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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127852
EVENTS
EDITED BY
CAMERONCOATNEY
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unfain Breakdown Enduro, Round 9
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(Len) Fred Hoess won the
ECEA Foggy Mountain
Breakdown Enduro in
Penn sy lvan ia.
(Below) Jack Lanerty Jr.
took second ov era ll.
The afternoo n loop, d espite its being
short ened at the last minute, provided
plenty o f o p po rtu n iti es to catch the
leader. Three points-taking sections
we re plan ned, ru n in th e mounta in s
west of Blain, and it is in these wes tern
points-taking sections where the boniest
SORR course lies. Trail tha t wi nds its
way u p an d across the boulder -strewn
face o f Tusc aro ra Mountain prov id es
lengthy, tou gh up hill climbs and nea rrelentless rock garde ns. In the first test.
Hoess and Jack Lafferty set benchmark
four-poi nt scor es, bounci ng over the
---l
"a good ride" in which he "d id n' t make
any bad mistakes."
Aga in find ing him self on th e d irty
end of the sti ck wa s Jack Lafferty. A
tou gh compe tito r, yo u could see that
Jack Jr. was again disappointed, assuming the bridesmaid spot he has so often
expe rienced over the past two seasons.
No nethe less, Jack' s ll -po in t card was
easily good enou gh for second ove rall,
besting a hand ful of 12-poin t finishers,
but still three points behind the blistering pace set by Hoess, A logjam of top
racers bu nched up at 12 ticks, includ ing
AA riders Mike Moore, Rich Lafferty
and Jeff Kirchner, as well as A-class
co mpe ti to rs D re w Sm ith a nd Mi ke
A re ndas ky, to fill ou t AA and top Aclass stan dings. WER gu ru a nd Is DE
veteran Smith earned the High Point A
awa rd , eking ou t the victory on emergency poin ts over Mike Arendasky, who
mana ged first place in the 250cc A class.
Veteran-class rid er John Ross squared
off with B-class rival Brian Bolyard , each
d ropp ing 19 points on the da y. Ross
earn ed the High Point B trophy on tie
b reakers, w hilerunner -up Bol ya rd
claimed the first-place B25O-class prize.
In the Novic e class, Robbie Lockar d
and Sean Cully each posted respectable
23-point scores. In another near pho to
finish, Locka rd bested Cully on emergency points for High Point C ho nors,
the latter fin ish in g tops in th e C 200
class.
(:\
Foggy Mou ntain Breakdown End uro
Blain e, Pennsylvania .
Res ult s : July 20, 1997
By Mark UthlTra ll Rider Magazine
File photos by Paul Clipper
BLAINE, r A,JULY 20
"
ast " Freddy Hoess di d it again.
The Suzuki rid er posted another
ECEA End uro Series overall win,
this time at the Foggy Mountain Breakd own End uro and , in th e p rocess,
padded his already-sizable points lead in
his qu est for the series cha mpio nship.
G iv ing hi s Bromely Suz u k i- bac ke d
RMI25 a rest for a change, Hoess campaigned his RM25O, pos ting top scores in
every special test and winning by a sizable three-po int margin. Series rival and
multitim e ECEA Champion Jack Lafferty
Jr . rod e his KTM 250 E/XC to a n 11point finish, earniog second overa ll.
Tinder -d ry conditions prior to th e
race nearl y saw the eve nt canceled, as
th e club d id not rece ive the fina l goahead until Friday afternoon. As a result
of the event's closed-course forma t, this
event usually draws a big crowd of riders, bu t d u e to q uestions reg ard ing
whether the race was on or off, as well
as a Iast-minute concession that
required bikes be equipped with spark
arres tors, this year's end uro was a little
thinner than usual and played havoc on
un prepared riders. Neverth eless, near ly
300 rid ers showed for the event, still
billed as one of the tougher endures on
the ECEA sched ule.
Starting from the Blaine Fairgro unds,
the Susqueha n na Off-Roa d Rid e rs
(SORR) pu t on a run that crissc rossed
the valley between Tusca rora and Blue
Moun tain, with much of the run falling
in the Tuscarora State Forest, northwest
of Harrisburg.
sORR la id ou t a two-loop
course, with a gas stop back at
the fairgrounds. The SO-mile
trail was split nearly e venly
between the m orning a nd
afternoo n loops. Last-minute
concer ns of local fore st-fi re officials,
howev er, resulted in a shut-down of a
lengthy afternoon special test, lopping
off some seven or eight miles of perhaps
the boniest Foggy Mountain trail.
Th e e nd uro st a rted w it h se ve ral
miles of mostly blacktop connectors that
led to a start control at the beginn ing of
the grass-track special test. The re was
troubl e right at the onse t, as an insufficient num ber of spotters and /or ribbo ns
failed to keep competit ors from shaving
comers (or worse) in the grass-track test,
leading to a scoring nightmare. For riders that followed the cou rse, th ree or
fou r points down would have bee n a
good romp through the section. However, nearly universal corner-cutting led to
grea t disparities in the scores seen at the
check-out, eventually necessitating that
the test be disqualified. After this inauspicious beginning, riders headed off to
the woodlands for two fast-paced special tests, each controlled by check-in
'a nd check-out . Hoess immediatel y
seized the ad vantage here, going 1-2
through the two points-taking sections,
while most other contenders for the
overall dropped five, including Jack lafferty, Mike Moore, Rich Lafferty, Jeff
Kirchner, Bill Atkinson, Drew Smith,
Mike Arendesky, Dwa yne Shi rk and
Mike Sigety, each posting identica l 2-3
talli es through the test. From there, it
was back to the start for refueling, with
Hoess enjoying an easy two-poi nt lead .
loose fields of gra nite, while a hand ful
of others - including Moore, Rich lafferty, Kirchn er, Smit h, Sigety, Arendasky
and Kenny Law - scooted in a point
behind at five. Cha lleng ing mountaintop co n necto rs saw man y rid er s fall
behind in the co m ing miles, which
could have been a problem if not for a
canceled mid loop points-taker and the
resulting lengthy reset. A heigh tened
fire threat in the woo ds in wh ich the
midloop section was to be run led local
forest officials to close down that patch
of forest and , with it, nearly eight miles
of points-robbing trail. Ins tead, ride rs
were g ra n ted a big reset and encouraged b y club me mbe rs to safely rid e
ah ead to the next reset. This leisurely
break in the aclion recharged the riders'
batteries , most being well-rested for the
short final test that began with a checkin near mile SO. Hoess again set the pace
at the secret check-out, coasting in a single tick down and thus besting the two
poin ts dropped by the Lafferty brothers,
Moore, Kirchner, Smith, Arendasky and
Todd Reder.
Blacktop connectors brought all back
to the known control, weary but none
the worse for wea r.
Soon afte r the dust se ttled , Hoess
emerged with an apt victory, lightin g up
the competition wi th a no-sweat win at
eight points down. Cool at the known
control before knowing how ev eryone
else had fared, Hoess was well-reserved
when queried about his ride, ratin g it as
O/A; Frrd H~ (Suz).
HIP A:. Drew Sauth (Han).
HIP B; John RoM (He n) ,
HIP C: Robb ie Lockard ( Kaw) .
AA : I. Ja ck Lafferty Jr . (KTM ); 2. Mike Moore(Yam ); 3. Rich Lafferty (KTIA); 4. Jeff Kirch ner (Kaw); 5.
Bill Atkinson (KT'M).
125 A:. 1. Mlkc Sigcry (G-C); 2 En e Pine (Ho n); 3.
Ed M cGall (Ya m ); 4. Bob Agc nrs (G -G l; 5. Cra ig
Co pc L1nd (H on).
125 B: I. Eric Hanna h (H o n ); 2. Joe M,)rch ... e n
-s
(Yam ); 3. Jim Rink (H us ); 4 . Steve Fox (KTM ); 5. Joh n
Diobild" (KTM).
200 A: 1. Bob Mohn (K,aw); 2. Todd Quinn (Kaw); 3.
Ron Lu cas (Kaw); 4. Joe Tav ani (Kaw); 5. Jeff [ensen
(lU w) .
200 B: 1. Mike Lagcla (Kaw); 2. Mark Relen g (Ka w):
3. Gt>u
rg", Sigler (Ka w ): 4. Dav e Moo reh ou se (Ka w ): 5.
r
Aaron IGtl isllt.' (Ka w ).
200 C: 1. ~ .. n C u lly (Ho n); 2. Ma rk Bu rkholder
(Ka w ); 3. Br..d Bom be rger : 4. [a-on Sm ith (Kaw); 5 .
Terry y it.'1lgst CKawl.
2SO A: I. Milt' Art'ndt"'\l.:y (Hon); 2. Dw..ynt> Shi rl.:
(KAw ); 3. D av e Maco (Suz); 4. Sa m v eedet eo (K.l w ); 5.
Chric\l:en Eyrich C"-'TM).
250 B; 1. Brian Bolyard (H on l; 2. Ke vin Sc hu le-r
lKaw ): 3. Bob Howar d ; 4. Pet e Burn ett (Yam); 5. Da n
Ho
Sha rp less C n).
2SO C: 1. Joey Snulh (KJlw ); 2. John Swoager (KTM);
3. Jdt Hu ghs; 4. Mike StraUM ; 5. Jim Chapman (Ka ",ยท ) .
O PEN A: 1. Matt Spi egelm ye e (KT M ); 2. De an
Spencer (KTM); 3. Rich Kline (H o nk 4. Jamie Wri gh t
( ~w,;
5. Chff Tenn y (KTM).
OPEN B: 1. B liol. Randa ll; 2. Pol l Bittin g ( KT'M); 2.
u
JoeCalae Jr. (KTM); 4. Rod White O