Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

- Riding the Mauna Kea 200 enduro ~ ~ a: w ~ ..J Timekeepinq in ~ .... i2 >co en o .... o :z: a.. Ln 00 - By Kit Palmer 0') When I heard about the Mauna Kea 200 twoday enduro, I knew this was something I just had to do . What could be better than riding 200 miles through trophical rain - forests, th rough very dense trees and shrubbery, a nd th e trail was on ly about a fool wide, sl?th e bush es a nd branch es h u ng over m fr~>nl o f us . J ohn was I ' k f' " I ' o nly a few feel m from of me but I , c o u ld ba rely see h im; it was impossit lin " 0 ~ n>" t un g. ble to pass through here. I co u ldn' t My assign ed num ber was 2 ~. ~o I d sta rt or~ th e seco nd ro~\' with two get enough o f this sectio n. bu t I other riders on my m in u te, Jo hn almost d id because it went on a nd ~n, a nd o n: a nd . . . " ' T a ylo r (2A).a nd To~.Leighto n (2C): bo th are native Ha waiians. \\'e started Then we en tered the G len/wood a t 7:02 a.rn. Saturday at the ex trem e eas tern tip of the isla nd, less than a Fo.re~ t Reserve - the ~a!n forest. Aah, mi le from the coast, in a pl ace ca ll ed this IS w.ha t ! was wa n ing f~r llt ~as Kapoho . The ground here consisres ~o beau tifu l In t~ere I.coul dn t b~li.eve o f deep ci nder, a nd is black in co lor u . And I ~ou ldn t beli eve I was ri ding with th e same co ns istency as san d but th rou~h II o n a m ot orcycl e - lega.llyl T he dl~1 was da ~p: da rk a nd n~h, a little coa rser. All aro u nd this area a re ci nder co nes wh ich ca n bes t be e~'erYl hmg- was \"lv~dly green ~lI h descri bed as m iniature volcanos made vmes and ferns hangin g ~ nd grow rng o u t of black ci nder. T he first o bstacle everywhere. It \~as bea u ti fu l a~d, best of th e day was a tra il th at loo k us up of a l! I was 0 '.l tlme - th e ul timat e. I 10 th e top of the largest ci nder cone was Ill. paradise. Trying t ~ absorb a ll lhe .scenery. 1 th en righ l al o ng lh e edge of ils craler. If you lost momentu m yo u wo ul d dig ha ~ a har d li m e co'!cemral! ng o n the th e rear ti re into the deep a nd so ft tra il a nd my od ometer, ~ hICh. by Ih.e way. had Slo p ped wo rkmg wh en 11 ci n der an d tumble into the cra ter _ it would lak e a ll day 10 ge t th e bik e OUI. gOI wet soon a.fter entering th e rain H eading back down th e ba cksid e fores t. Then things reall y look a turn o f th e volcano , we came across a nearfor th e wor se a t th e first em erge ncy gas vertical downhill that was fairly long. sto p wh en 1 sp i!led ga s all over m y 1 rode up to th e edge. a nd th e ground goggl es,. rendenng th em useless: I just gave aw ay underneath m y Kawa- . kn ew this would be a ~ro b lem ~lIh saki 's wh eels; I j us t su n k in and rode a ll th e bra~ch es a n d vines h ~n gm g it all th e wa y to th e bottom. After over th ~ trail, b.ul I h ad nl? ch orce but about a m ile o f ridi ng a ro u nd th e to ~o n ll n ue. Since m y 11I1}ekeepmg ci n de r co nes , we wer e ro u ted to a n devices had Slop ped working, 1 had a sp ha lt roa d for a co u p le of more to keep close labs o n John, wh o was a mi les unt il we rea ched fairly sm oo th few yards a hea d of me. dirt road s that took us to a black lava About five mil es deeper into th e section along th e coas tl ine . There, ra in forest , 1 had a n o the r bad enco u n ter wh en a large branch ca ugh t we h ad to rid e over a ro lli ng. billowy type of lava ca lle d pahoehoe (p ro m y ca rbureto r, pulled it o u t o f th e nounced " pa- hoy- hoy"). whi ch prointake manifold a nd tore th e fuel lin e vided exce llen t tracti on bUI was muroff th e ca rboOnce aga in , I was sa tura ted wi th gas a nd 1 had to drag m y der on kn obby tir es. T he la va is pr ett y tough to ride over because th ere a re KDX o ff the trail a nd fix th e carboBy m any wid e cracks an d small dropoffs the tim e 1 gal goi n g aga in, abou t 10 to contend wi th - a tria ls bike wo u ld riders had passed me a nd 1 had to ge t o n th e gas to ca tch up. 1 was p retty be th e hot setu p here. After about 15 tired by n ow, and a ll 1 wa n ted to do m in ut es of this, 1 fou nd myse lf workin g up qui te a swea t tryi ng hard to was ca tch bac k up to J ohn and his keep up with th e local rider s. cloc k. Eventuall y we ma de o ur wa y back 1 was zipping through th e rai n into th e de nse pa lm trees fu rt her fo rest . wh ich seem ed to go on for inward from the coastli ne wh ere we h ours. T hen 1 came across a water ca me across th e first chec k, w hic h I hol e an d rnv bike dro wn ed ou t. Abo ut 10 kick s lat'er it fired to life a nd I was zeroed. I th ought, alright . this is going to be f un! o n my way agai n. I had a few close Soon after th at , we wer e back o n calls a fter th at , bu t o the rwise I had no the pahoeh oe with th e ocea n wa ves problems. Thinkin g "I was way becras h ing agai ns t th e la va at o u r sides. h in d . 1 ca me arou nd a turn . saw a but this la va sec tion wa s to ughe r a n d co u p le o f g uys up a hea d stop ped a nd longer th an th e Iir st, a nd 1 was reall y waiting fo r th eir m inute. then I saw J ohn sit ti ng th ere looking a t his ge ll ing tired qu ickl y, losing time. wat ch . As soon as I got to him , we o nce again , to th e local s. No t a rnornent too soon. we were back o n wide look o ff, ro u nded a co u p le o f more dirt roa ds winding through trees. turn s and zeroed the chec k - I was mudhol es a nd lava roc ks which were jazzed l everyw here. By thi s tim e 1 was back After 10 m ore mil es of lighl a nd on m y minule and enj oying lhe beaulwi st y tr ail s through m ore den se tiful scenery. For th e nexl seven miles, sh ru bbery, I fin all y got to lu nch we m otored Ihrough sugarcane field s where 1 gassed up, ate so me food a nd umil we came across lh e second chec k. rested - I was bea t a nd exha usted! I zeroe d it a nd kept th inkin g , this is Bu t I co u ld n' t wo rry a bo ut lha t begreat! Lilli e did I kn ow wh a t laid ca use there was 65 more miles to go . a head , for me, Back on Ih e trail a nd feel in g a lill ie refreshed , J o hn and I got o n the ga s A few m ore miles lal er, an d we were in th e Waikia Forest Reserve on a nd were su rprised by an early checkIh e Powerline Trai.!. We zig-zagged poin t. We burned it, Ihe n we d~ci g ed - ~ c-r (1) C ::1 ~ over la va beds along th e coastline, thro ug h sugar ca ne fields a n d up a nd arou n d dormant a n d ac tive volca nos? I sure ca n' t Riding the Mauna Kea 200 Enduro in Hawaii is one of t he ultimate off-road experiences, Watch out for the loca l riders. though. they are good l to sta y o u t in from because we kn ew th e next section was a tough one. Here is where we en tered the Log T ra il; we knew it when we sa w this huge log hanging about a foot o ff the ground. and laying across o u r path. We sta red at it for a few seconds then John popped th e clutch on hi s Honda XR200, a lm os t looping it , but suc cessfu lly clearing th e lo g. 1 co u ld n' t beli eve it . and I don 't think h e co u ld eithe r. 1 tried th e same Irick - it didn 't work. The fro m whee l barel y clea red th e log and the bike was danglin g in th e air. 1got o ff, picked u p the back end and threw it over. By this lime. John was long go ne a nd I was now exha usted agai n . Now deep in th e rain forest. th e trail sta rted gelli ng muddier a n d slic ker as my - knobbies gOI packed with m ud. turn in g in to slicks, mak ing forwa rd progress very d ifficult. T he n came . . . the hill. It was hard enough 10 mo ve o n level grou n d let alone climb a hill ! By th is lime I had j ust ca ught up to J ohn a t th e base o f th e h ill ; h e wen t first a nd barel v made it to th e top. 1 go t about halfway up and lost m omentum wh ile m y rea r tir e sat th ere spi n n ing. I ho p ped o ff th e bi ke to push it up , bUI th e rear sprocket h it a rock a nd derail ed th e cha in. Bummer! 1 pull ed th e bik e o ff to Ihe sid e of Ih e Irai I and Iried 10 ge t th e cha in back Oil, but Ihe rear wh eel was packed with mud. m aking Ih in gs ver y difficult. Riders soon began ga lhe ri ng a t th e bOllom o f Ih e hill. wa iting for th eir tu rn . One by one, Ihey Iried to gel 10 Ih e lOp - some ma de it. somedidn 'l. Since Ih ere was n' l m uc h a ir circulaling a l Ihe bo llom o f Ihe rai n foresl , m y eyes began s l.i ng~nga n d my lungs started hurting from a ll th e exha ust fum es the bikes wer e crea tin g . As eac h rider made hi s a ttem p t, 1 wa s gelling roosted sever ely, and I Slopped having fun a long time ago. Finall y, I got the chain back on th e rear sprocket and muscled m y wa y to the top, I was so ex ha usted I h ad 10 sto p and rest. take a drink o f water and a few deep breaths of fresh air. From a ll th e riders th at had pass ed m e. a o ne -line foot -deep groo ve formed in th e muddy. very slick trai l, a n d 1 h ad 10 p addle with m y legs to keep from fall in g over for th e next four m iles. After th e race, one ri der sa id 1 me, " I would 've gi ven an y0 thing 10 keep bo th m y feel o n th e fool pegs for 30 seconds!" 1 agreed . Along the tra il. th ere were mudh ol es th at swa llowed bik es. but 1 managed 10 keep push in g forwa rd a t a snail's p ace. I understood now wh y th is sec tion had a 4.0 m ph speed average foran hour . 1 had to stop a nd rest a long th e way a cou p le o f li mes, thinking . this has to end soon. BUI it kep t going, a nd go ing. Th is is on ly an island, 1 p ra yed , no trai l can last th is long. But it did . 1 co u ld h ear bikes u p a hea d with th eir engines revved OUI lik e chain saws, stuc k in more rnudhol es, an d a ll I kn ew " was th at I would have 10 go th rough them , too . My upper lip curled . Then I came 10 a mudho le th aI h ad cla imed one ride r's bike: h e was too ex ha us led 10 pu ll h is bike 0 o ut , a nd I was too exha usled 1 help him. H e craw led o ff 10 Ihe side of Ihe mud ho le 10 reSl, whi le I Iried scraping mud o ut of m y rear wheel - il was packed so lid wilh mud. (Continued to page 30.) 11

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