Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125848
pla tes h ear d the song o f pebbles an d sto nes as th ey zinged aga inst alu mi n um case " an d the hard th ud of ro cks and bo ulders again st fra me tubes. A tw ist he re, a drop off the re , big ro cks, smaller roc ks, st alled bikes, sand, a twis t there. up a Ii ttle, d own a little, dow n a lo t, and suddenly a fter a sh arp tu rn it's checkpoin t time, and T eam Crash is five min u tes lat e . T he moral? Never s top for an ybody on yo ur minute unless th ey ride off a cli ff an d di e - fouled plugs don 't c o u n t. The co urse o pe ne d up fo r a b it, with fast tra ils dodging gian t economy size puckerbushes, The lim iting factor in speed was how m any flying Ws you could handle pe r mile witho ut ge tting off while pl aying cat ch up. Most of this part of the co urse was set down between two ridges, but co m p ared to the tw isty sect ion before. didn 't deserve t he n am e Uc anyon ." T he course flattened an d widened out, a nd th en "I t" loomed in the du st s h ro uded d ist an ce. SRA had n o t ne glec ted hill lo vers, and t his steep roc k-e ncrus ted beauty was deco ra te d with b ikes and ride rs assu m ing posit ions not even dream ed o f in Kama Sutra. On e lady rode her Honda 17 5 abo ut ha lfw ay u p and j ust st ep pe d o ff an d walked aw ay - with ou t putting d o wn th e stand. T he "hill " wa s c hurned be y ond traction by the h undreds o f riders who had already passed ove r it . As numbers in the 6 0s bac ke d u p at vario us p oi n ts o n the hill face, riders w it h numb ers like ni ne and 27 were still pushing, cussin g, o r j ust sitting like so man y tank traps. Team Crash rode around the hill after a fu tile pushi ng attem p t (and after taking . a few pi ctures.) It w as dirty, d usty , and whoopdee city afte r the 65 MPH roads leading from "the hill. " Trying to m ake up rwen ry -one minutes from the check s i t ua t e d sho rt ly after "the hill " provid ed plenty of thrills. Where the course headed di re c t lv in to t he w ind , it was im possible to see be cause of the blin d ing. cho king d ust kicked up fr om other rid er s. Passing w as a d angerou s cho re. It's hard t o ride fas t when y o u can ' t see the ground, but ev en harder to pick a lin e aro u n d a no th er rider. The whoops grew, leveled off , expanded in to finge rs of ridges, an d grew again . Another cany on , this time with h uge berms aro und twists an d tu rns, ap peared . Then the pits were visib le, and th e last check sp rung up. .T here were n o fu ll size ghos ts here , wash and w ear o r o tb erw ise , ju st th e tiny enameled o nes that were th e finis he r p ins. T eam Cras h had fin ally zeroed a loop, see n wondrous things, marvel ed in th e vistas, brea thed clean air, sn orted th rough dust clo uds , swea ted w ith h o rd es on uthe h ill ," go ne fast enough o ver wh oops (sid eways) to get scared, made u p seve n m inutes, not cra she d eve n once, p lo tted its own de st in y and freed its own soul o f the cobwebs of the city . With d ust in its eyes and soreness in its muscles, Team Cras h fel t really , really good. And t hat's why people go out into the d esert with their motorc y cles. • U8 world records at Bonneville and no chain adjustments, that Superchain is incredible ..." " Po ps " Yos him ur a . world fam ous tu ner an d rac i ng ex p ert. CWAL CORPORATiOn Manufactu rers /lmporters /Ol strt bu~ 01M oto ,. SPOrt Acc essones 633 7 M anchest er Blvd / Buena Parll / Ca 9060 2/(7 141 5 2 376 60 California's all new Dirt Freeway Maps Ya say y o ur te ac her Miss Pender gas t, keep s o n your b ac k about w riting a bo o k report ? 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