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Frederick Rises to the Top at Cucharas River Enduro!
Cucharas River Enduro
May 18, 2008 | Walsenberg, CO
Story by George Pennington
And They're Off!
Rocks and water were the keywords today as the Front Range Trail Riders M/C hosted round four of the RMEC Championship series in Walsenburg Co. Most riders knew to expect the rocks this time around, as many were here for the Two-Day ISDE Qualifier held in 2006. What was unexpected was the high river level, apparently resulting from a release up-stream related to heavy spring run off. The nearly seat-deep crossings…….three of them, left a number of riders drowned and kicking to start off their special tests. Fortunately for the swimmers, the tests were ultimately thrown out, because of a trail marking snafu that caused a number of riders to unknowingly short cut the test. Beyond that, compliments were abundant for the FRTR M/C, as most riders appreciated the compassion shown by the club by requiring only two laps on the challenging terrain.
“The only thing that would make this event better would be a discount on pipes and tubes at a local shop” stated one rider to no one in particular afterward.
Bernie Frederick Nabbed his First Overall win of the Year!
With four events down, the series now features four different overall winners. Today it was Bernie Frederick’s time at the top. The Yamaha YZ250 mounted Frederick pounded the rocky terrain into submission, topping the previous event’s overall winner, Brian Fortman, by nearly three minutes. “I’ve been riding my trials bike a lot, I think it really helped in this terrain” noted Frederick after the event. Cody Schafer slid his big Kawasaki into third overall, 17 seconds behind the KTM of Fortman and nearly a minute ahead of AA rider, Allen Phillips. Points leader Ian Blythe had a bad day in Walsenburg. After opening the event with the fastest time in the first grass track test, the young speedster had a series of events befall him that included a collision with a scoring person, drowning out in the river and a flat entering the second test. Starting on row 12, Blythe acquired the flat just a couple hundred feet into the test, pulled out of the test, returned a mile or so back to his pit where he transferred a rear wheel from his other bike, returned to the test and caught up to at least minute 19. Speed was not his problem today, perhaps overly abundant enthusiasm was?
The top A rider on the day was Vet winner Jim Koch. Not only did he top the A’s, his score was good enough for fourth overall! Jeremy Henley topped the Open class at seventh overall, while Rob Weiher piloted his Apex Sports YZ250 to the top of the Senior class at 14th overall. Kyle Schafer once again piloted his YZ125 to the 200cc and overall B victory. Schafer currently retains a firm grip on the points lead in both his class and the B division with this being his third class win and his second overall win of the season. Vet rider, Jeff Martinez topped his class enroute to second overall while Trev Hardle took his Yamaha to third overall and tops in the 4-Stroke class.
Tyler Pennington topped the C class Overall!
Tyler Pennington adapted well to the rocky terrain, also putting his trials background to good use as he piloted his Husqvarna WR125 to the 200cc and overall C win. “This bike is so easy to ride in this stuff, it just floats over all the rocks” stated Pennington afterward. Andrew Dodge and his KTM finished about 90 seconds behind Pennington for second overall and tops in the 4-Stroke’s, while Jon Pierce guided his Suzuki to third overall and the Vet class win.
RACE RESULTS