Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

washes are interesting. It's like a little elephant. It just goes where it wants to and you do a balancing act trying to figh J t back to where you wa n t it'to go." But Scott wouldn't swap his mount for anything. "I've done this ride five times - three times on this and two years on an XL. It's different strokes for different things, but overall, I like the BMW better," said Scott. "P,lus it has heated handgrips, which you can't beat on the years when it's' really cold." Another BMW fan, Bob Brown, compounded the challenge of his R80GS's extra weight by loading his 12-year-old grandson Greg on the back. down terrain, while the more adventurous riders followed a watery wash out of the foothills to the start of th.e desert section in Lucerne VaHey. "It was a long, long sand wash with water in it," said Dana Bell, who tackled the course on a Honda XR250L. "It goes through the middle of the wilderness area and it's pretty, but the sand was really deep and soft where it wasn't wet." The trail foHowed Camp Rock Road out onto the desert floor and split again, sending easy-way riders west to Highway 247 for the final run into the overnight stop at Barstow, while hardway riders tackled the deep sand of a never-ending wash for their final challenge of the day. "The desert section was really well laid out. They found the only virgin sand wash left in the Mojave Desert. It had no whoops at all," said Larry Woodruff. Riders who enjoyed a tfOuble-free run had plenty of time for bike maintenance and bench racing in Barstow, but flat tires and the occasional mechanical problem kept some of the riders on the trail until well after dark. Whether they finished early or late, all of the dual sporters were happy with the weather, which saw 70-degree temperatures during the day an.d dipped only as low as the 50s at night - a far cry from the biting wind and ice-on-the-seat . temperatures of earlier years. "This is the warmest one I. can remember. Even the first hour in the morning was fine and that's usually pretty nippy," said Terry Pratt, who has lost count of how many Los Angeles-toBarstow-to-Las Vegas events he has rid.den.. "1 would have to go home and count my roll charts to find out how many times I've done this - I've saved them all." "The weather was almost too good in that it was really dry. If we had to complain about something, it would be the dust," said Pratt. Day two's course began with a run past Calico Ghost Town, then turned off the pavement to wind through a canyon surrounded by rounded mudhills. Protected from the light breeze that helped to make the rest of the dusty trails bearable, the canyon was soon thick with a fog-like brown cloud that made life miserable for the un.suspecting group of play riders who had staked out a camp there for the weekend. The canyon gave way to a gravely wash and then it .was powerline road all the way to the lunch stop at Baker, 83 rn.iles into the course. "There was a lot of straight powerline road, but I guess that was compensa ted for by some of the twisty rocky trails and that little Joshua tree forest they ran us through,".said Pratt. "There was some very neat trail and, on a vintage bike like mine, even the long straight road is interesting: One mistake and bang, you're down." Pratt, who has won the "oldest bike" award two years running on his 1966 Triumph, lost out this year when Bill Getty conquered all 381 miles of the two-day event on a 1954 Triumph. Less-experienced riders also found plenty of challenge in the power-line road, which featured hidden rocks, sandy spots and dust, dust, dust. "I didn't quite make it. I was on the powerline road when it got really sandy and, the next thing I know, 1 was sitting on the ground," said Robin McKenney, who was taking her second shot at the event on a Yamaha 5erow. According to McKenney's fiance, Robert Schafer, McKenney cleared the' handlebars, rip- (Above) Approximately 250 riders turned out for the ride. (Right) This guy received the Hard Luck Award for having to fix seven flat tires. ping the roll chart off with her knee as she went over. "I hit my head, so I don't remember the fall, really. 1 rode to Baker and then called it quits," said McKenney, who had a heart-lung transplant five years ago. "I still had a good ·time and yes, 1 think I will be coming back." McKenney wasn't the only casualty of the long, straight road. Tom McKenna, who was riding twoup with his 12-ye'ar-old daughter Jacqueline on a 1984 XT550, hit a rock that put the two of them down at about 30 miles an hour. "She was a little shaken up and got a few bumps and bruises, so when we got . to Baker, she went the rest of the way with her mother in the car," said McKenna, President of the Pasadena Motorcycle Club. "It's a bit tough riding double on a bike like this because the passenger pegs are on the swing arm and she can't stand up because that leaves you with no suspension." A lot of riders suffered casualties of a different sort and found themselves changing tires by the side of the trail. The most unlucky rider of the weekend suffered a total of seven flats, but Roy Cae's one flat wasn't to be sneezed at either. It was the first flat that Coe had suffered in eight years of riding Los Angeles-to-Barstow-to-Las Vegas on an XT500 Mongrel that he built.out of leftover parts from 12 different Yamahas. "I've got the oil in the frame and I had clamped the tire 'irons to the frame, so when I wenl to get them off, they were like 210 degrees - ouch," said Coe. And that was just the beginning of his problems. When he removed the flat, Coe found that he had split the rim, so he used the rocks that had caused the flat to beat the riin back together, then he installed the "new" tube. "We put it in, inflated it and it deflated right away - boom, just like that," said Coe. "When we looked at it, it had dozens of little holes in it from where it was folded. It looked like a brand-new tube but it had got holes in it from being stored with all the tools banging'into it. We had to patch all the holes." An early start and a steady pace put many of the riders into the lunch stop at Baker by 9:30 a.m., which left plenty of time for a br.eak before the jeep trail s and powerline roads continued. The only hard,way split on the daytwo roll chart came 17 miles after lunch, when riders who wanted to add 15 miles to the day's mileage turned off to the east for a down-one-canyon, back-upthe-next canyon run that featured deep sand washes and twisty one-track trails. Then it was back on the main trail for the run to the next gas stop at Stateline, where a few riders in the know took a break for a ride of a different sort. "We headed across the road to Buffalo Bill's Casino to ride the rollercoaster (billed as the highest and fastest in the world)," said Alan Cohn. "They said to leave the bikes in valet parking, which was a nice touch, then we got on the roller coaster, all ready to go." "We. were fully dressed. We had our gloves on for better grip and everything," said Steve Dickinson, "btit at the last minute, they told us we had to take our helmets off. They didn't even care when 1 told them they were Snell approved." The trail paralleled Highway 15 from Statelin.e towards Jean, Nevada, then turned west into a tricky section of loose rocks tha t caused a number of tip-overs. The next order of the day was a deep silt bed that put almost as many ridets on their heads, and then it was time to relax on a 20-mile power-line road that ended with a view of the Las :Vegas strip and the finish line at the Hacienda Hotel and Casino. "I've wanted to do this ride for three years and it feels really good to finally do it," said Chris Stadtner, who rode a 1986 Honda XL600 "with two inches of travel - it's made my butt look like a strawberry." "Each year, I signed up with the AMA just so 1 could do this, but things didn't work out and I had to miss it. I've got a hundred bucks invested in AMA fees, but it was worth it," said Stadtner. :'And I'm doing it door-to-door on the bike. None of this loading it in a van to take it home for me." Mark Scott made it all the way to the finish on a BMW RlOOGS, but admitted that he didn't take any of the hard-way options. "You can't do the hard ways because of the wheelbase on this bike, plus it's too heavy," said Scott, "and the sand "The soft sand is pretty exciting on a BMW, but the toughest part of the ride. was waiting one and; a half hours for our buddy to show up at one of the resets on day one. His wrist hurt too much so he went home, but we didn't know that, so we hung around waiting for him," said Brown. The real hero of the weekend was 50year-old Connie Butcher, who tackled both days on a Suzuki DR350 despite extremely limited experience on a motorcycle. "I don't do this very often - like never, a~tual1y," Butcher said. "1 don't even ride. I did two practice runs on Angeles .Crest and that's about it. It's not smart when you:re 50 to be a rookie and my children keep saying, 'Mother, you're too old for this.''' Under the watchful eye of John Flanders, Butcher completed day one, d~pite a near out-of-gas experience on the final run into Barstow, but bailed out halfway through day two when a rocky hill and deep sand got the better of her. She rode the last stretch from Baker to Las Vegas on the freeway, proving that finishing is a different sort of triumph for everybody who makes the trip. "It was a great success as far as I'm concerned. I have all my nail? and all my teeth," said Butcher, with a grin. '1 fell, broke a couple of turn signals, but 1 didn't have to be towed in." Other heroes of this year's ride included Robin Maxie, who won the smallest motorcycle award for completing the ride on a .125~c Honda, and 74year-old Bud Wright, who earned the trophy for oldest rider. Wright, who started riding in 1949, was one of six riders over 65 years old who attended the after-ride party at the Hacienda Hotel, where a drawing sent lucky dual sporters home with everything from a new helmet or riding jacket to a magazine subscription or flat-proofing for their tires. fN If) 0\ 0\ ,...-l ....0 ~ Q) ,.Q 'S Q)' u Q) o 13

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