Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ OBSERVED TRIALS SchreiberCu E Local champ Tom Hamann finished a distant second, 29 points behind winner Head. 'I1uee-time National Champion Scott Head scored his thUd Schreiber Cup victory. Jared Malmquist thrilled spectators with a flashy riding style, but finished a distant fifth. Head grabs third Cup win By Don Williams Photos by Kelly Callan LUCERNE VALLEY, CA, APR. 17 hree-time National Champion Scott Head put his name on the Schreiber Cup for the third time with a convincing victory on the rocks of the Johnson Valley OHV Area's Cougar Buttes. Head, 30, riding a Section One Products/PJ1 /Galfer / AXO Sport T 36 America-sponsored Fantic Key-Roo, easily beat runner-up Tom Hamann, southern California's six-time American Trials Association (ATA) Champion, 18-47. The annual event is held in honor of 1979 World Champion Bernie Schreiber, who was a member of the meet-sponsoring ATA, and traditionally draws many of the nation's best trials riders. Mark Manniko, winner of four of the last five Schreiber Cup events was not present, leaving the door wide open for Head, who also happened to be last year's runner-up. And it was clear from the beginning of the event that this was to be Head's day. Head and Hamann both cleaned the first Championship class section in front of a crowd of about 100 spectators, but Head did it with uncanny smoothness while Hamann struggled for his clean. Multi-time Pacific International Trials Society Champion Kip Webb, who finished a distant third with 74 points, fived the section on the opening six-foot rock wall when he dropped his front wheel into the deep gap just beyond the wall "Section one had me thinking on the first lap," Head remarked, "But it turned out to be a little easier than I thought it would be." Head opened a three-point lead on Hamann by scoring a clean while Hamann took a three. The gallery of spectators followed the six Championship class riders to section two, which was the last section easily accessible to most spectators. Section two was regarded as the most difficult section of the day for the top class. "It was tight," Head said. "You didn't have much breathing room betWeen terrain challenges and there were a lot of them." Hamann was very succinct with his description of the section, "It was tough." The section combined a six-foot wall with tight turns, gap jumps, launches, loose off-camber turns and jumbled rocks in a natural amphith~ter which provided excellent viewmg for the rowdy audience. Webb, 35, cased his Fantic Key-Roo when he misjudged one of the easier obstacles in the section and scored five. Head took a dab on top of the wall, but cleaned the rest of the section. A clean floating left-hand tum through the jumbled rocks elicited a roar from the crowd. Struggling through the jumbled rocks cost Hamann most of his three points in the section, giving Head a fivepoint advantage over Hamann that grew to 2-12 following section six. Webb dropped out of contention with 26 points. The loop was very difficult, in keeping with Schreiber Cup tradition. Following section two, the tough loop began wi th riders snaking their way through nearly virgin territory that was filled with rocks of innumerable shapes and sizes. After section five the loop became extremely nasty. A loose hill climb around Ragged Peak was followed by a 1500-foot elevation drop in approximately three-quarters of a mile of extremely steep and narrow newly constructed trail. The portion of the loop gave the feeling of riding down an elevator shaft filled with rocks with a stop for section six. It took a toll on a number of riders. Only one of the three Expert Class riders finished and 30 of the Intermediate class competitors DNFed. "On the third loop, from section six to seven, I went down in one or two dabs," sole Expert finisher Kenny Lane said. "That was an accomplishment in my own mind. In addition to the difficulty of the loop, the Expert class was tortured by sections that most considered to be too hard. Northern California's Howard Galbreath and southern California's Mark Oldar both scored over 40 out of a possible 50 points on the first loop before calling it a day. Two of the day's 10 sections went unattempted by any of the Expert riders. "The sections were extremely difficult for the Expert level," Lane, a Fanticmounted PITS rider, explained. "The other guys that were in it decided they would rather play it safe than get hurt. I probably should have done the same, but I decided to stick it out." While the sections for the two top classes were meant to replicate National-level obstacles, the Sportsman and Intermediate class lines were somewhat tame. New Zealand expatriate Pete Croft

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