Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Enduro Round 1: Quicksilver National Enduro AMA ACERBIS NA TlONAL ENDURO SERIES COALINGA, CA, FEB. 14 Z250-moW1.ted Ty Davis turned in a sequence of good check scores to captured his fourth consecutive Quicksilver ational Enduro overall win. The event, which drew the country's finest timekeepers, served as the first round of both the District 36 Northern California Enduro Series and the AMA ational Enduro Series. '''This was one of the closest races I've ever had at the Quicksilver," Davis said, after turning in a scorecard showing 14 point for the three-loop, 112ground-mile course. . Doug Blackwell took second overall, with a score of 15, beating Russell Pearson on tie breakers by mere seconds. Fourth overall went to the 1997 and 1998 National Enduro Champio'n Mike Lafferty, who scored 16. Tie-breaker points also separated fifth-placed Brian Garrahan from sixthplaced Randy Hawkin , each carding 18 points. The Salinas Ramblers Motorcycle Gub could not have special-ordered better weather and course conditions, as 214 riders left the start beginning at 7:31 a.m. under a mostly sunny sky. Loop one took riders down mining and fire roads, across tight singletrack trails and through rocky sections at speed averages between 18 and 24 mph. The loop led riders through three checks and over 25 miles of terrain. A lick, rocky creek bottom and a narrow trail thickly lined with manzanita were designed to get riders into single file prior to check four, which was a check-in to a special test. The cour e then split, sending the A and B riders over wetter, rockier trails, while the C riders were detoured to fire roads that sent them aroW1.d the tougher terrain near Spanish Lake. Both routes merged after check five, an A- and B-only check. Several of the top riders came into the gas stop after check six with only two dropped points. Lafferty was dm'lfIl by more, but he was not certain why. "1 just didn't have it together in that first ection," Lafferty said. After the gas, riders crossed a branch of the San Benito River and climbed 'J1 (Above) Ty Davis opened the AMA Acerbis National Enduro Series with a win. (Left) Defending National Hare Scrambles Champion Doug Blackwell heads out into the second loop. Blackwell went on to finish second overall. ..; ..c:: u (;j ~ 26 the infamous rocky uphill out of a campground to another course split. Once again the A and B riders took the tougher trails, while the C riders were diverted over milder terrain. Another special test began at check even, taking riders over fire roads and on several winding, single-track trails at a 24-mph average. Jeep roads and a 6mile reset followed, allowing many riders to get back on time. The second loop continued around San Benito Mountain and featured fire, mining and jeep roads mixed with tight, brush-lined single-track trails. After another special test, the separate courses merged together and riders headed back toward camp after tbe 10th check, where the finish line waited for the C class, A and B Vets, Seniors and Super Seniors. At the end of the second loop, many of tbe top riders had added only one more point to their scorecards. Da vis had dropped two. "1 got lost on a clear, flat plateau," said Davis. "There were tracks all over. When 1 turned around, 1 saw the course arrows laying on the ground where someone had knocked them over." Davis made it to check eight 10 seconds too late, which cost him an extra point. After a la-minute refueling break at the campgrounds, the third loop began for the rest of the A and B cia ses. Many other riders who could have finished after the second loop were not ready to call it a day and opted also to ride the last loop. The third loop hared the first few miles that had been used for the first loop, but at Picacho Rock, near the old Picacho Mine, the course turned onto rockier and tighter trails. A 24-mph speed average was set for nearly the entire loop, making the tougher rock-strewn trails even more challenging. Blackwell started to have some problems at the beginning of loop three. "1 was in the driver's sea t; tben I saw it slipping away," said YZ250-mounted Blackwell. "It was a fluke. My goggles were fogging up. 1 crashed a couple of times and I got lost. Much of the third loop was identical to the last time 1 rode here in 1995. It's hard to forget tho e sections littered with rocks and the stubborn manzanita bushes. I remember laying on the ground" thinking, 'Doug, the clock is ticking'. I'm still pleased with my performance."

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