Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Rid in g over the black lav a req ui res a lot of strength and f inese. M uc h of t he Mauna Kea 200 enduro is ove r terrain similar to this . Hawaii (Co ntin ued jrom page II ) ~. 30 By now . I was hatin g life a nd won de red wh y I was do ing this. I thought fo r sure I was go ing to die, so I just rested . T he n, like a gi ft from heaven , Dick ie th e trail mas ter appeared o n foot arou nd th e co rner u p a head, so I knew th e trail ended short ly. Dicki e pull ed th e o the r g uy o ut a nd th en I ma de it throu gh with out ge lli ng stuc k. Sure enough. two ki ller m udho les la ter, I was o n an asp ha lt roa d with clear sa iling a head , I thou ght , o h mall , that was a blast! I can 't wa it u ntil next year. For th e next 10 or so mi les, it was m ostl y pavem en t, wh ich gav e me a ' cha nce to rest a nd ca tch m v brea th - I was '15 mi nu tes la te to th e nex t chec k, bu t I didn ' t rea ll y ca re. I just want ed to fini sh. " ext we ca me to a d irt roa d sect ion tha t took us th roug h so me mo re bea u tiful terrain a t th e bottom of :\launa Lo a. We foll ow ed th e tra il th rou gh a ca u le ra nc h called Kea ho u Ra nch. Th e a rea was co vered by gree n grass wit h trees sca ttered a ll a ro u nd: thi s was where rhev had th e fin al gas check. I fill ed up an d grabbed my Cortex jacket ou t of m y back pack , since we were abou t to start our cl im h u p Ma una Loa wh ere it ge ts very co ld. Th e la st sectio n o f th e da v was a no the r na rro w tra il ca lle d P;lUO-O Trail th a t was used to move ca u le from Ma u na Kea to Ka u in th e lat e 1800s. T hi s trai l required lot s o f sta nd ing on th e pegs, bu t m y legs were so wo rn o u t I co u ld n ' t. T he trail took us ov er rock s, lava , drop-off's . ledges. logs, steep dow n hi lis, uphi lls , a nd mo re la va - it wa s tough ! I was so tired , I co u ld n ' t even li ft th e fro n t whe el over so me o f th e crevices, a nd o n e time, I pa id for it. I was cres ti ng th is o ne led ge a nd was abou t to ride d o w n th e o ther side wh en. sure enough, I was greeted by a wh eellen g th-size hole a t th e botto m. T he next th in g I knew, I wa s goi ng a pe rfect headstand o n my front fender whi le usi ng a ll th e stre ngth I had left in m y arms to keep me from doing a complete so m rnersa u lt. I even tu a ll y fell o ff to th e sid e of the bi ke while it remai ned bal an ced in th e hole loo king !i ke a n unexpl od ed bomb stuck in th e gro u nd a fter being d ro p ped from a n a irp la ne . I was em barrassed; luckily nobod y was aro u nd. I go t m y KDX back o n two wh eels aga in , tried to regain m y co m posu re a nd co nrin ued on m y journ ey. T he trail took u s to th e new lava fl ow from th e 1981 eru p tio n o f Mo unt Kilaeua wh ich we had to rid e a ro und . I fina llv ca rne to th e second-to-Iast checkpo i;lllo ated a bo u t ha lfway up th e vo lcan o; th e a rea look ed barren and deso lat e. wit h m iles an d m iles o f black lava flo ws in ever y d irect io n . After most ly easy dirt a ndpaved roads (2i mi les o f it) I was ba ck a t ca m p. Abou t 20 riders fi nish ed a head of me a nd a ll were a lready prep ping thei r bikes for da y two ; I, h owever , passed o u t o n th e grass. Those local rid ers a re tough a nd kn o w ho w to rid e th e trail s. On ly 25 riders fini shed tha t dav: I wa s thrilled to be one o f th em . ' Day two was o n ly 51 miles lon g a nd took abo u t tw o hours to co m p lete. It was mos tly wide d irt roa ds, si mi la r to fireroad s in south ern Cafi fornia . In so me sectio ns, th e trai l wa s to ug h to rid e because there were so ma ny loose lava rocks a nd sa ndy-t yp e areas th at reall v tossed th e bi kes aro und. T he tra il co mp letely circled Ma un a Kea as it reach ed the 10,000 foot level. It was to ugh o n th e lungs. The Ma un a Kea 200 was bv fa r th e most exci ting time I've ever spe nt o n a 'mo to rcycle. Th e tra il s were cha lleng ing , for ever cha nging to different terra in , incredib lv sceni c a nd best o f a ll. th e peop le runn in g th e Ma u na Kea 200 are so me o f th e frien dl iest vo u' Il ever wa nt to me et. Th e end u ro isn 't la id o u t as a p leas u re cruise; it 's to ug h a nd p hysica lly dem a ndi ng . It a lso cos t a lot of dough for so meone from th e ma inland to ride th e event with p lane ticke ts, bik e sh ip p ing cos ts, en trv fee and o the r tidbits in m ind, but it is wort h every penn y a nd m ore to do it a t least once. , I'll be th ere next yea r for sur e, yo u ca n co u n t on it ! • How To: Be a Motocross Star! By David Bailey wit h Thom as Scott Part Three: Getting you r attitude ri ght f or the races Beyo nd th e realm oj physical co n di ti on ing and bik e ridin g ski lls is one jacto r th at will decide w het he r yo u' ll be an M X star or a three-digit has-been. What I'm tal kin g about is yo ur m en tal attitu de, and I' d like to g ive you m y though ts on how yo u can ach ieve " T h e eye oj the tiger" w hen you race, I feel I'm rea lly q ua lified to ta lk lot o f new fans , but I a lso went o ver abou t racing a tti tude . I'v e experiand had so me other bad ex pe rience . , enced just abo u t every thi ng possi ble You have to ta ke eac h s i t~a tion . and tr y to mak e th e best o u t o f 1I. Yo u have to rea lize th a t whe n yo u 're win o n my way to th e top, o n th e wa y to hei ng a MX sta r a nd a n ati onal ra en ing it isn 't go ing to last. You 'r e ' go ing to wi n a few tim es eac h year. ing celebrity. There' re two wa ys to a nd yo u ' ll be o n a hi gh , If yo u think loo k a t yo ur ac h ieveme nts: You ca n feel rea ll y sa tisfied a nd loo k at yo u ra bo ut wi n n ing too much yo u' ll find self in m agazin es a nd wait arou!ld yourself ge ll ing a lilli e bit coc ky. You 'll be spendi ng yo u r time thinku ntil yo u can tell yo ur gra nd kids ing abo u t th e win yo u got two weeks how great yo u were, or yo u ca n try to ago , in stead o f ge lli ng yo u r butt in co ntin ue addi ng to yo ur ach ievegea r to try an d keep winni ng. rnerus. It 's a l mos t imposs ib le 10 si t back ed iflook a t what. yo u' h accornand vou' ve d I t ' s diffiICU It ta Ii d a fa rmu la ta I III · h kee 'ou r head on stra i ht a ll year p IIS I .yo u re movin g a ea . Man v limes people loo k a t me a nd p ) g dd . " ;\'1 h . ' h ' H ' lon g . There a re manyups a n ow ns, sa}, ~ n, t at g U} IS app y. e,~ and tha t's reall y ha rd to co pe wit h . acco ~ phsh ed what h~ set o u t to do . I' m th e type of person who enjoys be m g a t h o rne, a n d w h I a m m v ' I don t feel tha t .wa v, I m n ot the typ e ', , en alti tu de improves, I' m n ot th e type df o f pe rson wh o likes ~o Sit a rou~d a n d look bac k a t wha t I ve don e. I m th e . . person w h a co u Id go 0 \ ' e r ta E u rap e type a f pers o n w ho IS go ing to keep wi . ' . . a n d wm a \\' or ld Ch amplOns h i . I Ip pushi ng - I want more thmgs,. I th ink I' m fast enough 10 do it, but I do n 't h ave the temperament 10 be wa nt more .mo ney , I wa nt , 10 wm more championships, and that makes . , . a way fro m a II th e Iuxun. es o f h om e a for six or eigh t months o u t o f the year mel1 n edgy person If I m no t do mg j ~ . If I' m winn in g races a n d I have a big lead in th e champions hi p po int sta n d ings.jny a ttitude is go ing to be su pe r. If I' m losin g out in th e points ra ce, like I a m th is year. I' m no t the easies t perso n to liv e w ith - j ust as k my gir lfriend . It's rea ll y diffi cult 10 stay in a good fram e o f m ind a ll th e time. T he re w ill be times tha t are good , a nd times that are lousy. T he last co u p le o f years I had . a lot o f good th in gs ha p p en . At the en d o f last year I go t invited to Eu ro pe, which was really a n h onor. I made a lot of money a nd a - h ' t ere s no way. If I'm ha vin g a tough time and a stri ng o f races a re o u t in Ca liforn ia, I find it necessar y to co me hom e, Even if I co me home a nd it ra i ns every day an d I ca n' t even ride, it 's a lway s worth it. I' ll co me home, un pack , and ha ng o u t in my gara ge a nd work on my practice bikes, I li ke 10 be a ble to slee p in m y o wn bed a nd ride m y MX bicycle a nd feed th e fish down a t m y pond . Stu ff like th a t rea lly seem s 10 fresh en me up an d ge ts me ready to win the next ra ce. When I stay a way from h ome for a m onth or m or e I get

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