Event Review - Pine Hill Enduro 2002

35th Annual Pine Hill Enduro
Presented by Central Jersey Competition Riders
May 5, 2002

Round 4 of the District 7 Enduro Series took us to the Lebanon State, Forest.
The Central Jersey Competition riders, home to several national champion caliber riders including Fred Hoess, new owner of pacemaker enduro computers and two time ECEA champ, put on an excellent enduro. Along with trail boss Bob Agonis, they have consistently attempted to prove something to the enduro community by presenting a time keeping event. This year, top riders got to practice and hone their timekeeping skills and use the full capability of their computers, and the rest of us got lessons. The Lebanon state forest is great and the two clubs, Central Jersey Competition Riders and Ocean County Competition riders, who have access to this area are fortunate indeed. Last year the event was cancelled much to everyone's dismay, but this year, with low fire risk, and great weather, the club was able to put on a great event. The event signup is well run and indoors. Hot showers and porcelain potties for everyone, a kid's playground, picnic tables and plenty of police protection in the state campground make it a fun family event.

Keytime was at 9:00 a.m. as opposed to the normal 8 a.m. The start turned directly into the woods at 24 mph from a short 100 yard dash down a sand road. >From there things were anything but typical of what we have been seeing this year. One mile to warm up, then a 2 mile reset and changing the speed average down to 12 mph put the brakes on the fast guys, creeping around corners looking for the red flags of a secret checkpoint and doing their very best to enter, what was expected to be a points taking test section, on the first second of their minute. Disappointment greeted most of these riders as the first checkpoint was over 10 miles out, with several speed changes before the check.
Spooky, but that's the GAME of enduro.
Early rows did most of the cutting, making it perfect for later rows on a well designed trail. Forest road sections seemed long at low speeds but it kept everyone on their toes all day. Checks were reasonably placed, which kept down complaints, but there's only so much you can do to make everyone happy. Every off road event promoter realizes this soon enough. The trick to a successful event is to focus on your primary purpose and do it well.
Enduro clubs put on enduros, which are TIMEKEEPING events, and CJCR did that very well!

This was definitely a time keeping event.
Check crew workers were amazed and impressed at how well the top AA riders reacted to the green emergency flags in the points taking sections. Riding 10 seconds into their minute, several were able to slow ride and pull in at the "perfect 30" at two of the three emergency timekeeping checks.
The last points taker could have been zeroed also if the riders had taken the ultimate challenge and ridden a bit hot in the last section. The club saved the very last two miles to put in a tight brush and trees section, which turned out to be where the race was won or lost by taking the only minute of the day for the top riders, Aaron Kopp, Rich Lafferty, Joel Dingler and John Robbins.

One C-Class rider kept time so well he was carrying a second place card right up to the known control where he, making the mistake of burning the finish line check by 22 minutes, earned himself a DQ instead of a trophy. There was lots of head shaking going on at the scoring table over that one. Finish lines are always known control checkpoints. Known Control checkpoints are the only checkpoint where a rider is allowed to be 15 minutes early with no penalty. More than 15 minutes early to ANY checkpoint results in disqualification from that point.

There were plenty of opportunities to burn checks. Bob laid out another C friendly course and gave us a good opportunity to teach a bunch of newbies how to keep time. It was great trail too, with the course laid out to test your timekeeping skills at speed, even up to having the tightest trees in the last part of the last section, and every bit of it rideable at speed. I love Pine Hill in that they actually let you play the GAME of enduro.
The club had some real fun with a "Course split" that was just either to the left or the right of a stand of trees, but confused some to the point of turning around to see if they went the right way. Now THAT was funny. All in all a good event.

So kids, we have had fun playing in the south jersey sand and trees, but now it's time to take the District 7 enduro series to the mountains and the rocks for the Broad Mountain, Green Marble, and Foggy Mountain enduros. Worried? Don't be. C riders will ride a shortened course for these events.
And here's a PLUS! The Green Marble and Foggy Mountain are "Closed course" so you don't need a street legal mount to enter! So come on out and join the fun! District 7 enduro riders be sure to find Chuck Marler at the event, flash your D7 card and pick up a contingency prize package.
The rest of the District 7 enduro series:
May 26 Broad Mountain Enduro New Philadelphia, PA
July 21 Foggy Mountain Breakdown Enduro Blaine, PA
Aug 4 Green Marble Enduro near Good Spring, PA
Aug 25 Beehive Enduro Mauricetown, NJ
Sept 8 Micheaux Enduro Shippensburg, PA
Oct 27 Delaware Enduro Delaware City, DE

Pine Hill Enduro Class Winners
GRAND CHAMPION--------AARON KOPP
HI-POINT-A JOHN ROBBINS
HI-POINT-B-DAVE GLENN

TOP 14
1-AARON KOPP 1/74
2-RICHARD LAFFERTY 1/78
3-JOEL DENGLER 1/93
4-JOHN ROBBINS 1/101
5-JACK LAFFERTY JR. 2/95
6-MIKE COLLINS JR. 2/105
7-MIKE BRADWAY 2/113
8-JAMIE WRIGHT 2/117
9-DALE SWEIGART 2/119
10-ERIC CORBIN 2/122
11-MIKE MCHALE 2/122
12-STEVE LARKIN 2/123
13-DAN STOPPI JR. 2/127
14-DALE HILES JR. 2/128


TEAMS
1-METEOR 12
2-TCSMC 13
3-SPER 16
4-DER#1 17
5-SJER #1 21
6-DER#2 28
7-TCSMC HAMMER 30
8-DER#3 30
9-RORR RIP N TEAR 40
10-SPER FAST BOYS 46

AA AARON KOPP
A-125-DAN STOPPI JR.
A-200-DOUGLAS ALLEN JR.
A-250-JOHN ROBBINS
A-OPEN-MIKE MCHALE
A-VET-JEFF JOHNS
A-4LIGHT-ROB COMBER
A-4HEAVY-STEVE LARKIN
A-SR.-FRANK VANAMAN
A-SSR.-JACK LAFFERTY SR.
B-125-PHILL UHLAND
B-200-KYLE REHATCHEK
B-250-PAUL HAND
B-OPEN-TOM BLASSCYK
B-VET-MIKE BILUNAS
B-4LIGHT-DAVE GLENN
B-4HEAVY-DANIEL DREW
B-SR.-MARK STEITZ
B-SSR.-BILL DRISCOLL
C-200-ROB LOCKARD
C-250-MIKE WOUTERSEZ
C-OPEN-DALE MARKS
C-VET-CHUCK POTTS
C-4LIGHT-KEITH THOMAS
C-4HEAVY-PAUL WHILDEN JR.
C-SR.-CHUCK POTTS
MASTERS-PETE PARLETT
WOMENS- LISSA ARSENAULT

--
Chuck Marler

Photos by Dick Norton

- Pine Hill Starting line for Row 19

- We heard over 90 rows started.. this must be the last rider out onto the course
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

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