Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Partic ipants in the Barstow-to-Vegas Dual-Sport Ride make their way down a powerline road in the middle of the southern California desert. ISDE ri der Pete Postel and wife Cindy were two of the almost 250 m ot orcyclists.who made the run from Sunland. Cal ifornia. to Las Vegas. AMAjDistrict 37 Barstow-to-Vegas DualSp-ort Ride ' . Nearly 250 tackle B-to-Y Dual-Sport run By Anne and Tom Van Beve ren Photos by Tom Van Beveren LAS VEGAS, NV , NOV. 27-28 Barsto w-to-Vegas IS not jus t a H are & Hou nd, as almost 250 dual-purpose riders found out during Thanksgiving weekend. The legendary B-to-V desert classic, which pits the desert 's best against 170 mi les of grueling. high speed terrain has been . ' ~xpa~ded to include more tha~ , 14 Just die-hard desert racers. This year 's event saw dual -purpose riders from all over the c~u ntry gather for a tw o-day , 400-mile on-roadz'off-' road ex tra vaga n za th at took th em from the suburbs of Los Angeles, California, all the wa y to the glitter and gla mor of the Las Vegas strip. Whil e the desert's best riders battl ed it o u t in h andl ebar-tohandlebar com pe titio n in the wilds ' of the California desert , the dualsl?o.rt r~ders wer~ a lso hard a t u , gi vmg it everything th ey had to do wh at th ey do best - have fun . Organized by AMA/District 37 Dual- Purpose Co ordinator Jim Pilon, this was the fourth year that dual-sport riders hav e been incl uded in th e Thanksgiving weekend BvtoV ac tivities. This year's run marked th e first-ever, two -day even t for th e distric t's riders. " Dual p urpose riding gi ves you the best of everyth ing and everyo ne can do it," Pilon sa id. " You don't have to be fast or competitive to have a good time and everyo ne who tries one of our rides loves it. We're getting more a nd more people interested as tim e goes by and every one o f them has a great time." The two-day format was a big hit with th e riders and drew en tries from as far away as Indiana to enjoy the miles of camaraderie, ever-cha nging scenery and typ ica lly Californian d ust. The riders var ied from first-time dual-sport riders to the we-rideeve ry- wee ke nd -co me -hell-or -h igh wat er fanatics. No matter wh at their level o f ex pe rtise, however , th e entrants all had one thing in co mmon - th ey were out to have a dam good time. Riding every thing from a gigantic BMW R80GS Paris-to-Dakar replica, a ll the wa y down to a H onda stepthrough Trail 90, the riders left Carnes Honda in Sunland, Cal iforni a , ea r ly Friday morning and head ed into th e pi cturesq ue pine trees and water crossings of the San Gabriel Mountains. Rel ying on roll charts and varying degrees of co mo, mon sense and good luck, th e riders fo llowed the route through co nstantl y cha nging terrain , sometim es hard on the gas on the dirt road sectio ns, sometimes creep ing along s lo w ly throu!?h rock-strewn strea m beds and tight canyon trails. The first sto p o f th e day was ' in th e hi storic mining town o f Randsburg, wh ere riders ate lunch in the Randsburg Sal oon and were welco me d wit h open a rm s by local m er chants who p rovided " lucky rider number " prizes for a few o f the du al-purpose swarm. From there, th e riders started to bunch up as they discovered others with sim ila r abilities and riding styles. Some ,riders picked up the pace as the afternoon 's ride headed ou t into th e typical desert terrain near California City and turned eas t toward the first day's finish in Barstow. New-found friends jock eyed for th e dust-free lead posi tion , sh owed th eir skills in lat e-braking for corners and edge d each o ther o u t trying for th e best line through th e tighter terrain. T he adren alin ran hi gh and th e riders rac ked up more smiles per mil e th an even a Suzuki Samurai com mercia l could hav e produced. Further ba ck in th e field were the rider-p ho tograp hers. wh o developed a stop-a nd-go rh ythm th at kept urn e with . the points of scen ic interest alo ng th e way , p ro vin g yet again that dual-purpose ridi ng is many things to ma ny people. . Th e co u rse provided a pe r fect introduction to So u thern Cal iforni a's va ried 'cou n tryside for o u t-o fsta te rid ers and proved to be a voyage of di scovery even for those born and rai sed in the Los Angeles area, few o f whom had ever been far enough off the beaten track to discover the photographic possib iliti es of Barsto w's dilapidated railway station or th e a mazing assortment of co lors in out-of-the-way Rainbow Canyon, colors that riv al th e best that Death Vall ey's famous Arti st's Pa lette has to offer. After turning in th e poker hand co llected at various check points along the first day 's route, th e riders called it quits for the evening in Barstow and enjoyed a chance to wash the dust and grime off their faces and soak their weary bones in a hot bath. But the night was soon over and as dawn broke the next morning, the riders were up and at it again , braving 31° temperatures and ice on the bike seats in their quest to backroad it all the way to Vegas. Dressed in everything from the latest in motocross gear to ' farmer John overalls and hiking boots, the riders set off into the mountains south of Barstow for th e second day of their cross-cou n try odyssey. Da y one's poker game had been replaced by a specia lly-designed, board game which awarded aIith subtracted points for overshooting corners, dropping bikes and making up time on the roads according to the throw of a di e at each check point. The da y a lso included special tests like picking up a bus tranfer ticket from a remote bus stop near Newbery Springs. Saturday brought out even more riders, like ISDE team member PeteG Postel and members o f the BSA club on their ancie n t ma chines, and even t included a tw o-man effor t on ad Victor 441 with sideca r. ul The dual-purpose riders crossedi Interstate 15 and rod e through the starting ar ea of th e Hare & Hound event shortly after the racers ,began their l70-mile, across-the-desert drag race , and then picked up a pole line road heading east toward their final destination. n Through mountain ranges and valleys , wide- open terrain and tight sections, the course made its way to' the Nevada border, treating the riders to spectacular views from high in the hills near Good Springs all the way down the valley to Jean Dr y Lake ' off in th e distance. When the riders finally pulled into the finish a t th e H aci enda Hotel late o n Saturday afternoon, their wee,:! kend's enjoyme nt still was not over. Free beer was supplied b y Coors and f almost every rider that took part in' th e event received one of the priz es that were handed out for awards, ranging from the worst-luck-of-the weekend to th e rider-from-furthest'>' afield . There were even drawings of the bus transfer numbers that sent lucky riders away with new chains, clothing di scount cert ifica tes and magazine su bscrip tions . Finisher pins and belt buckl es were awarded) to everyone who took part in the even t. There was not an unhappy du al-purpos e rider to be found' anywh ere in Las Vegas. Several trophies were handed out" during the awards presentation at the Hacienda Hotel. . First pl ace trophies for day one 01' the competition went to a pair 0 Californians - Marvin Van Sickle , who had th e " H igh Pok er Hand,' " and Hans Geise wh o came up with the "Low Pok er Hand." T he " H ig h Pok er H and" award o n da y two went to Dibblee H oyt, and th e "Low Hand" was collected by J erry Counts. The " H ighe st Hand H eld by a Passenger" was th e propert y of Mar cie Berriz. Barry Smith won the " O ldest' Bike" trophy. Smith, a member of th e BSA Owners Club, made the twoda y run on a 1954 BSA A-lO. The Santa Cruz Ridgerunners co ll ected th e " Clu b Participation Award," and Larry Johnson won a trophy for the " Sma lles t Bike Entered and Attempted. " Johnson attempted the two-day event on a 1973 Honda Trail 90. The " H ard Luck Award" went to Larry Mooney, who went over the bars on his BMW R 80G S in the desert and' broke his collarbone. The " Organ izer Award"was collected by Pete Charboneau, who rode the entire event aboard a BSA Victor sidehack. The "Oldest Rider" trophy went to John Huber, age 69, and William Breedlove of Co lumbus, Ind iana, won the "Rider From Furthest Afield" trophy. . The smiles and memories are sure to carry through to next Thanksgiving, when everyone will climb back in th e saddles to do it all over again.• l ) 2

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