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/126262
Pettigrew takes Cherry Creek: 150 bikes stuck in mud By Do rde W oodruff J ERI CO , UT. MA Y 15 In the mi dst of the West' s worst dought ca me a wee k of steady rai n . whic h was a Godse nd to ra nc he rs a nd a Devilsend to ra cers . Th ree days into t his week ca me Cherry Creek. no rm all y beset by dust. T he rai n a nd ot her factors ca me toget her to spoil wha t cou ld have been the best C herry Creek ever. Utah's t wo b ig meeti ngs . W id owm ak er a nd Cherry Creek . a re hi st o r ical acci de nts . Bu t u n like W idowm ak er 's Bees. th e Sa lt Lak e Mo tor cycl e C lub is p r im ar il y a roadrid ing cl u b . Althou gh me m be rs select the mselves fo r louring . up to now. by cha nce . eno ugh ha ve ' been co m peti tio n o riented to put on th e m an y race m eetings spo nsored by th e ' cl ub . This yea r the c1ub's nucl eu s of race workers. under st resses of weather a nd ot her problems. wasn 't la rge enoug h to do what need ed to be don e. Not being a b le to read the futu re. the club pl a nn ed a m in i-race on Sa turday . adding to last minut e tasks. One of th e m ost importa nt wo rker s. Rod Ivie , who was in charge of the desert loo p . was ca lled hom e Friday beca use of a death in the fa mi ly. Like so me racers, so me cl ub member s who'd pla nned on com ing stayed home on account of th e ra in. Saturdav, th e d av of th e m in i-race he ld ro ge t he r okay . By S un d a }' morning the lac k of wo rker s was show ing as a crew went ou t to m en d the Sand Loo p , where m a rk ers had been to rn away by the storm a nd th er e wa s no co u rse to fo llow. Cl u b president Lee N ielse n had to h ust le to ge t eno ug h pe ople fo r th e checkpoi nts. W hen the crew ca me back they were goi ng to m ak e a d ecision abou t th e low, lying a rea o n the firs t Desert Loop. I When th ey d id arrive , the ra ce was already 45 minutes lat e . Racer s were wait ing , aski ng " W hy hav en 't we sta rte d a lre ady ," " Loo k at those sto rm clouds ," " we co u ld have ridden a loop a lre ad y before it ra ine d ." The critic a l decision was m ade to go a hea d with th e ra ce , not realiring how mu ch t he th ree mi les of muddy a re a, easily rideable after Saturd ay's rain , had worsened overnig ht. The race started well, th e sun shining. T he bomb run, usually plagued by dust . was fast and easy . The Bees had scou ted well , got to the ' sm o ke bomb hill before m ost of th e big boys. Riders swarm ed uP ' the steep path , th e l"asy pa th . a nd in between . Motocrossers did well in th e narrow , damp wash o n th e way to the fir st chec k. Every on e rode beautifull y and look ed g reat. Rid er s crowde d the fou r chec ke rs. Second chec kpo int kept hearing b ikes but not see ing the m . People at the p its kept loo king for b ikes. A few rid er s ca me through . Rid ers cont in ue d to co rne a long , m ostl y o ne by o ne . G rad u all y th e word got arou nd th e co urse th a t most of th e bik es wer e stuck in th e mud . By the tim e the wa ve of novices arrived th er e were eno ugh rid er s tu ck th at some novices sa w th em and went a ro u n d , ga in in g a n un e xpe ct ed chance to finis h Che rry Cree k without much co m pe tition . Only a few bikes m ad e it a ll th e wa y through th e mu d . Overall winner Chu ck Petti gr ew wa s o ne . His Wheelsmith -prepared 450 Ma ico had enough power to keep going . Salt Lake Mai co shop own er Don G ib bs. a lso 450 Mai co m ounted , was a no the r. Don says he did IOO ·yard sprints with old de sert fox Pr eston Gerber , going wide o pen until th ey crashe d. throwing a . few mud balls a t each other . then trying it som e m ore until th ey were o ut. Gerber 's KTM was th e o nly sma ller bo re bike we kn ow of to go all th e way th rough . Laddie King , a strong , experie n ced desert rider from Green River m ade it on his 400 Yam . Fillm ore , Uta h , Yam aha sho p own er Don Full er. last yea r's a nd th is year's seco nd pla ce finishe r , also m ade it t hroug h on a b ra nd new YZ400 , and lat er sa id he spent two weeks deciding wha t bi ke to use - kn owing he'd need a big bore if the weather was bad . Other s went pa rt ly through a nd partly arou nd . Some rid er s too k a cha nce on missin g a c hec k po int a n d went arou nd. some way a ro u nd to the so ut h . T hose who esc a ped or evade d the mudhole had a beauti ful ride o n th e 40 ·m ile Mount ain Loop whi ch circled o u t past volcani c Erickson Kn oll. th en ba ck through the m ountains. The 30mi le Sand Lo op was damp , and even muddy o n th e return. Don G ibbs says he on ly saw o ne o t he r rider . Preston Gerber , who passed him . Do n was 10th overa ll in this. his first real des ert race . Canny desert ra t Ken Guio of Big Pin ey . Wyoming, Ja ck Benny class winner and 14th overall finis her. said