Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eOFF·ROAD e Enduro Series: Round 1 Larry Roeseler kicked off the new enduro season with an overall win. Roeseler dropped two points less than his nearest competitor. Roeseler comes alive with Quicksilverwin By Chris Jonnum COAUNGA, CA, FEB. 14 t was beginning to look as though Kawasaki Team Green's Larry Roeseler had stepped down from his position as the unofficial king of offroad competition, but the traditionally versatile 36-year-<>ld switched arenas to end his dry spell with an overall victory at the Quicksilver National Enduro. Roeseler, who has of late been playing second fiddle on the desert racing circuit to teammate Danny Hamel, used his timekeeping skills to drop just three points, defeating the country's best enduro riders in the process. The Quicksilver Enduro, which is held in the Clear Creek Management Area between Coalinga and King City in central California, traditionally serves as the opening round on the National circuit. The area has some sections of dirt that in their natural state contain asbestos, and for this reason it is in danger of being closed down. The course consisted of two long loops of 46 and 44 actual miles, respectively, with everything from steep upand downhills to tight, manzanita-lined singletrack trails. The riders enjoyed moist, dust-free conditions after the recent rains that California has experienced. Many of the competitors had problems with the long distance between gas stops, but most felt that conditions were perfect, especially compared to last year's muddy quagmire. "I didn't ride that well, but I had fun, I 38 and that's important," said Team Green's Joey Hopkins, an easterner who was riding his first event in California. "It takes a while to get the hang of it. I found out how far my bike will go (on a tank of gas). I finished, but we pulled the hose off at the finish and nothing came out." "These are the kind of conditions that you just dream about," said Vet A class competitor Grant Palenske. Roeseler deservedly received the lion's share of the attention, but the KX250 rider from Hesperia, California, doesn't normally concentrate enough on anyone series to be a threat for championships, and the real concern among the series regulars was how they finished in relation to each other. Thougb Roeseler's score was a full two points better than his nearest competitor, there was a three-way battle for second that saw KTM's 1991 series champ Jeff Russell, teammate Kelby Pepper and Husqvarna's 1987 series title-winner Kevin Hines all finish with five-point scores. Russell came out ahead on the tie-breakers to garner the rUnner-up position, while Pepper earned third and Hines was fourth. Suzuki's Randy Hawkins, the d~fending National Champion, dropped a total of six points for fifth overall, and has some ground to make up heading into round two next week. The first loop started promptly at 8:01 a.m., and Team Green's Jimmy Lewis was breaking trail on minute one. "It wasn't that big of an advantage being on the first min ute, beca use there was no dust," said Lewis. "The only tracks I had to follow were from the guys that laid out the course, and they were going all over the place." Roeseler was riding on minute 29 with teammate and 1990 Western Regional Supercross Champion Ty Davis. "I'm completely covered as far as timekeeping goes," said Roeseler. "I've got two odometers, and if both of them stop working, I can use Ty as a backup." The loop began with a 24 mph speed a verage, and most of the top riders zeroed the first check. However, Suzuki teamsters Hawkins and Steve Hatch, who were riding on minutes 30 and 31, got their season off to a bad start when they burned the check. "I was getting a little excited, and I missed a 'pie plate (mileage marker)," said Hatch. '1 think the mileage was off by a little bit, too; it wasn't consistent. They probably laid out the course when the ground was muddy, because you'd be two-tenths fast, and then 10 miles later you'd be two-tenths slow." Davis, 'who normally competes in desert races, also burned the check. "The one time I let him get in front of me, he bums a check," joked Roeseler. "I was looking down at my clocks and when I looked back up, there was a big manzanita right in front of me. I fell, and he went by and burned the next check!" "I'm not ll'Iuch of a timekeeper," explained the soft-spoken Davis. "I've ridden Tecate, but I've still got a ways to go in enduros." Most of the top riders, including Roeseler, were a minute late to the next check, though many felt that the mileage was off. Russell was one of the few riders to drop two points, putting himself at a disadvantage for the remainder of the enduro. ''I'm not sure what happened," said Russell. "I thought I was about 10 seconds into my minute, but I got to a mileage marker and I was over two minutes late. The check was right after that, so I didn't have time to catch up." After check three, which most AA riders zeroed, the loop ended wi th another tough check, and Russell added another point to his score. "After I missed that one check, I wasn't sure about my mileage," said Russell. "I hit that check on :04, when I should have zeroed it." Roeseler, Lewis and Hopkins all managed to zero the check, and at the gas stop, the three Kawasaki riders were tied for the lead with one point each. Several riders were just off the pace with two-point tallies, including Hawkins and Hines. "I felt like a motocrosser out there," said Hines, who had traded in his Husqvarna thumper for a two-stroke. "I like the four-stroke, but everyone else is on 250s, SO I figured I might as well ride one too. This- one is bone stock, though. I shipped my bike out here but it ended tip in Wyoming, so 1 had to borrow one from a dealer." The second loop was slightly more challenging, and riders hit a special test early on, Roeseler pulled ahead of Lewis and Hopkins by adding just two points to his score on the che.ck-out, while Lewis picked up three and Hopkins scored a four, "I got lost," explained Lewis. "I missed an arrow that I should have seen, and rode for about a minute and a half before 1 realized that 1 blew it." Hawkins' hopes at an overall win ended when he dropped a point at check nine, which most of the top riders zeroed. "This old guy was in front of me and he wouldn't move over," said the defending champ. "I followed him for a while; Then all of a sudden he stopped in the middle of a narrow trail and started cussing me out. I couldn't get around before he took off again, and then he stopped again with his bike cross-ways in the trail." Hawkins' problems weren't over, however. Like Roeseler, he zeroed the last two checks, but with approximately three miles left in the enduro, his RMX250 sputtered to a stop, out of gas. Hawkins pushed his bike for about half a mile before KTM-mounted Charles Halcomb came to his rescue. Halcomb pushed Hawkins for a ways with. his foot before stopping to siphon sOme fuel into the four-time champ's bike. Luckily for Hawkins, there was no check at the finish. Roeseler finished with just three points on his card, scoring the overall win. "That ~as fun," said Roeseler after the enduro. "The mileages were a little wierd, but the trails were perfect, I had a good time:' Russell, Pepper and Hines were each two points off the pace with scores of five, but it was Russell who scored second overall via his tie-breaker scores. "It went pretty good," said Russell. "1 have two more points than Larry, but they were mistakes. I hit the checks at

• Cover