Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Northern California Championship Enduro Series, Round 9 (left) Dave Wood emerged from the Northern California woods with a .02-of-apo int loss for the overall and AA win at the 35th annual '4ger Enduro in Elk ins Flat , California. (Below) Tim Stowe scored the w in in the 250c c A class and t ied for second overall. Here, Stowe is seen cross ing a bridge specially bu ilt by th e hosting Polka Dots Motorcycle Club t o allow ri ders to cross the river without harming an end ange red · species of frog. By Jill Ashworth Patterson I A la ~ co 0\ 0\ ,..... 00 ,..... 1-< aJ ..Q E aJ ;> o z 32 ELKINSFLAT,CA, OCT. 25 av e Wood put together an as ton ~IJ" ishing ly near-perfect sco re of 0.02 of a point, increased his w inning s reak to three and secured the overa ll and AA-elass victo ries at the 35th annua l ' 4ger End uro, w hich was the ni nth round of the o rthern Ca lifornia Champ io nship Enduro Series, held at Elki ns Fiat , Ca lifornia. In a tie for the second-overall honors, wit h a ma zi ng sco res of 0.03, we re Wood land Cy cle Moos e / Benn ett Ltd .sponsored Tim J. Sto w e a n d Cycle Pro / Fau lt lin e Sus pension /Moose-supp ort ed C raig W e's n e r. Stowe al so claimed the A 250cc-class fir st p lace, w hile Wesner to o k second in th e AA class. Th e d a y b e fo r e the even t, rain pound ed down the powder-fine dry dirt that is predominant along the '4gers ' terrain , e li m in a t ing th e du st tha t wa s expected to be the key challenge for rid ers o n the a lm os t-9 0- m ile, tw o-loop cours e . Po lk a Do ts M ot orcycl e Club event coordinator Bret Eckert said that this year's co ndi tio ns were th e best the event ha s seen in about lO·years. CRE /Fo x /Elf Oil-sponsored Wood sa id that seve ra l low sco re cards, turned in by riders in the A, B and C classes, w ere due primarily to exce llen t traction found along the en tire cou rse. "Conditions w ere so good, w e could carry some serious speeds throug h the tree s," Wood said . "The course w as w ell-marked and cond itions were fantastic," Wesner said. " It was like riding in my gra nd ma 's ga rden all da y." Overallin g the B class for the first time was Rick Bowser, w ho turned in a card showing a mere loss of 2.68 poin ts for the day . His score dropped him to the 19th - overall finishi ng position, placing him ahead of many A-class riders . Bowser also captu red the first B Vet-elass tro phy . "The gro u nd was abso lu tely per fect, w ith ma ximum tr action and no dust ," Bowser said . "I had my best rid e ever! " The course routed riders through the EI Dorad o National Forest, whi ch o ffe re d prime m oist a nd lo amy tra ils and di splay ed au tu m n's brilliant red s, ye llows a nd oranges o n the dogwood, oa k and ald er trees. Loop one featured sing le-trac k trails throug h th e woods, so me fire ro ad s, a few rocky ar eas, one special test, and a new s ho r t, t ight, twisting sec tio n through den se trees . There were plen ty of resets, which had been pl anned for th e ex pecte d du st , a nd co u rse speeds averaged be tween 18 and 24 mph. At the gas stop, several rider s compa re d their scores and d iscover ed that ma nv of them had zeroes. -i kn ew it was going to be o ne of thos e days where th e winner would be the guy who d oesn't mak e any mistakes, riding or ment al," Bowser sa id . Stowe was pumped a bo u t having a great sco re and for be ing able to have so mu ch fun o n his rid e at the sa me tim e. " Las t year, I finis he d second here," Stowe sai d . "I hope I can keep my pace and ge t the overa ll tod ay." Afte r th e gas, riders w ent back o ut throu gh the heavily w ooded forest and d o wn in to a canyon to w ard a n a rea ca lle d " Dog tow n C reek Crossing." A bridge was built ther e jus t for the event by the Polka Dots to get rid ers over the middle fork of th e Consumnes River without di sturbin g areas that could be the habitat of a protected species of red legged fro gs. EI Dorado Forest Service's Ron Hancock wat ched as rid ers crossed over the pall et -and-ch ain-link-fen ce bridge and sai d, "The cl u b s ure did a good job building the bridge." A specia l test began at th e check a few hu nd red ya rds up a hill af te r the brid ge. Rid er s w er e sent th rough tig ht trees and u p a ro ck y secti on th at was like a stai rcase o f soli d rock w ith loose rocks on top. . Th e test caused many rid er s to drop their first full points of the day, and it was where Wood, Stowe and Wesner lost their only tie-brea ker seconds of the event. "A nyw h ere you can get nea r your mark of 30 withi n five seconds is pure luck, " Stowe said. Fast trails and fun sections led riders to the fina l check, w here th eir route sheets sho wed it was the beginning'of a last special test . Som e tried to speed off into the test and were d isappoin ted to learn that it w as rea lly the fini sh . "That last check wa s placed to see if rid er s would go hot into the fictitious short spe cia l tes t, bu t sinc e m os t of us wer e riding pos sibles, they didn't ca tch us burning it," Wood sa id . The Polka Dots also held a poker run . in co n ju ncti o n with the en d u ro . Th e poker runners didn 't hav e to w orry abou t timekeeping while they wer e rid ing o n th e same cou rse as th e end u ro ri ders . Some of th em m ad e thei r way from their starti ng positio ns be hind the C class, through bo th the C .and B class.' es and up into th e A class . They kept othe r riders alert by provid ing an extra chall enge/ obs tacle throu gh th e tighter sections of the course. "Ju s t im agin e t ha t - traffic in the woods ," Four-Stroke A -clas s thirdplace finish er Russ Per eira said . Some of the enduro rid er s also participated in th e p oker run and drew their cards at eac h chec k while keeping tim e. Poker-run first prizes of $75 w ent to John D a v is for h igh h and a n d Richard Dyer fo r lo w hand. Pr izes of $25 went to Kenn Hawes for second highest hand and Ch ris Brigg for seco nd- lowest hand . Sw ift tall yin g of score ca rds by th e Polka Dot s a llo wed tro phies to be handed out to en d u ro class ,~ wi nners before the d ay was ove r. '4ger Enduro Elkins Rat, California Results: October 25, 1998 O /A : 1. Dave Wood (e RE); 2. mE) Craig Wesn er (}(aw) / Tim J. Stowe-(Suz); 4. Ed Dia z (Yam); 5. Ste ve Shoema ker IHon ). AA : 1. Dav e Wood (CRE); 2. C raig Wesn er (K.1W); 3. Dave Froman ( K.1w); 4. Brian Butler Ui (ln). A 250: 1. Tim J. Stowe (Suz); 2. Steve Shoema ke r (Hon); 3. Damicn Ga lford (1G.1 W); 4. Brian Spe rle (Hon): 5. Jim Math eson ( H e n ). A 4-STRK : 1. Ed Di.1Z (Yam); 2. Iason Howe (Ho n): 3. Ru ssell Pereira (Ho n) ; 4. G len Martinson (KTM ); 5. Matt Bruba ker Il-ion). A VET: 1. C hris Worl ey (K.,W); 2. Marc DeMarco ( KTM:); 3. Chris To ma n IHon): 4. Brad Rice (K.1w). A S R: I. Ken t Parker (Ka w) : 2. Dav e Langcor (KT M); 3. Wa yn .. Hat ch (Ka w ); 4. C h ris Von Kleis t · (5uz) ; 5. Scott Rey no ld s (Ho n) . A S /SR : 1. Don Ma theson (Hun); 2. To m Guidic e (KTM); 3. Peter Prichard (KTM); 4. Rick Gui dice (KTM ); 5. Bill Ta ylor (Hon). BOlA: 1. Ric k Bow ser (Ho nl : 2. Darre-ll Bishop (Hon) : 3. St ev e And er son ( Ho n) : 4. (T I E) Hea t her wilso n (Kawj/ Le Wilso n (KT M). y . B 200 : 1. C had G rass (Ho n): 2. Bobb y Tho mso n IKaw): 3. Kent Jenkins IKaw ): 4. Chris Baker (KTM); 5. C h ris to p her You ng (Bon). B 250 : 1. Heath e r Wil son (Ka w) ; 2. T im oth y Ca mpbell (Suz) : 3. Simo n Ph iza ck erlc y (He n): 4. Mike Jura (Hen). B -I-STRK : 1. Darrell Bisho p (Hen): 2. John Poo r (Hon ); 3. Da ve Clemons (Yam); 4. Mathew Teegarden (KTht). B OPEN: 1. Patrick Dempsey C'TM); 2. Jeff Mau ro K {Hon}: 3. Leona rd Casella ( KTM ); 4. La rry We ber ("'TM). B VET: 1. Rick Bowser (Hon); 2. Steve Anderson (Ho n); 3. Ley WiL <;Qn (K 'TM); 4 . Tim Simmon... (K lM); 5. Mike Scott (Yam). . B SR : 1. Da n Jen ni ngs (KTM ); 2. Ste p he n H ill (K "1}.f); 3: Rick Araujo (Hon): 4. Flint Forrester (Ho n); 5. Rand v Patterson (Hon) . c O /A : I. Micha el Phair (Yam); 2. Kevin Ruffoni (Hen ): 3. Jason Pe tti na to (Ho n ): 4. Harvey Sc h ule r (Yam ); S. Randy Mtlcl", n (Suz) . C 200: 1. Mich ael John....o n (KTM); 2. Sa m Galford (Ka w );3. Trev or Moo re (Yam). C 250: 1. Mich ael Pha ir (Ya m); 2. Randy Mit chell (5uz); 3. Ma rk Fu lb rig ht (Ka w); 4. Eric Barrett (Yam); S. Eric Elvin {Ho n). C -I-STRK U W: 1. jd so n Pett inat o (He n): 2. Paul Murphy (H en) . e 4-STRK H /W : 1. Kevin Ruffoni (He n): 2. Kenn Ha wes Il-ion ): 3. Mark Lewin (H en ), 4. Jew Pa le rmo (Ho n), 5. Mike Morehe ad (Hon) . COPEN: 1. Russ Johnson (Kow): 2. Chris Dempsey (KTM ); 3. C h ris Be -son (Yam) ; 4 . Rich ard Bell (KTM); 5. 'e Jon Flan agan (Yam) . C VET: 1. Brody Borogno (KTM); 2. Bill Zaka rec kis (Kaw) : 3. Scott Lawre nce (I Iu s); 4. C raig loma n C Hon); 5. Kan Augino (Su:iJ. C S R: 1. Harve y Sc h u le r (Ya m ); 2. John Davis (Hen): 3. james Cu lver (KTM); 4. Steve M..ionc hi (Yam ); 5. Ma rk Pa rker (KTM) . C S /SR: 1. Mc uri g Dav ies ( Ka w) ; 2. K.R. Dellree (KTM); 3. Ike Moor (Hon). C WMN: 1. Tami Rowe ll (Ho n).

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