Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DUALSPORT' AMAISuzuki National Trail Ride. Series Los Angeles-Barstow-to-Vegas ''Jesse made that trail years ago when he was laying out the Prospectors' Enduro," said Bottum, who is an old hand when it comes to riding LA-B-to-V courses. "It must've been way back in the 195Os," Goldberg said. "It was a lot of fun to ride it again. Of course, we always have a great time on this event and we do all the hard ways." The riders hit another easy I hard split soon after they left Jawbone. "Easy" meant an up-and-down scramble through the foothills, with the occasional rutted-out uphiU to raise the body temperature. "Hard" meant another uphill of the way-more-grueling kind. "The hard ways definitely weren't for the average dual sporter. He would have trouble and work really hard, and might not have time to do them both," said Larry Woodruff. "With 185 miles to do in a day, if you get stuck a few times, you end up running out of daylight, but anyone who's a B enduro rider or an intermediate in the desert would've loved the hard ways. I thought they were great." The trails came together again just before the old-style mining town of Randsburg, where a MotoWorld camera was waiting to record some of the action. ~any of the riders decided to grab a bite to eat, but others dashed on, only to hit their brakes hard at the start · H By Anne Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren LAS VEGAS, NY, NOV. 29-30 e ading for the hills on the day after Thanksgiving is getting to be as traditional as roasted turkey and candied yams. After 13 years, the Los Ange Jes-Barstow-to-Vegas dual sport ride has established itself as the thing to do to work off the first large meal of the holiday season, and more than 300 riders tumed out to tackle this year's 425-rnile trek from the outskirts of Los Angeles to the glamor and glitter of the Las Vegas strip. Unlike previous years, which began with a day-one run through the treelined trails of the San Bernardino Mountains, this year's event was desert all the way from the start in Lancaster to the oyernigh t stop in the high-desert town of Barstow and on to the outskirts of Las Vegas. Another change was that the event had turned into a Toys For Tots benefit, which meant that underprivileged children would get almost as much fun out of the ride as the dual sporters who tackled the course. As day one's 250-plus riders began leaving the starting line at Rider's Choice in Lancaster shortly after 7 a.m., they ran headlong into a very big - and somewhat unwelcome - part of the afterThanksgiving tradition - frigid temperatures and an icy wind that had them wrapped up in long woolly underwear and hunkered down in the saddle as they followed pavement to the edge of town and then began the chilly dash down a straight dirt road. "It was so cold you could feel your nose dribbling, but it was still fun," said Tom Webb, who tackled the course on a Suzuki DR250. The long straightaways continued turns, but most of the riders were able to stay on course without the BLM's assistance, thanks to an almost spot-on roll chart and bright pink ribbon just around each comer to confirm major directional changes. The tortoise section gave way to a wildlife area that was marked by a wire gate that had to be opl!ned and shut by each group of riders on the way in, and another wire gate on the way out. None of the riders admitted to seeing any sort of wildlife, but most agreed that the scenery and the winding, sandy road made the gates well worth the few seconds of bother. "That area was lovely," said Bob .Tartter. "You were riding along and of a sudden you were in the Garden of Eden." The Garden of Eden gave way to a sand wash and a run down Black's Canyon, before the trail picked up a series of wide-open dirt roads for the run in to the day-one finish at the Barstow Motorcycle Center on Main Street, where free pizza and a free chain lube greeted the riders. Tartter, who had hit the trail at 6:15 a.m., cruised in to the finish before noon, but a steady stream of riders did not start arriving until almost 3 p.m. There were smiles everywhere. "I really enjoyed it because it had a mixture of difficult sections and highspeed sections, and because it was nice to just sit back and ride," said Bob Graziano, who was tackling LA-B-to-V and an organized dual sport ride for the first time. "The map told me where to go, so r didn't have to get lost. At noon we were somewhere to have lunch and, to top all that off, I personally know of a long, 30-miles-per-hQur section through the nearby desert tortoise area. "You should've seen those little tortoises. They were so happy to see us. There were six or seven of them lined up on the side of the trail waving to us as we went by," joked Bob Tartter, who, like everyone else in the field, knew that any tortoise with an ounce of sense would be snuggled down in his'burrow avoiding the cold. "One of them had his Moose pants on. Another one was wearing a pair of Fox gloves." "The trail through the tortoise area was fun, but it lulled me to sleep and suddenly it was, 'oh heck, a corner,'" said Tim Pennell. "I was busting up laughing and I was laughing too hard to stay on the trail. I crashed and broke my handguard." There were far more BLM rangers than desert tortoises out and about in the open desert and their vehicles made handy course markers at the major about half of the people here. It's very pleasant." Alan Wright, another first-time dual sporter, gave the ride two enthusiastic thumbs up. "We got to see a lot of interesting country. It's nice to be able to go all the way out there into the middle oJ. nowhere without having to worry about getting lost," said Wright, who got lI.l rear flat just outside Randsburg and actually enjoyed the experience. "The guys in the Honda support truck fixed it right up for me. Made me feel like a full factory guy. That was great." American Honda, which has dis-J patched a support truck for as many' years as the rrders can remember, earned a lot of praise for its consistent support of LA-B-to-V and for its willing-I ness to help out anyone, no matter what brand of motorcycle they were riding. ATK lent a helping hand for the fu:st time, putting two well-equippect riders:l (Above) Relief: Off the pavement and on to tun. The LA-B-toV Is the fineI event on the AMAlSuzukl Duel Sport calendar. This year, the event benefited Toys For Tots. (Right) Instead of s~rtlng In the San Bernardino Mountains as It has In past years, the ride begsn In Lancaster end headed toward Mojave, where some riders stopped to warm up from the frigid temperatures. almost all the way to Mojave, where the trail turned onto the main highway toward Tehachapi, then headed back into the dirt for the first easy I hard split. Riders who chose the easy trail were treated to a roller coaster jaunt along the service road for the Los Angeles Aqueduct that took them all the way to the next check at the Jawbone Canyon store. The rest of the riders had their work cut out for them on the opening section of the hard-way trail, which had them scrambling and clawing their way up a steep slope. "There were guys sprawled all over that hill, but it was worth it if you made it to the top," said Jim Woods. "The uphill was followed by a superb section of single-track. The views were great and all the trees were white and frosty." The 70-year-old duo of Jesse Goldberg and Cal Bottum declared the mountaintop trail as their favorite part of day one.

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