Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128080
it slow breakfast, we made our way ou t to the campsite, where I was introduced to Pickett's meticulously prepared Yamaha YZ2S0 - complete with flat rear tire. With the group getting ready to head out onto the first trail, I leaped into panic mode, wondering if Pickett even knew that the tire was flat. I would later find ou t that another of Parker's buds, Ma rk Cheza, had decided to have a little fun wit h me. I still owe you one, Chez. - T h e St. Helen O RV Park features so me of the most awesome trails tha t yo u will ever attempt. Its XX mil es of scabo rous sa ndy serpenti ne single tra ck sections d ouble back so ma ny times that it is easy to get lost. Especially if you' re having a to u gh tim e keeping up with the herd. About five us had that problem on the first rid e, with the few stragglers ru nni ng outof fuel and requirin g a ch a s e tru ck to re tu rn for th e m . I, of course, made it back to camp, thanks to the YZ's miserly fue l consum ption - just in time to go out for the second ride of . the d ay and get lost aga in . After rumbling, bumbling and stumb lin g aro und in the wo ods for what see med like three hours, I finall y had the pr esen ce of mind to wheelie back thro ugh the town of St. Helen in order to reac h the ORV park. "Hey man, that's illegal," Parker later said, me not understanding w hether he meant against the law or simply against the rules. Was there so me so rt of ga me afoo t here? - It is ritual that Saturday nig ht always be an in-town dri nkfest at the Ced ar Inn bar in "downtown" St . Helen. As a n added featu re this year, however, I go t to witness a bitchin' gang fight that was mor e or less initiated whe n Swink put a WWF-style hip toss on some guy w ho was harass ing the chick that he had been da ncing with. Too late, th e o ther combatant realized tha t he had gotten h imself involved in a rou nd -rob in slugfest with almost every othe r member of the Mafia group, non e of w hom got arres ted "cuz nobody saw not hi n', k now what I' m say irr?" A n yway, I hitched a rid e back across the stree t to the mote l w it h Kr e g Bigelow , w ho cl aimed th at he had d runk him self so ber ... Right. .: Sund ay mo rning, an d tha t cat had apparen tly brou g h t fr ie nds, but this time I was the first cine up. The first ride of Sunday morning was spent watching ,one of Pa rker's 12-year-old nephew s try to an ni hila te h imself wit h a borrowed CR250 that dearly was brawni er than he was . Afte r pulling the kid out of a tree, we decided to se nd him d own a trail that led back to ca m p . Th en th e pace picked up again. And I go t lost. With th e aid of some guy w ho was n ot r id in g in ou r group b ut a t lea st kn ew who we were - or more the point where we were - I was the last o ne to m ake it back to camp for t h e third straight time, and I began to catch a hint that the res t of the boys we re finding a bit of humor in my getting lost. Seeing a bunch of them rolling around on their backs a nd pointi ng at me in ou trigh t laughter was the first due. Even through the gnarliest of all the terrain that I had yet seen (I don' t think tha t this final trail had been used in about five years), I did not get lost on the fou rth an d fina l ride of the weekend, wh ich still somehow left me feeling lost. O vera ll, it was a grea t time, a nd I wa n t to thank Scott Parker, Craig Picke tt, Don Sc hioperay, Kreg Big el ow , Springer , Cook er, Mark Cheza and the rest for show ing me a really good tim e, Mich igan style. I may just have to make plan s to s ho w up to th e St. H el en National aga in next yea r. eN Oh , get lost. . '" '" '" o ~ ~ Q; .c E ~ o Z 21