Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

D w aine Walters t o pped the Ex perts by almost 4 0 po ints. A nd re Plouffe stormed t"rou g h t he g ullies f or sec o nd , Walters never falters at V.O. TwE.'s St. Patrick Two-Day Observed Trials drew 5 1 entries . At o ne ti m e the twodav drew m ore th an 100 entries. Perhaps it' s billing as a trial for th e physicall y fi t kept so m e rid ers h ome. Thirt v o f th e 51 entri es were in th e Am ateur a nd Expert classes . Nine Beg inners a nd 12 Novices signed up. Those who sta yed h ome mi ssed som e super trail riding . Th e recent rains filled the gullies with water and delightful brown yucky stuff while ac tiva ting th e ch lorophyll switch that made the usuall y brown hills a mat ch for anything in St. Patrick 's homeland. Several of the Expert secti ons were con sistent with National class d ifficu lty. A few were never cleaned. One was never three'd, The severity of some of th e sections proved a bellringer for th e riders using the event to prepare for th e fir st three AMAI NATC Nationals o f th e year. H owever , th e return to T exa s Can yon did illustrate how much riding prowess has acce lera ted during th e past years . Novices were tackling some sections that in year's past were ra ted Expertonly or Expert!Amateur. One of the more difficult seaions, Saturday'S section eig h t, was appropriately titled. Most who looked at it figured only a looney would try it. The sect ioned called for a 20-foot climb up a rock wall followed by a hard right to a double step on top. Mark Oldar made it to the top with a one, onl y to turn into th e Amateur exit. The dual exits were a n exercise in wishful' thinking. No Amateur attempted th e section and few Experts made more than one attempt. Amateur victor john Robertson overcame the diHicult sectio ns an d proved almost as invincible as Expert winner Walters, accumulating 2Sless points than second-place Chip Chapman. Kevin Norton, a board one of the first 350 jumbo SWMs in the country, edged Rick Spruell by a sin- By Len Weed CANYON COUNTRY, CA, MAR. 19-~0 . T h e l Oth an n ual V .D.T .E. St. Patrick's Two- Day T rial returned to familiar turf this year - T exas Can yon in southern Californ ia . The now-popular play-riding area was much less rideable back in 1974 when the club hand-cut the trails for their first Wearin '-of-the-Green event. 20 Forest Service concern over stray bullets from target shooters led to a suspension of competition 'in th e area aft er the 1979 trial. Shooting is now restricted to specified areas in Texas Canyon. Despite the restriction , part of the traditional20-mile Saturday loop had to be axed to avoid the shooting area. Even so, Saturday's loop measured 12 mi les, consisting mainly of rocky gullies and some ridge runriing. . The terrain seemed to agree with Dwaine Walters who won the trials, his fourth straight AT A victory this yea r, by a 3S-point margin. Andre Plouffe nosed Kip Webb by four points w ith a la st loop ride of 19, just three off Walters' score. ATA president Michael Lauxen, second to Wal - ters in points after the first three trials, picked up his seco nd fourth of the yea r to go with a pair of seconds. Gu y Van Geesbeek fini sh ed two markers behind. For awh ile, it looked lik e getting to th e trial would be more difficult than riding it. Ra in storms eliminated half of th e asphalt in several sections of Sierra Highway, th e road leading to the trial site. The closing of the road hampered th e co urses' setup, especially th e cu tt in g of new trail. but the club poured on the coa l once the road was reope n ed . Sunday's loop measured 15 m iles, almost all of it splashing over rocks. The long descent to and rid e in Falls Canyon offered some of the best trialstype trail riding available in so u th ern California. When the going wasn't rocky, the entry wa s zig-zagging over green-coated hillsides. , The St. Pat 's, tradit ionall y th e toughest event on the ATA ca lenda r, gl e point lor third . Reiji Naka yma. riding a 200 H onda d irect from j apan , fini shed a point beh ind Ri ck . Scott Ri ggs made it a Fantic sweep of the Expert, Am at eur, a nd Novi ce classes with a l O-po int victory over G lenn Lirhus, Reece Fesler took third. In a battle of Bu ls, Tom Hascher fashioned an eight-point victory over Gil Smith in Senior A. Northerner john Husmann topped former desert star Gary Conrad for third by five points. Rona ld Stev ens won th e weekend's only squeaker by a single point over Bob Watson in Senior N. Bob Miller took third. joe Felber proved eigh t points better than Tim Walker in Beginners. Seven of th e nine starters finished , a remarkable performance consider ing the severity of th e loop for newcomers. Despite the wet , rugged terrain and the event's reputation for toughness, , no entrants were inj ured during the trial. However ·F.O.R.E. Search and Rescue, the group providing medical assistance for the trial , was kept busy. O n Saturda y one of th eir members was clipped by a trail rider who zigged when he should have zagged. Then a three-wheeling play rider was hit by an auto. And on Sunday a shooter Inj u red a no the r shooter near section 12. • Results EX: 1. Dwaine Wal ters (Fan) 80 ; 2. Andre Plo uffe (Bull 118; 3, Kip W ebb (8uII122; 4 , M ich ael Lou.en (M on) 139; 5, Guy Van Geesboek (SWM I 14 1. 141. AM : 1. J ohn Robert son (Fanl 97; 2, Chip Chapma n 12 5; 3, Kevin Norton (SW M) 13 2; 4, Rick Spr uell 133 ; 5. Reiji Nekoya ma (Honl 134 . SRA : 1. Tom Hascher(Bul) 13 1; 2. Gil Smit h (Bul) 139; 3 . John Husmann (MonI152: 4 . Gary Conrad (M on) 157; 5, Art Webster (SWM) 16 2. NOV : 1. Sco tt Riggs(Fan) 71 : 2. Glenn Lirhus Bl : 3, Reece Fealer (SWM) 84: 4 , Bill Hannon (Bul) 90; 5, Bill Bodford (SWM) 99, SR N: 1. Ronald Stovens (Bul) 101: 2, Bob Watson Iitil 102; 3, Bob M iller (Bul) 106: 4, Oaan Hambrick (Man) 141. BEG: 1, Joe Felbe r (SWM) 42 : 2, Tim W alker (Yam) 50: 3, Mick Vanaman (Yam) 54 ; 4, Jeffery W atso n (Han) 68 : 5, Pat Fox 7B,

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