Circa 1983 - This was my 2nd Enduro. (my first was on a Suzuki RM400 and I DNF’d because I couldn’t keep it from fouling plugs) I’m still wearing the Suzuki jersey, even though I’m now on a 250 Maico I purchased of my mentor Dick Stichler…jeans, borrowed boots and a kidney belt were all I could afford (of course I wore a helmet). (pic 04) At the start Drew Smith got the hole shot on me on some unGodly big Honda 4-stroke (500 or 600cc I think) Yes, that’s right, I rode on Drew Smith’s number which meant I didn’t have to worry about keeping time. Dick told me to “just stay with Drew and you’ll easily win your C-medium class”. 21 year olds have no concept of “out of my league” so I practically killed myself and my poor Maico trying to keep up with him but this was the closest I ever got to him the whole day (unless you count the gas stop) What a humble, amazing rider he was. (pic 03) Somewhere in early 1984 I bought an 82 WR430 and tricked myself out in the entire Husky outfit (except of course the borrowed boots). I was looking cool before an enduro with the man who got me started with enduros the year prior. At that time, 54 year-old Dick Stichler, who was an ECEA top points finisher in his Super Senior class for a few years. Behind us is his 1983 WR250 (pic 05) I’m not sure if this is 1984 or 1985, but this was near the beginning of a RORR enduro (I think) where every year they ran you up an engine-high stream (depending on how much rain we had the night before) for about 100 yards then everyone ran the next half-hour or so with no brakes (weren’t drum brakes so “exciting”) In the 2nd picture you can see the next rider behind me just coming around the turn. (pics 02 01)
