Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Moose Northern California Championship Enduro Series Motul Northern Califor nia B/C Cham pionship Enduro Ser ies Rounds 6/5 : Jackhammer Enduro S T O RY AND PH OTO S B Y JILL ASHWOR TH P A T T E RSO N FOUTS SPRINGS, CA, OCT. 22 e RE - m o u n t ed Dave Wood rode cleanly and consistently. earning the overall victory in style at the 30th annua l Jackhammer Enduro. The event , which was round six of th e Moose No rt h ern Cal ifornia Champ i onsh ip Enduro Series and round fiv e in Motul's Northem Califomia B/C Cham pionship Enduro Series, was hosted by the Oakland Motorc ycl e Club. Some 213 rid ers , inc ludi ng some out-of-staters , set out onto a two-loop, approximately 85 -ground-mile course la id o ut by OMC 's Brian J agger and George K eer a n in the Mendo c in o National Fore st's Stonyford OH V area. Loop one began with the traditional cli mb up Potato H il l. Rid er s t hen encountere d some tig ht, technical trails through the section called "Steam Donkey." Check one, a tie-br eaker, clai med ones and twos from th e top riders. Next, a trail th at hadn 't been used for enduros in several years sent con testants up a steep hill to check two, where zeroes sorted about 10 leaders fro m the rest of the pack . The first specia l test ran near Trough 40 NOVEMBER 1 5, 2000' Dave Wood rides through t he first special t e st section b e twe en c h eck s three and four at the Jackhammer Enduro In Fouts Springs, Ca lifornia. Springs Road between checks three and four and featured 9.1 m iles of tight, winding singl e-track trails set at 24 , 30 and 27 mph . Greg Ruffon i smoked through the test and eme rged with th e best score of 0 .15 . B Four-Stroke rider Rog er Fl et ch er rail ed , the on ly other ri der to zero th e c he ck w ith a 0 .18. D am ien Galford pull ed the next -best time of 1.34 , and T im Stow e fo llo wed w ith 1.4 1. W oo d logged a 1.67 an d, along with Matt Walla ce 's 1.84 and Jon King 's 1.85 , they were all in the hunt. Check fiv e was strategi call y placed a few hund red yards be fore the ga s stop , whe re a short, rock y uphill out of a creek cro ssing kep t it out of the rid- ers 'view. " I had a c lo se ca ll at the check befo re gas," said the Fox Racing / Factory Connecti on/Mach 1 Motor Sports / DH 1 Raci ng-s po nsore d Wood. " I ha d to scrub a few seconds to keep from buming it." Galford and Ruffon i were riding hot ter into their m inutes and wer en't able to k eep from adding a two -point burn to the ir scorecards. cue • e n e vv s "I ca m e up the ro cks too fast and th ere was the check: Cycle Pro/GEiB Kaw asaki/AI Posey Racing/Motul -supported Galford said . "I saw the clo ck , c hecked my c o m p ut er and knew I hosed m yself. ' A t the ga s, riders agreed that the intens e wi nd s were working to their ad vantage by keep ing the dust from becoming too much of an obsta cle. "T h an k God for the wind !" Stowe said. "It was awesome the way a gust wou ld push most of the dust to th e side, j ust when it looked like yo u were goi ng to hit zero visibility." A q ui ck check of sco res a t g a s showed Suzuki Off Road's Stow e leading with 2.106. Wood was running sec ond with 2.117, followed by Wallace's 2.147 and King's 2.152. Ruffoni held steady with a 3.093, and Galford's 4 .96 allowed Steve Shoemaker's 3.163 and Michael Phair's 3.168 to add more fire to the com petition. The fast -paced second loop began with a trip up Letts Ridge, where two cross -rutted ATVs on a blind uphill left were stuck . The A class didn't have too man y p roblems w ith th e quads, but se vera l bottlenec ks in the Band C class es developed. Gre at co m bi n ati o n s of t r ai l sequenc es and speed av erages led competitors to the check -in for the sec ond special test at check seven . Set at 27 mph, the test was 4.5 miles lo ng and in c luded a short section of the "WFO Trail " - a very tight trail situated in an area thick with pine trees . " W e were working hard , " Cycle Gear/MSR/WER-sp onsored K ing said . "Th en we hit the Matt Wallace T rail that I didn't expect to see - it was so much fun! " (Wa llace designed the "WFO Trail.") At check eight , Wood's score of 1.86 refl ected his unique ability to scorch through the tightest of trails. Stowe was second swiftest with 2.095, followed by Galford's 2.110. Phair dropped 2.125 and W all ace carded 2 .144 , keep ing them selves in the top five. Short ly after the che ck, a tre e tha t had falle n the night before added some exci teme nt along a dust -filled fire road. "Th ere was a tree susp end ed about 6 to 8 inc he s off t h e road , " sa id Axo/ A fte rShocks/ Zoo m Cycl e A cc essories- backed Ruffon i. "The du st ke pt some of us fro m seeing it in tim e. I lofted m y front to lighten th e im pact. M y seat actually came off my tank and I went down hard." From there , a series of steep uph ills and downhills alon g ridges took riders th rough two more checks and back to the finis h line at check 11. Wood's final score of 4. 203 garn ered victory . M o o se Off the Road /Scott/S proc ket Speci alists -supp orted Stowe cla ime d seco n d wi th 5 .20 1. Galford tumed in a 6.206, good for th ird . Ruffoni ' s 7 .274 and K ing' s 8.304 rounded out the top five - all finish ing well a h ead of the next-best scores of 12 or more. Shortly after the start, Tim J. Stowe drops down a steep hill i nto a gully en route to second ove ra ll at the sixth round of the Moose Northern Callfomia Championship Enduro Se ries. " T h i s was the most awesome Ja ckhammer ever!" ex cl aimed Wood . "I can 't wa it for next year !" CN Jackhammer Enduro Fouts Springs , Califom ia Results: Octnber 22. 2000 (Rounds 6/5 1 O/A : 1. Dav e Wo od (e RE); 2 . Tim J . St owe (Suz) ; 3. Dam ien Galford ( K aw) ; 4 . Gr eg Ruffo ni (Kaw); 5 . Jon King (Suz). AA ; 1. Dave Wood (CRE) ; 2. Tim J. Stowe (Suz). A 200 : I . Matt w en ece {Ye rn}: 2. S t e ve Haugland (Suz); 3 . Craig Hoffm an (Yam) . A 250: 1. Dam ien Galford (Kaw) ; 2. Greg Ruffoni { K ew}: 3 . Jim Matheson ( Ho n) ; 4 . Chri s Young (Yam); 5. Sean Medcroft (Yam) . A O PEN: 1. Curt Ki ser (KTM) ; 2. Kevin Ruffoni (Kaw ); 3 . Brody Borgo gno (KTM) ; 4. Tony Elmore (Hon); 5. Jeff Menni ck ( Hon) . A 4 ·S TRK: 1. John S. Poor (Hon ) ; 2 . Micha el Ph ai r (Ya m ) : 3 . T ro y McWilliams ( Ho n) ; 4 . Bill Sum mars (KTM); 5. Mike Pasca rella (VO R). A VET: 1. J on K ing (Suz) ; 2. Dave Clemons (Hon) ; 3. Ben Gledhill (Kaw ); 4 . Shawn Black (KTM) ; 5. Andrew Norrish (KTM) . A SR: 1. Kent Parker (Kaw ); 2. J on Ellis (Hus); 3. Chu ck Perlow (Kaw) : 4. David Sm it h ( KTM) : 5. Chris Von Kleist (Yam) . A S/S R: 1. Rich ard Adan (Ho n ) ; 2 . J eff Car r (KTM) ; 3. Peter Prichard (KTM). A GENT ; 1. Phil Ray (Hon) ; 2. Dav id King. B O /A : 1. K e vin Wal k er ( Kaw); 2 . Robert Pascarella (KTM) ; 3. Ron Wigington (Hen) : 4. Roger Fletcher (Yam ); 5. Wes Thom as (Y8m) . B 200 : 1. Ken Malpu s ( KT M ); 2 . Pa t ri ck Dempsey (Suz). B 250 : 1. Robert Pasca rella (KTM) ; 2 . Matt Fin nega n (Han); 3 . Ja son Pett inato (Kaw) ; 4 . J eff Page; 5. Matt hew Workman (Hus). B O PEN: 1. Mike Baxter (Yam ); 2. J eff Mauro (KTM); 3. Steve Nich ol s (Hon) ; 4 . .Jeren Fox (KTM) ; 5. Kevin Ande rson (KTM). B 4 ·STRK: 1. Roger Fletche r ( Yam) ; 2 . Wes Th oma s ( Yam) ; 3. Mar k Ankl am ( Ho n); 4 . Brian Chase (Yam) ; 5. Derek Poe (Hon). B VET: 1. Kev in Walker (Kaw) ; 2. Ron Wigington (Hon); 3 . Kev in Morris (KTM); 4. Eri c Tyler (Hon); 5. J ack Lent o (Hon) . B S R : 1. Bob Th omp son ( Suz) ; 2 . M i cha el Zesi ger ( Ho n); 3 . Harv ey Schul er ( Yam): 4 . Alan P1 umbridge (Kaw); 5. Randy Patterson (KTM) . B S/ SR: 1. Leonard Page (Hon) ; 2. Jim Peacock (KTM) ; 3. Meurig Dav ies (Kaw): 4 . Charlie Stanle y (Ka w); 5. Richard Tl esso (Hon}. eO/A: 1. Sco tt Puck ett (Ho n) : 2. Gab e Elli s (Hon) ; 3 . Ma rk Bene detti (KTM); 4. Jam ee Garcia (Han) ; 5. John Clayton (Hon) . C 200: 1. Jerry T alb at (KTM) ; 2 . Ron ald Hoyt ( Ka w) ; 3 . J od y M c W il li am s ( Yam ): 4 . D arr ell J ohn son (Yam) . C 250: 1. Sc o tt Puckett ( Hon ); 2 . Gab e Ellis (Hon); 3. Trevor Roc k (Suz); 4 . Jaso n Kab alin (Hon) : 5. Jeff Hoyt (Kaw). C OPEN: I. Scott Steele (Hon); 2. Jo hn Powers (KTM ); 3. Steve Van Waarden (Han); 4. Ji m Finney (KTM ); 5. Brian Raymond (KTM ) . 4-ST RK : I. J am ee Garcia (Han) ; 2. Ross Toul i (Yam ); 3. Jay Gordon (Yam) ; 4 . Sean Yudice (KTM) ; 5. Daniel Hayes (Yam) . VET: 1. J ohn Cla yton (Hon) ; 2. Lawrence Mays (Kaw ); 3. Martin Markham (Han) ; 4. Micha el Scru ggs (Yam); 5. Thomas Bey (KTM) . SR : 1. Mark Ben edetti ( KTM) ; 2. Bill Davi s (KTM); 3 . Bart Logan (AT K); 4 . Pele Eby (Kew) : 5. Josh Golden (KTM) . C S/ SR: 1. Ric k Rinks (KTM) ; 2. Rona ld Lacy (Kaw ) ; 3. Bru c e Saxton ( KTM ); 4 . J ohn Phillips (Hon) . E CL : l. Rick Araujo ( Ho n ); 2 . Ken t J enk in s (Kaw); 3. Jo hn O'Donoghue (Yam) ; 4 . Harry Thodos (KTM); 5. Ed Cushi ng (Han); 6. Ti m othy McM ill an ( Han) : 7 . J am e s Ho well ( Kll W): 8 . Matt K i mm el (Hon) ; 9 . Da vid Whi tseil (Suz): 10. Je remy Vezina (Yam) . e e e

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