Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GUEST EDITORIAL . ..ByKimOrndorff have been baptized as a rid er...finally. It took me tw o years, but I made it. I have a broken bone - tw o bones, actully: ribs 8 and 9 - to prove it. I've had y share of bru ises, bumps, gashes and crapes, but in m y whol e life I h a ve ever broken anything but a nail or tw o unt il th is w e ekend . My p arents arn ed me th is woul d ha ppen if I go t ear those "ungod ly machines." If yo u brea k, sp rain o r ma im anyin g in the real world, everybody pans and feels sorry for yo u, they call 911, nd then you get to lie around moaning nd w himperin g while everyone waits n you for a few days - a week if you lay it up. If you hurt you rse lf on th e ail yo u' re luck if yo u r buddies get you ack to cam p before you need a transfuion . And there is no pity. We're talking bo ut guys who have been in conditions h a t m a ke " De li ve ra n ce" seem like a isn ey movie. Unless you have lost a im b and it's hangin g in a tree, u n less ou are wad ded up into a pretzel shape nd comatose, nobody w ill even ta ke ou seriously. In fact, they wi ll fill your avel with dirt. The ride was going great - we were u t working on a section for an upcomng race. Then, m y back lire slid out ro m und er me and suddenl y I wa s oing m y Wonder Woman im itations invisible airplane. About a millisecnd before I landed I reali zed I wa s bout to become a shish-kabob. My ribs ere ai med d irectly over a tree stump wit h a branch sticking out of it. Wh en I this particu lar treatmen t techn ique in hit, I knew I w as d one rid ing for the anv first aid manu al. I realized I wo u ld d av. belu cky to get m ed ical at tention, let 'Tw o m en in o u r party fo u n d m e alone sym pathy. Indeed, I was going to wri thing on the ground and asked, "Are be lucky if I had a bike lef t when th e yo u okay?" I sna rled, "Don't tou ch me, vul tures w er e through stri p ping it for lea ve me alone. I pr efer spare parts. t o die in p e a ce ." T h e Soon, all of our budd ies cons ensu s was t h at I continued on, leavin g me in was n ot " o k ay," an d "When I lifte d my the ca pa ble h and s of m y th ey w ent to catch m y husband. Now Chris and I jersey, he hu sband. W ithin five were fa ce d with a Ii tt le minu te s, o ur w hole proceeded to pou r dilemma. We we re 10 m iles group show ed up and I from camp 'a n d n owh e re dirt in my navel." near a ro ad that would was the center of attention . Sort of. Actu ally allow us to bring in a tru ck. w he n th e y sa w th e re Th is left four opti on s: (A) wa s no b lo od , the y Lie there and d ie; (B) Walk ou t; (C) Rid e out; (D) Wait here while threw a jerse y d own for me in t h e dirt/ small cactus/ stinging anthill, made Chris rode to th e nearest town, called sure I had water and proceeded to make Ai r Med and the press and ha ve them p lans to finish their ride and pick me up come air lift me out so I cou ld be inte ron th e ir way back a coup le of h ours viewed on th e local nightl y news and later. get th e sympa thy and p am pering I so rich ly deserved and was being denied. Whi le two of th em were t ryin g to I was all for the latter, bu t Chris was keep m y attention, I caught th e other three d ismantling m y bike out of the pu shing for op tion C. I figured h e 'd corner of m y eye . One w as sip ho n ing go ne insane or secretly u pp ed my life ga s, and I wasn't sure what th e oth er insu rance policy. I tried to stand up and tw o w ere up to. It was like leaving a d id a dainty sw oon in to some cactus. new car in downtown Detroit. I tried to The d irt fr om my navel fell into m y throw dirt clod s at them, muttering underw ear. Wh ile Chris held my bike, I unholy ep ithe ts under my breath. cr awled on, put the mach ine in gea r, Our head honcho, Preston , asked if and pr omptly dropped m y mount to the he could check m y injury again. When I ground . Chri s s hoo k his head . It lifted m y jerse y, he proceeded to pour occurred to me that I was not passing dirt into my na vel. I have never read of the "Brass Cojones Desert Riding Test" an d d espite m y obvious lac k o f suc h endowme n ts, I figured I' d better buck up - quick - if I were ever to be ta ken ridin g again. I took option C and we rode out. We we ren' t su re wh at d am age I had done u ntil the next day when I got some X-ra ys. Fract ures, di sp lacem ent! I was ecs tatic. (The hospital staff was bewildered at my apparent deli gh t whe n told the diagnosis.) G rante d , it w as n ' t u p the re wi th dangling limbs and co mas, bu t it was respectab le. Jason , ou r 13yea r-old, gave me a high five wh en he found ou t I' d br oken my ribs. And Chris says I upheld the Orndorff tradition of ridi ng m y bike ou t of the wi lderness with b roken bon es. How ever, the only Omdorffs who have actually performed suc h a feat have be en me a n d Jason . Chris hasn 't br oken a bon e...yet - heh, heh. But he will, someday he will. And I'll be there - with Options A. B, C, D, and dirt to put in his navel - I learn quick. P.S. Wh ich on e of you vu ltu res sto le my vent hose? Kim Orndorff is a 38-year-old mother of two, who started desert riding w ith her family two and a half years ago. Presently serving as the vice president for the Sage Riders M otorcycle Club (host organiza tion of the Shawn Gerber M emorial AMA Hare and H ou nd in Jericho, Ut ah), she earned the nu mber-one plate in the club 's W omen 's beginner class and curren tly rides a 1990 Yamaha WR25 0. IN THE WIND . .' Continued frompage 3 ipp and current m ot o r cy cl e jump orld recor d hol der Robbie Knieve l are eduled to appear. Dowd and Kevin Windham are schedul ed to appear. For more informa tion, call 619/ 432-9501. O RM ED: The Mikuni Calendar ho me age on the Wo rld Wide Web, by the hoto studio of Gianatsis Design Associ tes, producers of the Mikuni Calendars. addres s is as fo llows: he ttp : / / www .pa cg. co m/g ia na tsis . ia na tsis Desi gn As soci at es h as a lso oved th ei r stud ios to 480 1 Ref orma oad, Wood land Hills, CA 91364-4017, 18/223-8550 (phone), 818/223-8590 (fax). MOVED: Fou r Strokes Onl y to 6887 Farmdale Ave., #5, North Hollywood, CA 91605. The phone and fax number re mains the same at 818/765-5616. UT O G RA PH SIGNING: At North ounty Yamaha inEscondido, Califoria, on February 9 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. eam Yamaha's Damon Bradshaw, John CO RRECTION: TravelCraft is no t th e official travel age ncy of the AMA as we re po rted in Issue #4. FORMED: The Great Lake s Road Racing Associ ation, a road racing club which will hold AMA-sanclioned road races at Gingerman Raceway and Grattan Racewa y Park in Michigan. Fo r more informatio n, call 616 /774-9902. CORRECTION: We innacurately called the AMA Western Region Fou r-Stroke MX Championships the Sound of Thunder Four-Stroke MX Cha mpionships. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Escondido Cycle Cen ter in Escon d ido, California, on February 9 fro m 6 to 8 p .m . Team Kawasaki's Damon Huffman, Jeff Em ig a n d Ryan Hu gh e s a nd Tea m Suzuki's motocross team are scheduled to appear. For more informat ion, call 619/745-1615. AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Hinsha w's Honda in Auburn, Washington, on Febru ary 2 at 5 p.m. Honda o f Troy / Sini sal o team riders Lar ry Ward, Mike Craig , Mike Brown and Br ian Sw ink are scheduled to appear. For more information, call 206/939-7164 . AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At San Diego Spo rt Cycle in San Diego, California, on February 9 at 5 p.m . Honda of Troy /Sinisalo team riders Lar ry Ward, Mike Craig, Mike Brow n and Brian Sw in k a re sched uled to appea r . For more info rm ation, call 619/ 464-6255. BOR N: Aa ron Scott Plessi nger, to reign ing Grand Nationa l Cross Coun try Champion Scott Plessinger and his wife Angie on January 25 in Hamilton, Ohio. OPENED: Britalia Motor s' home page on the World Wide Web. The address is as follows : http:/ /www.britalia.com . I":' LOOKING BACK... Y ARSAGO,.. E BR UARY16,1971 a tion a l number n in e To m Ro c kw ood as num ber one in he Expert class a t he fi rs t p rofesiona l h al f m il e . ace of the year in " a rde na, Ca lifor- ' rr ~ ia. Rockw o od ~F"''S.::::lI~ orked up from _ midpa ck s t art ~ to take the lead in-=-...... lap five. Gen e Romero and his numer-one plate were tak en out of the race in a lap-nine crash with Jim Odom... To no one's great su rp rise, de sert ace J.N . Roberts ran away with the 500cc Expertclas s win in th e Sled Riders' European Scrambles at Lucerne, Californi a, finishing far ahead of runner-up Rich Thorwaldson and thi rd-p lac ed Ph il Mail- N -----1 lous ... Jo hn DeSoto scored an easy motocro ss vic to ry in Houston, Texas, afte r h ome to wn h ero Ro b i Ho lbert cras hed out . injuring his hand. Tim Ha rt w a s second a nd Dick Burleson took third overall . IHi7iTJPJ...,....,_ 15 YEARS AGO•.. FEBRUARY 11,1981 ou nd one of the AM A Su pe r cross Seri es w ent to Ken t Howerto n, wh o wrestled the lead away from fellow Suzuki factory rid er Ma rk Barne tt late in the final a t Anaheim Stad ium in California. Defending champion Mike Bell took third on a new-fang led, water-coo led Yam ah a 250.. . Gracing the cover was Honda's wat ercooled short tracke r built by Jerry Grif- R cross Seri es at the Seattle Kin gd om s, fi th for Fred die Spencer to rid e at the Astrodome Short Track in Hou ston . The beating out Damon Bradshaw and Jeff CR250 kept th e tw in ra d ia to rs of its Stan ton . Mean while, in the 125cc contest, Jeremy McGrath, Steve Lamson motocross lineage, lowered on the frame for bette r air flow. Engin e mod s includand Jeff Emig finished one, two, three... ed a low dirt track pipe and a 40mm The tea m of Larry Roeseler and Te d L Lectron carb... Da nny "Magoo" ChanHunnicutt rode ne ck-a n d -ne ck (an d • dler saw his way clea r to the 125cc Proneck-an d -neck) with Garth Sweetland • class vic to ry in ro u nd and Paul Krause fo r 244 m iles a t the five of th e DG Go lden fij7iiI1i'"":]~:r-: __ SCO RE Inte rn a tion al Pa rker (AriL State Ser ies a t Ca rls bad, .. ' " : zona) 400. Spee ds averaged 60 mph, California. Broc Glover a .l\.j;'st and at the en d Roeseler and Hunnitook th e 250cc Pro w in " r,~,,~. t..hp show! cult w on b y o ne m inute , 17 secand Eric McK e n n a - . on ds ... D ann y Hamel d om in at ed claimed top 500cc Pro round one of the AMA Nati onal honors.; Cha m pion ship H are a n d Ho und Series at Lucerne Valley, California . 5YEARS AGO... The 18-year-old took the lead 20 miles FEBR AR 13, 1991 U Y into the 104-mile race and held it to s sho w n on th e " th e fini sh . "My goal thi s ye ar is win cove r, Jea n th e o v era ll cham p io n shi p," H am el Mich el Bayle got the ----.......::;::1 said . "My lon g-term goal is to beat Dan big check an d the fancy trophy holder at Smith's m ark of five National Hare and ro un d four of the AMA Camel SuperHound championships." 1 :- z:-.-.. A 51

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