For the second year in a row, the Overall Quicksilver trophy was taken home by a Garrahan.  This time it was Brian Garrahan who bested all riders.  It was a good weekend for the Garrahan clan with older brother Patrick taking fourth overall and their dad Al Garrahan winning the A Gentlemen class and completing all 10 checks.   It was also a good day for the Clear Creek Legal Defense Fund as both Brian and Pat donated their share of the BRP, American Beta, Assured Aggregates purse!!!

Brian conquered a challenging Billy Waltrip designed course and Joe Gomes designed Endurocross test to beat out the defending National Enduro champion Russell Bobbitt and multi-time National Enduro champ Mike Lafferty over the 66 mile course.  Adding to the drama was a rain storm that started early Sunday morning before dawn and which spit rain and snow showers on the riders throughout the entire day.

The Salinas Ramblers wish to thank the our product sponsors, trophy sponsors and volunteers for their help and support and the Bureau of Land Management for trusting the club to promote another incident free event.  Most of all the Salinas Ramblers wish to thank all the riders who braved the conditions to contest the longest running enduro on the national enduro schedule.

Results

And now for the rest of the story.....

Mother Nature once again played a significant role at the 2007 Quicksilver National Enduro.  As has been the typical pattern for most of this century, the weather has been beautiful right up until the race date and then Mother Nature dishes out her annual surprise.  This year, like the last two, was no exception.  In the weeks prior to the event, the Rambler course crew was treated to almost ideal riding conditions every weekend (except for the AT&T golf weekend). In fact the traditional Quicksilver date, the three day Presidents Day holiday weekend, had perfect weather with the thermometer hitting the high 70's in camp and workers wearing one jersey while doing course work (the Quicksilver was moved back one week by the AMA so that the national riders could join their sponsors at the Indianapolis dealer show).

The high pressure system that has been protecting Clear Creek from winter storms, allowing only 4-5 inches of precipitation all winter, shifted position and allowed cold and moist storms to assault Central California.  The first wave hit on Thursday and left a coating of white in the hills above Rambler camp.  This snow quickly disappeared as the sun reappeared on Friday and the moisture left the ground almost perfect.  Saturday dawned sunny and the sun melted much of the remaining snow at the higher elevations.  Stars were out as riders retired on Saturday evening and then Mother nature unloaded...yet again.

Sunday dawned on sloppy conditions left by the tenth inch of overnight rain.   Apparently this was just enough rain to create a lot of "drama" as 8 time national enduro champion Dick Burleson describes some of the challenging spots in the special test sections.  The first 33 miles had three special tests over mostly wide open trails in the Clear Creek canyon area.  The second 33 miles also featured three special tests but over much tighter trails in the San Benito River and Picacho Rocks areas ending up with a short Endurocross test at the end of the third special test.

National Enduro Promoters Group Pictures

Next Races:

District 36 NCCES:  Wild Piglet Family Enduro and Wild Boar, hosted by the Timekeepers M/C, Clear Creek  March 10/11

Picacho Creek Challenge Hare Scrambles, Salinas Ramblers, Club Property, March 24/25

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