Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ENDURO ECEA Enduro Series Round 3: Curly Fern Enduro • By Mark Uth MILLS. NJ. APR. 28 or ECEA A-class riders it was sink or swim at the 26th Annual Curly Fern Enduro. Hosted by the South Jersey Enduro Riders (SJER), top ECEA competitors were spanked with a new Aonl y special test section that pushed the envelope of rider skill and endurance. Up for th e ch all enge, Northern Virginian Mark Spence slogged his way through the slop to post top scores in the A test, taking home the Grand Champion Trophy and vaulting into the ECEA Enduro Series points lead after three rounds. Spence, who rides a Manassas Honda-sponsored CR250, said afterwards, "I was ready for the slick muddy, root-infested A-loop trail ' which was similar to my practice riding area near home - it was a total blast." Riders from the mid-Atlantic region filled the new parking area adjacent to the Indian Mills Deer Club, where the race would start. Other top contenders who . clashed for the overall included ISDE iron man Drew Smith, 1995 ECEA Champion Jack Lafferty Jr. an local AA riders Ross Benson, Craig Cossa n, Mike McHale, Anthony Tomasello, Craig Shenigo, Richard Lafferty, and Marc Grossman. Weekend atmosp heric conditions were near ideal , as clear, sunny skies and mild temperatures on both Saturday and Sunday were a welcomed relief from this year's long winter. Rookie SJER trail boss Kenny Lee Taylor had a whopping 156 miles on the day's route sheet, which translated to a 95-miIe course for B and C riders and 106 miles for the A and AAs. The course was divided int o three loops that made use of the sandy South Jersey lowlands common to the Indian Mills / Waterford area. Key time was at 8 a .m. and riders departed the start and headed east on Atsion Road toward Quaker Bridge. The morning loop was to run riders through a series of plow lines, fire cuts and twotrack sand roads,while testing riders in two high-speed special tests, each sandwiched by a secret check-in and emergency check-out. The first section, run at 30 mph, checked riders in at mile 13.5 and out at 19.0. A handful of top throttle jockeys, including Jack Lafferty [r., Richard Lafferty, Marc Grossman, Ross Benson ~'DIAN [? (Right) Jim Bret ha ur (left) and J ohn Nlefert (right) s trugg le throu gh this 16 mph, points-robbing s ection. (Below) Ji m Bretha ur takes a swim. and Dave Groemm, managed to zero the section, some even minimizing seconds at the emergency checkout. After a reset and some connector trail, the second morning points taker began with a check-in at 31.5. This time, a 35 mph speed averag e for nearly seven miles forestalled any zeros at the checkout, however, the Lafferty brothers, Jack and Rich, Spence, Benson, Groemm and Mike Arendowsky each posted section-best Is. After a healthy reset, riders kept time on a trail ride back to the gun club, completing the 45-mile loop and earning a 2D-minute break at the first gas stop. The midday loop started off with a bit of a rest and some tricky fun as the trail boss had riders keeping time for the first 20 miles . Included in this section was the infamous Blackwater Road, a lengthy section of flooded sand road which has pro vided a watery gra ve for more than a few riders' hopes. A sneaky timekeeping check, check five, was placed near the end of the road, bumming several riders who got panicky while picking their wa y through the liquid. A mile or two of connector sand road was followed by a nice 3-mile section of single-track trail run at 10 mph. This allowed riders with happy righ t hands to cruise for short spurts (pas- sib le check every five-tenths) without w orrying about timekeeping. However, the section ended with another trick, a hidden timekeeping check, that was naturally camouflaged behind a dense stand of laurel bushes. Again, a considerable number of riders were burned. Soon thereafter, things got serious, as a short jaunt down Burnt Mill Road led to a check-in to the mid-loop's first test. Check seven, located at mile 88.0, was followed by a 3.5mile points-taker, run at 30 mph through the mostl y open forest south of Burnt Mill Road. In this section, a couple of mud holes and some short, tight woods work took their toll, as all riders post points at the em ergency check-out, top riders dropping a two. Following the checkout and associated reset, it was time keeping back to the gun club using some fresh singletrack trail, power -line right-of-way and sand roads. After crossing Atsion Road, however, ri ders were gree ted with a check-in into a 3-mile points-taker which ended at a known control and the second gas stop. The section of wood roads, wound through freshly cut forest, fire cuts and single-track trail was easily zeroed by most A and manv B class riders aswell. The third and final loop started after another 2D-minute respite provided by the second gas. Riders departed the gun club and headed west on Atsion road for some timekeeping and conn ectors that eventually lead to the "freew ay" section alongside Murphy's pit. The 4-miIe test, run at 30 mph started with a secret check-in at mile 118.5 and again ended with an emergency check-out. This piece started and ended with fast trail in open forest, in the middle of which was a mile ~r so of ignorant, tight-pitch pine-stick farm that served to drive riders off th e pace. A plethora of top riders dropped two points at the check-out, loca ted at County Line Bridge . It was at this point that the third loop split; B, C, Masters and Women's classes timekeeping their way back to a known control at the gun club, while A and AA riders cruised west on Jacks on Road to a start control, coincidentally check 13, located on the grounds of Atco Dragway. At the start of the A loop, the contest for the overall was crowded with hopefuls. Tied for the lead at the time were Jack Lafferty jr., rock specialist Ross Benson and KX500-mounted Groemm, each carrying 5s. Spence trailed with a 6, while Rich Lafferty, Cossaboon, Tomasello, Grossman, McHale, Arendowsky, Jim GunseIman, John Robbins and John Waiter trailed with 7s. What followed was an 8-miIe piece of the toughest technical trail the ECEA has seen in years, run at a toadish 16 mph. Tight trees, slick, exposed roots, down fallen trees, logs, bike-swallowing ruts and sin kh o les managed to trap all riders sooner or later, confounding the progress of later rows. Back-to-back secret checks split the section, the final being a known control to end the section. The tough conditions took their to ll, as many riders houred out at the first check, while many others just plain gave up before reaching it. Front-runner Benson was one of the casualties, as he fried his Suzuki's clutch early on and ended up DNFing. Things eased som ew hat in the back half of the section, but the gruesome conditions had already sapped riders' sta-

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