Vintage Enduro Cancellation

[Richard Colahan]

To all of those that drove hundreds of miles...spending hundreds of dollars...to attend the Enduro...to assist or to ride...I extend my sincere apologies on the cancellation. Enduros run rain or shine, right? And as Charlie Stapleford says: "A day of rain makes a good enduro better", right? Well...yes on both counts. However...the front that stalled over the Terra Alta area dropped a ton of rain on the McKee's field and the surrounding area,much more then the area could absorb.

However, it seems to me alot of disappointed folks deserve an explanation of our team's efforts and decision process. So here it is, as best as I can recall. To his credit, Dave Lamberth from AHRMA allowed the enduro team to make the go, no-go decision for our event, stressing that safety for both riders and any other participants had to be priority #1. On a few occasions a number of us including riders, workers and AHRMA officials met to review our options and come up with alternate plans.

At eod on Friday we had Plan B: Delay the start until 10:00 am to give pre-riders and check crews extra time to get going, cut the first tough muddy section, restart at check #1 at 8.0 miles at 10:20. Unfortunately at eod on Friday...the rain did not get the message...it rained harder through the night. My first sign of impending trouble was leaving the field on Friday evening to head for the hotel...my 4WD Trailblazer barely made the hill to the gate.

On Saturday morning we met again and put out Plan C: Delay the sign-up until 10:00 am, Delay the start until 12:00, cut out the first section and probably the finish section as well...And the rain continued. Our trail crew had a concern that our last remaining technical section...a 3.6 mile muddy jeep trail...not only had very deep water holes (few of which could be by-passed) but also a deep, fast running stream that obviously was flooded and could only be by-passed by cutting out the entire section. So now our potential course was down to some paved and gravel roads and some remaining nasty jeep trails and farm roads. We were also informed that our plan to have a few side-by-sides on the sweep crew was cancelled. Our gas truck driver could not come (though Tom McKee offered to hook a trailer to his pick up and fill in...). And the most critical issue of all was unless a check crew had 4WD they could not get out of the start field.

So,our status as of 10:30...little left of the course, few...if any... checks, no sweep crew...and frankly at this point most folks (correctly) more worried about how they were going to get out of the field. By then Dave L had cancelled all other scheduled events and had the entrance gate closed to keep more vehicles from coming onto the field.

Finally...we briefly discussed Plan D: could we delay the enduro until Sunday at 10:00 am? Well...by this point we were looking at weather forecasts that said the rain should have already stopped...yet it was still coming down. With too many obstacles and unknowns, I made the decision to cancel. That's about it...One last thing...I stressed to everyone that when the rain finally stopped...the clouds broke...and the sun came out...none of us should second-guess either our team's efforts or my decision to cancel. We will stand by both...

Richard Colahan
1969 V1225
Upper Black Eddy PA

[dennis brown]

rich it is not your fault! weather was very bad. I rode the  duel sport had great time. the cross country on sat was very slick! I road some of the enduro  on the duel sport and with all the rain the trail would have been  really bad. I am sorry for all the people that put so much work in to the enduro . thanks for all the time and effort


dennis l.brown

[wfopete]

Sounds like the right call by those in charge. The last thing any promoter wants to do is cancel an event.  The money had been spent on awards, people lined up to work, vendors committed and entrants there or in route.  Riding old bikes is always a bit of a crap shoot anyway.  A long time ago I decided that whenever I went to a vintage race I would have a contingency plan if the race went belly up for whatever reason.

Pete Petrick
175 Jackpiner
Slow but Good

[Oldebonz]

Back in the day,weather was meaningless,a challenge to prove your"manhood".(i.e. '73 Little Burr) now difficulty,hardship,heart attack risk to competitors who will push till they drop,etc.after 3 minutes of fun,the rest is misery for most,and dangerous. Good call, this is all about having fun reliving the past!

[Larry Perkins]

We also have in most cases a lot more dollars in the bikes and many parts are harder to find and pricey.  That makes a lot of difference in our will to want to wallow in pig slop.

Larry P

[skiracer]

I agree...  If we break something on these bikes, we aren't running down to our local dealer to buy the new part. Now, we have to hope we can find the replacement!

quote:Originally posted by Larry Perkins

We also have in most cases a lot more dollars in the bikes and many parts are harder to find and pricey.  That makes a lot of difference in our will to want to wallow in pig slop.

Larry P

1976 MC 5 Original Owner
1976 Penton 175 XC
1985 20' Hi Point trailer