Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Bernard best in V.O.T.E.'s Schreiber Cup Trial By Len Weed Photo by Bruce Bernbaum LITTL ERO C K, CA, DEC . 12 Suppose they gave a war'and nobody came? No, that really doesn't apply. After all , the number one, number three, and number four riders in the n ation plus a .former· world champion did show up. How 'bout , other than that , Butch, how did you and Sun dance·enjoy your trip to Boliva ? Proba bly the best line to de , scribe th e day was voiced by Bruce Bernbaum of Bay Area Bultaco/ltaljet. " Instead of fini sher p ins this yea r , they gave out atrophy." Literall y. T he re was on e Expert finishe r. Derreck Bernard was first . last, and everything in between . Eleven other Experts failed to finish, mostl y because they timed out . As a result . Bernard scooped up 500 ride r points that helped his number seven ranking he held going in . The fourthannual V.O. T. E. Schreib er Cup. the year's fina l ATA points tr ia l, for Experts only, too k place the da y b efore EI Trial de Espana. The DNFs included the trial's namesake th is yea r. Bernie Schreiber , just back from Europe, was riding in the states for the first time since last June's world round at Watkin's Glen , New York . Both Bernie and another returning Italian license holder , Scott Head , rode as exhibition riders . The Experts ta ckled a 16 section loop three times . The Support riders bypassed the four tou ghest sections . T he Schreiber Cup was conceived by the Valley Observed Trials Enthusi asts to recognize their world warrior and to offer the locals a demanding finale to the ATA points season. The trial , positioned the day before EI Trial de Espana , also creates a more appealing weekend attraction for out of-area riders . T he trials week end did prove sue cessful as a top rider drawer. Curt Co m er , 198 1 U. S. trials champi on , took leave of his duties at Cosmopolitan Motors, the Montesa importer, to fly west from Philadelphia. National number three, Jack Stites took a week off from the Tryals Shope in Florida to plane in too . He was d ebu ting the new 420 Fantic and also touching bases with Cycle Guide regarding an u pcom ing bike test . National number four Dwaine W a lters m ade it lOO . All the way up from San Diego. Dwaine ea rn ed ATA number on e in 1981. Add two distinguished V .O .T.E .rs , chreiber and Scott Head , number wo in the U.S . in 1980 , to round out he all-star cast. Bern ie was making his first a ppearnee in the U .S. on an SWM , the rand he will compe te on in 1982. Head will again ride the Italian and world championship rounds for Italjet in 1982 . Out-of-state riders included Ron and Andy Saurn and Joe Alsworth from Arizona. Ron, the SWM importer , wanted to get a first hand look at his new pilot in action. Bernie will take out an AMA lice nse in 1982. He'll be a b le to rid e five of the eight N ationals while contesting the entire world cham pionship series . Comer was look ing good for th e win after two loops . His score was 56, corn pared to 74 for Sti tes. Of co urse, you have to finish to win . The rider who d id finish , Bernard , sponsored by Burbank Montesa , scooted home with just five m inutes to spare before disqualification . About half way around the second loop Derreck realized just how tight the time was a nd sta rt ed hauling . He never got off his bik e on th e final loop. T he Support riders , with four less sections per loop , turned in a better finish record. Two ou t of 13 m ade it. Both finishers had int eresti ng stories. Kipp Webb, down with th e Mill er's Motorcycles crew , rode th e final loop with a broken wrist to take a 17 point victory over Ted Feland, Ted started late, had to push his bike a half mile when a throttle cable fail ed . but still made it in . The riders were given four and a half hours plus a n hour's grave. V.O .T.E. President Kurt Hathaway was so concerned over the time problem that he returned, to the trial site a couple of days later to re-check the loop time . Forty five minutes on the nose. Using that loop time plus five minutes per section on the first loop , three minutes a section thereafter, plus another half hour for loop traffic and general fudge factoring produces a time of 5 :44 . Perry Mason would have called this a case of contributory negligence. The riders should have had more time , but they sho u ld also ha ve paid more attention to the time th ey were given .. . Mo nd ay morni ng q u a rt er b acking is a sna p, though , isn't it ? Severa l factors contributed to the tirneouts . Some riders believed that the loop would be swept at 3:30 . T hey assumed they only had to complete two loops in th e allowed four and one-half hours and then start the th ird loop ahead of the sweep. Howev er, when a time limit and penalty are used , th ere is no sweep. The ruggedness of the sections caused some .delays . to clea r. the . crash and.' Derreck Bernard was the Schreiber Cup winner and the so le fini sh er. burn (a nd in some ca ses, drown) victimes out of th e sections. The severi ty of the sections slowed down rider a tt em p ts too . According to Curt Comer, " If you looked at th e sec tions long enoug h to save you r body, it took tim e." After th e trial, Curt praised th e sections , saying, " I wish it was a National with a good time limi t. That would have been grea t. " Another factor slowing thi ngs down was the desire of the entra n ts to ride with Bernie . With such a small group of starters, the riders tended to bunch together. Most of the guys wanted to see how the former world champion, in marvelous riding shape and down to 170 pounds from intensive training in Italy. was handling the sections. This slowed things down in a trial that re fused to rewa rd laying back. Desp ite the timeouts , the visitors seemed bas ically happy with the day . Jack Stites ca lled it a good trial. Ron Saum sa id , "I enjoyed th e heck out of it. It was better than an y National we had this year for enjoyability. When you cleaned a section , you wen t: wow," Then Ron snuck in that th e '82 SWMs, based on the b ike Gilles Burgat won the world championship on, would be arriving ' in J a nu a ry. Bernie was rid ing an '81 modified to '82 specs. T wen ty-one DNFs an d a broken Wrist weren't the day's only ha rd luck stories. Scott Head nearly drowned , sort of, going up to his neck in water when he went off lin e in a sect ion . Probably the bigg est loser , though . was Dan Suffin. Surfer Dan drove down from northern Ca lifornia , passing up a day's labor at double time (mo re than $40 an hour) and then crashed in the first section and was done for the day. The Schreiber Cup was conceived to be a trial tha t stood ou t among th osc on the schedule. You could definitely say that was the ca se in 1981 . The trial certainly gave Derreck Bern a rd , 17, who just turned Expert in Ma y, something to file awa y in the 01 ' scra p book. It isn't every day tha t a first year Expert (or anybody) can talk abou t winning a tr ial with the likes of Schreiber, Head , Comer , St ites , and Waltcrs. Both the riders and organizers may have learned a valua ble lesson. However , it's not totally clear what th e lesson is. It could be: living is enti rely • too time consuming. Results EXPER 1. Defrock Bernard IMonl l 66.2. T: SUP PORT: 1. Kipp Webb IBull 82.7; 2. Ted FeIand IBull99.9. c 13

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