GRIER CITY, PA

The mud was deep and the rocks were scattered all about. The arrows directed them up, so they started up but lost traction and began sliding down. The rain was coming down pretty steadily and not helping anybody out one bit. Several people were all lined up to run the gauntlet, each one starting out not knowing what was in store at the top. Everyone was feeling pretty hopeless at this point... but enough about the parking, let's move on to the enduro!

Unfortunately, there was a lot of rain on the Saturday before the event, which left the trails pretty wet, but do-able. The High Mountain Dirt Riders had laid out more than 70 miles of pretty decent terrain, with a bonus piece of around seven miles or so for the AA and A riders only. (The A Super Seniors were spared, alas.) Right at the start, the riders were treated to some grass-track, mudholes, woods and an off-camber uphill, all within the first few miles, which could have been someone's twisted idea of some sort of "rock-run warmup." Luckily, it was all free time, and once a rider caught his breath (those who got stuck on that uphill, that is), he could easily get back on time before entering the points-taking sections.

There were four very technical points-taking sections that consisted of various hard-bottomed mudholes, creeks, rocky trails and uphills, rock formations, "Heart Attack Hill," and one sneaky check that caught a lot of riders who were not paying attention to the route sheet and their computers. At day's end, MSR/DP Brakes/Kenda Tires/ELF/Factory Connection-backed KTM rider Rich Lafferty (above) came out the victor. He was awarded the traditional shotgun for the overall, with an outstanding score of 16/532.

A very close runner-up was Suzuki-mounted Mike Sigety (7X, below), with 16/567. Third place went to KTM rider Andrew De Long, with a 16/586. High Point finishers for the day were Sigety, in the A class; KTM rider Brad Bernet in the B class, with a 18/1036; and KTM rider Robert Kitchen, in the C class.

For tallying results, HMDR used the combined talents of the ECEA's hare scrambles scorekeeper/computer guru Mike Soudas and MotoTally Software, which proved to work quite well. The widescreen TV (in addition to the traditional scorecard board) displaying the results was a nice touch.

Out of 183 riders entered, 146 started to attempt to finish the day. Of those, only 18 did not finish. One of the most challenging parts of the weekend was finding a high and dry place to park; perhaps HMDR could swing a deal next year with Mother Nature. Despite the size of the club, HMDR, along with the help of fellow ECEA club members who worked various checkpoints, pulled off quite a remarkable event. Those who didn't show up to ride missed out. The Shotgun Enduro was previously voted Most Improved Enduro for the 2008 ECEA Championship Enduro Series, and if they keep up the good work, they may very well be that for 2009.

Results

AA: 1. Rich Lafferty (KTM); 2. Andrew De Long (KTM); 3. Ben Smith (Suz).

A 200: 1. Matthew Gift (KTM); 2. Chris Curlett (KTM); 3. Steve Aretz (KTM).

A 250: 1. Ed Emery (Suz); 2. Darren Schoenberg (KTM); 3. Mark Conner.

A OPEN: 1. Brian Melik (Yam); 2. Jacob Williams (KTM); 3. Rick Marcinkewicz (Hus).

A 4-STRK LT: 1. Kyle Rehatchek (Yam); 2. Eric Hahn (KTM); 3. Cliff Jones (Yam).

A 4-STRK HVY: 1. David Glenn (Kaw); 2. Anthony Ezerskis (KTM).

A VET: 1. Mike Sigety (Suz); 2. Jamie Wright (KTM); 3. Kevin Larson (KTM).

A SR: 1. Phil Carlin (Hon); 2. Chuck Sullivan (KTM); 3. Kevin Willis (Hus).

A S/SR: 1. Wayne Fontanazza (Yam); 2. Cliff Tenney (KTM); 3. Steve Bromley (KTM).

B 200: 1. John Castaldi (Kaw); 2. Kyle Fontanazza (KTM); 3. Jacek Malecki (KTM).

B 250: 1. Brad Bernet (KTM); 2. Shane Phillips (Yam); 3. Raymond Powell (KTM).

B OPEN: 1. Brian Boyer III (KTM); 2. Michael Thorsen (KTM); 3. Jason Serafin.

B 4-STRK LT: 1. Brent Hoover (Yam); 2. Joe Gallagher (Yam); 3. George Short (KTM).

B 4-STRK HVY: 1. Matthew Eysie; 2. Martin Tomaljn (KTM); 3. Oved Kirat (Hon).

B VET: 1. Roy Harrell (KTM); 2. Rich Grate (KTM); 3. Brian Donovan (Hus).

B SR: 1. Mike Demos (Hon); 2. John White (Yam); 3. Arthur Downs (KTM).

B S/SR: 1. Jim Eshleman; 2. Ed Brown (Hon); 3. Russell Newlen (KTM).

C 250: 1. Jon Bridges (Yam); 2. Wesley Donaldson (Yam); 3. Tommy Dietz (KTM).

C OPEN: 1. Stephen Petrylak (Yam).

C 4-STRK: 1. Stuard Finnigan (Suz); 2. Bernard St. Amand (Hon); 3. Devin Kellar (KTM).

C VET: 1. Robert Kitchen (KTM); 2.Greg O'Brien (KTM); 3. Justin Lipick (Hon).

C SR: 1. Lee Squyres (Hon).

MASTERS: 1. Jack Lafferty Sr. (KTM).

GOLDEN MASTERS: 1. Charles Stapleford (KTM); 2. Joe Galie (KTM); 3. Robert Hoover (Hon).

WMN: 1. Courtney Compton (KTM); 2. Merle Compton (KTM).