Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Harden I Roeseler Desert Racing School ...;'- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Studying at Puckerbush U. By Mark Kariya If you put ev~ry motocross track in the world, and the motorcycle park/riding area it resides at, onto one large piece of real estate, it'd be a safe bet that the resulting area of land would equal only a fraction of the deserts of the western United States. . On practicallyanygiven week- 20 en d th roughout th e year, th ousands o f peop le make the trek from ci ties to esca pe in the vastness o f th e desert's forbidding floor. The maj orit y ar e the re for recrea tio n , so me fo r raci ng. So met h i ng nearl y each h a s in com mo n, th ough, is a lack o f ed uca tion. Not lack of formal educati on, i.e. eleme nta ry, ju nior hi gh , high school and possibl y co llege, but of a co urse in cov ering desert terra in on two wh eel s as qu ickl y an d safely as possi ble. Motocro ssers, road racers an d tri al s rid ers have ben efitted for yea rs from "schoo ls" in wh ich past a nd p resent greats o f the sport pass secret tri cks of th eir trad e on to students eager a nd cu rio us. T hose wh o trail ride o r race in th e desert, h ow ever , hav e had little, if a ny th ing, o ffered to them in th e way of schoolin g. U ntil now . The Scot Harden/Larry Ro eseler desert racing school fills the void. Harden an d Roeseler need no introduction to those even remotely interested in desert and off-road co m pe tition, and both are skilled in othe r areas, having motocrossed and co mp eted in Six Days as well . Realizing there was a need, they teamed up and decided to put on desert racing schoo ls. two -day sessions held on weekends n ear La s Vegas, a nd in so ut he rn Ca liforni a 's Distr ict 37 a nd 38, so far. Whil e both are co m m itted to a heav y racin g sch ed u le ri ght n ow, th er e shou ld be more sessions lat er in th e year after th e desert cools off. H arden a nd Roesel er lik e to keep th e sessio ns sma ll wi th between 15 and 20 stude nts in orde r to mainta in a m ore personal typ e o f in structi on. T he sessio n I a tte nded at the Imperial Vall ey's Superst iti on Mountain had a to ta l o f five st ude nts, ens ur ing eac h of us a max imum o f attention. The sessio n beg in s wi th the basics - tra in in g and bot h mental a nd m o tor cycle pr eparat ion . " R u n ni ng is o ne of th e best th in gs you ca n do," says H arden. " Sta rt with a co uple m il es a week and work up. " Roeseler has had a kn ee injured in th e past , so he doesn 't ru n as much . " I go to th e gy m as much as possibl e," he sa ys, doing a vari ety o f thin gs lik e th e Nautilus workou t, th e Life Cycle and weights, stressing light weights and lot s of rep s. Neith er is a fa stidi ous di et er, though yo u won 't find th em hinging on junk food or lot s of swee ts as a rule. ''I' m pi ck y a bou t wh at I eat righ t befor e a ra ce," cla ims Roeseler , however. Like most end ura nce athletes, he subscribes to a ca rbo hyd ra teloading diet before a race. Basicall y, th ough, itall boils down to yo u, the rider. "The re are pl enty o f fine manuals o u t dea ling with tra in - in g a nd ph ysical stu ff, but in th e end, it 's self-d isci p line, h ow bad you want it," says H arden . Approaching th e sta rt of a race, H arden says. " I' Il stretch a lot. Then lots of times I'll take a jump rope with me and skip five minutes till I'm swea rin' good ." Th e rea son forthis is to be properly warm ed up and ready to go from th e start. " T he tough est part of a ny race is th e fir st 10 to 15 mil es (bo th mentally a nd physically )," relaies Scot. A shou lde r inj ury kept Roesel er o u t of ac tio n for part of th e '81 seaso n, a nd its effects still linger at ti mes. Since th e sho u lde rs are used qu ite a bit in riding . he co nce n trates o n working o u t th at area. In addition, he will appl y Ben Gay before a race to p otential cra m p spots. One th in g th at I have p robl em s with , as man y o ther ride rs do , is a rm pump-u p a nd tighten ing. T he so lulio n. acco rdi ng to H ard en . is, " Whe rever you ca n, you 've go t to rela x yo ur a rms ." If necessar y, slo w down a nd co nce nt ra te on rela xing yo ur grip on th e bars. Du st is a no ther evil th e desert ride r/ racer co n fro nts regul arl y. Besid es th e old tri ck o f ap p lyi ng a li ght coa ting of baby oil or grease to th e foam in yo u r go ggl es to keep dust ou t, Roeseler a lso dem onstrat ed a way to keep th e len ses th emsel ves cleaner. H e a p p lies a th in film of Arm or All to both sides of th e len s, a n d wh en it ge ts dusty, a qu ick sw ip e from his jersey produ ces clear visi on again. It works! After a race, Harden takes his gru ngy go gg les, rem oves rheI ens es a nd throws th em in th e washing machine, cl aiming th ey come o u t lik e new . When it co mes to bik e prep, both Harden a nd Ro eseler stres sed th at all th e nit picking. dull, dirty maintena nce yo u 'd like to forge t is im por- tanto T he chain must be properl y adj usted , ca bles lubed and routed co rrec tly, co nt ro ls pos iti oned for easy access , a nd th e cl u tch lever should work well. Cl ean the bik e th oroughl y after rides a n d check it over compl etel y. Time sp ent in the gara ge will mean less cha nce of a DNF ruining yo ur day. Both in structors sta te that it 's more im porta nt to learn to use th e bik e to its full pot ential before going out and having the thing tri cked to th e max . If th e bike isn 't quite th e way yo u 'd lik e it o u t of th e box , th ere are a num ber of min or th ings yo u can do to set it up for you . For instance, cha ngi ng th e posit ion or width of th e bar s ca n mak e a grea t deal of difference in co rnering precision . "T he thin g to rem em ber a bo u t bars is that yo ur hands sho u ld exten d straigh t o u t from your body," according to H arden . When i t co mes to sus pe nsion, tod ay's bi kes ge ne ra lly have lots of changes yo u ca n mak e to dial th em in for your weigh t, style, abili ty a nd th e terra in . Man y riders n owad ays obvio us ly do n ot kn ow th e effects differ ent rebound or co mp ression damping changes, o il viscosities or level s, sp ring preload a nd air pr essures ca n mak e. H arden feel s that th e less pr eload run , th e better , whil e Roeseler adds th at th e sus pe ns io n shou ld bottom o u t, a nd the last few in ch es of travel is th e most important. At any rate. h ow ever, getti ng yo u r sus pe n sio n working correctIy for you should help you go faster th an an y amount of wild porting or " works" pipes. As H arden sa ys, " It 's easi er to sta rt with th e sim p le solutions first" before spending big bucks on other things. One in valuabl e goodie ca rried by almost every off-road rider is a fanny pack full o f too ls and parts. Leather

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