Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ENDURO AMAIACERBIS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPENDIIJOSERJES~ miles with reset. Instead of multiple loops, it was essentially a giant snaking loop that saw C riders finish a't check five and the AA, A and B entrants continuing nine checks further. The course contained plenty of sand washes, rockfilled single-track, slices of trail on the edges of cliffs and runs up into the nearby hills, where fog and mist instead of desert dust hampered visibility. Previous rains produced a veritable carpet of green across the landscape, with bright flowers adding to the color. It wasn't. your typical day in the desert. '1t's not too often conditions are like this," Team Green racer and local 'favorite Destry Abbott said, laughing. "We're pretty lucky. It's even worse than Southern Cal. It rains maybe once every two months or something. With these storms coming in, it's been kind of nice; I've been riding a lot just because it's like tllis. It's really nice when it gets like this; it gets tacky. It was 'definitely nice conditions." "I don't think it' going to be like that again, that green and that moist," Stavish agreed. "Actually, I was set up for dust. I went and bought some Static Guard, bought a ton of air filters. I was expecting talcum-powder du t, but that was fun - a big difference. The club did a good job. I think the event was a little too easy, though, but they did a good job with check placement." The only check snafu turned out to be the first one_ While mileage seemed to be correct, the clock was apparently off, and the check was eventually thrown out. That left check two as the first one that counted, and all of the front-runners zeroed it, except for Vosburg Racing's Jim Gray, who dropped one point there on his KTM 300. Davis and Pepper were the only riders to carry their zeroes successfully through the next check. The only eventual top-10 finisher to drop more than. one there was Pearson, who collected two. Pepper rna tched Davis check for check all day, it eemed, while most of the contenders would drop just one or two more points per check. When Davis crashed after the gas stop, it seemed Pepper might have the break he was looking for, but Davis shook off the effects quickly. "I zeroed the next check. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to do it," Davis said. "Right after the main gas there, I took off and was going at a mediocre pace, on my minute, then kind of slid off on some rocks. The back wheel hit a big rock. The back end bounced off it - that was okay, I saved it - but then I clipped another one right behind it. That's what threw me over. I just landed bam right-on the ground - all rocks. Luckily, I had a jacket on and didn't break any of my computers. I broke everything else on the bike - smashed a pipe up really good. Then I smashed it even more about two miles later. Luckily, Andrea (Davis' wife) was at that last pit with my box van, and I swapped a pipe, brake ped.al, pad and stuff. "I was pretty much ticked," Davis added. "You can tell the difference when you smash your finger and when you slice it. Blood was gushing out, my glove was getting all wet, and I knew I'd done something. From feeling it, I knew I didn't slice it all the way off, but I knew , I'd sliced it good. I thought, 'You can't ...... give up; you've gotta keep going. I'll get to a reset and check everything out.''' l-< Despite also acquiring a bent rear0... brake pedal, there was no stopping his last year and was maybe going to ride a few of the locals this year. This happened to have been the first race of our circuit. too." Husaberg's Jason Dahners saw a fork seal that needed replacement the day before the race. so he did that and headed out to do a last-minute check on the nearby jetting loop. He ended up having to swap engines with the one in his' spare bike after his number-one engine bfoke the connecting rod and punched through the front of the cases. "I was just idlmg along when it went. - he said. His 26 points earned him 12th overall and first FourStroke A. The top two Senior A riders both' carded 37s. both are forrner Six Days racers. and both are from Colorado (and RMEC regulars). Bruce Field ended up 18th overall on the tie brea~ ers, ahead of real estate mogul Kevin Davis. They also ended up beating the Vet A winner. Chris Willbanks (another ISDE rider from the Rocky Mountain state). by a point. Russell Pearson usually rides aU the races his brother Nick does and vice versa. Not this time. Why? Nick is ~ecovering frorn an injury. so he served as the pit crew for his younger brother. Their father. Lee. drove down separately from Nevada and also helped out. as usual. Though not completely sa'~shed With his seventh overall. Yamaha's Randy Hawkins revealed, "My finish wasn't as good as expected. but also I didn't expect the race to be as technical and tight. I set myself a good pace. The biggest thing I looked at. too. is that this is just the first race ofthe year. You can't win a championship by winnmg this race here. and you've got everything to lose. Like I said. the race was a great race. The An20na Trail Riders did a great job. Technicalwlse. this is a true desert enduro. It was one of the best desert enduros I've ever ridden. I rode good. I rode safe. I rode smart. I didn't ride over my head. I learned some more about the bike· that was another big thing. You test a bike. but you don't really know until you race· te'st it. There are several things that I know that I'rn going to do to the bike that's going to make it better, so it's probably going to make me even faster at the GNCCs. so I'm pretty excited about that. I m~de a few mistakes . but all in all, I have no excuses for finishing in the pOSition I did .. I!'s just a learning curve. maybe. with this four-stroke. Put it this way; I don't think hardly anybody else could've beat me on.a four-stroke today, so it turned out good."

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