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Northern California Championship Enduro Series, Round 10: Cowbell Enduro
finish ed second ov era ll and first in the
AA class, ca me ou t of th e test jus t 12
seco nds slower than Stowe - losing his
only four poi nts of the day in the test.
"We reall y got to rail in that test; it
was the bes t one we've ha d all fall," Butler said.
Third overall and seco nd in the 250cc
A class was Dam ien Ga lford, the only
other rider to card jus t four poi nts coming ou t of the test.
" It was hard to stay focused and not
zone o u t in t he test ," Ga lford sai d,
exp laining ho w good it felt to catch and
UPPER LAKE, CA, OCT. 31
oo d la n d C ycl e' s Suzu ki mounted Tim J. St owe drew
from his reserv e of ene rgy and
sta mi na to beat the AA-class competitors and becom e the firs t A-class rider to
claim an ove ra ll win in the 1998 Northern California Cha mpionship Endu ro
Series. Stowe also wo n th e 250cc A class
in the Cowbell Enduro - round 10 of the
series - wi th his wi nning score of 4.222.
The 82-mile, two- loop course began at
the Midd le Creek OHV staging area in
the Mendocino Nat iona l Forest and was
hosted by the Hayward Motorcycle Club.
HMC' s course coordinator, Jerry
" Bu ffalo" Lozier, sent riders onto loop
one, through Middle Creek's d ry creek
bed and up a trail tha t ran alo ng clifflike
drop-offs and had great views of Clear
Lake and the Cow Mountain Recreation
Area .
Then the Sled Rid ge Trail carried
riders from the O H V area's lower elevatio n of a bou t 18 00 feet u p to th e
hig her tr a il s tha t sc ramb le between
3200 an d 4200 fee t in elevation . Loo p
o ne covered nea rly 47 miles of wi nding
s ingle- track tr ai ls , s teep h ill s , creek
crossi ngs and tig h t, wooded sec tio ns .
Speed a ve rages ranged betwee n 12 a nd
24 miles per hour. Th e primary distinction of the first loop, and the main chal lenge of th e ev en t, w as a lo ng specia l
tes t, just befor e gas, that w as 17 miles
lo n g . Rid ers e ncou ntered o ne of th e
tightest trails a nd some of the thi ckest
bu sh es th a t th ey h a v e faced in th e
se ries - all at a 24-mph speed ave rage.
Sp rocket Speci a list s / Scott USA /FMFspo nsored
Stowe
d rop ped his on ly four
p o int s of t h e d a y
wh en h e e me rged
from the test wi th the
fastest time.
"I wa s riding a t an
un con s ciou s pa ce ,"
Stowe sai d. "I've been
tr a in in g a nd wait ing
for a lon g te st like
that all year, kn owing
m y s tre ng th and stam in a coul d o u t las t
the o thers."
Brian Butl er, who
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38
(Above) Tim Stowe
jumps over a tree root
during the dusty first
loop of the Cowbell
Enduro , held at Upper
Lake in California.
Stowe captured 't he
overall and the 250cc
class w in .
(Right) Dave Froman
ended up fourth overa ll
and second in the AA
class after a solid day
of racing in the
Cowbell Enduro .
As th e rain co ntinu ed, ai r tem pe ratures drop ped, and riders tried di fferent
me thods to keep warm, especially w hile
on the fire road s and faste r trails tha t led
to the finis h.
Wesner , who ended up fifth overall
and thi rd in the AA class , said, "I rode
with one hand o n the gas and the other
o n the motor."
Stowe, G a lford a nd Da ve Froman ,
fourth overa ll a nd secon d in the AA
class, sai d they also tried using similar
routin e s . But le r used a d iffere nt
approac h.
"I tried d oing ju mp ing jacks and ae robic m oves as I rode ," explained Butler.
"Then I realized how rid icu lous I mu st
look. I glanced back at the rid ers behin d
me , and th e y .w er e d oin g th e s a me
thing!"
Af te r th e sco res were ca lcu lated,
Stowe's 4.222 kept him first, a hea d of
Butle r' s fina l score of 4.246 . Ga lfo rd,
w ho sai d he crashed abou t a mile before
the fin ish and thoug ht he b lew it ,
d ro pped o ne more po int at the final
check a nd ended the day wi th a 5.238.
Froman turned in a 6.357, while Wesner 's card totaled 7.313.
When Stowe discovered he won, he
quickly acknowledged the co nsideration
of other rid ers .
"I really thank the ot her riders for
sho wing respect and pu lling over so fast
to let me pass in that long test. " Stowe
said. "Other\\"ise, I may not have won ." l~
Cowbe ll Enduro
Upper Lake, Californ ia
Result s: October 31, 1998 (Round 10)
O /A: 1. TIm ]. Sto we (Suz); 2. Brian Butler IHon): 3.
Dam ien Galford (K.1W ); ... Dave Froman (Ka w): 5. Cra ig
Wesn er ( K.1W) .
AA: 1. Brinn Butle r ( Ho n ): 2. Dav Froman (K3w); 3.
C ra ig wesner (Kit w ); 4. Dave Wood ( RE).
A OIA : 1. Tim J. Stowe (Suz): 2, Damicn Ga lford
( Ka w ); 3. Matt w all ace (Ya m ): 4 . Glen Marttnson
(KT M ); 5. J"<;OI1 Cerbi (Hun).
A 200: 1. MOttl w al la ce (Yam) ; 2, Martv Walden
(Yarn): 3. Loren Higley (Ya m l; 4 . Robert Wynn' (KTM ).
A 250: 1. Tim J. Sto we (SUL); 2. Damicn Ga lford
O(..lW); 3. ja son Gcrb i (Hon) : 4 . Ben Ha tch (H e n ): 5.
Brian Sperle (Ho n ).
A UW 4--5TRK: 1. C lt. n Martinson (KTM); 2. Rus s
·
P...reira (Hun); 3. R. Tho rn ton (He n): 4. John Poor [e.
(Hun); 5. D . Ambler {l-loul .
A HI\\' -l-5TRK: 1. Trov Win slow (.... M); 2. Mich.lcl
I
Behrens (KTM).
.
A VET: 1. Eric Von Urff (He n): 2. Bill Jarvis (Hon);
3. Ben Gledh ill ( Kaw ): 4. Tod d Winslow (Ka w ): 5 . Joe
MullenOww ).
A 5R : I . K en t Park.. r (K.1W); 2. D. Matt ( Hon): 3.
Sco tt Reynolds (Hem); 4. D.l lt" Greenhalgh (.... M] ; 5. R~
i
Libe rty {Hon) .
A 5/S R: 1. l'e te Prichard (KT \tt); 2. Bill Ta ylo r
(Han).
pass ot her rid er s. "I' m rea l jazzed that
my time bea t Craig (Wes ner) in the test it's the first tim e I have trul y beat him ."
Several rid er s exited the test sec tion
wi th visible battl e scars. Rick Bowser, the
B-class overall winner , had large chu nks
mi s sing from b oth jersey s leeves a nd
fresh scra tches and welts on his arms.
"Ma n, that s tu ff was tight," Bowser
said . "The re goes another jers ey."
Another B-class rid er, Rand y Patterso n, couldn't find his wristwatch.
"Those b ushes sna tched th e watch
rig ht o ff m y a rm ," he sa id . "I had it
before th e test , but n o w it s go ne ."
Oddl y , his je r sey s lee v es w e ren 't
scraped or torn.
It sta rted ra ining as the firs t rid ers
en
left the gas . Loop one ha d be d ry and
dusty, bu t th e fres h rain caused riders to
use so me cau tion on th e seco nd loop.
"The trails went from slick to dus t,
slick to d us t, and we could n' t trust our
tires," Stowe sai d . "Seeing was a bi t of a
problem w hen the rai n kicked u p the
dust and it stuc k to my goggles," Butler
said. "Most of us weren't se t up for rain,
and ou r goggles fogged up."
BOlA: 1. Ricl Bo w ser IHo n): 2. Da rrell Bishop
(Ha n ); 3. Heather wilson IKa w ); 4. Bobbv Thom son
( Ka w ): 5. Dav e Clemons (Ya m) .
•
8 20 0: 1. Bobby Thomso n (Ka w); 2. Chad Grass
(H o e).
S 250: 1. H eathe r Wilson IKoJw); 2 . Sim on
Phizackertey ( Hem ); 3. Mike jura ( He n) : 4. Tim
Campbell