Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128321
Nicholas Blais keeps his cool even when it's cookin'out By KANDY THORNTON PHOTOS BY JAMES IVEY/ JPI RACE PHOTOS 40th Anniversary nseasonably high temperatures and a one-hour delay at t he start tested the pati ence and e ndurance of th e 360 plus e nduro riders who took part in t he second ro und of t he AMA Dist rict 37 Fun 4 En uro Series. The 49th annual Gold Rush Enduro, hosted by the Prospector's Motorcycle lub, featured a fun yet challeng ing first loo p tha t int ro d uced any C and D ride rs to a traditional timekeeping enduro . The first I I miles of t he second loop ut ilized t he sa me sec tio n as the beginn ing of the first loop (but wit h a faster spe ed ave rage), and the Prospectors did the unt hinkable by leaving the first tw checks in the exact same locat ions! Th is strategy caused mo re tha n a few ride rs to burn t ese checks . Afte r t his point , speeds started to pick up eve n mo re , the cou rse toughened up, and riders were faced with the endurance factor t hat makes an eniluro - an end uro! The Prospectors we re ve ry creative in the ir co urse layout on the second loo p and gave riders some of the best riding left open in Red Mountain . The course ook riders through Checkpoint Canyon , down the infamous Prospectors' downhill , across fast valley sections and featured some great sight seei ng in the moo n rocks and mud hills. Unfor tunate y, Prospector officials had to cut out the last I I miles of the third and final loop , a lot of whic h had to do the start be ing delayed o ne hou r because of a ride r who got injure d befo re the start, which left the event wit hou t an ambulance . After th e ambulance returned , the first row left at 9 o'clock and it was alre ady warm ing up quickly. "We didn't wan t riders coming in after sundow n, so we cut our t hird loo p down to just a coupl e miles, " expla ined Mike McGrego r. "The heat was also a major factor. We laid t his course out in cool and rainy co nditions, and it's an entire ly different course now t hat it's 90 degrees ou t." Top overall finisher Nick Blais was surprise d to learn he had ove ralled the e nduro and had take n top honors in the Four-Stro ke A division because he had to overcome a few obstacles during his pre-race setup and wh ile out o n the co urse. "My computer wasn' t working w hen I arrived Sunday morning," Blais said. "1tried to rep rog ram it, but it just kept fading out. I found a nine-volt battery, hooked up some jumpe rs to it and just held it on t he computer battery and couldn 't believe it when it started up!" Blais th ought he had totally blown his finish when he arrived at the last check on the second loop a minute early. "O n t he second loop I had to track down some play riders to tell them they were on a race course and the check was abo ut a half mile ahead ," Blais said. "I thought the 30-second mark was coming up on my clock , but I arrived a minute early due to total bra in fade on my part." Realizing he had to kick it up a notch, Blais attacked the shortened third loop on his XRs Only/Fass tco/Mid Cit ies Hond a-sponsored CRF4S0R and rode away wit h the ove rall. Rick Daniel and Erik Mattson finished second and third overall respective ly. Blais and Daniel eac h dropped 10 points , but Blais had the KTM rider covered on the tie-breaker po ints. Mattson finished on top of a three-way tie for t hird, with Mattson, Jim McGrath and Kevin Hasten all carding I Is. Minute five turned out to be a lucky numb er, as three out the four ride rs to start on that minut e fin-