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
Streaking to 'Veg a Barstow to Vegas race ~ o ...... By Charles Clayton MOJAVE D ESE RT , CAL., NOV. 30 Art Knapp led it for 20 miles fro m the smokebomb, after they picked up the first yellow ribbon and lime spots marking the course. Three stripes of lime across the trai l meant da nger ahead, ti me to clam p on the bra kes and loo k sharp if you're a 43-year-old man 14 with responsibil ties and good sense, like Art K napp, leading over 3,000 d eser t ho unds in th e San Gabriel Valley Motorcycle Club's classic cr oss-country race. Between the first and second check, Art let Jack Johnson and Anthony Caldwell Bakken by and Johnson broke trail until his Husky holed a piston in the 4,000 foot air. Bobby Balentine then forced his way forward and led the world 's largest motor race through checks two and three. but his rear tire went away and he gave up all hope of the win, though Balentine still rode his Husky all but the last 10 miles of the race until its wheel collapsed within sight of the Las Vegas skyline. That left A.C. Bakken comfortably in the lead, wondering where his Husqvarna buddy Mitch Mayes was. Mit ch had destroyed his front wheel in the tumultous start and arrived 12th a t the first checkpoint. Losing time in the pits, Mayes replaced the offending wheel and "really started motocrossing it," as he said later. Shortly the rear tire went flat on Mayes' Husky and further ti me was lost at the next pitstop repairing it . After that, Mayes held it hard on and caught up with the leader some two-and-a-half hours after the start. The Barstow-Vegas course, which actually begins so me 30 m iles eas t of Barstow, California, parallels the main Las Vegas freeway near its end. From the road the progress of Mayes a nd Bakken co uld be traced by the giant jet of dust the tandem Huskies we re producing. It was like watching a dirt-burning locomotive, fast as a bullet. strea king to Las Vegas. A mile or so behind, you could make out smaller chuffs of dirt raised by third place Art Knapp , the five-year veteran of desert duels, letting the kids fight it out. A.C. and Mitch are too well -matched to be competitors. They ro de into the finish wheel-to-wheel, shaking hands, three-and-a-half hours after they started over 160 miles away. It was a tie, a "dead heat," if you want to dramatize it. "'We tossed a coin out there," they said to the scorer. It was decided that A.C . would be officially declared the winner, since Mitch won it last year. This was the race that had been pre-run over thousands of Thanksgiving ' tables last Thursday, the race that anyone with S12 a nd a scooter and an AMA card could run. You p ut your wife at one gas stop an d your father-in-law at the oth er and hoped your Hastevarna held together while you paced yourself to finish. A full yellow moon on the eve of the race sho ne o n a te mporary city the size (it seemed) of Bars tow itself, made of vans and campers and motorhomes assembled on the barren Mojave between the Harvard and Fie ld Road offram . Pit racers exploded the night and cackled like roosters at the dawning of raceday. The start was early to beat the winter dark ness. Amateurs , Ex perts, Sidehacks, D unec ycles and Powder Puffs went off at 8 a.m.• followed by all Baja buddies A.C. Bak ken, left , and Mitch Mayes finished in a t ie , wh ich up set some hard core racing b uffs, but it's all for f u n and trophies . The Mo jave desert isn't much for sce ne ry , but it 's a nice p lace to ride motorcycles. Novices at 9 a.m, No ti me for b reakfast. The fi rst powderpuff fini sh er was Trudy Beck, just ahead of the Novice winner. nu mber 1160 (sorry, desert victories are private things. besides we don't have his na m e) . Dust devils continued to the finish past sunset and well into the night, The ORA len t their gian t co urse-sweeper veh icles for rid er p ic ku p an d one enterprising fo ur-wheel drive o perator also swept the course for broken down co m pe ti to rs ad vertising "You fall, we haul " for $5. AMA so ld nearl y 1,000 memberships at the sign up . And a ball was had by all. • Results OVERALL WINN E R S (Un o fficia l): 1. A.C . Ba k k e n ( HUs ). 2. Mitch May es (Hus) . 3 . A r t K n app (Hus) . 4. Sc ott Harden (Hus) . 5 . Dave I:.;.apralk (Yam). 6. Dea n Modese tt (Pen) . 7. Doug W inc h el (BUI ) . 8 . AI Ba k er (HUs ) . 9 . R ic k J ones (B u l ). 1 0. R on W right (Ya m ) . More results in Res ults Sect io n.