Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

...... ...... l-o 0- ~ (Left) Scott Annand rode a new Honda RTL250S single shocker to an eighth in the Experts, wh ile ali Thordarson (right) fin ished third. S c ott Head, now riding a single shock Beta , eas ily won t he Expert class at the St . Patrick's Day trial w ith 39 points to spare. il Til Obs erv e d Trials Head~SDpat St. Patrick~s Day·trial By Len Weed TEXAS CANYON, CA. MAR. 7 A 700-m il e d rive, a weekend away from calculus, and a shot at a year's possession of V.O.T.E.'s perpetualSt. Patrick's Day trophy were the factors National Champion Scott H ead weighed before motoring so u th to get reacquainted . with so me familiar terrain and form erclu bmates. H ead wa sn ' t 16 challenged as he d ro p ped just 37 m a rk s, 39 less tha n runner-up Da ve Web ster (Ya m). Head's a p pea ra nce was his fir st in so u thern Ca liforn ia o n hi s new Bet a m onos ho ck . H e remains with hi s sponsor, Cosm opoli tan Motors, but is n ow off th e 242cc Montesa th at carri ed him to five National victories last yea r. H ead u sed the event to test a co u p le o f modifications.a nd served as a tuneup for th e National seri es which o pe n; April 13 in T exas, Another NoCa I ace, Kip Web b, National nu m ber five, did not ma ke the tri p . Also missin g we re SoCal's top tw o Experts last year - Mich ael Lauxe n a nd J ohn Robert son . Robert so n u sed h is wi n ning sha re o f EI T r ia l de Espana fu nds to ride th e fir st th ree ro u nds o f th e worl d ser ies. Loca l Expert Mark Oldar joined Robertson for th e tri p o verseas. Mo mesa importer La rry Wise of Cos mopo lita n Motors a rra nged fo r the two to vis i t th e factory in Spai n, pu rch ase ' bikes, and tr avel with world team rid er s And re u Cordina a n d Di ego Bosis. Lauxen flew o ver to ride th e Englis h round o n an Armstrong. The St. Patrick 's tri al. tradition - all y a long-loop to ugh -sec tio n tw od a y, was modifi ed last year toa sho rt e r, eas ier one-da y event. Despite the cha nge, onl y 50 sta rte rs appeared . This li st in cluded 23 Experts a n d Am at eurs. Event coord ina to r Reyno ld Hi cklin laid o u t a m edium-l en gth , va ried- terra in, I-t-secti on loop o ver th e ca n yo ns a nd gu ll ies o f the Row her Flat/ T exa s Can yo n area . Beginners rode two loops, a ll o the rs th ree. For the fir st time in yea rs th e event actua lly fell o n St. Patrick 's Da y. but that coi nci de nce fa il ed to bri ng the luc k of th e Irish to th e co mpeti tors withou t Off-Road Veh icl e reg ist ra tion . T hose minu s g reen s t ick ies found th emselv es m inus so me spending g ree n after in spect ion s by Forest Service (for spark a rrestors ) a nd Los An geles Sh eriff' s Department representatives at th e en trance to th e ridm g area. C lu b members in vo lved in section a nd lo op se tu p m entioned th at th e a rea had taken o n an " w ho let th e inmat es loose" a tm os p here the weeks preceedin g th e even t. Thi s was attri buted to the recent cl osing o f Indian Dun es. According to Sergeant Reddy of th e Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, the even t was not specifica lly ta rget ed . The ser geant stated th at numerous co mpla in ts a bo u t rowdy ridi ng, noise, tre spass ing, a nd gun viol ations wer e responsible for th e re gi stration inspectio n . He m entioned th e cl osing o f Indian Dunes as a probable co ntributor to th e in cr ease in co m p la ints by a rea resid ents. H e d id ad m it th at noth in g wa s being d one directl y to co m ba t th e co m p la ints - th e a p peara nce of th e sheriffs wa s ex pected to act as ind irect pers uasion. Sergea nt Redd y stated th at ride rs who o bey the green stic kie law a re gen erall y not th e peop le who crea te th e p robl ems. It is a sad irony that tr ial s enth us ias ts. certa in ly th e quietest a nd ge nerall y amo ng th e m ost well -beh av ed o f off-road rider s, we re dela yed o r pen alized as a n " a n swer" to a si tua tio n th ey d id not crea te. Th e effo rt o f th e V.O .T .E. cl u b i n th e ea r ly '7 0s, in both .ha nd-c u u in g m an y trai ls a nd d evel o p in g a n o ngoing relationship with th e Forest Service, co ntr i b u ted to o pe n ing th e a rea for ge nera l riding . Ex pe rt co m peti tio n sa w a once familiar face back on th e pegs . Former V.OT.E. member Mike Griffitts made a rare appeara nce. Griffitts prepared for th e event by going sai ling a nd ro lli ng hi s bike into and o u t o f his van . A decade ago, only th e bri lli ance o f Marland Wha ley and Bernie Schrei ber deprived Griffitts o f SoCal number o ne - h e ranked fifth in th e U.S . in for third -place Expert behind Head' 1977 U .S. "',orld round in Michigan still leav es h im ra n ked fourth in ca ree r FIM points behind Sch re iber, Whaley, and Don Swee t. Griffins rode well but was forced to re tire becau se of poison oa k sensi tiv ity. Oli T hord a rson (Beach Yamaha ) edged Kevin Norton (Ya m) o n clea ns fo r thi rd p lace Ex pe rt beh in d Head a nd Web ster. T hordarson had eig h t clea ns, seco nd o n ly to H ead 's 14. Norton has expanded h is tria ls ac tivit ies to th e peda l variety. H e's been sett ing u p d em onstrati on s a nd co m pe ti tio ns at m o unta in bicycl e events. H e reports enth usiastic response a nd h o pe s to br in g th e tr ial s de mons trations to bicycle m otocro ss. Matt Pritch ard capt u red fifth p lace, 18 marker s behind . Expert co mpe ti ti on a lso sa w th e Nation al d ebu t o f th e new Honda RTL250S m on oshock. Scott Annand receiv ed th e bike tw o da ys before th e tri al s. It 's basically th e same bike used b y a ll o f H onda 's world rid er s exce p t World Champion Eddy Lej eun e who has a new 360cc sing le-shocker. T he bike obvious ly agrees with new team -rider St ev e Saund ers. The British Champion scored a seco nd a nd two th ird s in the first three rou nds. The bike is no t being im po rt ed by Honda, but is avai lable fro m Bay Area Cycle Center in Los Angeles. Derreck Bernard (Bur ba n k Yamaha ) dominated Am at eur acti on. His 43 topped Ri ck Spruell by 25 points. Derreck m anaged 16 of th e 28 cl eans posted b y th e cl as s. Clive Hannon sco red a 96 to ed ge Senior G ary Conrad by four. Tim Wa lk er took fifth as six o f th e 12 sta rte rs DNF. Kaz Okuda topped Mi chael Ruth by one point in th e Novice cla ss. G ary Anderson was a no ther three m arkers behind. J oe Fa sol a to p ped sm H an n on o n o nes fo r fourth. Dav id Wh ittl e scored a two-point victory o ver Steve Thorp as h e d ro p ped 19 in th e Nov ice class. Seni o r Beg inn er AI Moss ed ged Bob So ltys by tw o as Nel s Mill er took third . In Sen ior Novi ce, Bo vd Be rnard (Bu r ba n k Yamah a ) m~de it a father / son swee p by toppin g Du ane Stone by 26. • Results EX: 1. SCali Head t371; 2. Dave We bster (76); 3. Qlie Th ordarson 1 801: 4 . Kev in Norton (80) ; 5 . M att Pr itch ard (9 B); 6 . Bim Miller (103 ); 7 . Sonny Baskin (110); B. Scott An nand 111S); 9 . Kellh M claughl in (1 19); 10. Da n Dixon (147). A M : 1. Derr eck Bernard (431; 2. Ric k Spr uell (6 BI; 3 : Clive Hannon (96); 4 . Gary Conrad (100); 5. Tim W el ker (106); 6. Chris M cHu gh (122). NOV : 1. Kaz Oku da 1221 2. Michael Rut h (23) ; 3. ; Gary A nd erson (261; 4 . Joe Fasola (27); 5. Bill Han n on (2 7); 6 . L. Theo bald (30) ; 7. Neil M acD on n ell (3 5); B. Kevi n M orr i s (371; 9 . Rick Yelkin (40); 10, David Dvidson (461; 11. Mike St . John (5 5); 12 . Jey A nd erson (6B); 13 . Che rles Lamb (69). BEG: 1. DavidWhillle(1 9); 2 . Steve Thorp (21 ); 3 . Dean White (44); 4 . Glen At kin s (4B). SR BEG: 1. A I Moss (37); 2. Bob Solty s 1391 3 . : Nels Miller (44);4 . Clem Shrank (4 5); 5. Jack V oider (5 6). SR NOV: 1. mEl Du ane Stone/ Boyd Berne rd (23); 3. Duene Stone (4 9).

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