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District 37 Enduro Series, Round 1
Events
By Ron Poeher
Photo by Photos by Grumpy
. RED MOUNTAI ,CA, MAR. 21
M USA's Russell Pearson continued to show his off-road versatility
y taking the overall win at the 44th
annual Prospectors MC Gold Rush
Enduro. Pearson topped a strong field,
which included current National Hare
and Hound champ Ty Davis, who card. ed a 26 to Pearson's 24.
"Nick (Pearson) and I first came here
to test the four-stroke that we rode in
our Vegas-to-Reno victory," said Pearson. "This race used a lot of terrain that
we didn't see in last week's desert race
(the Dirt Diggers MC National Hare and
Hound)."
The Gold Rush Enduro is regarded
as the most prestigious enduro on the
District 37 calendar. The first four miles
of the event were common to all three
loops, but that was where the similarities ended. Loop one headed through
the rolling hills west of Trona Road in a
northwesterly direction before turning
east at the northernmost boundary of
the riding area. After a short jaunt
through the old mining hills just south
of Ridgecrest, riders were sent in a
southeasterly direction and across Searless Station Flats. Racers then rode
through the big railroad tunnel near the
former site of the ola train station, paralleled the tracks' for several miles, and
then traveled south on virgin trails to
the finish of the 36-mile first loop. Moderate hills and speed averages kept
things fun but challenging for the
novices and ama teurs, yet experts had
to stay on their toes to keep zeroes on
their cards.
"One of the neatest things about this
race was that when the course ran
through the open desert, it was on virgin trails," said Pearson. ''It was fun
not having to pound whoops for a
change."
The 3S-mile second loop crossed
Trona Road at the railroad tracks and
paralleled the south side of the rails in
an easterly direction. Then the course
crossed the railroad tracks at Pipeline
Road. Racers then headed northeast and
into the southern end of the Rand Mountains, and they were soon' greeted by a
long, rocky, virgin downhill that
dumped them into the first check of the
loop at mile six. Most riders checked into
this special test already one minute (or
more) down. The long special had racers
hustling with a 24- imd then a 30-mph
average. The course then headed south
across Teagle Wash Valley and into the
east end of the notorious sand hills, and
then west through the "moon rocks"
before winding onto a rolling ridge trail.
The next long special test ran up,
down and across the steep, sandy hills,
and riders were experiencing more grief
than usual because of the unseasonably
dry conditions. .
"1 had to take some time off because
of a shoulder injury, and 1 must have
forgotten how to shift a motorcycle,"
joked A Vet Open winner Rick Daniel.
"The dry conditions made it seem like 1
was always in the wrong gear. I had to
push up one hill on loop two and then
two more on loop three."
The first 4-mph section was located
in the western end of the sand hills and
it took hot points from most of the riders. Davis was one of them.
"1 thought 1 was far enough into my
minute that 1 had it zeroed," said Davis,
"but the flip cards showed otherwise."
Davis also had a spot of trouble at
the last check of loop two when he mistakenly flew past the 4-mph speedchange sign just before the finish.
Kf
Russ Pearson displayed
. his newfOund enduro
skills by taking the
overall win at the
Prospectors Gold Rush
Enduro in Red Mountain,
California.
(Right) Currently leading
the AMA National Enduro
series, Ty' Davis
controlled the event until
burning two checks.
Davis slill managed to
finish second.
"The first burn was a matter of my
mileage being off by hundredths, but 1
just blew it on the second one," recalled
Davis. "By the time 1 realized my mistake, it was too la te, and they could see
me from the check. 1 just had to scrub
what time 1could."
M oosel Michelin I BRP-s ponsored
Pearson also had his· share of problems
on the second loop, but good timing kept
those problems from being too costly.
"The mount on my ICO rubbed the
sensor wires against my steering dampener and eventually broke them, but 1
was lucky because it was right before
the only reset of the race," said Pearson.
"At the reset, 1 took' off my dampener
and put it ir) my fanny pack and Dave
Chase helped me fix the wiring and
luckily it started working again. I just
left my stabilizer at the truck for the
third loop."
The 26-mile third loop was so tight
and technical that most participants
would have gladly traded their stabilizers for a pack mule. Steep, rocky
uphills and downhiUs were abundant,
and racers were sent down the long,
sandy "Prospectors' Downhill" that
fed into two gnarly waterfall dropoffs. Mike McGee, the number-one
plate holder in the Expert Senior Open
division, got an eyeful at the first
waterfall.
.
"I was getting ready to bulldog my
bike down the real steep part of tha t
first drop-off when Pearson rolled up on
my right, blipped the throttle, and
jumped down the whole thing," said
McGee. "1 couldn't believe it, because
that cliff was really nasty and probably
10 feet tall."
While Pearson was impressing riders
and spectators alike, so was Davis - by
playing an intense game of catch-up.
"1 didn't even know Russ (Pearson)
was there un til after the race," said
Montclair Yamaha's Davis, "but me and
Billy Fullmer had compared cards, and
he had me by five minutes going into
the last loop, so 1 knew 1 had to really
hammer down."
Davis did make up the time on
Fullmer, but the two burned checks
proved to be his demise. The younger
Pearson brought hiS Pro Circuit
KTM2S0
home
quicker.
The
Spectro IMoose-sponsored Da vis finished second, first A Open, while BiUy
Fullmer JI. held on for third and first
Four-Stroke. A Vet Open winner Rick
Daniel brought his IMS-backed KXSOO
in fourth with a score of 39, two points
behind Fullmer. Vet Open A-class number-one plate holder Robert Baehr took
fifth overall with 41 points lost.
"That was a really tough enduro,"
commented Fullmer. "1 don't remember
one working me that hard for quite a
while."
Desert ace Abe Baumann was third
Vet Open rider at sixth overall. Brent
Farrell, Chris Oswald and Tommy Keech
occupied the seventh through ninth
spots. The Pro Circuit/Xtreme/lMSbacked Keech was competing in only his
second enduro, yet he finished first runner-up in the competitive 250cc A class.
Paul Shafer rounded out the top 10.
"That last loop was like a really technical desert race," said Pearson. "You
didn't really need to keep time, just gas
it. [ was on minute nine, so 1 got to pass
quite a few guys. It was a blast."
Davis SU!JUIIed it up best.
"That was a national-caliber event,'"
be declared. "Too many clubs go in and
mark the same old, existing, whoopedout trails, get the money, and get out.
The extra effort the Prospectors put into
eN
this event was obvious."
District 37 Prospectors Enduro
Red Mountain, California
Results: March 21, 1999 (Round 1)
MINI A: 1. Travis Wagschal (Suz).
WMN A; 1. Michelle Cassella o