Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

o 00 0') (Topl KTM rider and Nevada resident Bob Balentine was the first rider to reach the Colorado River vicinity. (left) The BLM was out taking pictures: Rescue 3's BRI Conger described the BLM as "helpful and cooperative:' (Right! The only CR4&OR Honda In the U.S. mada It to the river. ChceckChase cancelled, or, Balentine lirst to the river By Dale Brown of Balentine, while Husky's Scot Harden SOMEWHERE, CALIFORNIA DESERT, OCT, 25 The 1980 Check Chase was cancelled, There were no members of the Checkers Motorcycle Club in sight to work the start, or the checks, or the fini~h. Rid~rs gathering in the Johnson Valley Open Area were told by sign - a banner. actually - that the race was cancelled. When someone set down the banner, they all left. 12 Sort of in the direction of the Color· ado River, near where the original race would have ended. At what would have been the smoke bomb, Yamaha's Bruce Ogilvie was the first one by, followed by KTM's Bob Balentine, and Yamaha teamsters OwcIr. Miller and Larry Roeseier.Shon· Iy after what would have been the bomb, Roeseler's plans for a trouble· free trip were hindered by an engine seizure. "I pushed it until I couldn't breathe, then I was able to kick start it. Everybody went by," related Roeseler later. Mechanical troubles also hit Roeseler's teammate. After a few miles. Miller's bike came to a stop when the studs holding down the cylinder ba<:ked off and he lost compression. Meanwhile, Ogilvie had settled into the position of getting to the river ahead kept Balentine in sight. Kem Park (Hus), Ed Whisenant (Yam) and Kent Pfeiffer, riding his brother Scott's YZ250, were among those determined to get to the river quickly. Ogilvie was the first to get to what would have been the second gas stop, but four or five miles past that, his bike spit a spark plug. "I don't know why it would do that," said Ogilvie later. "maybe it's a sign of getting old, or poor maintenance on my pan. Everytime I'd rev it high it would blow a plug, so I just took it easy and cruised," said Ogilvie. It was a couple of minutes before Balentine came by a busy·with·repairs Ogilvie, and Harden also passed the stationary Yamaha rider. Ogilvie caught up to Harden later, but when the spark plug blew again, he reduced his pace to cruise. Kem Park was making good pro· gress towards the river. in spite of hav· ing to change a tire at what would have been the second gas stop. Roeseler was also moving rapidly. anxious to join his ISDT compatriots, Harden and Ogilvie. Balentine was the first man past what would have been the third gas stop, followed at one minute intervals by Harden and Ogilvie. Park was the next river· bound vacationer by, and Roeseler followed him. Harden was moving, but he was hurring. "I broke the pipe between (what would have been) second and third gas, and damn, I've got such a headache!" Balentine, minus several spokes on his rear wheel, shut it down at what would have been the finish line, a few miles from the Colorado River and Parker. AZ. It was four or five minutes before Harden came; by, and a similar wait before Park and Ogilvie showed up. "He (Park) caught up to me at Rice," said Ogilvie, "and we kind of .talIr.ed hand signals on the trail and he found out I had a sick engine so he cruised alongside of me to make sure that I would make it. He got third and I got founh." Roseseler was the next one to come to a halt, making it to the river in spite of more seizures. Whisenant followed him in, after having his coutnershaft sprocket go away after what .would have been the third gas stop, and having tq double back and replace it. Pfeiffer, nursing a cactus'punctured throttle hand, was the next rider in and the first on a 2&Occ machine. Tracy Walters, who had been doing very well in enduros prior to breaking his ankle earlier this year, returned on a KDXI75 Kawasaki. and followed Pfeiffer into what would have been the finish. He was the first to show up on what desert lingo refers to as a "C" bike. 101 to 175cc. Wayne Manin. aboard a big· bore Husky. was the next to reach the eastern reaches of the Mojave. and he was fol· lowed by Morris Norman. Norman rode the entire distance on a flat front tire. eventually breaking the rim where it had been welded. Norman was the first of the over 40 riders, or Seniors, to show up near Hwy. 62. Tim Sinclair, like Walters, rode a C bike and ~e was the first yellow·stripe plate, or Amateur, in. Fellow Amateur. but on a big KTM. Ken Oviatt trailed Sinclair at the end. Old Pro Art Knapp, incongru9usly clad in blue jeans and Scott plastic boots, had been keeping up with fellow Senior rider Norman, but con· fusion about which direction to go and a crash that bloodied his chin, left him behind Oviatt at trail's end. It was the second time this year that An had done something to his chin, and some· one at end of the trail said to him, "We've got to get you a full·face helmet!" The first of the over !l0. or Vet riders to make it to the end of the ride was Neal Manlnen, and right behind him was fellow Vet RussJones. Lori Farmer was first gal in, just ahead of Diane Holeman. Among green.st.riped plate riders, or Novices, Paul Baxter was the first to get to the river, and he did it on a 250. Rod Barnett was the first Novice there on an Open bike, while Rich Barnes scored a similar feat on a 125. The Beginner·ranked riders didn't gO all the way, but the first one .to get as far as they went was David Jacobs on a 400 Yamaha. The. first 250 was Ron Hetherington, the first 100 was Larry Berg. the ftrst 80 was Keith Senn, the first 125 was Gary Bullington, and the first 175 was Peter Terp. The only Honda CR450R in the U.S., a Cycle World test bike piloted by Ron Griewe, finished the run in good shape. with only a flat front rire holding the pilot back. -

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