Bubeck Wins Greenhorn Enduro
BUBECK WINS GREENHORN ENDURO
THE AMA’S 400-mile, 16th annual Greenhorn Enduro, held in the desert and mountain regions of Southern California, was won this year by veteran rider and Green horn expert Max Bubeck, riding an Indian 500. The two-day run, which actually measured 445 miles, started at Pearblossom, a tiny desert community about 70 miles north of Los Angeles, Calif., and saw 170 entries take off at one minute intervals onto the course laid out by the Pasadena Motorcycle Club.
The country traversed by the run is normally dry at this time of year but a few patches of melting snow surprised everyone. Of the total entries, only 23 finished, and 9 more finished the second day portion of the run, all of which testified to the ruggedness of the run.
The winning Club Team was from the Shamrocks MC. Triumph mounted Cal Brown, Jake Loveridge’s Harley, Bud Dorton on a Triumph, Buck Smith’s Triumph and Frank Chase on a Matchless finished behind Bubeck in that order. The lightweight class was won by John Steen on a Jawa; Bill Thorwaldson, also on a Jawa, finished 2nd, and 3rd was Jim Brunson riding a Greeves. Steen and Thorwaldson finished 7th and 8th overall. Ten lightweights finished the run, the smallest of which was a 125cc Jawa ridden by Mike Lewis, who finished 17th overall.
Predominating factors for the large number of dropouts were, among other things, missed checks and very rough going. The Pasadena club explained that many sections of the run were routed over old hare scrambles runs and that many riders, when encountering these old lime marks, thought they knew exactly where they were going, but in reality did not.
Average speeds for the run were set at 24 to 30 mph, but even these speeds were often difficult to maintain considering the nasty sand washes and torn-up hillsides the run was limed over.
As in previous years the riders spent Saturday night atop Greenhorn mountain and then set off for the return leg early the next morning. Many riders enter the “Sunday-only” portion of the run which was won this year by three well-known Southern California competitors, Gary Preston on a Triumph, Bill Messer on a Matchless, and Ed Crowell, also on a Matchless. •
