Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Events D36 Northern California Enduro Series, Round 5 By J ill Ashworth Patte rson SPRING GAP,CA, JUNE 13 u b a Cit y Yamah a /H ond a ' s YZ400-m ounted Ty Spoon er utilized his high-speed cross cou ntry racin g skills to ca ptu re his first end u ro ove rall victory at the 22nd annual Little Polecat End uro. The Merced Dirt Rid ers ' even t was the last one in the spring portion of Distric t 36 ' s 1999 No r the rn Ca lifornia Cha mpionship End uro Seri es. Th e 153 riders we n t o u t onto a fast, tw o-loop cou rse th a t covere d 93 ground m iles. Dry trail conditions bo mba rded rid er s wit h d us t th rou g h out the day and MDR's even t coordinator, Mike Darnaso, sche du led extra resets along the course to allow as mu ch d ust relief as possi ble. Y (Above) Ty Spooner claimed his fi rst-ever enduro overall at the Little Polecat Enduro In Spring Gap, California. (Left) Glenn Mart inson rode at a sma rt and fast pace to fini sh second A FourStroke and second overall to Spooner. (Below) Never to be counted out for the ove rall, Tim Stowe fin ished th ird overall, fi rst in the AA class. I a> a> a> 50 Loop one featu red wooded singletrack trails, a few rocky sections and a va rie ty of fas t fire road s. Rid ers were se nt a ro u n d C ra n da ll Peak, near Sch oe tt gen Pass a nd over 46 ground miles before reaching the gas stop. At the gas, riders compa red sco res and r em inisced a bo u t the pre v ious w eek end ' s idea l conditions th ey had experie nced at the Id aho qu alifier. Severa l of the top riders man aged the fast speed averages and d ust well enough to still have perfect scores of zero. Cycle Gear /MSR/No-Toil-sponsored Spooner had burned a check early in the day and though t he w a s ou t of co ntention when he left the gas stop. "I tho ugh t I migh t as well jus t keep riding a nd h ave so me fu n," Sp oo ner said . "I took off out of the gas abo ut 25 seco nds late, so I pin ned it and tried to catch Dave (Wood), who was rid ing on the minute ahead of me." Th e second loop started w ith a special test - wit h a twist. Check five was to have been the check-in for the test, but along the trail, rid ers on the early minu tes passed the check crew, who we re on their way to the check. " It was funny to ride past the check wo rkers while we were on the pipe," fou rth -p la ce -o v e ra ll fi n is her Ru ss Pereira said. "We go t to the check area before they were set up. Poles and flags were all ove r the place." . Spooner came ou t of the test with the fastest tim e. " Wh e n 1 g o t to th e check-o ut, " Spooner said, "I reali zed 1 co u ld st ill win. so I railed ." Rocky sections containing lava beds and loose, rolling rocks and high-speed av erage s dominated th e second loop, keepi ng riders alert. The second- ov erall vi cto r, Cycl e Gea r / Wo o d lan d Cycle-sponsored Glenn Martinson, knew what to expect and had his own strategy. 'The second loop was typica l Polecat terrain," Martinson said . "The key for me wa s to keep it a g ear h ig h, st a y sm oo th a nd not ge t ou t o f co ntro l on the rocks ." . "I've been ridi ng more har e scrambles to ge t my spe eds up," Martinson added . " It looks like it paid off!" The rocky sect io ns slowed d own som e of the top rid ers, but not the Faultin e Su sp en sion /Mot ion Pro /Pro Gripsponsored Pereira. "Joe (Mu llen) set my suspension perfect," Pereira sa id. "The rocks were killer. 1 was able to p in it and just rally rig ht throug h them ." As riders worked toward the finish at check nine, dust still played a major factor in how they rode . The th ird -overall wi nner, Wood land Cycle / Moose /Sp roc k e t Specialistsbacked Tim J. Stowe, sa id the dust was good for testing th e conc en tra tio n of the riders. " It wa s a mat ter o f basic su rv ival," Stowe sa id . " It was too easy to fall in the d eep, loose and dry dirt. I had to forget abo u t the d us t, forge t abou t how great Idah o was, and just ride ." W hen th e dus t settled, six riders e merged wi th fina l scores of three . Spoo ne r secu red his victo ry wi th a 3.064. Marti nson' s 3.162 was good for second and Stowe finis hed wi th 3.166. Pe rei ra ca rded a 3.174 , followed b y Wood with a 3 .185. Ma rty Wa lde n rounded out the top six with a 3.205. _ Little Polecat Enduro Spr ing Gap, Californ ia Results: Jun e 13, 1999 (Round 5) A O/A: I. Ty Spooner (Ya m); 2. Glenn Martin son. ' (Yam) ; 3. Tim Stowe (Yam); 4. Russell Pereira (Yam); S. Dav e Wood (CR E); 6. Ma rty Wald en (Yam); 7. Jason Ho we (Ho n); 8. Brian Butler (Kaw): 9. Jim Math eson (He n) : 10. C raig Hoffman (KTM ); 11. Robb ie Zimmerman (KTM ); 12. Billy Russell (KTM); 13. Matt W all.a ce (Ya m) ; 14. Er i k Kohler (Ya m) ; I S. Brodie DcMortile (Hon ): 16. (TIEl Robert Wynn (KTMI / Ben Gledh il l (Kaw ): 18. john S. Poor (Hen) : 19. S te ve Shoemaker (Yam); 20. Ch ris Von Kleist (He n). B 0 1A: 1. Kevin Wilt.")' (Yam); 2. Robert Laird (Hon); 3. Tony Elmor e (He n): 4. Brodie Borgogno (KTM ); 5. ' Kevin Morris (KTM1; 6 . Ch ris Ca lki ns (KTM) ; 7. Ala n Plumbridge IKaw): 8. Rand y Pa tter so n IHort ): 9. jerry Blinkenberg (Ya m); to. Troy McWilliams (H en): It. Allen Zucksw ert IHo n): 12. Brian Ie ltch (He n ): 13. JOt.' Pe lle g ri n i (KT M) ; 14. Karl G o e tz (Ka w ): 15. Chu ck Wolfsen (Bon): 16. Dave Finst h wa it (KTM ); 17. Michael Ch ristensen (Su z); 18. Richard Bell (KTM); 19. Sle ve n Poor (Hen): 20. Jim Blink enbcrg (KTM) . C OlA: 1. Mathew Workm an (Ka w): 2. Za ck Hurst (Suz); 3. Ier an Fox (KTM); 4. Michael Zes iger (He n): 5. Mark Croo (Ya m); 6. Leo Stei ne (KTM); 7. Jeff Dabak (Ya m); 8. Steve Tcurdo (Ya m); 9. Ma lcolm Kin gsley (Ka w ); 10. Mar k Fulb righ t (Ka w ): 11. John Powers (KT M); 12. Mark An klam (H en): 13. Ros.. Ross (Hon); . 14. Mark Parker (KTM); 15. Gary Robe rson (Hon): 16. Chr istopher Ros s (H us ky ); 17. Eri c Elvin (Hen): 18. Robert jump (He n): 19. Ci ndi Matnusson (Yam) ; 20. Jeff Doar (H on ).

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