Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

:;;' AMANational ChilnlpionshipReliabilltyEnduro series ' Round 4: Lone Wolf Qualifier RELIABILITY ENDURO~: ' :::: (Left) Rodney Smith survived brutal Day-Two conditions to score the overall win and take over the lead In the points chase. (Below) Not your typical enduro rider, Ty Davis hams It up for the cameras In the final motocross te~t. He finished second overall• • r. ml oes ornor By Steve Berkner TILLAMOOK, OR, MAY14-15 hen defending National Reliability Enduro Champion Rodney Smith came to Tillamook, he had yet to score an overall vic tory in the series. Becau se of land-use problems, only one final motocross test had been held in the first three rounds, and a grass-track special test had yet to be run. Smith, a former World MX GP competitor, had not been able to take advantage of his motocross skills, and his results reflected that fact; his best showing had been a second-place finish at round one in Arkansa s, where the terrain tests were more akin to a national enduro than a typical Qualifi er. In fact, Nation al Enduro Champion Randy Hawkins was the overall winner. The next two races took place in desert conditions, and were predictably won by hare & hound aces Danny Hamel and Ty Davis. . The Tillamook round seemed an unlikely point for Smith to take over the series lead. He was seven p oints do wn on Hawkins, and would need to beat his teammate by at least two positions to overtake him. Smith did just that (and more), how ever, overcoming the tough trail conditions to post the win more than six minutes ahead of Hawkins. "All I can say is that this event was a real tough one," sa id Smith after the race. "I had decent tests both days and really didn't have any trouble when it counted." Rounding out the top five finishers were Davis, Italian off-road star. Davide Trolli, National Hare & Hound Champion Danny Ham el and CRE26D- W 20 mounted Kevin Hines. Hawkins w as sixth overall. Smith 's win was impressive. Thou gh there was a final motocross test, most of the trail resembled a tou gh nat ional enduro. Still, Smith finished ahead of three former or current Nation al Enduro Champion s . Before the even t, Lobos M.C . president Barrett Bro wn said , "When this Qualifier is over on Sunda y, 1 doubt if yo u'll see anyone sm ili ng except the overall winner. Our club's philosophy is that a National Reliability Enduro is su pp osed to challenge the best riders - and take points away from those not up to the challenge." The two-day event was held in the Tillamook State Forest and ORV Park in Northwest Oregon, and was org anized under specia l-use permits gra nt ed by local authorities. Day One we nt off without a hitch for most riders, as a simple 20 mph speed average was used for' the 100 miles of trail. Four special tests were included, each app roximately five miles long and consistin g of tight, technical trails and two-tra ck fire road s. After check three, riders were treated to a section called "The Plunge" - a milelong downhill trail that most elected to walk their bikes down. The first and last test s were th e same, and ri der s were on ly allo we d 10 minutes to wo rk on th eir bike s before impounding at th e end of the day. At that ' point, th e lead erb oard showed Smith leading the field with a 5O-second cushion on Davis. Hamel was another six seconds ba ck, lead ing the rest of the field by over 60 seconds. " I didn't reall y ha ve an y problem s tod ay during my special tests, " sai d Smith. "I ran into a couple of lapped riders, but for the most part they got out of the w ay . It got a little dusty on the roads, but the trails were perfect. The special tests went from one extreme to another. First they'd have you going on some tight single-track, and then you'd be on a road for a mile or so. Then it was back into the tight stu ff. You really had to be on your toes." " I had a problem getting into the groove today," added Davis, also a former motocrosser. "Little th ings kept happening, like I'd blow off the trail or I'd cr ash . I ev en fell off one of th e bridges. 1 just couldn't find my rhythm. I had trouble with my bike when a piece of torn gas ket from my auxiliary tank got caught in the carburetor . 1 lost some time (in one of the tests): ' Day Two used the first three special tests and checks from Day One, and ran a total of 134 trail miles before ending in Tillamook for the final MX. Because rain was forecast, the B sched ule was used, bringing the speed average down to about 15 miles an hour in some sections. Going in to Day Two, Smith found himself in a unique situa tion. He had a decent lead over Davis, and the two were riding on the same row. "Because Ty and 1 rode together, it was easy to keep an eye on him...during our special tests," said the American Suzuki/Thor/ Bieffe/Smith/FMF /Race Tech/Pro Taper / Uni / Alpinestars/PowerBar / Mot ion Pro/Dunlop/DeVol/ Acerbis sponsored Smith. "I knew 1 had about a minute to w ork with, so when he fell behind in some tests, I knew 1 was pulling ahead of him. I was able to play it safe and not take any unnecessary chances." Moments after the first rider left at 8:00 a.m., the rain began to fall and continued to do so throughout the day. After finishing the third terrain test and riding to check three, the riders were sent across the Wilson River Highway to new terrain, and checks four through seven. Here, they were treated to terrain test number four, along with the toughest transfer sections of the event. One such section included routes called "Sticks and Stones" and "Bungee Jump" - both long downhills that riders were fo rced to bulldog on . These two descents took the fight out of most of the riders, and checks fiv e and si x claimed most of the penalty points. "Sunday's new sections were really tough," said Davis. "It was just grueling; it never let up. After a while, it was like, 'Enough of these tree s, already!' After check seven, when we crossed back over the highway, I thought, 'All right ! We'll just casually make our way back to the final motocross: Then they ran us down "The Plunge" again. Yesterday I rode down it - today 1 got off the bik e and bulldogged it down:' The Hillsboro Honda/Suzuki-sponsored final MX was a on long course that wound its way between a freshl y mowed flat grass track and a small supercross-style practice track that was located in an adjacent pasture. The land was owned by Jim Deswart, a local dairy farmer . "I must have gotten some bad gas at

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