Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

BmDUROw~~~~_~_d_m_os_'~_:R oun_dl _rn _ _ _ ~ National Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins nursed a broken thumb to 11th overall. Jeff R ussell finished third overall in his first ride o n the factory KTM team. Local favorite Dave Bertram said it wasn't his day, but he still landed fourth overall. with almos t a ll of th em . Nin e seemed to be the ma gic number for man y of the riders, incl ud ing Col orado's Kelb y Pep per , who had a ga pi ng hol e in hi s exha us t pipe and no horsepower, and ' A-class rider from Ca liforn ia, Duke Lamber t. " It's a typi cal Quicksilver, tight and g na rly and lots of it, " said Lambert , wh o was slowed by a broken footpeg. Farther down in the sta ndings was three-time defending Nationa l Champ ion Rand y Hawkins. The factory Suzuki rid er fro m South Carol ina tore ligament s in his right th um b in a local en d u ro three weeks prior to the N ati on al and was riding wi th a di slocated thumb. The injury was quite painful for him, especi all y in the . downhill sectio ns and anytime he had to put pressure o n his palm. ' " If by some miracle I end up in th e to p five today, I'll just miss th e next o ne o r two events and then hit it good at th e end of the year," said Hawkins of h is cha nce to repe at hi s title. T he 43-mile second loop took th e compe titors over fire roads and wid e trails on their way up the San Benito Mountain , rea chin g th e 5600-foo t level. U n l ike past Qui cksilver Nationa ls, th ere wa s no snow to contend with thi s year . The tra ils were dry and dusty, but the winds kept th e dust off the course . After 20 miles, th e riders once m ore- faced a tight and technical sectio n, but most of the top riders scored very well during the loop. H ines d ro pped hi s bike com ing in to check nine, caus ing him to score a 1:09, instead of zeroi ng the check. Roeseler bounced into chec k eig h t trying to escape burning it, but was o ne second short of h is goa l, costi ng him two points. H is bad luck cont in ued at th e ninth check po int, when he arr ived side-by-side wi th Rob Mesech er at 22. 55. Mesech er 's sco reca rd wa s marked firs t; by the time they mark ed Roeseler's scorecard, th e f1 ipcards had turn ed to 23:00 , cos tin g Roesel er ano ther .poin t, Russell rode well in the second loop, a ltho ug h he said tha t th e loop was prett y easy with a lot of tim ekeeping. He o n ly lost o ne point, upping h is total to eigh t, KTM 's Lewis zeroed the second loop and was still standing at nine, Several riders comment ed they were not too fond of the manzanita bu shes. " It's different from Co lor ado, " said form er ISDE gold medalist Pep per. " I' m getting ea ten up by them . Branches grab everything up there," KT M's Allen Gravitt, from Geo rgia, said, " T hey were eating my arms up, my ribs an d my bac k." H o ugh put it a little stronger, " T hey migh t as well take a whip and wh ip me. It's a good event, but I do n ' t like the terrain , with the manzanita, I got hit in the ribs and it about knocked the breath out of me. " The third (AA-o n ly) loop was not for th e faint of heart. It featured the tougher trails of the first loop, but with deviations on tight, twisty trails. A lo t of th e trails had been beaten into deep talcum powder by this tim e. H ines went one second late into back-to-hack check s; he was still feeling inexperienced on his new Suzuki. P lus, the former factory KT M rider fro m Massachusett s had on ly ridden o n studded tires since the T ecate 250K Enduro in Mexi co last December, and h ad been on his new mount for on ly a month, Roeseler was fighti ng psychological problems; he couldn't keep his mind off the checks he had earlier burned. But he knew that the AA 'loop is always harder with faster speeds, so he go t his conce nt ra tion a nd con fidence back when he found himself catching Hines twice and enteri ng the checks with him. " I rode hard the last loop," said Roeseler , wh o finished the course with 19 points to the detrim ent. "It's pretty tight here and rock y. It 's im po rta nt to be aggressive, but no t to make mis takes an d stay o n the trails. I practice this type of terrain a lot - tigh t and twi sty. This is what I lik e. Considering ho w dry and dusty it is, the club did a good job. When it is dusty like this, you can 't see th e trail. It's prett y techn ical here with good variety."

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