Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

BD At spaRT AMA Suzuki NationalDual S or! Trail Ride Series: Round 8 U ~ -----:----- - Th e Tilamook Overlo ok ga ve rid e p articipants a gli m pse of the Pacific Ocean. amin t e re on trai s Much of th e ride traversed BIM land and logged areas which have since been replanted. One of the speci al tests required riders to mak e chip shots with an iron. Fore! By Charlie Mitchell Y HILL, OR, AUG. 18 AM ome carne from thousands of miles away to see if indeed the my th was true . Does it rea lly rai n all of th e time in Oregon? O regon ians will tell you, no, tha t th ere a re in fac t severa l mon th s in th e su m mer when it ofte n do esn' t ra in at all. It was difficult to convince the skep tical ou t-of-s ta ters, howeve r, as they arrived in scenic western Oregon in the dog days of summe r for tw o full d ays of dual sport riding on ly to find - that's right - rain. At least dust wouldn't be a problem, organizers optimistically promised. Over 60 riders showed up to sa mp le so me fine d u a l purpose routes as th e Suzuki Na tio n a l Seri es returned to Oregon for round eight of the 16 round series . For the first time, Oregon hosted tw o dual spo rt events in a sing le season, wi th this being the second. Th e Lobos M.e. promoted th e tw od ay eve nt , which included spectacula r scenery of w ooded trails, abandoned logging road s and twi sty tarmac. Each d ay con tained approximately 110 miles of riding, and most rid er s took around six hours to comp lete each da y's ride. The event was headquartered at the Fly in g M Ranch, near the to w n of Yamhill, which is so me 40 miles southwest of Portland . It's the same loca tion th a t h os ts the Trask Mounta in ISDE Qu alifier. Eac h da y began a n d en ded at the ranch . All riders we re given a detailed roll cha rt, and the course was pa instakingly ribboned as well. Most riders comme n ted th a t without the w ell-p la ced orange ribbons on Saturday, the y may have found themselves lost. Some found Sunda y's white and green ribbons difficult to see, though. The ribbons w ere, however, only a ba cku p to the roll chart. Even t organizer Bob Schwarz of the Lobos M.e. is to be commen ded for his attenti on to detail and for orchestrating S 44 a very enjoyable, well-thought-out trail ride. " I' ll be glad when thi s is all over, " Schwarz said ea rly Sat urday mornin g. "My anxiety level is rather high ." It' s always more fun to be ridi ng than it is putting on an even t, but, obvious ly, so meone has to do it, and thankfully, we ha ve people like Sch warz who, at the age of 68, is there to answer th e call. This is the third yea r he ha s org anized this event, bu t the first time it has been sanctio ned by the AMA . Saturday morning bega n with threatening skies that would bring rain about a half an hour before the ride beg an and would con tin ue throughout most of the day. Despite the precipitation, all of the riders seemed to have a great time. D oug Ruth, wh o r od e his BMW RIOOGS from Mountain View, California, to ta ckle the terra in and enjoy the scenery, had at leas t one close call on the big Beemer as he navigated a tight trail section. "1 was crossing this little brid ge on the tra il," sa id Ruth. "It was slick, and my bike slid part wa y off of it. I d idn't lay it down, but I had to get help from some other riders getting it back on the trai l." Ins tead of u si n g a typi cal poke r run / game of chance forma t at the checkpoints each da y, the club provided, tes ts of some rather d iverse and in sorn cases obscure skills. The events included frisbee toss ing, horseshoe pitchi ng, targe t shooting, golf chip ping and each da y en ded with a timed trials rid e. One of the firs t obs tacles Saturday was the crossing of an aged wooden bridge that had fallen in to disrepair. The safest method of traversing it called for dismoun t ing and wa lking the bike across as the riding surface consisted df several loose 2x8s. A few riders attemp;: ed to ride acr oss. ~

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