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NETRAEnduro Series, Round 9
da
(Left) CREmounted Jason
Cayer took his
fourth overall
victory of the year
at the NETRA
Rubber Cow
Enduro In
Wrentham,
Massachusetts.
(Below) Bob
Stradler leads
Glenn Amold
through the gasline mud hole at
the Rubber Cow
Enduro.
By Paul ClipperlTrall Rider Magazine
Photos by Jay Chittenden
WRENTHAM MA, SEPT. 29
he Rubber Cow?
You either had to be a KPTR member or a BMW fan with a memory
for obscure details to know what the
King Philip Trail Riders had in mind
when they named their enduro. Actually, a group of BMW-fancying club members pulled the name from BMW history, after learning that the German
engineers referred to the flexing frame
on early '70s machines as gummikuh,
which literally translates into "rubber
cow.." Without a doubt, if's a disparaging term, and anyone who has ridden a
King Philip course probably can identify
it with the feeling you acquire after 50
miles or so of Massachusetts rocks.
Jason Cayer mayor may not have
known or cared about the Cow history,
but he attacked the Cow like he has the
rest of the NETRA enduros this year,
and once again chalked up an overall
win. Cayer now has four overall wins to'
his credit, and the best shot of anyone at
takfng the NETRA championsli.ip away
from last year's champion, Kevin Hines.
In spite of a very technical course,
made more so by two inches of rain the
day before, Cayer stayed strong and
consistent through each of the 10 checkpoints, dropping only 28 points along
.the way. Darrell Szlachetka chased after
him for second overall with 30 points,
while Dave Gunn (31), Bob White (31),
and Kemp Stewart (34) filled out the top
five ·overall.
Cayer started out in the catbird seat,
by setting the lowest score of the eventual top five at the first points-taking
check, check three. Cayer scored a 7:45
there, barely edging out Stewart, who
posted a 7:50. Szlachetka and Gunn both
dropped'eight points and change, while
White. was starting out the slowest wit!:l
a 9:24.
There was no time to catch your
. NETRA Rubber Cow Enduro
Wrentham, Massachusetts
Results: September 29, 1996 (Round 9 of 12)
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Magoomba, "and he just had that thing
pinned wide open."
White came blazing in with only five
points' lost - too little. too late - but it did
move him up to fourth overall from
potentially much lower in the standings.
Cayer and Szlachetka were not far
behind with six points each, and for
Cayer it w,as just enough to ensure him
another first overall. Gunn was third
with his seven points at the checkout,
and Stewart's eight was enough for fifth
place overall.
Szlachetka was awarded the A High
Point trophy for his 30-point score and
his brother Gary took home the B High
Point to go along with it. Both of the
brothers ride Kawasakis, and no, they're
not twins. Jarrod Kurosh came out of
the C Lightweight class, riding a KTM
250, to win the High Point C trophy.
Considering the rain and the usual
technically demanding course, the Rubber Cow was quite a challenge, but there
were no protests lodged and everyone
seemed happy with the ride. The route
sheet had shown 84.5 ground miles,
with an actual mileage of just over 66
miles.
In honor of its bovine namesake, the
King Philip Trail Riders gave away
milk-bottle trophies and Team Cow Tshirts, and a raft of continge.ncy prizes
from AXO Sport, CRE Imports, Kevin's
Cycle, Cliff's Cycles, Morel's Husky and
Razee Motorcycles.
A tip of the hat. a pinch of the udder,
and a toast of "Heffa Reffa" home brew
to the KPTR for anoth.er job well done. If
you want to ride a real enduro next year
make plans for the Rubber Cow II, coming to a pasture near you.
breath after the third check, since it was
back-to-back with check number four,
the real check-out for the section. Cayer
once again topped the crowd, this time
with a nine on his card and a whole
point over Gunn and Stewart, who
each dropped 10. Szlachetka came in on
11, while White dropped 12 at the
. check.
A gas stop gave a few minutes
respite, and !}ten check five was a checkin to one of the KP' s shorter but equally
points-robbing sections. Two points
seemed to be the norm here, except for
Stewart, who squeaked in just past his
minute for a three.
The next check was an obvious
check-in, with plenty of road connectors
to keep everyone on time going in, and
you could see it in the scores. All the
riders hit it at the top of their minute,
even though it was an emergency check.
All gave away valuable seconds here,
but when you're talking about King
Philip terrain, it's best to take it away
early rather than give away an extra
minute at the end. In other. words, no
oj\e was going to zero this section.
At the check-out, the results were
surprising. White, who up until check
number eight was fighting to get
warmed up, finally came out of the doldrums and lit a fire under his CRE. He.
twisted it through the section with a .
3:54, very quick compared to Cayer's
4:14, but just barely on top compared to
'Szlachatka's 3:57. Gunn did a 4:35, and
Stewart, who appeared to be losing
steam while White came alive, came out
with a 6:35.
Another connector section allowed
all to get back on time, and then the
final section of the Rubber Cow followed a zeroable check-in. White continued his fast afternoon pace and blitzed
the section.
"We heard him coming for it seemed
like five minutes," said trail boss Joe
O/A: Jason Cayer (CRE) 28.
HI PT A: Darrell Szlachetka (Kaw) 30,
HI PT B: Gary Szlachetka (Kaw) 62.
HI PT C: Jarrod Kurosh (KTM) 63.
A BNTM: 1. Darrell Szlach~tka (Kaw) 3.0; 2. Pete
Tanner (CRE) 42; 3. David Fraser (Kaw) 59.
L/W A: 1. Jason Cayer (QE) 28; 2. Dave Gunn
(KTM) 31; 3. Robert White.(CRE) 31; .. Kemp Stewart
(Hus) 34; 5. Paul Millikemn (KTM) 35.
HlW A: 1. Dave Carlson Jr. (Hon) 45; 2. Eugene
Sweetser (ATK) 53; 3. Bill Sironen (KTM) S7; 4. Michael
Zahansky (KTM) 115.
4~STRI( A: 1. Rich SeymolLr (Hon) 45; 2, Bill
Drummey (Hon) 50; 3.Jim BuUls (Hbg) 61; 4.Tim
Murphy (Hus) 78.
VET A: 1. Ken Robbins (CRE) 41; 2. Frederick
Goldberg (Hon) 54; 3. 'Fom Vella (Hon) 55; 4. Geoff
WurHtzer (Hus) 70; 5. Ed Bishop (Kaw) 70,
SR A: J. Duncan Broatch (KTM) 46; 2. Jerry Randall
(Hon) 46; 3. Jim Smith (eRE) 51; 4. Roger Rodrigue
(KTM) 56; 5. Jim Stoddard (KTM) 69.
BNTM B: 1. Gary Szlachetka (Kaw) 62; 2. Jason
Rawlins (KTM) 68; 3. Ken Bessette (Kaw) 81; 4. Jeff
Black (Kaw) 86; S. David Corrao, 103.
UW B: 1. Paul Piva.. 69; 2. Glenn Arnold (Suz) 69; 3.
Dave Richardson (I