Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

the tight confines of the Foxboro Sta te Forest. The first s urprise was Pepper, who redeemed some personal pride and actually recorded the fastest time through the tigh t pi ne forest se ction with a 5:45 at check 10. The next fastest was H ines, who crashed heavily after hitting a tree while trying to pass another rider and missed m atch in g the Moose Racing star's score by a scant three seconds. Hatch rolled in with a 6:55 despite being handicapped by his inoperative clutch, for which he had to compensate by us ing some agg ressive riding skills , which cost him in the unforgiving rocky terrain. "In that security section on th e second loop, I clipped a rock which thr ew th e back end o f th e bike arou nd in a hurry and th rew me on the ground," Ha tch said. " It sort o f s cared m e becaus e I caught my head on the one sid e of the tr ee, sna pped and scraped m y neck up p re tty good. The force of th e im pact s p u n m e a n d the b ik e around like a top. " Fairfax w ould , once ag ain , put his name ahead of a couple of notew orthy competitors, earning a 7:08 at the flag s ahead of Russell, who posted an 8:02 and had been s howi ng flashes of brilliance throughout the day whil e attempting to overcome problems with his rear brake. Hawkins posted an 8:14 and Michael Lafferty an 8:48. The area known locally as "Mo on Crater," which included the typical single-track as 'well as some pretty h ighspeed two-track trail awaited the wa ry competitors next . H ines, once again , propelled his CRE Honda through the section to cla im th e low- score honors over the re st of the contenders w ith a three-point tally, besting Pep per, Hatch and Hawkins - a ll of whom had dropped four points. Hines carried the lead an d momen tum into the final 2o-mile loop, hold ing a hefty sev en-point advantage over his closest competitor, Hatch . A d ogfight was also beginning to d evelop for th e last spot on the ro strum , as both Hawkins and Michael Lafferty carried 30s on their scorecards. After a brief 1o-minute layover at the second and final gas stop, Ha tch had nothing to lose and a healthy bike at his disposal after his pit crew repaired his Suzuki's clutch. He attacked the final section of the da y with a vengeance. At the final timed check midw a y th rough th e for est , it would be H ines showing the wa y, but by onl y one second, as Hatch was r id ing like a man possessed and nearly matched the CRE rider' s sc o re of 5:02 a t the flag s . (Above) Defending National Champion Randy Hawkins finished third. (Right) Colorado's KelbyPeppe r was In the hunt ell day and ended up fourth overall. Hawkins and Pepp er were the next fastest pair through the treacherous and strength-sapping section, record ing 5:25 and 5:35 scores, resp ectively. The warning signs of possible trouble for Lafferty began to show at the same check, as he dropped to an 8:33, which gave Hawkins some space to work with, while Pepper loomed in fourth. Th e las t eight-mile jaunt, which would eve ntually point the riders to the final check of the d ay, saw Hines and Ha tch drop only two points each. Right beh ind the two front-runners, Hawkins chec ked in w ith a four , as did Pepper. Laffer ty wou ld n't have the luck of his competitors, as he suffered the effects of heat exhaustion and dehydration on ly three miles from the finish, putting an end to what was otherw ise a great rid e. Hines, on the other hand, clai med the day's overall hon ors with a final score of 27, se ven poin ts better than Ha tch. Hawkins wou ld narrowly clinch th e th ird position with a score of 39 over Pepper , who finished one point behind with 40. "I came in very confid en t with the b ike," Hines sa id . "This pa rticular machine is definitely the reason for my, I guess you can call it, rejuvena tion this year. It's very good and inspires confidence in my own rid ing abilities as well a s making r id ing fu n again for me. Other than a coup le of falls because of p roblems wi th tra ffic out there, my d ay went basically like I planned it. I maintained my ad vantage into the final loop by jus t riding cautiously, which meant kee ping a good pace and not doing anyth ing s t u pi d that could damage my bike, or myself for that matter." £x King Philip National Wentham, Massachusetts Results: June 5, 1994 OIA: I. Kevin Hines (eRE) v ; 2- Steve Hatch (s uz) 34; 3. Randy Hawkins (Suz) 39; 4. Kelby Pepper (!

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