Tuff E'nuff Enduro - Right!
AMA
at
Desert
Sunday September 19, 1976
By: Larry Langley
Windsor Tank sponsored Tom Spurlock rode his 250 Husky to his second consecutive win in the UEA's Tuff E' Nuff Enduro, conceded by most of District 37 enduro riders to be one of the most challenging in the points chase. Spurlock dominated the Tuff E' Nuff, even after dropping two points at the second check when • he burned it a minute early.
The first loop was set up for the less experienced C class riders, but still provided a challenge for the higher skilled A and B riders. The first check was spotted just 5.1 miles from the start and was located on a rocky ridge, which at the posted 18 MPH average was tuff to arrive on time. The second check was located just 3.0 miles past the first, the minimum distance according to AMA rules and caught a' whole bunch of riders early, including the winner;After the second check the course turned from rocky trails to fast sandy type trails at 24 MPH. A check to catch riders who weren't paying attention to their timekeeping and a long stretch riding.
The course then turned back into the Summit Range, commonly called the "Sand Hills" by the riders and down two sand downhills which provided quite a few thrills for the C riders and a lot of the B's. The A riders gassed it down in fourth. A tie-breaker check at the bottom of the second provided suspense as the check entry flags were posi¬tioned up the hill a bit and it was I interesting to watch the riders try to hit the entry point right on 30 seconds (perfect score} as they were barrelling down the steep incline. No more checks into the gas stop (for the A & B riders, C's only had to ride one loop) for a quick 4 minute stop and back out on the second loop. The UEA promised a challenging second loop for the more skilled riders and gave it to them in droves. Check E set the tone as most riders arrived late. It was located on a rocky jeep road leading up to Red Mountain, and at a 24 MPH average was extremely hard to maintain the average. i The course skirted the top of Red i Mountain and dropped back down I and picked up the Pipe Line road for a short ways before turning up a wash at a more sedate 12 MPH. Rocks, ledges and soft sand made for a workout for the tiring riders but they pushed on" knowing the UEA would have a check waiting for them. Sure enough, soon after dropping into a sand wash which routed them towards the Hwy 395 crossing, there was the waiting check.
After crossing 395 it was fast desert for a few miles, allowing the riders to rest a little before turning up into the Rand Mountains where the enduro was won. Spurlock only dropped one more point in this section while his contenders for the overall sweepstakes win fell by the •wayside. Four more checks provided challenges for not only the fast riders, but they had to be time¬keepers as well, as UEA snuck a check into a real easy section after a Tuff section. More than one rider arrived two minutes early after bombing it through the Tuff Stuff.
Then it was back to challenging fast terrain, through the last secret check and into the finish. But one last roadblock remained. UEA laid the finish over a horribly rocky hill into the pits and provided spectators with a good view of enduro riders trying to cope with a tough physical test when they were exhausted. The top finishers summoned up their last bit of inner strength and forced their bikes up and over. Many didn't make it on time as the hill got the best of them.
At the finish, most riders thought the UEA had done an excellent job of scouting an interesting enduro. It was Tuff but it was advertised as such. A lot of riders had not done much riding during the summer so were out of shape contributing to their troubles.