Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

'E ESCott RousSeau ' VN TS' ,'E dited by . :: ~ ~ Lf) 0\ ~ . Tour 'NTrail Prom otionsW West 250 ild Riders round up for Las Vegas OS By Anne Van Beve re n Photo by Tom Va n Beveren LAS VEGAS, NY, FEB, 18-19 ' f you're go ing to ride just one du al sport event a year, th en the Wild West 250 could be an excellent cho ice. With la st year's event in Laughlin, Nevada, and this year's rid e ba sed in Las Vegas, there were plenty of new I (Top) Some 127 ri ders gathe red and enjoyed th e scene ry off ered by the Wil d West 250 dual sport ride. (Above) Rick Ryan (81) battles with Shane Esposito (8) in round tw o of the CMC Velvetouch Golden State Nat ionals (Northern Series) at Silver State Raceway. Ryan topped the 125 and 500cc Pro classes. tr ails to d iscover . And even t organizer Jim Pilon of To ur ' ~ Trail Pro mo tions mad e su re th e ro llc ha rt co n nected a se ries of spectacu lar vistas, eac h w orthy of a Kodak mom ent or tw o. As the 127 riders who came from all over th e Wes te rn U.S. and from as far a w ay as th e Midwest for thi s ye ar ' s Wild West 250 can attest, mo torcycling d oe sn ' t ge t a w hole lo t b etter than ex plori ng exciting new terrain from the sea t of a dual spo rt machine. Eyeb ro ws sho t up when the partic ipants looked at their rollcharts and sa w th at the firs t da y' s rid e covered a total of 178 m iles, but eve n a route that lon g d id litt le mo re th an scra tch th e surface of the endless rid ing oppo rtu nities that can be fo und in the d eser t su rrou n d ing La s Vegas , " 1 h ave m ill ions o f trails ou t th ere and mill ions of g reat places th at these g u y s wo u ld lo v e to see," s a id Ro n Loomis, a well -k now n N evada ri der who put his 20-plus yea rs of local expertise to work in laying o u t Sa turday' s co u rse. " You ca n o nly d o so m u ch in one d ay. They'll just hav e to come back again sometime." The rider s began leaving th e S howboat par kin g lot at 7 a .m . on Saturd ay morn in g, and th e promise of a su nny d ay with temperatures in the low 70s put a s m ile o n eve n th e co ldest face. Th e firs t sa nd w ash took care of the chill and th en it wa s full speed ahead dual sport sty le fo r the rest o f a very long day. Th ere w as an o pen ing section th at spa nned so many gas-sta tion-f ree mi les th at the d ual sporters had to be refu eled by a m otorh ome th at orga n izers h ad placed in a strategic position o ut on th e cou rse. And there was a spe cia l on-foo t section, where a clamber up and arou nd an ,old dam, followed by a short wa lk, pu t th e ri d ers face to face wi th cen tu ries-old pet ro glyph in a pictu resq ue, steepw alled canyon. "Irn rea lly h ap p y I h ad a bra nd new front tire on th e bike today," sa id Larry Woodru ff. " It saved my ba con in th e sand washes. The ro llc hart w as ,so perfect, yo u didn 't need 'an odometer to d o th is ri de, w hi ch is just as well becau se I kee p forge tt ing to pu t one on my bike!" The trail also included a beat-you -toa- pu lp sectio n of the Mint 400 course, w hich alternated be tween deep w hoo ps a n d s p ine-ja rri ng washou ts, and a tricky, off-ca mber sectio n in deep gravel that gave yo u a ch oice of ridi ng along the side of the railroad tra cks or slip ping si de ways down a steep bank. It w asn't until th e lunch sto p a few miles la te r tha t th e rid er s were told th a t th e lin e sees only three tr ains during th e week and no ne on weekends. The last mem orable mom en t be fore lunch in the farmi ng town of Logandale was the Valley of the Johns - a se clude d va le o n th e ou ts ki rts -of to wn th at a ppeared to be the perman en t home of ab out 50 porta-p otties neatl y arranged in clus ters of four, from one end of the tiny valley to th e other. Logandale's 4-H club served a lunch that w as every bit as memorabl e as the trail. The re was de ep- frie d-o n-the -spot sq uaw br ead and chicken, and beef and lamb stews. But, the re w as littl e tim e to li nger b e cau s e m any mi le s s till l ay ahead. .The afternoon 's tra il b egan with a trip through a s pecta cu la r section of flam e red soil that was fo llowed by a su dden left into "Loom is' Maze" >a tiny canyon scarcely wi de r than th e ba rs on a KLR650, tha t snaked off into the vertical sidew all of a ma jor wash. There we re a few back and for th turns followed by a tricky u phill, with a bail-out sectio n for the Jess ad venturous. The course he aded onto I-IS for a few short mil es, th en it was tim e to ge t a cold drink and check ou t th e fireworks on sa le at an Indian Reservation sho p just off the inters tate. A few more sections of d irt and the rou te changed character again as the dual sp orters started th e long rid e back to Vegas on the semipa ved fronta ge road that parallels 1-15. H yo u were riding with a local, there was a chance for some relief from the pavement blues with an unscheduled run through an off-road riding area near the ou tski rts of Nellis A ir Fo rce Base, but even the most seasone d local admitted to disco vering so me n ew terrain during the dual spo rt tour. Da y tw o w as a slig htly shorte r versi on of th e same thing . Th e pavement came at the start , when the 110-mile section beg an with a sou th westerly run to ward Pahrump a n d then o n to the rocky w as hes and whoo pe d -out bu ggy trail s all th e w ay to Sta telin e . Fr om ther e, a run through the Beerbo ttle Pass area and a bla st along the sandy ed ges of the Jean Dry Lake set the riders up for th e fin al run through town on old Las . Vegas Boulevard. When th e ride w as all o ver, more experie nced du al spo rte rs, lik e Scott Ed lund of Phoenix, Arizona, gave the ride a so lid thumbs up. " It w as a neat trail, " Edlund said . "1 like the hard, technical stu ff, and I was p leased definit ely. It was a good long day, but we all made it in th e daylight, which is nice. We had enough time to do some w ork on th e bikes before it got dark, and that w as a big plus." As they load ed their bikes at the end of the event, th e qu estion on everyone 's lip s wa s, "Where are we go ing to be riding at next year' s Wild West 250?" " lrn n ot su re ye t," sai d o rg an izer Pilon . "I'm no t sure wher e we 'll be next , year, bu t I can promise that it w iIl be just as in teres ting ." 1'N C C lvetouch Golden S N M Ne tate ationa ls (Northe series): Round2, rn Ryan rips at Silver State Raceway By Joan Tie arney CARSON CITY, NY, FEB. 12 rivateer Rick Ryan won the ove rall in the 125cc Pro class ahead of Spud , Walters an d Dean Mat son, and also the 500cc Pro durin g round tw o of the CM C / Velv et ouch Golden Sta te Nati onals at the On Trac Events-promo ted Silve r State Raceway. LE-spons or ed Rick Ry an holeshot th e fir st 125cc Pr o m o to with Matson and Walter s ro u nd ing th e firs t turn in h ot pu rsu it. Mats on p as sed Ryan to take th e lead on lap tw o w ith Walters foll ow ing suit and putting Ryan back to th ird . Beh ind Ryan w ere Shane Esposito, Trevor Mea gher and Steve Garnett. Ju st in Ti earney w as also o n th e m ove and passed several riders by lap fou r to grab fou rth place behind Esposit o. Mat so n was unstoppable in the rnot o, taking the checkered flag. Wa lters finish ed seco n d a n d Ry an settled fo r a close th ird. Esposito w as fou rth and Tiearn ey fifth . Mo to two saw Ryan ge t the holesh ot and kee p the lead the entire race. Ma tson ran second and continued to charge on Ryan . Walter s, Meagher, Myers and Tiearn ey also pulled ahead of the rest of the pa ck w ith a consi derable gap while tr ying to hunt down Ryan . Positions , changed as Tie arney made p ass es on Mea gh er and Myer s on lap three. Walters made an incredible passon Matson on lap five to take over the se cond spot and 'chase down Ryan. When the checke re d flew it w a s Ryan, Walters, Matson, Tiearney and P

• Cover