Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Moose Northern California Championship Enduro Series Motul Northern California B/C Championship Enduro Series Round 7 / 6 : Cowbell Enduro fo urth -best sc ore of 6.331 , and KTM ' s T y Sp oon er - riding his firs t r a c e since breaking his pelv is at a hare scrambl es race last Novembe r - scored 6.336 . Sev era l scores in th e sevens fol l owed , le d b y J a so n G e r b i ' s 7.408 , and the rest of the pack racked up eight o r m o re points in the test. "I was a bit timid w hen we hit that v i rg in t e rrain ," Sp o on er said . " I just cru is e d a w hile , where the bra nches were hitting everyone i n t h e fa ce . Th en I (Left) Tim Stowe gasses it up Sled Ridg e Trail e n route to first overall a nd f irst AA at the Cowbell Enduro. (Below) Craig Wesner launches off the h igh si d e on the o utsi d e of a tree-rut tum o n his way to second overall and second AA at the seventh round of the Moo s e Northem Ca lifomia Championship Enduro Se rie s. S T OR V A N D P HO T O S Bv J ILL A S H W O RTH P A TT E RSO N UPPER lAKE, CA, NOV. 4 ~ uzuki Off-Road's RM250-mounted ~ T im Stow e se iz ed the overa ll c ham p io nshi p at Hayward Motorcycl e Club's 54th ann ua l Cowbell Enduro . T he event, round seven in Moose's Nort hern Californ ia Championship E nduro Se ries a nd round s ix of M o t ul ' s Nort hern California B /C C ha mp io nship E nduro Series , was staged out of the Middle Creek Cam p ground near Up per Lak e. Ca liforn ia. T h e two -loop race offered 236 entrants th e b est comb ination o f cou rse and weather cond itions of the season. Co urse designer Jerry "B uffalo " Lozi er set up 86 ground -miles of fun and challenging tra ils . Loop one began with a trip up Sled Ridge and then wound along famil iar trails near Upper Dear Vall ey Road , Penny Pin es and through the fir st two checks. Most riders had no difficulty kee ping up with the 18 -, 12- and 21mph speed averages . By check th ree , several perfect scores of zero h ad been rec orded. The fir st sp eci al test , se t at 24 mph, began at check three and rou t ed race rs thr ough so me n ew an d extremel y t ig ht trail s nea r Street er Ridge and on the wa y t ow ard Pin e Mounta in . S i x t e en m il es later , at check fo ur , Woodland Cycle/Bennett Lt d ./M o t i o n Pro -spons ored St o w e reg ist ered the swiftest tim e, a 3.190. "T he test was in overgrown, virgi n trail s that are o nly open for this race," noted Stowe. Second in the test, with 4.218 , was D am ie n Ga lford . Team Green ride r Cr a ig Wesner followed closely with 4.268 . Dave Wood turn ed in th e picked it up and cau ght u p with Da ve. " (Wood and Sp oon er were rid ing on the sam e m inute.) After th e t est was 20 m inutes o f free time at the remote g as sto p . Ride r s e xc ha n ge d stor i e s ab o u t th e superb c ou rs e cond it ion s and great new tra ils . " So m e o f th e berms a re so e pic that yo u can lean over far enoug h to dr ag the k il l butt on i n the d i r t l " excl aim ed Wesner. " T h e n ew parts in th e test w er e awesom e," Fox rider Wood said . "The club's done an outstanding job getting the trails into such excellent shap e." The second loo p started with some trails and fire roads heading toward Beva ns Ridge. Check six, the checkin to the second test, was strateg ica lly placed behind a bush near a trail split and caught several riders off guard. "I k new that a speed change and test we re coming ," Galford said . " I 36 e N OVEM BER 29 , 2000' cue I natAl'S was so mad at myself for burni ng th e check that it was d ang er ous to rid e. , was on the sid e of a h ill and so me how did a 18 0 . Then I ha d t o d o a S c o tt Su m m er s: p i c k m y b ik e u p , turn it aro und and go back the right way ." The test wa s 15.6 miles lo ng and in cluded 12 miles of new tra ils near Bear Cr eek . St owe once again aston ish ed eve ryo ne with his sp eed a nd agility by scoring only 1.060. mak ing this the third consecutiv e yea r that he was cham p io n of all sp ecial t est s at the event. '" was bummed wh en I was nearly two mi nu tes lat e about h alf way in t o the tes t," St ow e said . " I k ne w Cra ig and Damien are seve re ly fast in open tes ts and were both in a position to g ain on my lea d, so I ro de m y butt off' " Wesner carded a 2 .090 in the test a nd G a l f o r d only dropp ed 2 . 109. Wood was next w ith 2.1 34 . Sp ooner's 3 . 152 was best of t he 12 scores in th e threes. A st ead y com bi nati o n of tra il s at an 18 -mph spe ed average took riders back to camp and the final check . Stow e's maste ry in the tests netted a fi nal score of 4 .2 50 and th e v icto ry. Current series leader Wesn er fin ished second wi th 6.358. G al f ord pl ac ed third with a score of 8.327 , j ust ahea d of Wood 's 8.465. Spoo ner too k fifth w ith 9.488 . Jason Gerbi , Jon K ing, Shawn Bl ac k , John S. Poor and Dav e Froman, all with scores in the lOs , rounded out the to p 10 . "Th is was such a k ille r rac e ," said Spoo ner. " It was neat to see everyone again and it felt great to be back !" " N o one c o uld ha ve custom ordered better co urse c ond it ions than the phenomena l ones we had today ," Stowe said . The e ve n t marked the 30th ann iversary of the historic 19 70 Cowbell , wh ich had mor e than 1600 entrants . A severe rainstorm hit during that rac e and left about 170 riders stranded o n the course overnight. " Wi th the kinds of bikes we had b ack then ," Loz ier said , " all it took was on e long , red -clay uphill and the CN rain to cause such a disaster." Middle Cree k Camp round Uppe r Lake, California 61 Results: Novemb er 4, 2000 IRound 71 O /A : l . T im Stowe (Su z) ; 2 . Cra ig Wesne r (Kaw ); 3 . Dam ien Galford ( Ka w ); 4 . Dave Wood (CRE): 5. Ty Spooner (KTM ). AA : 1. Tim Stowe (Suz) : 2. Craig Wesner (Ka w); 3. Dave Wood (CRE) . A 200: 1. Crai g Hoffm an (Yom ) ; 2. Dave Peel (KTM). A 25 0 : 1. Dami en Galford (Kaw) ; 2. Ty Spooner (KT M); 3, Jason Gerbi (Han ); 4. Greg Ruffoni (Han) : 5. Chad Grass (Han ). A OPEN : J. Brody Borg ogn o ( KTM ); 2 . Kevi n Ru ffo n i (Kaw ) ; 3 . To ny Elmor e ( Ha n) : 4 . Brod ie DeManiJe (Han). A 4 · ST RK: 1. John S . Poor ( Ha n ) ; 2 . Tr o y M c Wi l lia ms ( Han); 3 . D ani el Ambl er ( Ha n ) ; 4. Michll el Persons: 5. Ed Di az (Suz). A VET ; I. Jon King (Su a) : 2 . Sha wn Bl ac k (KTM): 3. Dave Froman (Ka w); 4 . Steve Shoema ker (Yem] : 5. Ben Gledhill (Kew} . A S R: t . Ken t Parke r ( Ka w ); 2. John Well s (Han); 3. Rick Bowser (Han) ; 4 . David Sm ith (KTM ); 5 . Jon Ellis (Hus) . (Abo ve) After a year -long h iatus due t o a broken pelvic bone, Ty Spooner was back in the sa d dle again - and was the sec o n d A 250cc rid er and fifth overall. A. S / S R : 1. Rich ard Ad an ( Ho n) ; 2 . Larry Giovannoni ( Ka w); 3 . J on Shaffer (Ka w) ; 4 . Peter Prichard (KTM); 5. Wade Tum e (KTM). A WMN.: 1. Heathe r Wilson (KllW). A GENT: 1. David King. SO I A : 1. Ro g er Fl etc h er ( Yam) : 2 . Ron Wi g ington ( Ho n) ; 3. Je ff Pll ge ( KTM) ; 4 . Ke vi n Walker (Kaw) ; 5. Mike Baxter (Yam) . B 2 0 0 ; 1. K en Ma lpu. ( KT M); 2 . Jerry Blinkenberg (Yam) . B 250; 1. Jeff Page (KTM); 2. Robert Pascarella ( KT M); 3 . Matthew Wor kma n ( Hus) : 4. M icha el Christensen (Suz); 5. Chris Perry (Han ). B O PEN : I . M ike Baxt er ( Ya m) ; 2 . Kevin And erson ( KTM); 3. David Vonasek ( KTM); 4. J eff Mauro (KTM) . B 4· 5TRK : 1. Roger Flet cher (Yam) ; 2. Dere k Poe (Han) ; 3. Brian Chase (Yam). B VET: 1. Ron Wigington (Han): 2. Kevin Walk er ( Kaw ); 3 . J ac k Lento ( Han ); 4. Phil Rittenm eyer (Han); 5. Bob McClary (Kaw). B SR : 1 . Bo b Th omp so n (S uz); 2 . Ran d y Patterson ( KTM ); 3 . Jud Hod ges ( Han ) ; 4 . Hugo Zwetsloot (Yam) ; 5. Scott Lawrence (Hus). B S/SR : 1. Meurig Da vi es ( Kaw ); 2 . Cha rlie Sta nley (Kaw) ; 3 . Donald Chase ( KTM) ; 4. Dann y Bawden (Yam ) ; 5. Richa rd Ti esso (Hon) . CO/A; 1. Scott Puckett (Han) ; 2. Col by Noble (Han); 3. Jerry Talbot (KTM); 4. Ji m Finney (KTM): 5. Jake Mah ler (Yam) . C 2 00; 1. Jerry Tal bot ( KTM ) : 2. Ronal d Hoyt (Kaw ); 3. Jo dy McWilliams (Yam ); 4 . Th om as Bey (KTM); 5. Darrell J ohnso n (Yam) . C 2 50 : 1. Scott Puck ett (Han ); 2. .Jek e Mahler (Yam) ; 3. Robert Sumner (Yam ); 4. Gabe Elli s (Han); 5. Mike Bohnhoff. COPEN; 1. Colby Noble (Han) : 2. J im Finney (KTM ): 3. .Jemes Puckett (KTM) ; 4. Brian Raymond (KTM ); 5. Steve Van Waardenberg (Han ). e 4 ·STRK : I. Joseph Per ry ; 2. Mik e Schwartz ( Yam) ; 3 . N eil M urphy; 4 . Ja m es M eyd enb au er (Kaw); 5. Richar d Clarke (Yam) . C VET: 1. Lawrence Mays (Kaw); 2. Bill Wheeler ( Han) ; 3. Martin Mar kham ( Han) ; 4 . A I Rodrigu ez (Yam) ; 5. Ed Cushing (Han). e SR: 1. Mark Benedetti ( KTM) : 2. Bill Dav is ( KT M) : 3 . Sc ott Aldrich ( Ho n) ; 4 . J o sh Gold en (KTM); 5. Ban Logan (ATK). C S /SR : I . Gene Greenl i ef (S u z) ; 2 . Gar y Roberso n (Han); 3. Rick Rink s (KTM); 4. Lynn Smith ; 5. Ronald Lacy (Kaw). (Bel ow ) In Upper Lake, Califomia, Damien Galford placed third ove ra ll and first A 250cc rid e r.

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