Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

- ,EV N S ET (l ett) The fitth annual Mal co lm Smnh Dua/ Sport Ride pr ovided plenty of excellent riding for riders of all ability levels. (Above) If you want a cha llenge, scenes like this are commo n on any ride Malcolm Smith puts on. Malcolm Smith Dual Sport By Todd Nolan SAN BER.'\lARDINO, CA, NOV 16 . ako lm Smith's fifth annual dual sport r id e a d d ed some n ew twi sts to what is b e com in g a M classic la te-autumn ride into the mountains near Smith's Riversid e, Ca lifo rnia, multi-line motorcycle dealership. Thi s year , ap pro xima tely 200 enthusiasts turned out for the ride, which featured a new s ta rting point and some ve ry int e re st ing trail s in the Sa n Bernardi no mountains . When th e even t w a s firs t s ta rt ed r-, 0\ 0\ ...... cr) .... CIJ ..0 E CIJ u CIJ o 28 five years ago, Malcolm intended it to provide a n o ppor tu nity for his Mal colm Sm ith Motorsports cu st ome rs to have a fun rid e on their dual-purpose mac hines . The riders w ou ld ga ther at the s ho p ju s t off th e 9 1 fr eewa y in Riv ersid e b ef ore setti ng off for the m o un tai n t rails in e i th e r the San Berna rd ino and San Ja ci n to ra nges, d epending on the yea r. Bu t th e even t eventually o u tgrew the sho p, and the past two years sa w a scramble for parkin g in the small lot an d adjacent streets. "Plus, a lot of riders comp la ined abo u t rid ing so much pavement to get to the moun tains," said Smith, whose s hop is about 20 mil es fro m the clo sest mounta in d irt roads . So for the fift h ann ual event. the sta r ti ng p oinl was moved to Glen Helen OI IV Par k, located at the base of the San Bernardi no Mo unta ins . Some riders missed s tarti ng from the shop. "1 miss doing the Jungle Cruise section we did last yea r:' said Tod d Arn old, referring to one of the highli ghts of the previo us ride. Despite the proximity to the mo untains, the first IS of the 135 m iles were still on the p:lVeme nt . "1 thought there had to be a reason for a bunch of fre ewa y : ' sa id Karl Ed mondso n, who found a little-used trail not lo ng a fter leaving th e pavement. "It was awesome: narrow, rocky, twisty and overgrown. I'v e ridd en in these mountains so mu ch, but Mal colm alwa ys seems to throw in so me stu ff I haven't seen before." The fir st climb had man y riders pu shing up a rocky hill. "J th ink 1 rod e o ver more guys than ro ck s," Arn old said. After re a ching th e to p, the riders passed throu gh Lak e Arrow hea d , and those who atte nded the Cycle News Du al Spo r t Jambore e in Se p te mber soo n found th ems el ve s on some fami li a r grou nd . Th e second big challenge was travers ing De ep C re e k, mad e e v e n deeper by the s to rms that had passed throu gh the area sev eral days earlier, lea ving many trails damp. Snow and ice were even found on some of the northern slopes in the higher elevations. A rocky trail provided an alternative to the main crossing and also created a b it of a b ottl en eck. Edmonson was amo ng the impa tien t who tried the tradi tion al route - and pa id for it. "II's always been deep bu t manageable, bu t this time it was way deepe r than I thou ght: ' he sa id after stalling h is Kawasaki KLX650 and ha ving tn push it to the other side. He rode the many miles of si ng le-track trails a nd fire roa ds th at followed, inclu d in g a seco nd crossing at Devil's Hol e, befo re changing his wet socks at the late lunch stop in Cedar Glen. "II was cool that the majority of the ride was before lunch: ' sa id Edmondson. "I'm u sually ready for a nap after I eat!" Several riders go t to cha t with Malcolm during lunch, and many comp limented him on the ride. "1 enjoy doing this every yea r," Malcolm said . "It helps promote motorcycling and shows people that there's still p len ty of places to ride. You don't even need a street-legal bike to ride a lot of the trails we rod e today." A few more tw isty and, at times, whooped-out tra ils followed lunch before the dirt roa d s dropped rid ers back down at the foot of the mountain, just a few miles from Glen Helen. " It wa s a grea t rid e: ' su m med up C ro ft Lon g. "The re wa s a little bit of every thing: mud, dust, water , tighi a nd tw isty trails , fast fire roads and some pav em ent. It doe sn't get mu ch bett er than this." . ." W Coast Arenacross Challenge Serie est s, Round 3 Holland the • main man By Joan Tie a rne y SAN FRANCISCO, CA, NOV. 8 h e n ro u n d thre e o f th e West Coast Arcnacross Challe nge con cluded at San Fra ncisco' s Cow Palace, Clawson Mctor sp orts / Pro Circult-backed Rusty Holland left with the series lend. Holland was u ns to p pa b le o n this night, as the Kawasaki-m ounted rid er won everything in sig ht, excep t for the jump contest. But Holland can live with that. Ho lland tra nsferred to th e 125cc · main event by winni ng his sem i after going do wn in the first turn of his heat race, bu t he rod e flawl essly to his 250cc he at- race wi n. Up-and-comi ng rid er Aaron Cheselski made hi> Pro debut in hi> first Arenacross, taking the heat win, with FMPs Dean Matso n taking second . Veteran Rick Ryan showed his determination, finishing third in the heat. Several new Pros were on the program to mix it up with the seaso ned riders, showing strong finis hes. . In the 125cc main event, Holland pegged the tight, left-handed first tu rn , followed by Brad Hagseth, Ryan, Auggie Rodriguez and Jason Partridge. Jeff Willoh, Matson and Evans we re on the ground in a first-tum pileup and would have some tou gh passing to do to get up into the top five. Out front , Holland p ulled away, tripling for the crowd without a threa t for most of the race. Hagseth ran a blistering pace in second for most of the . W race, with Willoh, Eva ns and Partridge on a charge. Partridge a nd Willoh made up precious time in the grueling whoop section and soon found themselves runnin g in the second- and fourth-place positions, respective ly. On lap eigh t, Partridge mad e h is move on Hagseth, and Willoh followed s ui t. Eva ns w as o n a mission , takin g positions in the whoop section, and he was soo n running am ong the top five. Newcomer Rodrigu ez sh owed his s tu ff a s his hometown crowd heav ily sup po rted him every lap. On the w hiteflag lap , Eva ns mad e a m o ve on Hagseth in the tigh t rig ht-ha nder after the finish lin e to take over the fou rthplace position. Holland put in a flawless race for his fans and vo wed to win the 250cc main. Partrid ge would take seco nd , fo llo w ed h y wtll oh an d Evan s. Hagseth end ed up finishing fifth . Ryan and Partridge placed first and second, respectively, in their 250cc heat rac e, w hil e Hnllan d a nd Will oh also went d irectly to the 250cc main . Th e se mis wou ld tran sfer Matson, Hagseth, To ny Graves and Oregon's Ryan Terlecki, Evans and Brian Sweany. The 250cc LCQ would se nd Jake Wi nd ham a nd Carter Gurnee to the main. The field was set for the 250cc main event and , w hen the ga te dropped, Hollan d grabbed the hol esh ot in su perb fashion , it was, in fact, a carbon copy of the 12Sec main. Hollan d took the sharp inside co rner and used it to his advanta g e , a s o the r top poin t fa vo r ites Willoh and Partrid ge - we re aga in back midpack. G raves put on the cha rge behin d Holland lap after lap. Malson was holding third, while Hagseth, Sweany and Willo h were battling over the doubles. The crowd went nuts as Willoh and Partridge batt led for the four th spo t. Willoh made th e pass o n Pa r tri dge in the whoop section a nd s e t his sights on Matson . Sweany and Gurnee had so me bad luck , cr ashing in lap seven and eight, respectively, but were up q u ickly. Lapped riders were now surfacing near the end of the main, but tha t didn' t hamper the Kawasaki of Holland . Holland made a few block-passes on Graves and pulled a sizable lead by the next-to-last

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