The Great
Escape
Cycle News plays riDg arouDd
the metropolis
By Dale Brown
If I'd known that what began as a few innocen t "Wh a t-if' s" and " W hy-do n' t-we' s" in a
winter edito rial meeting wo u ld evolve into
so m eth in g as big as our dual-purpose test
weekend, I probabl y would have
can celled th e edi torial m eeting.
An d in do ing so, we would
ha ve all mi ssed o u t on a h ell-
(To p ) A typica l scene found the Trai l Boss checking the map and the rest of
the crew shaking their heads. (A bov e) Good eating was part of the tri p.
Of co urse, th e Trai l Bo ss h ad h el p .
Some of it ca me fro m th e edi tor codenamed Pack Rat . There is n o particu lar rea son for thi s code name, o ther
th an th e fact that the Pack Ra t managed 10 SlOW a comp lete set o f in ner
tu bes, flat tire repa ir kit, tools, a
change of clo thes, a 300mm telephoto
lens, a rain suit and a Tour Lion
ri di ng suit into one moderately sized
tank bag.
uva lotta fun .
The innocent idea eventually grew
10 involve six people, six vehicles,
two and a half da ys, 545 miles, 22,345
turns, six gas SlOpS, two million
ro cks and a spattering of snow. It
was, we can safely say, a "happeni ng. "
Most events of this typ e req uire a
The third editor involved wa s
ringleader. We had o urs in the Trail
kn o wn as th e Treasurer. He did no t
Boss. The Trai l Boss norma lly speaks
acquire that titl e due to any great
soft ly and slow ly, bu t in n o ti me a t
wea lt h, but rather a finely honed
all , he had acquired five bi kes (fo ur
sense of practi cal it y. Knowin g fu ll
test units a nd a camera bike), one
we ll th a t h e was th e slowest of th e
truc k, enough maps to serve as a
fo u r riders, th e Treasurer h ad two
spare sea t shou ld o ne of th e bikes lose
a lterna tives. One was that he could
th eirs, a n d a vag ue sense o f wh ere in
try an d blitz th rou gh every riding
th e h ell it was we wer e go ing .
schoo l o ffered by th e lik es of a Keith
The T ra il Boss served double duty
Code, Gary Bailey or Russ Darnell in
as Officia l Cheerl eader, co nti n ui n g
th e few weeks remaining before th e
hi s banter th at th e seco nd day would
scheduled departure. O r, h e .co u ld
be no thing but easy trail s even pa st
beco m e th e T reasu rer. The o thers
the halfway point on a 6000-foo t
would wai t for the man with th e
rock climb. And wh en we go t lost,
hot el reserva tions and credi t ca rds.
w hic h h appen ed occasionally, th e
Tra il Boss was a lso refe rre d 10 as th e
The fourth rider wa s kn own simpl y
• • as Mr. Motocro ss. Mr. Motocro ss was
Block H ead. '
•