Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Moose Northern California Championship Enduro Series Motul/Moose District 36 B/C Championship Endur o Ser ies Round 7/7: Cowbell Enduro Sperle Collars th e Cowbell (Left) B ri a n Spe rle rang in the month of November with the Cowbell Enduro v ictory. (Ri g ht ) Billy Russell found the variety of conditions (everything from thick dust to snow) to his liking: He was runn er-up at round seven of the Moose No rthem Califomia Championship Enduro Se rie s. (Below) After the second c h eck , Eric M ashblr was " read y t o quit and go home ," b ut h e was g la d he d idn't: He c a m e in third overall at the Upper Lake, Ca lifom ia , event. check. I didn 't realize it was a test. " " It was p r e t t y cold , " GPR/Fox /Motion Pro -su pported Spe rle sai d . " W e were n' t rea lly wa rmed up ye t - an d m y f i nger s weren't work in g that well : As th e course wo rked it s way p ast Pog es Peak an d B ev in s Ridg e to ward Pin e Mountain, along moist trail s th at o ffe red exce llent tra cti on , so m e w ell -plac ed chec ks caught sev eral ri d ers off guard, and many had " burn" scor es to co m pare at th e gas break. Ma shb ir had burned th e seco n d c heck, wh il e Spe r l e rod e clea n ly , wh ich gave him th e lead with a score of 3 .176. M ihov i ch was in seco n d w ith 3 . 188 , follo w ed b y Ru ssell ' s 3 .205 and K ev in Gr ee n e ' s 4. 2 12. Da ve W o od and J eff Bau er w e r e runn ing cl o se beh ind w i th 4 .216 and 4 .217 , respe ctively . "A fter check t wo : Mashbir said , " I wa s read y t o qu it an d g o home. I didn 't know I had a cha nce to fin ish w ell unti l w e co m p are d sco r es at gas ." S T O RY A N D P HO T O S BY J I L L A SHWORTH P A TT E RSO N OPPER lAKE, CA, NOV. 1 cr' riggered by the det erm inat ion to L clai m h i s fi rs t e nd u ro se rie s c h a mpio ns hip titl e, K T M 's B r i a n Sp er le rac ked u p an oth er ove ra ll v icto r y in th e Distri c t 3 6 / Moose North ern C al i forn i a Ch amp i on sh ip Enduro Seri e s at th e 5 7 t h an n ual Cowbell Enduro, held at th e M iddle Cre ek OHV Area near Upper Lak e, Ca lifornia . Th e Hayw ard Mo torc ycle C lub host ed a b out 2 05 entra nts at its fu n and ch all enging two -loop , 97 - m i le- l o n g course that was des ig ned by Pa t S teinberge r and Jerry " Buffalo " Lozier. T he da y before the race , Northern Californ ia got i t s f irst break fr om nearl y seven months of extrem ely dry trail co nditions . Not on ly did rain fa ll acc ompany th e first storm of the fall season , but snow also fell at the high er ele vations o f th e rac ecourse. Early on lo op one , ride rs wer e hit with th e fi rst test of the day between a res et and c hec k o ne. The 3 -mi le test held a 24-mph sp eed averag e, and race rs struggled to k eep warm while tackli ng the tight trails on Pit ney Ridge. At th e end of the test, Er ic M ashbir and Sp erle tu rned in the best two times: 3 .153 and 3 .176, respec tive ly . Rob ert M i hovich , Jordan B randt , Ste ve Shoemaker an d Bill y Russ ell w ere th e on ly othe rs t o lo g sco res in th e threes. "I thou gh t I did ter rible!" exclaimed IRC /B erkl ey Hon d a/ CTi -sp onsored Mashb ir. "I was real bu m m ed when I dro pped th re e poi nts at the first 28 NOVEMBER 26 , 2003' cue The second l o op gav e r ace rs a wid e variety of trail cond itions . Th ick dust wa s predom inant, and many rid ers ta ckl ed the exciting , 21 -mil e-long test around Pin e Mountain with poor vi sibi lity. Spe rle railed thro ugh t he long , tight test and scored th e be st time of 4 .223 . Russell (4 .2 60) w as seco nd , wi th B r an dt (5.275 ) and Mashbir ( 5 .3 0 0) fo ll o w i n g . Wo od ( 7 .3 9 7) and Bauer (7.431 ) sc o re d I e ne""s " T he tes t s wer e great !" enth use d G -B rothers Rac ing / Max ima /Maxx is supp orted Russ ell. " It w as m ost impressive ho w we went from sn ow an d mud on one side [of the co urse] to such complete dust on th e othe r!" "It was an awesome day!" excl aimed Bau er. " It was great the way the cl ub laid o ut th e co u r se and tr i c k ed us with that fi rst test being at the beg inCN ning inste ad of the end: Cowbell Enduro Uppertake, California Unofficial Results: November 1, Z003 [Round 71 A O /A : 1. Bria n Sperle (KTM ); 2. Billy Russell (KTM); 3. Eric Mashbi r (Hon) ; 4 . Dave Wood (KTM); S. Je ff Bauer (Suz). A A : 1. Bi ll y Ru ssel l ( KT M); 2 . Dave Wo od next closest , wh ile th e others all had scores of eig hts , nin es or m ore in the test. " I wa s m otivated an d wanted t o win that t est, " Sperl e sai d. " I really wante d a th ree, but I crashed hard in so me p ine needl es , b ro k e m y fro nt fend er off and didn 't m ake it : "That test had the worst dust of th e day : Mach 1 Motorsports/Fox /D ick' s Ra cin g /M o tul -ba ck ed W ood sa id . "We'd catch up to oth er rid ers tr y ing to pass each other, then ha ve double the dust and not be ab le to see to get by th em : Th e co m bi nati on o f tra ils and fire roa ds then led racers back towa rd Elk Mounta in and down Sled Ridg e to th e finish. Sp erle a d de d t o his p erfe ct end uro -seaso n rec ord wi th an othe r v ictory , fi nis hi ng w it h a scor e of 7 .399. Russell t o o k second wi th a total of 7.465 , and Mas hbir cla im ed th ird with 10 .4 53 . Wo od and Ba uer rounded out th e top fiv e with 1 1.613 and 11.648, respectively. (KTM) . A 200: 1. Robert Mihovich (Yom) . A 25 0 : 1. Br ien Sperle (KTM) ; 2 . Jeff Ba uer (Suz); 3. Chris Zito (KTM) . A O PEN: 1. Greg Ruffoni (Han ); 2. Chri stopher Hansen (KTM); 3. Eric Tyler (Han ). A 4-ST RK : I . M~tt W ~I1 ~ c e ( Y ~ m) ; 2 . Ron Wig ingt on (Han) ; 3. Brody Borg ogn o (KTM) . A VET : 1. K e v in Green e ( KT M ); 2. .Ja mes Ptarcl nskl (KTM); 3. J im Boerdrnan (Han) . A SR : I. Eric M~ s hbi r ( Hon) ; 2. Ros s Liberty (Han ); 3. Dave From an (Hen }. A S/SR: I. Richard Adan (Han); 2. Dennis Hiatt (Han) ; 3 . Peter Prichard (KTM ). A GENT: I. David Kin g ( KTM ); 2. Bi ll Croig (KTM ). A WMN : 1. Heather Wilson ( K ~ w ) . B O / A : I. Jeff Mendes (KTM ); 2. Steven Poor (Han ); 3 . Louis Higgin s (Suz ); 4 . Russell All en (Hon); 5 . Da vid Chase (Yem }. 8 200 : 1. Mic h~ e l Ram o s ( Ha n ) ; 2 . Cl nd l _ Roberson (KTM ); 3 . Justin Hensley (KTM). B 25 0 : I . Nick Riui (Han) ; 2. Bred J ohn son (5 uz); 3 . John Pontes (Yam ). B O PEN : I . Robe r t Cye ( Ha n) ; 2 . Georg e Smym loti s (KTM): 3 . Jos h Gold en (GG) . B 4 -STRK : 1. Steve n Poor ( Hon) ; 2 . Russell A llen (Han ); 3. Da vid Cha se (Yam). B VET: 1. Jeff Mendes (KTM ); 2. Louis Higgin s (Suz); 3 . Eric Elvin (Hon) . B SR : I. M ar ti n Ma rk h am ( Han); 2 . Dan Breitbach (Yam); 3. Joel Sizemo re (HbQ). B S/SR : 1. .Jcnethen Spi lk er (K'TM) ; 2. Hugo Zwetsloot (Han) : 3. J im Peacock (KTM) . B GENT : 1. Hayden Ritchey (Vor) . eO /A : 1. Darryl Sav i lle (Kaw); 2. Shan non Cre son (Hon) ; 3 . Kevin M iho vic h (Hon) ; 4. Mart y Newsom (KTM); 5. Joey Pascarella (KTM) . e 2 0 0 : 1 . D er r yl Sevl fl e ( Ka w ); 2 . K ev in Mihovi c h (Han); 3. Marty Newsom (KTM ). e 25 0: 1. Sha nn on Cre son ( Ho n ): 2 . Steve Cowell (KTM ); 3. Chri s Darmi n (Ka w) . e OPEN : I. Jim Finn ey (KTM ); 2. Trav is Christie .. (KTM); 3. Spencer Tr enery (KTM ). c 4-STRK : 1. N ic k Naum ann ( KTM) ; 2 . J im Newsome (Hbg) : 3. Zeck Cinek (Hus). VET: 1. David Lee (Han ); 2. Scott Mills (Han); 3. Karl Weiss (Hon) . e S R: 1. A ntho ny Gonzalez ( KTM ); 2 . Cha se Jia nnalone (KTM ); 3. John Fitzpatrick (Yam). S/ SR : I . Wl3yne M~ rshllll (KTM ) ; 2. Gordon Hurst: 3. Mike Kova ch (KTM). e e

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