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/125890
Sllnta's ~~ , Little \-- Helpers ~ 2/ ./ . ~ 'G' .r '- No matter what kind of gift you're looking for, if it has anything to do wi th motorcycling . we 've got it. An d we 've go t it in sto c k. Everythi ng fr om helmets to glov es to carbureto r con vers ion kits . Not to ment ion one of the count ry's most compl ete selection s of co mpetiti on leat he rs. If you're not qui te sure what you want , sto p by anyway and one of ou r "fri endl y, smili ng elves," wi ll be g lad to help you out. And remember, there's neve'r a pr oblem if you have to exchange som ething aft erward. Valerian' s Two-cycle City Ltd. Your one- stop Christmas sho p. they tell me ['m 90th Novice! Now that migh t not so und exciting to you, but it was fantastic to me. After all, there were 1500 Novices out there. [had to fight back the temptation to really gas it and try and pick up positions; [ wanted to m ain t ain m y steady pace. Somewhere along the way [ remember the wet dry lake. 1 ' also re mem ber last year when some riders laun ched themselves into orbit when they hit a dropoff about halfway across. Sure enough, there it was, and 1 co uld see where a few had crashed already . 1 sure d idn't want to be here when the mai n pack of Novices came th rough . The course rhis year see med to b e much more tiring than last year (or maybe I'm just a year older) . It was mo re choppy, which m ad e riding u p on the pegs mandatory. Very, very tiring. The silt was the wo rst, though. It hid ruts which caused many crashes. 1 talked to my club members and most of their crashes were caused by the ruts. Leaving the second gas stop, 1 was looking forward to the ride up into the mountains like last year. It was the best part of the course. This year, however, they swung us out into sand washes for miles and miles and 1 knew the course wasn 't going to be the same. Sure enough, we finally ended up on a powerline road over the mountains and bypassed tha t really nea t canyon of last year. Too bad. Coming down, 1 could see the dry lake at State Line, the last gas stop! The old trusty four-stro ke Honda was still running great, the tires still had air (wonder of wonders) and 1 was still feel ing good. My strategy was paying off as 1 was passing ri ders who we re tiring by now. Mos t desert racers just aren't used to going out and racing an honest 100 mil es or m ore. They go o ut to a typical advertised race of 80 m iles and think they h ave ridd en th at far . [ went to one a few we eks ago an d [ clocked th eir u80-mile" race o n my speedometer. Woule! y o u believe 6 1.9 mi les? Two o th er 'sp eedo meter clockings confirmed min e. Got gas at State Line and only 40 mo re mil es to go! Wow, was the adrenalin flowing now! There is this little h ill at the en d of the lake which they use every year and [ was so pumped u p [ hit the hill flat o ut and scattered spectators everywhere. [ was really wired . [ rem em ber telling myself to "cool it, don't do anything stupid now." I settled down so much that a good frie nd of mine, Roy Sh eridan of the Desert M.C . came up next to me on a fire road an d yelled at me an d scared the hell o ut of me. [ bet [jumped a foot off of my bike. I knew I was do in z fairly good if [ was staying u p with Roy. He's pretty fast. [ chased him all the way to the railroad tracks where 1 lost him in" the silt dust as he was passing a rider. Another check and the checker tells me only 10 more miles to go. Boy were those last 10 miles tough! Drop -offs, silt, ru ts and you name it. Having to ride the last 10 miles standing up was almost un bearab le. Another check? He tells me only th ree miles to go. I am reall y p umped up. The checker was almost as excited as me. He was getting caught up in the mo od also. I think that is what makes the race what it is. The last three miles. 1 couldn 't believe it. I finally rea lized 1 was going to make it after all . Hell, 1 was going to carry the bike in if 1 had to . There is the finish, what a mob of people. I'm so excited I'm jumping up and down on my bike. [ spot my wife and she is going bananas. She knows how much this means to me. The whole finish scene is incredible. Everyone is congratulating you like you won the race. Riders who are in may be dead tired but they are caught up in the celebration. Families and friends of riders who are in are whooping it up. Others who are still waiting are a little more subdued. They aren't sure if their rider will make it or not. I rmember the woman writing 460 or so on my tank card so [ know [ did " fairly good (for me). Now our club riders start to come in. There's my best friend Terry, who rode with two teeth out of his idler gear. That's a hell of'a way to ride, n o t knowing if your transmission was going to hold up. We had a few club members ri ding who had neve r ridden a desert race, mu ch less Barstow- to-Vegas. Fred Blanton fin ish ed h is very first race (other than an en duro). At last count, just before five o'clock when I had t o leave to ge t our hotel room, we had 1 1 finishers o ut of 18 starters. And there we re three still on the course. Not bad fo r an enduro club. I think [ ran the hotel out of hot water when [ took my shower. I let much of the Mojave Desert go down the drain . You know what I'm thinking as [ write this? I can't wait for next year. • Q~ttle'~~k:~~;;~~t~~~~: Sa le s - Se rvice - Accessor ies - Pa rts - Leathers H US O VAR N A • CZ • S UZUKI . PENTON . 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