| Event Review - Foggy Mountain and Green Marble 2002 |
|---|
Foggy Mountain Breakdown Enduro, Blaine Pennsylvania
- July 21 2002
ECEA round 9 of 19
District 7 round 6 of 10
Hosted by the Susquehanna Off Road Riders
The Susquehanna Off Road Riders and the Blaine Fire Department put on
a smack dab good enduro with fun for everyone.
The club ran a well
done check in/check out system gave everyone a nice mix of hard trails
for special tests and timekeeping exercises. Great spectator sheets
also
gave a good show of top riders dropping 7 to 20 points on the course for
the day.
Off the start it was an easy trail down by the creek which
surrounds the lovely Blaine campground, down a short road to a quick
reset, and into the start
of the first woods and test sections. This is my favorite run every
year, and this year the body litter count was down since the club puts
reasonable sections together just long and hard enough to separate the
top riders and challenge C riders, a nice reset, and start it over
again.
The gas was remote this year, with lots of trail trash talk and
few opportunities to DNF, and then back for more fun in the rocks. Good
arrowing, and spot on mileages with no complaints about checks brought
everyone home on 7 miles of blacktop then down the creek trail backwards
to
finish the event at camp.
Fred Hoess, riding on row 60, about as late a minute as you can get,
passed everyone dropping only 1 point in
the first section to everyone elses 2. The second test section was the
teller, as Fred came in right at the very bottom of his minute with only
one second to go, dropping 0 points to everyone elses 1.
With two more
test sections in the afternoon, Fred did a repeat performance of the
morning, dropping 1 in the first section to everyone's 2 and the final
test section of the day dropped 4 to everyone else's 5. Fred is spotty
on the ECEA enduro circuit this year, with his recent push into the
national enduro series, GNCC, and his business ventures, but when he
shows up, he continues to impress upon everyone who is paying attention
how he got to be
the performer he is. His consistency and just out right blazing speed
netted Fred Hoess, of Central Jersey Competition riders, Grand Champion
honors at this year's 28th annual Foggy Mountain Breakdown enduro,
dropping a total of 7 points on the day. His closest competitor, Aaron
Kopp of the
South Penn Enduro Riders dropped 11 points on the day for second place
overall.
Our District 7 riders, our own Mike Sigety, 2000 champion, won first
place A
Medium Light, dropping 15 points on the day. Paul Bitting, current A
class points leader in the D7 enduro series, dropped 22 points. Michael
Biliunas was the top D7 B rider and 2nd overall B at the event, dropping
23 points on the day, taking 3rd in A-Light. Way to go guys!
..but you
gotta give it up for D7 rider Troy McNomee and an unnamed savior who
pull the
"Rabbit out of the hat" award. At the gas stop #1, Troy, riding row 4,
managed to find a spear in the woods which led to dangling a DNF sign
and a torn water
hose in front of every rider coming to the gas, managed to find a real
KTM water hose in a late row rider's
fanny pack, replace his, refill his coolant, restart and finish 10th in
the
B-Heavy division.
I'll be damned.
It goes to show why it pays to ride
the bike of choice, I guess.
Thanks SORR for another great year!
Randy Sharpless checks his computer at the starting line of
Foggy Mountain
photo credit : By Dennis Black www.dephcon.com
Dan Polak passing in the woods at Foggy
photo credit : By Dennis Black www.dephcon.com
Green Marble Enduro,
Kitzmiller Maryland
- August 4 2002
ECEA round 11 of 19
District 7 round 7 of 10
Hosted by the Green Marble Enduro Riders 
Green Marble has been a moving target for 5 years now, but looks they
have
found a GREAT new home and a three year lease at a new location south of
Deep Creek Lake, in Maryland.
Ken Schaefer and his gang of trail hounds cut some really, really nice
trail that was able to test the top area riders at what turned out to be
a lightly attended event.
Kitzmiller is adjacent to the Potomac State
Forest in
Western Maryland and offers the best riding trail area we have seen in a
long time. It's a hike out there, with good brakes a requirement just
to REACH the start, but it turned out the long drive was worth it for
Aaron Kopp,
who dropped only 1 point on the day at the very last check in the first
half,
to win Grand Champion honors over Dale Swiegart by a scant 21 emergency
seconds points. What a photo finish.
Craig Shenigo, 2001 D7 Champ, got
4th overall, and Mike Mchale also made the LONG trip
out from Jersey to bring home 2nd place in A-Open. Congratulations
Gentlemen!
The trails were typical enduro trail for a rock run, long,
challenging, missing only one "check out" but the biggest complaint we
heard was "Where was the waterfall I read about on the internet?"
Checkpoint workers even recalled a pair of late riders who would not
leave the trail until they saw the waterfall.
Ken Schaefer of GMER "I
guess I'll just have to run them up it next year to make sure they see
it". Dennis Black posted the picture to prove it exists. Waterfall or
not, it was a great run for those that came out.
D7 rider Cliff Tenney
won A-Senior with a score of 9. Denny Mann took 4th in B-Senior over
Marty Sprecher by two minutes. Paul Bitting won 2nd A-125 dropping 6,
and Jeff Johns squeaked by Ken Law dropping 6 to Ken's 8. With Jeff
missing Beehive and a narrow points lead this D7 A-Vet class could come
down to the wire. Hang in there guys!
The GMER enduro was dedicated to the memory of Mildred "Mom" Triplett, a
long time member of the Maryland Competition riders, who passed away
this year. Mildred was a staunch supporter of many forms
of motorcycling. She, along with husband Al, worked in their
motorcycle shop, and worked club events including hare scrambles,
motocross and, of course, enduros. Most importantly, she was a
good friend and is sorely missed by all. Husband Al, "Pop" to all
of us, rode enduros in years past and actively participated in this
years' GMER enduro. A founding
member of MCR, GMER, and A.M.A. District 7 is shown here at the start
with son Bruce
Triplett who rode for 2nd place in A-Super Senior class. Pop Triplett
has supported motorcycling in the area for more years than most of us
have been alive, and is one of those people God just blesses you with in
your life. You just have to meet this guy and hear his stories to be
amazed at how our sport got to where it is today. You'll never know
where you'll find him
next ... wherever it is, I hope it's wherever I am.
Thanks Pop, and
Happy Trails Mildred.
Bruce and Al "Pop" Triplett
By Dennis Black www.dephcon.com
Adam Abramo
photo credit : By Dennis Black www.dephcon.com
Green Marble Start
By Dennis Black www.dephcon.com
the elusive Green Marble Waterfall
By Dennis Black www.dephcon.com
More information on these, and all the ECEA enduros, Hare Scrambles and more can be found at the
East Coast Enduro Association Web page
More information about A.M.A. District 7 can be found at the
Motorcycling Unlimited
of A.M.A. District 7 home page
Go back to the Cycling East Archives page