Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

:ISD EPREVIEW ISDE Training Camp ere tkind of 5 By Steve Berkner STILLWATER, OK, AUG. 31-SEPT.4 merica's top ISDE riders were brought together Labor Day weekend for a five-day mini camp to talk strategy and dial in equipment just three weeks before the start of the 69th running of the ISDE at the John Zink Ranch near Tulsa, Oklahoma. The camp, which was sponsored by the Ride to Win Fund, invited the top 19 riders from the '94 National Reliability Endu ro Series to get together for a final evaluation period before the ISDE Board of D ir ecto rs named its six-member World Trophy Team and four-member Junior Trophy Team. The rem ainin g nine riders will be named to America's top three "high-powered" club teams. The list of riders in contention for the World Trophy Team read like a Who's Who of America's top motorcycle offroad racers, including Randy Hawkins, Rodney Smith, Scott Summers, Jeff Russell,. Fred Andrews, Kev in H ines, Ty DaVIS, Guy Cooper, Steve Hatch, Fred Hoess, Kelby Pepper and Larry Roeseler; Roeseler was unable to attend due to a broken collarbone, but is expected to ride the ISDE.: Making up the Junior Trophy Team list of potentials, with nearly as much off-road clout, w ere Danny Hamel, Chris Smith, Vincent Davis, Patrick Garrahan, Scott Mclaughlin, David Lykke and Brian Garrahan. . Ride to W in Fund Chairman and ISDE Board of Directors member Dave Bertram said, "Before naming the teams we wanted to get the top riders together for a training camp to see who's healthy, how they're riding and how their bikes are running. . Becau~e of ~he higher than average interest m this year's American Six Days, the AMA had a larger group of Lett~r-of-Intent (LOI) riders trying to qualify for the World and Junior Trophy Teams. In all, the AMA received over 400 LOis - three times the normal average. "Typi cally we don't have a large core group to select from ," Bertram sa id. "We're usually scraping the barrel just to find the last rider willing to race oversea s. Th is year, because we 're ho sting t~e Six Days, we ha ve so many. good nders to choose from that we decided to ta ke our time makin g the team selections ." . A I ~o because of the h igh lev e l of rider interest, thr ee special club teams we re created th is yea r. Bertram said, "Even though we have nine more riders he re than Trophy team positions, w e ha ve an op p o rt u n ity to create three h igh-powered club teams . Typically, after we select our top riders we p ut all . of the res t of the riders together on geographically oriented club team s. This year we can put gu ys together based on thei r ridi ng ab iliti es and ha ve a three great club teams." Since Rid e to Win ' s in cep ti on five years ago, the fund has sponsored two other training cam ps . "We had on e in the San Francisco Bay Area in '90 before Sweden, and another on e after th e '91 Trask Qualifier before Czechoslovakia " said Bertram . ' ' Some of the land made available for ~e ride rs came from Trophy team candidate an d Oklahoma nati ve Guy Coop- A II o er. "We have hundreds of acres to ride on that the Stillwater Trail Riders have made available nea r my home." Cooper said. "There is a piece of land that they use during the Golden Eagle Enduro that's identical to what the Zink Ranch looks like. So we have the identica1land type to ride on and make adjustments." Bertram said the idea for the training camp was to .get the riders accustomed to riding the rocky cond itions, and the participants were scheduled to complete about 250 miles of trails during the -first three days. "The first three days, we're really going to try and spend as much time riding as we can," said Bertram. "Tulsa is not going to be a picnic. The riders are going to have to put in 150 miles every day and there are very few road sections. There's nothing at the Zink Ranch that the Europeans haven't seen before - times two. I've ridden eight Six Days and the world's best rid e:s have seen it all. During a European SIX Days, after a tough section, the riders will be given a rest. Here there is no rest. So 150 miles is a long da y in Tulsa. The most important thing th ese guys have to keep in mind is the fatigue factor when it comes to riding the ISDE this year. If you lose your concentration and get just a few inches off the trail and hit a rock it can hurt you bad. "We've tried to simulate those rocky riding c:onditions so that these guys can get their suspension set up just right. We feel that making a small adjustment in sus pension can make a big difference in making it all six days." Ten-time ISDE participant Randy Hawkins said, "Jus t seeing the Oklahoma countryside in the fall is probably the most important thing for me. Normall y we 're all here in the spring when they 've burned off all the grass , and you can see all of the rocks . Now with the tall grass, if you leave the trail it gets real hairball." Former Ju nior Team r id er Sco tt ~ cLaughlin agreed, sa yin g, "Just getnng to see the landscape th is time of year is the most important thing about th e ca m p . I last rode her e in '92 and things su re look different now." The training camp had an even larger impact on most of its riders. Four-time ISDE competitor Kelby Pepper said, "I wa s at the first camp in '90 and at the time we worked a lot on technique with er camp things like tire changes. I think that's okay. But the real problem is getting to know one another and sta rt working as a team . (Above) Scott Mclaughlin In action during the Ride to Win fund's training camp. The camp was held to acclimate the riders to the Oklahoma cond" lons before the ISDE, and to finalize the Trophy and Jun ior Tea m members. (Laft - left to right) Ty Davis, Danny Hamel, Fred Andrews and Kevin Hines take a break to discuss tec hnique. Most participants commented that a genuine se nse of "team sp irit" was presen t during the camp.

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