Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

to -V desert race is a real classic. Barst ow- to-Vegas isn' t the kin d o f After riding Barstow-to-Vegas for t he f irst time, I know now why it's ca lled the classic desert race. It's 170 miles of pure fun . Riding Barstow-ta-Vegas The classic desert race By Kit Palmer The Barstow-to-Vegas motorcycle desert race has been around for a lo n g time; it began in 1967. Since then, it has become one o f the m ost famou s motorcycle races in the U n i ted States. \ \' hen I first started riding n ea rl y 10 years ago, B-IO- V was one o f the first motorcycl e races I heard of, vet a decade } 18. . ridden endures. man y grands prix, a n IS D E qualifier and tri als . hut never a desert race , or lilt' Bvto-V class ic. no w proudly add Ba rs to w- to I ca n later, I had never raced it. Vegas 10 my list. After riding th is l- p ~i Jn ~i 4' Ji d~ Il\P1QO"D~ ~ bu l.l.: '~ ' ••y.e~~'~ event, I know now why the B,. -- .. ~ race \'CHI decid e to r id e a t the last m om ent : yo u ca n 't wake u p in the m orn in g , lo ad up your bi ke. go to the race, sign u p . race a nd go ho rn e all in th e sa me day , It la kes ca ref u l p la n n ing . You need a support Clew a nd th ree dan 10 do th e even: co mfon ab ly - Ihat 's \\'hy B-IO-\ ' takes pla ce duri ng a [our-dav lro lidav. Fridav is need e~1 10 'd r ive t;) Bal stow, Ca liforn ia . (w h ich is, for mos l o f us, a somew ha t lo ng jounu-v), establish a ca m p site o r c heck into a ho tel. sign in. a nd do la st -m in u te jell ing 10 the motorcvclc. If \'ClU h:,,,,' time. it's a good iefea 10 pre-ru» the bomb (sta r t) area a nd ha ndl e an v loo se dela ils 10 prepare for the ran:. Sa tu rd a y is th e J~ICl', and it's a good id"" to ha w a houl waiting for you in Las Vegas, N evada, bera use w lu-n you g et th en-. you 'll. be so th rashed fro m tilt' race. yo u' ll be in no con di tio n to drive back home. Sunday m orn ing is the trophy presen tation, and w hcn il uir 's o ver. yo u go ho m e, This is p reu y much ho w thing s went fo r m e. After a ll m y preparat ion, I fin all y fo u nd m yself waiting o n the start ing lin e (a lo ng wi th 400 o rlu-r ride rs in m y class) for a bann er 10 dro p, sig na 1lin g th e sta r t o f th e I i s -m il e race, H e! icopters buzz ed, ho veri ng a bove m y h ead , while I tri ed 10 d ecid e w he ther I sho u ld use mv thi ck, co ld weather g lo ves, o r my regula r m o to cross g lo ves; it wa s cold o u t th ere in th e hi gh d esert. Minut es before the sta n, I fin all y o p ted for th e ;\IX g lo ves (de ta ils). It wa s a good c ho ice. As soon as th e ba n ner d ropped for th e dead -en gine sta rt, m y XR H o nd a fir ed up o n th e firs t ki ck , and I was on m y way , Th e sta n wa s nothing like I've ever done before. Ther e wer e bikes evervwhere; in front o f m e, behind m e, beside m e, a nd it so m etimes felt th ev wer e o n top o f m e. R id ers wer e cu tting m e o ff, I was CUll in g th em o ff, I was dodging pu ck er bush es, a nd I wa s doing a ll this topped o u t in fifth g ear. It was cra zy but fun a nd exc it in g . W hen we rea ched the bomb, which wa s actua lly a stro be lig ht lo cat ed on a hi ll , thin g s g ot even tigh ter when we started fo ll ow in g th e pink ribbon s showing us th e tr ail we were 10 fo llo w. U n fo r tu nu te ly, I was a lrea d y ti red and had wor ked Up a swe a t in th e m ay hem ; ho we ver , I felt I had a good bomb ru n a nd wa s a p p ro x ima tely in the fir st 10% o f th e pack. Fo r th e n ext 10 mil es o r so, th e co urse was ver y sandy and was filied with hug e, bike-swallowing w hoops th at were ver y tirin g 10 rid e. As soon as the pack began sp read ing o u t, I was able 10 m a inta in a fast but com Iortable pace. but I wa s hav in g a hard time neg onarin g th e thi ck. so ft sa nd, since I'm m ore used 10 hard-pack ed te rra in . I kept tell ing m yself not to grip th e handl ebars too tightl y a nd stop fighling th e m o torcycl e a s it fis htai led th rough th e lon g , hi ghspeed, whoop-fill ed stra ig h ts. I had 10 sa ve e ne rgy, kn owin g th ere were a t least 160 m iles a head of m e. After ma ny more miles , I was ge lling preuv I ired (p h ysica lIy a nd men ta ll y) of the sand a nd w hoo ps, a nd was beginni.ng to wonder if ih e who le race wo uld be lik e this - I was gelling worried . Some sert io us o f w ho ops were so bi g , it wa s just p la in ha rd 10 ride th rough th em even a t slo w speeds. I watched a nu m ber o f g uys tryi ng' 10 go fast th rough th e wh oops o n ly to start swapp ing and crash. I kep i te lling myse lf I w asn 't g oing 10 d o Ihal. Further into tlu- race, I sta rted getliu g th e ha ng o f ridi ng in th e sand, a nd I was feeli ng preuv good , w hi le passing more riders tha n were passing me. T he fi rsi gas s top seemed 10 co me u p a w fu lly ea rly , T he C hec kpo in t Mo to rcycl e C lu b wa s m y pit crew, a nd as I was ro ll ing d own p i r. lan e, t hev sa w me co m ing a nd had Illy gas ca n ready. As soon as I pull ed in, Ihey were fi ll ing u p m y XR with gas and clea ni ng Illy goggles; th e next t hi ng I k n ew . I was hack o u t o n the tra il. Th e n ext sectio n of tra il wa s more to my liki ng . T he grou nd was hard packed, with exce llent Iran ion du e 10 a ra in s torm thai blew o ver the area the ni ghl prior 10 the race . Th e course rou n -d us arou nd big roc ks and o ther obstacles. I just co u ld n' t bei ieve how much fu n I was havi ng; i t was i n rrcdibk-, a nd I wa s less tired th an I was five mil es into t he race. I was passi ng more a nd more riders as I went, so I figured I was doing pretty well. I was pum ped! Preu v soon I had a chance to relax as we crossed a dry la ke bed. topped alit in fifth gmr. Th e dry la ke bed, however, was n 'I exart lvdrv. The ra ins lefl the ground a l it tl e slimy. hUI at leas t Ihere was no dust . T he second gas c hec k lo ok much lo nger to reac h th an the fir st o ne did , a nd I wa s n -adv fo r a short br eak , hUI my C hec kpoi m M/ C crew wou ldn 't le i me relax . T hey, o uce a ga in, had fil h-d up my bike wi th gas and clean ed my gogg les wirhiu seco nds and were holl ering at m e, "hu rr y up a nd g el OUI th ere, yo u 're doing good! N o ti me for a res t ." In no time a t all, I was 0 11 m y wa y again . Not m o re th an tw o miles o u t from tha t g a s sto p, after climbing a fa irly d iffi cult , o ne-line roc ky hill , d isa st er stru ck . I ga l a flat Iront ti re , I wa s too far o u t to go back 10 th e second ga s st op a nd fix it. a n d th e trail wou ld 'v e been too d ange rou s to go ba ck on , being o ne-lined a nd having traffi c co m in g in th e o p posite direction. f had no choice but to co nt in ue to th e next ga s top, which wa s about 60 mil es a wav, I was severcl v bummed a nd \\'asn ,'t looking forw'ard to th e ride. Th en I sta rted looki ng .u th e good side; a t least I was sti II m o vi ng a nd not b roken d own o n the side o f th e trail. wh ich was gellin g ver y sa ndy a ga in , mak ing th e flat tir e less n ot icxuble. Even th en , I co uld n ' t m a iniai n my fast pa re a ny more, so I sta rted g etti ng passed by r ide rs. I was n ' t ha vin g much fu n an ym ore; the w hoo ps were hu ge, I was figh l in g th e m o to rcycle, I wa s a fra id th e' tire wou ld pop off the rim , I was ge ll ing tired qu ick ly a nd there was no relief in sigh t. Eveu rua ll y I ca ine lip to a chec kpo int wa y OUI in th e middle o f no wh ere and no bod y had an innertube. I as ke d how far it was 10 th e next ga s s to p , " T we nty o r 30 miles, " a guy said , " bu t it's not too h ard, a lt houg h it d oes get a litt Ie rockv." " Rocks, tha t's a ll I need ." A Ser\ 'icl' Ra ng er wa s th ere a nd she gave m e a boul e o f Seal 'N ' Air, bu t it didn 't work . I had to co nt in ue o n. The tra il after th at was easy , ver y wide with so me tu rn s, hut su re eno ugh . it got roc ky. Rocks were my worst enemy . f was doing m y best 10 dodg e th em. but m y stee r ing wasn 't ve ry preci se w ith th e flat front tir e, ;\Iy hi ke 's fro nt ri m kept smas h ing aga ins r the ro cks, jolti ng my a rms a nd sometimes nearl y m aking m e cra sh . Th e bum me r p art abou t th e wh o le Ih ing was that this sec t io n, sta rt ing fro m the seco nd gas stop. was rlu- best yet, w ith sa ndy wh oops , sw itc h back turns ; sel'lioi lSwith ha rd pack ed g roun d, roc ks a nd sa nd washes - it h ad cvcrvrh ing. Aftcrc li m hi ng a lon g , gradua l h ill. the tra il led us down th e o rher side, w here I cou ld see the th ird gas stop far in the dista nce, n ex t 10 a drv lake bed , II see me d to lake foreve r io reach the gas stop, and w hen I fi nally d id , th e C hec kpoi nt M / C crew was ready fo r me. T hey fi lled my bike wid} g as. lube:d the _" \ I 1;<. I'

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