Cycle News

gone wrong until they were unable to tum left onto a dirt road at the next instruction. Never-say-die dual sporters made the most of the confusion, comparing the merits of maps and GPSs, consulting local experts camped out for'a weekend of dry-lake recreation, and draWing lots to see whose bike would be sacrificed for a signal fire if the need arose. Riders who opted for the post-EI Mirage hard-way option weren't faring any better. "A whole bunch of us got lost. The mileage was bad and it was ribboned poorly," said a frustrated Ken Wolf. "We went this way, that way, GPS, the whole thing. We rode allover looking for a way out, and I climbed things you can't climb. We knew we had to go north to hit Shadow Mountain Road, so we just worked on that, but I got afraid. I didn't trust anything on the roll chart after that." High winds at EI Mirage had robbed riders of route-confirming ribbon that was tied the night before the event, and off-roaders without a clue - like the dune-buggy pilot whose roll cage was festooned with LA-B-to-V ribbon didn't help. Riders got plenty of time to make turn decisions in the next section, which was restricted to 30 miles an hour by being a tortoise habitat, then it was on into the desert oasis of Helendale for a late lunch in 80-degree temperatures. "I've being doing this ride since 1998. This year was a lot of dust but it was a lot of fun, and the weather is beautiful, especially compared to the year when it snowed," Scott Hoge said. "They had some great Single-track in that last hard-way section. It got pretty technical in a few spots. And we lost my friend Chuck, who came out from Fort Worth for the ride." Turns out Chuck wasn't far behind. "I used to live in California before I had to move back to Texas for work, so I've done these before, but I came out just for it," Charles Canney said. "We don't have these in Texas. We were riding in clouds of dust but that's just part of it. You take a hot shower, blow it all out of your nose and cough it out of your lungs, and you're as good as new." Forty-six miles lay between lunch and day-one's finish in Barstow, and riders were warned to hit the trail early to avoid finishing in the dark. The easy-way trail combined the rocks and whoops of a badly maintained gas-line road with the ankle-deep gravel of a "I did the last hard-way. I didn't mean to, but I got confused on the roll chart," Justesen said. "Normally I would do all of the hard-ways, but I was diagnosed with pneumonia on Wednesday. I was supposed to take it easy, but I wasn't going to pass on the ride, and it was as good as I'd always heard." One of the most eye-catching finishers was Roger Lancaster, who had built his 1969 Bonneville just for LA-B-to-V. '~bout eight months ago it was a basket case - just a frame and an engine," said Lancaster, a first-time dual sporter who found the trail challenging aboard old iron. "My only problem was the small tank. I have a small Bonneville tank on it, because I like the look of it, but cross-valley run on Stoddard Wells Road. The hard-way trail was a rocky challenge which included tantalizing instructions like "go right on trail at saddle to top; if you can't make it, go back to powerline and turn left." "Wow, those hard ways were a lot of fun." said Tom Reiner, webmaster for AMA District 37. "Really rocky uphills and downhills, mostly. I think this year was more challenging than some of the others. The hard-ways were certainly more challenging." Even first-time riders like Tom Justesen, who had nothing to compare the ride to, had a ball. "I've wanted to do this ride ever since they've been doing it. I used to read about the Barstow-to-Vegas race, and I always wanted to do that, too, but Thanksgiving is not a good time to take off and leave the family," said Justesen, who hails from Utah. "My wife was going to Southern California anyway this year, and it just worked out. She will pick me up in Vegas on the way home." Justesen tried to stick to the easy-way trails, but he came unstuck right at the end. lost. I rode those two mountain passes, and I think they were rockier and more difficult this year. Maybe erosion had exposed more of the rocks." There were smiles all around as the riders reached day two's finish at the Orleans Hotel, just off the Las Vegas Strip. "This event is a labor of love for the organizers - guys like Dave Tonkiss, Buddy Percin, Jim Woods and Paul Flanders," John Nave said. "Those guys work really, really hard, and it's just to see the looks on all the faces of the guys that finish; people that come in from out of state, who are able to come out and have fun, plus the local guys. It's all worth it just to know they're having a good time."CN it's not very practical. I carried a quart of gas with me and everything worked out fine." Day two's trail spanned an intimidating 290 miles, and slower riders were forced to bypass some sections to ensure reaching Vegas before dark. Terry Pratt and his Vintage-mounted group opted out of the first I00 miles and started their ride in Baker. "With the vintage bikes, we typically keep a slower pace, plus the lights on my bike aren't so good. If we ride all the way, we run out of daylight and have to take the bailout, so you miss the two mountain passes at the end, and that's the fun part," said Pratt, who campaigns a 1954 BSA Goldstar. "Weatherwise, I thought it was one of the best years ever - blue skies, not a cloud anywhere, and it was probably in the 60s." Pratt described his ride as "pretty uneventful." "Everybody tips over now and then," he said, with a grin. "I rode all by myself almost the whole day and my odometer was on the money, so I didn't spend any time being CYCLE NEWS • DECEMBER 14,2005 45

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