Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Moose Norther n Califor nia Championship Enduro Ser ies Mot ul Northern California BIC Championship Enduro Ser ies Round B/7 : W FO Endur o ~ o (Left! Dami e n Ga l ford negotiates the last corne r before the final check on his way to his first overall champions h ip at the 11 th annual run n ing of the W FO Enduro. (Right! At rou n d eight of the Moose Northern California Champ ionship Enduro Se ries, Tim Stowe w as the first AA rider and second overall. S T O RY A N D P HOTO S B Y J IL L A SH W O RT H P A T T E RSO N FOUTS SPRINGS, CA, NOV. 12 S h e e r de termination a nd s tead iness earn ed G&B Kawasak i's Dam ie n G al fo rd h is firs t ove rall c h a m pionsh ip at th e 11 t h annu a l WFO En du ro a t the S tonyford OH V are a nea r Fou ts Spring s , Ca lifo rn ia . Th e e ighth round of Moos e 's Northern Ca lifo rn ia C h a m pio nsh ip E n d uro Se ries was a lso the sevent h round of Mot u l' s No rth ern Cal ifo rn ia B/ C Ch am p ion sh ip En du ro Series . "I fina lly did it!" excla imed Ga lford . " No w t h e pr e ssu re o f getting th e monkey off m y ba c k is over! " Th e Valley Climbers Mot orcycl e Club ho sted th e 155 e ager e ntra nts wa iting to tackle the challenging twoloop course laid out by o ne of Dis trict 36 's m o s t admired enduro-course designers, Matt Wa llace. T wo days befo re , a co ld front brought rain and snow to the popular riding area in the Mendoc ino National Fo rest, el imi na ting any dust. Loop one began on frozen g round, with temperatures in the low 20s. Riders quick ly le arn ed to p a y ext r a attention, as simpl e c orn ers wer e unexpe ctedl y s lip p e ry and h a rd t o ne gotia te . " It was tri ck y to tell what was froze n fro m wha t wa s n't ," T e am Gree n's Craig Wes ner sa id, "e s pe c ia lly a t the faster speeds." C h e c k on e , strat egic all y pla c ed where ne arly one- th ird of the A class s c o red burns , wa s th e c hec k -i n fo r s pecial te st o ne . Th e 13 .7 -m ile s ec tion ran fro m Min e r Rid g e t h ro u g h Bla c k Oak Camp and alo ng the north s ide of Trou g h S pr ings Roa d to check two . Fox rider Da ve Wood s co red the fastest time of 3 .166. Wesner 's 3 .190 wa s sec o nd , j u s t ahead o f Gal ford 's 3 .209 . Suzuk i OffRo ad's T im Stow e was next w ith 4 .218 . Ax o ' s Greg Ruffon i (5 .3 17) and KTM rider Ty Spooner (5 .3 27) follo wed . Two steep uph ills, one each befo re ch ecks o ne a n d t wo , p roved to b e tougher than no rma l under th e iced- u p c o n di t io n s. Tw o la rge bottlenecks occurred , mostly in the Band C classes, causing many to hour out by ch eck one and others by check two . Seve ral s lick miles la te r, riders hit the c hec k- in for the second spec ial test at c he c k three. Th e sho rt 5 . I mile test followed the sout h side of Tro ugh Springs Road, where most of the trails had thawed a nd gr eat trac tio n was a relief. Wood c arded the best time aga in, a 2 .091. Wesner (2 .094) was s econd qui ck e st , a n d Stow e a d ded 2 .104 m ore to hi s s c or e . Galford's 2 . 10 6 ke p t him in th e hunt , and Spo on er (2 . 120) wa s fifth faste st. Aft er th e test , Tw o-Mile Tractor Wa y took riders down to the gas stop at t he e nd o f th e 41 -ground-m ile loop. A review o f sc or es showed Wesner lead ing with 5 .284 . Galford was in striking distanc e with 5.315. Stow e 's 6 .322 w as next , and Wood, who burned check on e . follow ed in fourth with 7.257. Spooner was in fifth with 7.447. The 50 g round -miles of loop tw o began with a c o m bi n a tio n o f uph ill trails and a tight s ingle -tra ck section in thick trees, where snow and ice weren't the only obstacles riders faced . "I wa s trying to keep a fast , ste ady p a c e ," se ries le a d e r Wesne r sa id . "Then. befor e I could see a shoulderh igh tre e across the tra il, it clothes lin e d m e li ke Ston e C o ld S t e v e Aus tin!" "S o me w he re arou n d m il e 60 , " Stowe sa id , "we wer e in a frozen no tra ction a rea . Eve ryon e 's wheels we re ju st s pinn ing. go ing nowhere. We ha d to jum p up a nd down o n the bac ks of our b ikes to move." IA b ov e) Craig Wesner p repa res t o ascend Potat o Hill at t h e Stonyford OHV area n e ar Fouts Spri n gs, Ca lifornia, e n route t o second AA r ide r and third overall. out of c o nt ro l, and if I wasn 't g o ing fast, I felt like I was slacking. The ice wa s gna rly and made for an inte resting day!" A 4-mile ride down Potato Hill took riders ba c k to the staging area , where Ga lford celebrated his victo ry. "It feels really great to finally have an overall under my belt! " Gal fo rd said. CN "It was like be ing on an ice rink at a 2 -percent g rade: Ga lfo rd sa id . "It was funny seeing everyone only m ov ing a bout half a m ile an ho ur. " Ch eck s ix, ne a r Hig h Rocks , was the check -i n to the 10 .6 - m ile third test. wh ere Woo d a ga in logged the best s co re a t check seven with 1,072. "It was jus t a ma tte r of up -s hift ing , gett in g s om e mo men t um, s ta ndi ng u p a n d th e n going whe re t h e b ik e we nt." Wood sa id. Somewhere befo re th e end of the test , S pooner got a fla t an d We sner c ra s hed hard on a s lick turn . Ga lfo rd a nd Stowe each c a rde d 1.084s, a nd XR400 -m oun te d John S. Poo r led the tw os with 2 . 124 . "It was nea r mile 70 ," Sp ooner said . "tha t my tire went flat - and it didn 't even giv e m e ex tra tra ction! " Th e last spe cia l t e s t began at check eight and wo und through 7 .6 miles of s ingle-track before getting to the ninth and final check. Galford's stra teg y o f c o ns ist e ncy pa id off and he finished the test with th e fastest score of 1.041 , which gave him the event win and a final total of 7.440. "I was nervous knowi ng I took o ve r th e lead a t check seven ," Galford s a id . "I knew th e last te s t could be a nybody's , so I ha mmered down and went for it!" S to we 's f in a l sco re of 8. 462 sec u re d seco nd pl a c e , a nd Wes ner fi nis hed t h ird wi t h 8 .4 9 8 . Wo o d ' s co m bo of g reat test s cor e s a nd a b urn gave h im fou rth with 9 .3 9 5 . Ruffon i, who rode at a cons ta nt a nd ca utious pa c e a ll day , foll ow ed in fifth wit h 15 .769 . "It was hard to p ush to make up t im e a fter burn ing th e first c he c k," Ruffoni s a id. "If I went too fas t , I wa s c u c l e n Stonyford O Area RV Fouts Springs. California Results: November 12, 20DD [Round 8171 O /A : I . Dam ien Gal for d (Ka w ); 2 . Tim Stowe (Suz); 3 . Craig Wesner (Kaw) ; 4 . D ave Wood (e RE) ; 5. Greg Ruffoni (Hon). AA : I. Tim Stowe (Suz); 2 . Craig Wesner (Kaw ); 3. Dave Wood (eRE) . A 200 : I. Craig Ho ffm an ( Yam); 2 . Dave Peel (KTM). A 25 0 : I. Demle n Galford (Kaw) ; 2. Greg Ruffoni (Hen ); 3. Jaso n Edie (Kaw) ; 4. Chad Grass (Han ); 5. J eff Wilson (Kaw}. A OPEN: 1. Chris Tom an (Han ); 2. Ja son Gerbi (Han) ; 3 . Kevin Yarnell (Han ); 4 . Curt Kiser (K TM); 5. Tony Elm ore (Han) . A 4 · ST RK : I . J o hn S. Po or ( Ho n ) : 2 . T roy McWilli ams (Han) . A VET : 1. St ev e Sho em ak er ( Ha n ) ; 2 . Da ve Clem ons ( Han) ; 3. Ben Gledhill (Kaw); 4. A nd rew Norrish (KTM ); 5. Mike Scott ( Yam ). A SR: 1. J oh n Poor Jr. (Han) ; 2. Kent Parker [ Ka w) : 3 . Chri s Von Klei st (Yam); 4 . David Smi th (KTM ); 5. David O lsen (Han). A S/ SR: t . Richa rd Ad an (Han) ; 2. Roger J acob s (KTM ). A WMN; 1. Heather Wilson (Kew ). B O / A: 1. M ike Baxt er (a- G); 2 . Tim Collin s (Han) ; 3. Roger Fletcher ( Yam); 4 . Bob Thompson (Suz); 5 . Randy Patterson (KTM ). B 200: l . Je rry Bli nk en b er g ( Yam) ; 2 . Ken Malpus (KTM) . 8 250: 1. M atthew Workma n ( Hus) : 2. Jason Pettinato ( Ka w ) ; 3 . Je ff Page ( KTM ) ; 4 . M ic hael Christensen (Suz): 5. Simon Phizackerl y (Han ). B OPEN : 1. Mike Baxter (G·G); 2 . Steve Nicholes (Hon ); 3. Kevin Ande rso n (KTM); 4 . Mik e Vonasek (KTM): 5. Jeff Maum (KTM). B 4 ·STRK: 1. Rog er Fletche r ( Yam) ; 2. Wayne Buckma n. B VET: 1. Tim Collins (Hon) ; 2. Steve J ohn son (KTM); 3. Kevin Morris (KTM) ; 4 . Ja ck unto (Han): 5. Mark Harv ey. B SR : 1. Bob T h o m p son { Su z} : 2 . Randy Patte rson (KTM) ; 3 . Rick DeCarly (KTM) ; 4. Hugo Zwetsloot (Yam); 5. Alan P1um bridge (Kaw) . B S/SR: 1. Brad Irwin (KTM) : 2 . Leon ard Page ( Ho n) ; 3 . Cha rli e Stanle y ( K aw ); 4 . Don Chas e (KTM); 5. Meuri g Davies (Kaw) . C O/ A : 1. Scott Puckett (Hon); 2. Mark Benedetti (KTM) ; 3. J erry Talbo t (KTM) ; 4 . Sean Slmmc nson: 5 . Ja son Kabal in (Han ). e 200 : 1. Jerry Talbot (KTM); 2 . Ric hard Van Dyk 3 . J od y Mc Wi ll iam s ( Yam); 4 . Rona ld Ho yt (Kaw) : 5. Derren Walk er. 25 0 : I. Scott Puc kett (Han) ; 2. Jaso n Kaba lin (Han ); 3. Gebe Elli s (Han); 4. Gregg Stone; 5. Trevor Rock (Suz). e O PEN : 1. J am es Puckett ( KTM) ; 2. Cha rles Walte r; 3. Dustin Dressler; 4 . Ji m Finney (KTM) ; 5. Burt Deat on. C 4-ST RK : I . Sean Simmonson; 2. Jay Gordon (Yam ); 3. Sean Yudlce (KTM) ; 4. Shane Olsen (Han) ; $. Jo sh Golden (KTM). VET: 1. Richard Murphy (Hon) ; 2. Mike Bartee. SR : 1. Ma rk Ben edetti (KTM) ; 2. Bill Da vi s (KTM) ; 3 . Pete Eby (Kaw ) ; 4 . M ichae l J onopu lo s (Suz): 5. Gene Reese (KTM). C S/SR: 1. Robert Ol sen (Suz); 2. Gary Roberson ( Ha n) : 3 . Ro n al d Lacy (Ka w); 4 . Br u ce Sax ton (KTM): 5. Rick Rink s (KTM ). . EeL: 1. Dennis Edie ; 2. Vic Repsted: 3. Kevin Coope r; 4 . Matthew Kimmel (Hen }. e e e e vv s DECEMBER 13. 2000 21

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