Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Moose Norther n Califor nia Championship Enduro Ser ies Motul BIC Champ ionship Enduro Series Round 4 /3 : Fool's Gold Enduro (Left! Craig Wesn e r (SA) heads - o ut of t h e first g as to start loop two on h i s way to taking first overall at the Fool's Gold Enduro, near Georgetown, Ca lif o rni a. (Below) Damlen Ga lf o rd (7 C) winds through the single-track early on the fi rst l o o p. Galford placed second overall and w as the top A 250 rider. B v C HRI S B U RT ON AND J I L L A S HW O RTH P A TT E RSO N PH O T O S BV JI L L A SHWO RTH P A TTE RSO N GEORGETOW CA, MAY 7 N, t:L? eam Green' s Craig Wesner used )II, spe ed and c onsist enc y to p ilot his KX 250 to th e overall victory at the 27th annual Fool 's Gold Enduro. The event , which was round four of the M oo se Northe rn California Champi on sh ip Enduro Series and round t hree of th e Mot ul B /C C ha mpions hip Enduro series , was host ed by th e Cal ifornia Endu ro Riders Association and held near Georgetown , Californ ia . Steady ra infall , which started the aftemoon before the race , didn't diminish the determination of the 194 riders who left the start to participate in one of th e series ' most popular races. L o o p one featu red t ight woods trails , rocky sections and st eep hills. It al so i ncl ud ed a last -minute reset t ha t was scheduled to re pla ce nearly t h r ee miles of t r a il that ha d to be eli minated from the course due to the disc overy of a spotted-owl nest just a few day s before the event. A ft er check one , a long ro ad sec tion led ri ders t o a slic k u p hill that quickly turned into a huge bottlene ck , ending th e da y f or man y of the B and C -c1ass competitors. Check two , at 14.3 miles, was th e check -in for t he first test and utilized a combin ation of sho r t , techn ic al uphills and tight, rock y tra ils . B y the time rid er s made it t o che ck three 's c h ec k- o u t, 7 .3 m il es l at e r, scores reflected co ndi tions on th e sat urated cours e . Cyc l e Pro of Santa Rosa / Moose/Faultline S usp e n sio n - sp o n sored Wesner was quicke st , w ith 5 .324, and D ave Wood was seco nd with 6.342. D amien Galford and Tim J . Stowe each scored 6 .3 75 and were tied for th ird. Greg Ruffoni was fifth , w ith the lowest sc ore in the sevens, ahead of J on King , J im Boardman and John S. Poor. At the gas st o p . d r en ch ed riders excha nged g oggl es and gloves and searched for dry gear, in prepar at ion fo r beginn ing t he second loop. The incessant ra in c a use d fu rth er course deterio ration, and abo ut a m il e into l o o p two , a majo r bottl e n e ck oc curred along a root -filled, uphill tra il. Rid ers on early m inutes enjoyed th e adv an t age and man y t op com p et ito r s, such as Stow e , Ruffoni , B r i an Bu tl er and G le nn Ma rt in so n , who we r e on later m i nut e s , g ot k nocked out of contention. 36 n .JUNE 7 , 2000' eye I e e _ s " I was on an early number," Wesner said . " so there were only tw o or th ree b ik es stuck on the hill wh en I got th er e - as o pposed to the pa cks of 10 o r 20 th e later riders fac ed ." G&B Kawas aki/Motul -backed Gal ford to ok an unusua l route to make it up th e slic k hill. " I h ad to use one gu y 's b ik e fo r tra ction ," Ga lford sa id . "He saw m e c o m i n g . l ean ed his b ike over and sh out ed ' Go f or itl' It was great he offered to let m e do that. " " T here w er e g u y s going up and comi ng d own t he ' bo t tl en ec k fr om he ll ' at t h e sam e t im e , " s a id th e Fox/Elf/ M ach I /Factory Connection supported Woo d . " G e t ti n g u p i t. between the bikes. wa s li k e threading a needle. " A nother test sec tio n. co nsisti ng of off-cam be r. tight woods tra ils and th e l o ng . ro ck y Ballarat downh ill . wa s nex t. M ore bottlen ec ks de veloped . and the ma jority of the B -c1ass rider s and nearly all of the C -c1ass ri de rs h ou red out b efo re the second ga s stop at th e fi ft h chec k . At s ec o n d gas , Wesner (who se computer stopped work ing ear ly i n the first loop) was still lead ing . Gal ford was second. with Wood in thi rd . King moved to fourth an d Boardman was fifth . T he third loo p went up Ba ld Moun tain. over more snotty uphill sections , and another special te st took rid ers over the tight and rocky Las t Chance, Easy Street and D irty Picture tra i1s at 24 mph. Galford clock ed out of the test fast est, w ith a score of 1.58. Wesner's 1.70 was just ahead of Wood's 1.74 . " I was r iding p retty good i n the mud ," Galford said . " I di dn't slow down as much as usual. " After a reset , the course mean dered toward Rock Creek . Des pite the rain , the creek was fairly low, and almost every body mana ge d to cross wi thout submerging their bik es. Open t rails along D arling Ridge led ri ders to check 10 , at 77 .0 m il es . W esn er , w ho ap peared to have th e ov e r all w r app ed up , tight ened up sc ores con sid erabl y by burning th e che ck . " I t ho ught I wasn't keeping the 24 mph s pe e d av erage , b ecaus e I crashe d," Wesner sa id. "I was having fun th r o u g h a sw e ep ing se c t ion , crossed the gna rly creek and ripped into the che ck - early l" Th e r em a in ing terrain was less t echnical for th e rid e t o t he finish , at 88.2 miles. Wesner clinched the victory with a final score of 12 .6 09 , and Galford ' s 13.634 edged out Wood's 13.656 for second. King f ini sh ed f o u rt h w ith 19 .871, j ust seconds ah ead of Board man 's 19 .9 2 1. " T h e cou rs e was th e be st in y e ar s, " sa id H ond a Pe n in sula ' s Boardman. " U su a ll y th ey ki c k our butts in th e ro ck s for miles, but it was n ic e to see t ha t the rocks wer e k ep t to a m in imum." " C E RA d ef in itel y deserves c re dit f or putt i n g t o g e t h e r such a g ood ra ce, " sa i d t h e C y cl e Gea r / M S R/ WER -sp onsored K ing. "It's always m y favo ri te en d uro!" CN Foals60 d En uro Georgetown, California Results:May 7, ZDD D[Round 4/31 O/A: 1. Craig Wesn er (Kaw); 2. Dem len Galford (Kaw) ; 3. Da ve Wood (CRE); 4. Jo n King (SU%) ; 5. Jim Boardm an (Hon) . AA : 1. Craig We sn er ( KGw); 2 . Da ve Wood (CRE) ; 3. TIm J . Stowe (Suz); 4 . Brian Butler (Kaw). A 200: I. Matt Wall ace (Yam); 2 . Ben Hat ch (Hon); 3. Dav e Peel (KTM) ; 4. Chad Cook (TM); 5 . Robert Wyn n (KTM) . A 250: 1. Derni en Ga lford ( K e w ) ; 2 . Scott McEn espy (KTM); 3. Mik e Pescer elle (KTM ); 4. Greg Ruffon i (Hon); 5. Don Knapp (Ka w) . A 4 ·STRK: 1. Ed Dlez (Suz); 2. Glenn Martinson (Vom); 3. Joh n S. Poor (Hon); 4. Carl Read (Kaw) ; 5. Kerry Sim pson (ATK) . A OPEN ; I. Chris Slecht a (CRE) ; 2. Tony Elm ore ( Hon ) ; 3 . J eff Menni c k (Hon ); 4 . Bro dy Sor gogno (KTM); 5. Lance Manda rino (KTM ). A VE T : 1. Jon King (SUI ); 2. J im Boa rdman ( Ha n ); 3 . Sha w n Shick ( KTM ); 4 . Rick Th o rn ton (Kaw) ; 5. Dave Clem ons (Han ). A SR: 1. Kent Parker (Kaw) ; 2. Robert Miho vich ( Yam) ; 3. Dav id Sm it h ( KT M ); 4 . J o hn Poor Jr. (Hon) ; 5. Chuck Perlow (KZl ). w A S /SR : 1. Peter Prichard (KTM) : 2. Jeff Carr (KTM ). A WMN : I . Heather Wilson (Kaw). B O /A ; I. B r i an It t erl y ( KT M); 2 . Ch orlie Plumbridge (KTM); 3. J ason Pettin ato (Kaw); 4. Tom Baxter (Vam); 5. J ack Lanto ( Hon). B 20 0; I . Ken Malpu s (KTM ); 2. Chris Cartwright (KTM) ; 3. Sean Prewett (KTM). B 250; I. Charl ie P1umbridge ( KT M); 2. Jason Pettinato (Kaw) ; 3. Matth ew Workman (Hus) : 4. Ron Wiginton (Hon) ; 5. Eric Tyler (Hon) . B 4 -STRK : 1. Tom Bax ter ( Yam ); 2. Ro ger Fl etcher ( Vam); 3 . Tro y McWillia ms ( Hon) ; 4 . Michael Phair (Yam) : 5. Mark Denny (Yam) . B OP EN : 1. Brian Itt erly (KTM); 2. J eff Mauro (KTM) ; 3. Mike Mennick (Hon) ; 4. Malco lm Kings ley (Vam) ; 5. Jeff Dabek (KTM) . B V ET: 1. Jack unto (Hon ); 2. Ch ris Calk ins (KTM); 3. Kirk Lovejo y (KTM); 4 . Jeff Wold (Vom ); 5. Mike Pereira (Hon) . B S R: 1. Ma rk Maier ( Kaw ); 2. Je rry Ma rt in (KTM) ; 3. Alan P1umbridge (Kaw); 4. Hugo Zwelsloot (Vom); 5. Bob Tho m pson (Suz). B S/SR: 1. Brad Irwin (KTM) ; 2. Richard Tiesso (Hon ) ; 3. Dona ld Chase (KTM ); 4 . Mi ch ael Ew in g (Hon); 5. David Goddard (KTM) . CO lA : 1. Der ek Poe ( Ho n) ; 2 . Br ian Chas e (Yam ): 3 . Michael Ramos (Hon); 4 . Andrew Hagen (Kaw); 5. lack Portera (Hon ). 250 : 1. And rew Hagen (Kew ); 2. leck Porte ra ( Han ) ; 3 . Isra el Aguirre ( K aw ) ; 4 . St eve Adam s (Vam) ; 5 . David Arndt (Kaw). 4 ·STRK: I. Derek Poe (Han); 2. Brian Chase ( Vom) ; 3 . Jo sh Go lden ( KTM) ; 4 . Dou g Stoe ck er (Hon ); 5 . Greg Linehan (Hon). O PEN: 1. Dustin Dressler (KTM): 2. Matthew Capdevill e (Hon) ; 3. Bill Rima ssa ( KTM ) ; 4 . Br ian Raymond (KTM); 5. Chris Perez (Vam) . C VET : 1. Michael Ramos (H on) ; 2 . Mi chael Scru ggs ( Vam ) ; 3 . Gl en Bigg s ( Va m) ; 4 . Dona Fleming (Hon) ; 5. Bill Wheeler (Hon) . C SR; I. Mark Parker (KTM); 2. Mork Benedetti (KTM); 3. Pete Eby (Kaw) ; 4. Bill Da vis (KTM); 5. Mike Jonopulo s (Hus). C S/ SR ; I. Ric k Rink s (KTM); 2. Ronald Lacy (Kaw) . e e e

• Cover