Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

- - - - - - - - - ---- --- "O FROAD, F Land of Enchantment Endurance Rally ---,------ days of play (Left) The Land of Enchantment Endurance Rally featured more than 1700 miles of both pavement and off-road sections. (Above) Gas stops were few and far between; large fuel tanks were a must . By Dana Bell Photos by Damon Powell O ~ 0\ 0\ ...... (1') N l-< C1) S C1) ;> o z 30 n e thousand seven h un dred an d twent y-five miles of rocks, plains, fores ts and barren dese rt. Obvio usly, this wasn' t going to be your average everyday rid e. Then again, the Land of Encha ntmen t Endu rance Rally (LEER) is not yo ur everyday on / off-ro ad even t. As a lon gt im e en d u ro ri der ex p lo ring the possibilities of on/ off-road ridi ng, th e idea o f a long-distance rally th at requires e n d u ra n ce a n d prepar at ion rather than pure spee d sounded just too good to p ass up . So when th e LEER en tr y fo rm arrived in m y mailbox, I quickly filled in th e bl anks and began ma k ing prepa r ati ons for what, n o doubt, would be a ride of a lifetim e. But jus t to make th ings more fun I talked m y poo r husband , Sam, and good friend Dale Gazzolo, a Motorcycle Safety Foundation ins tru ctor an d chairman of th e Arizona OHV Associa tion, into competing as well. In the process of preparing for the four-day event, insults flew back and forth between California and Ari zona as to wh o would last the longest - a 46-year-old broad (me) or an old man like Dale. The joke eventu ally evolved in to a new challenge whe n Bob Clever, senior man ager of rid er ed u cation and recreation at American Honda, heard about ou r foolish fun and offered to d onate $1700 to Ride For Kids if both Dal e a nd I fin ished th e entire even t. (The Rid e For Kid s Fou ndation is th e on ly p rogram that fund s research for p ed iatr ic bra in tum ors, n umber-o ne kill er o f chil dren to day) . Now that's wha t I call an incentive - the chall enge was glad ly accep ted . The Land of Encha ntment Endurance Rall y is a un iqu e event organized an d su p porte d by a rem arkable group of p e opl e an d compan ies . LEER is the brainchild of Roger Patt ison . He serves as the motorcycle represe nta tive on the Nat ional Recr eati on al Trai ls Fund Act Ad visory Commi ttee; is an advisor to the National Off-High way Vehicle Conservation Council, and is a past competitor and class winner of South Ame rican endurance rallies. As menti oned, th e LEER event is qui te unique. On this year's agenda was a fou r-da y ride that w ould to ta l ove r 1700 miles through mostl y the eastern h alf of th e state of New Mexico, an d in cl u d e t imed special tests, ca refu l route-chart interp retatio n and jus t plain long day s in th e sa d d le. En d u ra n ce would be the key to success - finishing . Street- le ga l dual s por t b ik e s are required. . Dale, Sam a n d I w er en' t th e o n ly ones crazy enough to give th e LEER rally a sho t. Sixteen riders fro m seven states met in Clovis, "New Mexico, on Monday afternoon, Sept emb er 26th for th e sta rt of th e second ru nn ing of the LEER en d u rance ra lly . A sp ecial tes t prol ogu e w as used to dete rmine th e ra lly 's s ta rti ng o rder. The p ro logue included a sho rt rid e out of town, a severa l mile special test and a ride back into to wn wi t h s to ps at lo cal moto rcycl e dealers. This wo uld be a piece of cake, I thought. Boy was I wrong! The specia l test became the Grea t Cow Trail Maze. Designed as a test of the riders ability to follow the ro u te charts that we wo uld rely on for the next fou r d ays, the test area was rolling fields crisscrossed by a zillion cow trials . The comedy of 16 rid ers going every which way taught all a valuab le lesson that when the chart said turn, one had better turn. So h ow'd I do, yo u as k? I'd just as soon not talk abou t it. We departed Clov is at 6:00 a.m . It was cold and d ar k with stars still shinning brightl y. The daywould be a test of menial and physical tenacity . What laid ahead was a 522-m ile course headin g northwest to almost th e Colorado border, then back southeast to Santa Rosa, a town located less th an 100 miles from • o ur m orn ing s ta r t a rea . Th e r o u te incl u ded un e xp ected miles of the Tucumcari canals and va st grasslands that stretched from horizon to ho rizon, a w in d ing lan e alo ng the Mora ri ve r, a ro cky en d u ro trail test through Mills Canyon, a journey back in time through San Ag us tin Valley alo ng th e Gal linas River and throu gh the picturesque ruins of Concep cion. My goa l this day was simple - to finish . For me this was th e most critical d ay, since Monday wo uld be the longest of the event, and I h ad no idea h ow I wo uld hold up. I had never befor e rid den a mo torcycle that far in one day, let alo ne a di r t b ike . I ju st d idn' t know wh at to expect. Again, I had to finish the day. I didn' t care if I houred out - I just ha d to rid e the whole cou rse. I knew the first d ay wo uld be a mental and ph ysical challenge, but it ended u p bein g more mentally tou gh th an I had th ou gh t. At one point la te in the da y, my mind began p laying tricks on me. My h andl ebars b eg an feelin g as thou gh they were bending back and that my arms were becomin g one w ith the con tro ls. It w as a stra nge sensatio n. I had to cons ciously keep looking down a t my handlebar s to convince myself that everything was all right. Th e da y took its toll. Sev en rid ers houred ou t and one rider dropped out. Sam and I w ere two of the seven who had hou red ou t, as we pulled 'into the finish in the dark, 17 minutes late after having ridden over 14 hours. The satisfactio n of conque ring the da y, however, smothered the disappointment of hour in g out. Lu ck ily, rally rules h eap on p enalty p oints for hourin g out but allow a rider to remain in the event. Dale, a nothe r victi m o f Father Time, and I w ere s till offici a lly in and th e $1 700 for th e " kids" w as nowad ay closer . Follo w ing th e first da y of com pe tition, Californian Damon Powell, aboa rd a H ond a XR650L, sa t o n top o f th e lead erb oard, followe d by Texa n Marty Howell on a Yamaha XT350. In th ird over all, another rid er fro m California, was B class ride r Ken Ku gel, ridi ng a

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