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Palmer held the edge after day one, less than a second separating him from the KTM 250 XC of Kirkpatrick, but a couple of crashes in the final grass track cost Palmer critical seconds, enough to drop him behind Kirkpatrick for day two and costing him the LOI 2 runner-up position. Hailing from New Jersey, Palmer wasn't prepared for the rocky nature of the course and struggled with too stiff sus- pension settings. "I've been practicing the grass tracks back home, but just wasn't prepared for the rocky-terrain test and was giving up time there," Palmer noted. "I felt I was fastest on the grass track and went for it all on the last lap around, but the two crashes cost me about 20 seconds. With my third-place-overall finish in Oklahoma and a fifth here, I feel like I've got a good chance at making the Trophy Team any- way." The LOI 1 (125cc two-stroke/250cc four-stroke) class was a runaway victory for Aaron Kopp, the KTM 250S XF- mounted rider besting local hotshoe Ian Blythe by over two minutes. A bit of a moot point anyway, as the YZ125 mount- ed Blythe is still a year away from the required driver's license needed to com- pete at the ISDE in New Zealand. Regardless, Blythe is gaining valuable experience for next year and came away with the highest class finish by an RMEC rider. Giving up 47 seconds to Blythe after day one, Steve Leivan pushed hard on day two, improving his score, but was unable to close the substantial gap and brought his YZ250F home in third, 33 seconds behind Blythe. With just 50 seconds separating all the LOI 4 (Women) competitors, Yamaha- mounted Amanda Mastin topped Lacy Jones for the win today. An ISDE veteran, Mastin will combine today's finish with her win at Tennessee to be the top contender for the women's team. Jones will finish the series with a pair of seconds, the other coming from Idaho. Honda CRF250- mounted Annell Allen was third on the day. A bit of controversy was brewing in this class today, as Nicole Bradford, a for- mer ISDE competitor as well as a multi- ple-time member of the USA Women's Trials des Nation's team, was disqualified on day two for inadvertently riding back- ward on the course. With a day-one score over two minutes faster than Mastin, Bradford is indisputably the most talented of this tough group and will rely on her win at Oklahoma and a second in Tennessee for her qualification hopes. The LOI 5 class, designed to send a three-rider-club team of over 40-years- old to compete at the ISDE, was won by Michael Bronn. The KTM-mounted Bronn topping GNCC-course wizard and former National Enduro Champion Jeff Russell by 41 seconds. With a third in Oklahoma and a fourth in Tennessee, Bronn needed today's win t o h a v e a s o l i d chance at being s e l e c t e d , w h i l e Russell's second, combined with a third in Tennessee, also should be a lock for selection. Third on the day was John Wells, the KTM rider finishing 45-seconds back of Russell today and equaling Russell's series scores with his second-place finish in Idaho. Local sentimental favorite and former ISDE gold medalist Fritz Kadlec made a rare showing, piloting a 450 Husaberg to sixth in class while promoting his new Husaberg dealership in Gunnison Colorado, the heart of the best high-coun- try riding in the state. CN SPANISH PEAKS ENDURO WALSENBURG, COLORADO RESULTS: JULY 7-8, 2006 (ROUND 4 OF 4) OVERALL: 1. Ricky Dietrich (Kaw); 2. David Pearson (KTM); 3. Paul Neff (KTM); 4. Cole Kirkpatrick (KTM); 5. Wally Palmer (Suz); 6. Jordan Brandt (KTM); 7. Rory Sullivan (KTM); 8. Greg Gillian (Hon); 9. Brian Sperle (KTM); 10. Brandon Johnson (KTM). LOI 1: 1. Aaron Kopp (KTM); 2. Ian Blythe (Yam); 3. Steve Leivan (Yam); 4. John Bennett (Yam); 5. Rod Kreiss (Hon). LOI 2: 1. Ricky Dietrich (Kaw); 2. Cole Kirkpatrick (KTM); 3. Wally Palmer (Suz); 4. Rory Sullivan (KTM); 5. Greg Gillian (Hon). LOI 3; 1. David Pearson (KTM); 2. Paul Neff (KTM); 3. Jordan Brandt (KTM); 4. Brandon Johnson (KTM); 5. Bryan Bruning (KTM). LOI 4: Amanda Mastin (Yam); 2. Lacy Jones (Yam); 3. Annell Allen (Hon). LOI 5: 1. Michael Bronn (KTM); 2. Jeff Russell (Suz); 3. John Wells (KTM); 4. Alan Deyo (KTM); 5. Steve Silvestri (KTM). C Y C L E N E W S • JULY 26, 2006 45 The AMA ISDE Qualifier series reached it's conclusion with round four of the series taking place on the Stroh Ranch near Walsenburg Colorado. The deceptively flat lands of this ranching and farming commu- nity gave way to a challenging 24-mile course, run three times each day. Consist- ing of deep canyon single track, moon-rock formations and virgin, loose, rocky trail, most of the competitors gave the course a big thumbs up for its rough, yet still fun, character. LOI and A class riders were treated to a special three-mile loop run twice each day, consisting of a difficult, nearly mile long, zigzagging climb up onto an isolated canyon plateau, followed by a trials-like descent back to the canyon floor. Rains in the days preceding the event kept dust to a minimum. Land use issues had forced the Pikes Peak Enduro Riders Club to change locations twice previous to the event and nearly caused cancellation, with the final location only being negotiated about 60 days ahead of the event date. Said event organizer Erik Nijkamp, "With all the troubles we've had, the silver lining was that this turned out to be the best location of them all." About two hours after the completion of Sunday's event a short but massive thun- derstorm hit the event site causing the 100 by 30-foot sign-up tent to collapse on 30-40 people, who were taking shelter while awaiting the day's results, causing the awards presentation to be cancelled. Fortu- nately, no one was injured in the melee. In a unique twist for this series, Apex Sports, a multiple-line dealership located in Colorado Springs teamed up with Yamaha Motor Corp. to provide a $3000 purse for the top ten overall finishers. Additional event sponsors included Acer- bis, KTM, Pro-Taper and MSR. Briefly... Cole Kirkpatrick (57), runner up in the LOI 2 class, comes up on Bryan Norman (59). LOI 3 rider Mike Monroe goes big off the 30-foot trailer jump. (Left) Local rider Ian Blythe was impressive in the LOI 1 class, but is still a year away from having the required driver's lisence to compete at the ISDE. (Below) Wally Palmer won a special test on day one, and ended his weekend fifth overall.