop." Two-time AMA Hare and Hound National Champion Dan Smith finished ninth overall and fourth Open in his first Tecate 250K ride. "I had a super good time," said Smith. "It was green, there was no dust, and it was tight, so it was fun." Smith's ride didn't go smoothly the whole way, thoug h. "1 lost a chai n once," said Smith. "I hit a rock and popped the chain off two checks before the first gas. Then my speedometer cable broke at mile I06, so 1just rode off Ed (Arn et) the rest of-the way." Ro unding · out the top 10 was Kawasaki 250cc rider Pete Postel. "First of all, 1 had no timekeeping stuff," said Postel. "Then 1 got stuck in a wire fence and carried about four' points to the next three checks. The second loop 1 dropped two, then burned one, then zeroed the other three, so 1 thought that was pretty good without an odometer. 1 was a little slow through the rocks." "The enduro was great," said Postel, "the best event of the year. Tecate's always fantastic. 1 love something that challenges your ability. This one always does tight, real tight." Honda CR250-mounted Lowell Spiva tied Postel at 59 points but the tiebreakers put Spiva back to Jl th, five points ahead of Simone. Finishing fifth in the Open class (13th O / A ) riding a Husky four stroke was John H aaker, desp ite his bike having the rear suspension collapse just before lu nch. "It broke a (shock) spri ng as usual," said H aaker, "Near the end of the enduro it started really bo th ering me. It kept getting lower and lower. 1 maybe had two or three inches of travel at the finish. It was really hammering me going through the whoop-de-doos, but 1 had fun .anyhow."

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