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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128244
Moose Northern California Championship Enduro Series Final Round: WFO Enduro Sperle Takes It a t WFOI By F . H. rai n. The co urse im med iately cl imbed past 5000 feet , whe re ri ders had their first encounter with snow on th eir way to th e first check, a known co ntro l at 15.5 m iles . Th e open trails had th e contende rs and m ost o f th e 'A c lass o n a fas t trail ride, as m o st of th em zeroed th e check. It was o bv io us t o st ude nts of the route sh eet , howev er , t hat a to ug h test was appro aching . Check tw o at 18 .5 mi les c hec k ed rid e rs into t he fi rst points -taki ng t est o f th e d ay . Check three, ano ther know n co nt rol , revealed th e early co nte nders, led by th e K T M 2 50- mo u n te d, KT M / Fo x/ Fa u l t l i n e Su sp en s i o n - s p on s or ed Sp erle . En d u ro En gi n ee ri n g ' s Bil l y Russell , th e 20 02 cha m pio n, d ro pped two o n h i s K T M 2 50 , as di d TSF Cycle Repai r/ ACN / A ftershoc k s-sp on sored H ond a rid er Gr eg Ruffoni. Yam aha 450cc ride r Jordan Bran dt and Hon d a 2 50cc-m oun ted B ri a n Jelich ro unded out the tw os , whi le , with no br eak in the schedule , riders had t o st a y o n t he gas. T hat break di d not oc c ur until after emergency check four at 3 1.5 m il es, and Sp erle add ed t o his l e a d , dro p pi ng 2 .99 . L EGHO RN P HO TOS BY J ILL ASHWORTH P A TT ERSO N FOUTS SPRINGS, CA, NOV. 9 h ree th ing s were keepi ng Br ian Sp erle from having th e first-ever perfect season in AMA District 36 Endu ro champion ship history: Firstiy , wh ile he was top District rider at the seas o n -opening Quicks ilver National Enduro, he mere ly f inished eigh th ove r a ll ; sec o n dl y , sc h edulin g conflicts k ept him fro m atte nd ing eve ry rac e; and thi rdly , he had not wo n th e WFO En du ro , kn own in the d istr ict fo r its twi n requi re m en t s of end u ro tim ek eep ing savvy a nd c halleng ing spec ia l t est s . S p e rl e ' s sp eed was u n qu e sti o n e d , and he sett le d a ny do u b t s ab ou t hi s ti me keepi ng prowes s w it h a dominatin g v i ct o r y over Gr eg Ruffoni and Ja m es Ptarc inski at th e season-e n din g W F O End uro, held in cold and wet co nditions near St onyf ord, California . Three p rev io us d ay s of ra in had r id er s h op i n g f or a br eak i n the weather p rior to th e start, but the lack of d rop lets on the sta rt lin e w as the last place rider s wou ld not be seein g T Brandt led the pursu er s w it h 3 .1 5 7, J am es Pta rcinski c li m bed into c o ntent ion wi th 3 . 19 8 , and Ruffoni was th e l as t " t h re e " at 3 .2 0 0 . Russe ll c ra sh ed h i ms e lf o ut of th e end uro sho rt ly a f t e r c hec k th r e e w i t h a " fo urt h-gea r-p inned " shunt that broke hi s tibi a. Alm os t imm e d i a t el y fo l l o wi n g check fou r, rid er s were chec ke d in to the infamous " WFO T ree T est ," using a seldom -seen st art co nt ro l. T he 3.3 m ile test fe atured some of the tig hte st tra il in Cal ifornia and was set at 15 and 13 mph . Sp e rl e on c e aga in sho wed his mastery of all condit ions by scoring the on ly zero at the check ou t. Ones we re restricted to Stony ford master Dave Wood (o n his KTM 450 ) , Jelich, and A Vet rider Kev in Greene , w ith the r e st o f the c o ntenders dropping twos and threes . Wit h a fi ve -point adva ntage , Sp er le switched to "lead -p rotectio n mode" for th e second loop . Sho rtly afte r the gas sto p , riders were checke d into th e "Pot ato Hill Test ," with an agg res sively p laced sec re t c heck resul ting in m an y burns, altho ug h Bran dt was th e o nly leader among th em . Ptarcinsk i Placing second overall and first in the A Open class at the fi nal round of the Moose Northem Calif om ia Championship Enduro Series was Greg Ruffoni. 24 D EC EM B ER 3, 2003' c u e I e n e vv s Brian Sperle score d a do m ina t ing vic tory at the se ason-ending WFO Enduro in Fouts Sp rings, Califomia. se rv ed n o t i c e th at h e c a n p ut i t t og eth er as we ll as any bo dy , as his 2 .128 at c heck se ve n l ed t he way. Ruffoni and J eli ch tie d w ith id ent ica l 2 .146 sc o r es, while th e 3. 196 o f Mach I / Smith -backed Wo od beat out Spe rl e's 3. 18 2. Th e det er io rat ing condit io ns p reve nted sev era l seco nd- loo p c he c k crews from rea ch in g th eir lo c ati ons, so two add itiona l second -loop tests re sulted in no scoring in tests where ride rs had to tackle sn ow on the ground and fa lling sleet. Ch ec k 10 showed th at most riders were able to keep it together in spite of the conditi ons , an d ri ders set t hem selves up for a 23 -mph c ru ise t o t he k no w n control at the fi ni sh . However, tw o m iles fro m the finish, ri ders were d umped o nto a sur prise las t sec tion of tra il. T hose who had taken advantage o f th e 4.6 m il es of free territory were in good position t o ze ro t he fi nish, a n d a f u l l b l itz was n 't suff ic i ent t o save t hose who had not. A ll th e l ead e r s w ith th e exc eption of Ptar ci nsk i passe d t h is "T est of Who is Pay ing Attention." After a tough 9 5 g round m il es, Sperle 's u su a ll y domi natin g an d