Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126894
chai n , fixed m y front tire, gave me liqu ids a n d a chocola te bar to eat. I wa s trea ted lik e a king . Twenty minutes lat er , I was o n my way, feeling ref reshed and in hi g h sp irits. Soon after, I crossed the border into Ne vada and was greeted with an 18-m ilelo ng stretch of dirt road that was filled with whoops . For the first five mi les of th is section, I felt great, passing riders left a nd righ l; then I got pooped. T he wh oop s were tiring o ut m y upper a rms, m y ba ck a nd my legs, a nd th ere wa s n o time to si t down a nd rest. I kept p us h ing m yself , kn owing I had a lot of ti me to make u p. At th e en d of this stre tch, we hea d ed so u th, crossed undernea th the Interstat e a nd rail road track s a nd headed for th e ' fo urt h gas stop, a fter a long stretch of dese rt tra iIs. After makin g a qu ick ref ue ll ing on th e fin al pit, I began to rea lize th e end was nea r. With this th ought , I got a seco nd wind a nd picked up m y pace. Th e trail wa s, o nce aga in , sa ndy and filled with wh oops, with o ne li ne, a nd tiring. It led u s up into the hill s, whi ch wa s th e m ost technica ll y d ifficu lt section of th e whol e ride, mainlv because I was n o w exhausted . Pa ss'ing rid er s now wa s ge ll ing m ore d ifficu lt, because of th e tight tra il, but I kept push ing m yself a nd I fou nd ways arou nd th e slower riders. My legs were gell ing weaker and wea ker, as were my arms and shoulders, a nd I was look ing for the finis h . In stead , I sa w a hill a head o f me littered with many riders la yin g off to th e side of the tra il ; they couldn 't make it to the top. A Husqvarna four-s tro ke rider a head o f me was giv ing me a race on th e tra il as we ca me to the bo ttom of the hill. T he Husk y ride r came to a brief sto p to study th e hot lin e, so I used thi s o pport u nity to pass hi m . I chose au o utside line, while the Husky went to th e inside. The hill was covered with roc ks, w hi ch made it a tough cli mb, but Illy XR didn't have a ny p ro blems ch ugging u p the hill. I reac hed the to p a few feet ahead of the Husk y a nd led h im a lo ng the to p . H e didn' t lik e th a t, so he passed me just as we starte d going doi\'n the o ther side. A duel had begun. Th e down h ill was cove red with rock s an d h e was hav in g a Iiule harder lime wi th it than I, so I had no problems Slaying o n hi s ta il . At th e bouorn . a rider in front o f us wa s pushing h is bike up a rock y sect io n. T he Hu sk y go t by him clea ner th an I did , so he started to get away fro m me. However , I staye d close eno ug h to h im to see he rea lly wanted to beat me a nd wa s ridi ng o ver hi s h ea d . I thought to myself, " Td bett er hang bac k a bit , becau se he 's gon na crash." I was right. In a sa ndy section, he sta rted to fishta il and clipped a rock , which sen t him o ver the bars. It was a gra cefu l fli ght. By th e tim e I rea ch ed him, he was a lr eady o n hi s feet , r unn in g back to h is bike. As I rode by, we waved 10 ea ch oth er a n d I never saw him aga in . Short ly a fter , I cres ted a no th er hill and saw LI S Vegas in the di stan ce. Wh at a beautiful sig h t th at wa s! About three m iles la ter , I sa w th e finis h. Hundred s o f people were ga thered a t th e checkered flag, waiting for th eir rider to show up. Man y people cheered as every rider crossed th e fini sh line, a nd I had a grea t feeling o f accomplishment - I had finished Barstow-to- Vegas . B-to -V is a classic of classics. It 's the kin d o f rac e th at bri ng famili es a nd frie nds together work in g as a team ; it's a race fi lled with man y goa ls to reach , su ch as just p lain finishi ng, winning yo ur class or those perso na l o ne-on -o ne duels with a n o the r rider al on g th e way; it's a race wh ere yo u G ill see beaut iful land ; it 's th e best. It 's Barstow-to- Vegas. • HUSQV ARNA SOBERS UP COMPETITION AT WHISKEY PETE'S ~NI Husqvama Motorcycle Company 49 25 Mercury Street San Diego, CA 92111 Husqvarna THE FI NAL S T E P UP "TEAM NOLAN" 1986 CONTINGENCIES CAMEL PRO SUPERBIKE ROAD RACING 1st 2nd 3rd $1,000.00 500.00 250.00 CAMEL PRO MILE, Ih MILE, DIRTTRACK 1st 2nd 3rd 4th $1,000.00 500.00 250.00 100.00 AMA ROAD RACE ENDURANCE SERIES 1st 2nd 3rd REGISTER NOW!!! FOR COMPLETE PACKAGE AND DETAILS Call Or Write: "TEAM NOLAN" !II! Tour DYNA-TOUR CORPORATION 1944 N. NARRAGANSETT AVE. CHICAGO. ILLINOIS USA 60639 (312) 637·5049 $25O.00jTEAM l00.00jTEAM 75.00/TEAM THESE MONIES W IU BE PAID PER EVENT TO QUAUFIED PARTIC IPANTS ONL Y. TO QUA UFY. PARTICIPANTS MUST REG ISTER WITH " T EA M N OLAN " HEADQUARTERS IN ADVANCE . 19