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/128086
Final lVIolo By and knees, poking his hand into the snow," said Berroth. "Each time he poked it in, it left a red spot. I stopped my bike and went up to him, and his fingertip was gone. You could see bone and everything." Berroth located the missing digit and packed it with snow in an empty film canister that he carried in his fanny pack for storing nuts and bolts, then informed Harden of the bad news: The group didn't have enough gas to turn back at this point, and would instead have to complete the last 20 miles to Laguna Hanson for fuel, then negotiate the entire 70 miles back to Tecate. They made it to the turn-around point without much further escapade, but Harden was understandably agitated (read: cantankerous) at this point, so after refueling at Ramona's, Berroth set about finding his cohort hile testing our Yamaha WR426F just before Christmas on a Baja ride from Tecate to Laguna Hanson and back, I whacked my hand particularly hard on a tree branch, then backed off the throttle and waited a few seconds for that inevitable stab of pain to arrive. It did. At the next rest stop, I displayed my bloody glove to FMF's Bill Berreth and KTM's Scot Harden, who were serving as our group's trail bosses, and whined, "I think I'm going to lose my fingernail." Being the unfailingly sympathetic sort that he is, Berroth gruffly responded, "Hmm, no handguards, huh? Interesting choice. Anyway, you've got nothing to complain about with that fingernail. Scot, here, lost his entire fingertip on this exact route one time." At that point, the duo proceeded to tell me a tale that made me realize the relative triviality of my damaged nail, and I will pass it on to you here (the tale, not the nail, although that will also be possible in another day or two). It seems that despite being one of the most versatile riders around - equally at home in the Mexican desert; a tight section of eastern woods; a jump-filled motocross track; or the sand dunes of Africa - Harden does have an Achilles' heel. Raised as he was in the heat of Las Vegas, the transplanted Californian has limited experience in snowy conditions, and on a frigid Tecate jaunt with Berroth a few years back, he found himself negotiating the icy dirt roads and trails with all the grace of a Firestone-shod Ford Explorer on a Palestinian roadway. Each subsequent fall would raise Harden's frustration level a notch and convince him to ride harder (and faster), until it all climaxed about 50 miles in, when Scot lost control at speed on an ice patch and found himself sliding directly toward a large tree. Harden attempted to avoid contact by laying the bike down and jettisoning himself, but he was a millisecond too late and his fingertip was caught between the lever and handlebar. "The rest of us came around -the corner, and Scot was on his hands W CHRIS JONNUM back. That's when the group came across a collection of machine-guntoting federates who were running a drug checkpoint on a major dirt road. The officials proceeded to search the riders for illegal substances, and the soldier patting down Berroth thought he'd hit pay-dirt when he found the canister. "Wat you haff heer, gringo?" asked the federate. "Una sorpresa para me, cverdad?" A surprise was right, and when the officer opened the canister and saw the bloody fingertip inside, bobbing around in the now-melted snow, his eyes rolled back in their sockets and he started to keel over. Berroth and his riding pal Paul Eddy attempted to arrest the soldier's fall, but when the other federates glimpsed them making a grab for their compadre, they swung their machine guns on the two gringos. Needless to say, Berroth and Eddy threw their hands in the air, and the nowunconscious officer hit the ground in a poof of dust. For!unately, the jefe had a sense of humor, and after Berroth explained the situation and showed him the fingertip, he laughed and told the gringos to get out of there. "We did as he said: said Berroth, "but Scot was long-gone by that point - minus his finger. The doctor had to make him a new one out of a graft from his hip. I don't know what ever became of the fingertip; it might still be in my garage." Harden verified the impressive yarn by displaying his obviously modified digit to me, and I, needless to say, was appropriately humbled. That is, until I recalled and related another anecdote from an outing I'd been on years ago near Jawbone Canyon in the California desert. There were several old desert-racing heroes along on that group ride, including Baja ace Bob Balentine, who had badly injured his leg in a crash several years earlier and now rode with a prosthesis. Balentine was uncharacteristically tardy at one rest stop on our ride, and after he finally rolled up and shut off his bike, he explained, "Sorry it took me so long, guys. My leg fell off back there." CN ·Den I'lae· a"icer apened ."e can's.er a .." sa.., the bl• •dV ".. ert,p ' ..s'de, bob I • arou.... I .. I'lae . . . . .e"tell s ..a . ., 11'5 eves ro"ed bacle I . . .lIelr sockets an" II tart." 1:0 kee' .Jler. some medicinal relief. One Mexican offered a small packet of a white, powdery substance that Bill surmised through his pidgin Spanish to be aspirin, and which Harden thankfully downed with a gulp of Squirt. Shortly thereafter, another group rode up, this one with a rider who happened to be an EMT. Unfortunately, he couldn't do much without his equipment, other than to inform Harden that it was not aspirin, but a tranquilizer that he had just consumed ("Considering the pissed-off state he was in by then, it was probably perfect: says Berroth), and that he should get back to the U.S. and a doctor as quickly as possible. After deciding upon a lower-elevation (and thus snowless) route back to Tecate, the group departed, and Harden - his digit wrapped in a strip of jersey - took off at top speed ahead of the other riders. That was the last they saw of him that day - or most of him, anyway; his finger (now forgotten in the canister in Berroth's fanny pack) caused a bit more adventure about halfway • Anaheim Superr:ross I • Daytona Tire Test Patt II • Test: 2001 HDIIda CBR6OOF4I • Chapanal and PenIs InntalltHJal SUpellClosses 92 JANUARY 10, 2001 • cue I e n e _ s 311 rEARS AIirL. .JIINIJAIIY ~ 1971 The cover of Issue it1 in 1971 was plastered with the headline "Crisis in the Dirt" and, according to the accompanying article, the four most populous counties in California had just made it illegal to ride a motorcycle off the road without written permission from the owner of the land... Jim Rice and Ken Roberts won the Expert and Novice dirt track mains, respectively, at the Ascot Season Finale in Gardena, California... Larry Roeseler (H-D) won the 100cc Amateur class at the Holiday Hop Hare Scrambles in Four Corners, California. The overall was won by J.N. Robert, with Rich Thorwaldson chasing him in for second place... John DeSoto made short work of his competition in the Open Pro class at an Indian Dunes doubleheader. According to the report, in one moto he set a new lap record that was nearly a minute faster than the previous one... EJ Trial de Espana was held at Saddleback Park, with Lane Leavitt taking the victory with a scanty four points taken. Second-placed Mark Eager took 12 points during the event... The back cover of the issue featured an ad announcing the upcoming fourth annual Elsinore Grand Prix. 2tJ rEARS AIirL. .JAMII'tIY the firstPhotos from'''' 1981 ever "stadium Of trials covered Issue it I, with trials riders taking their machines over cars, vans, tractor tires and even across a seesaw. The event was won by Bultaco-mounted Scott Head, as were the other two trials events held on the tripleheader weekend: the VOTE Schreiber Cup and the EI Trial de Espaiia... Round one of the CMC Golden State MX Series was held at Saddleback Park in Orange, California, with the premier 500cc Pro-class win going to DarreU Schultz and the 250cc Pro win going to Broc Glover. both with perfect 1- I scores. George Holland took an unlikely 125cc Pro victory with 6-2 moto finishes ... Broc Glover also rode a bone-stock Yamaha 465 to a victory at the 0-38 Mine Shaft Hare Scrambles after a start that left him outside of the top 30... Canyon Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona, played host to the Bosch Classic motocross event, with Johnny O'Mara taking the 125cc Expert victory and Tony DiStefano walking away with the Open Expert trophy. The Pee Wee class was won by Shaun Kalos, with Jimmy Button chasing him home for second. 10 rEARS AIirL. .IAMI/IIIY 1~ 11191 Team Kawasaki's Jeff .!i1ill.ill:.:fj Ward graced the cover - - - - - -of Issue it 1 after win' ning the GFI 250cc Invitational Supercross and the $5000 that went with it. Jeremy McGrath (Han) passed Rick Johnson (Hon) on the final lap to finish second. Johnson was third... The 1991 ~ross season was in full swing as Gatorback Cycle Park in Gainesville, florida, hosted round one of the Florida Winter AMA Series. Ryan Hughes (Kaw) took the 125cc Pro victory, while Ronnie TIchenor (Suz) took a hard-earned 250cc Pro-class win... Steve Lamson (Suz) took home the 125cc Pro victory at round one of the CMC Golden State MX Nationals in San Bernardino, California. Willie Surratt topped the 250cc and 500cc Pro classes overall on Hondas... We reported in our "In the Wind" section that four-time World Champion road racer Eddie Lawson would likely be riding Cagivas in 1991, while reigning 250cc World Champion John Kocinski would be moving up to 500s to fill Lawson's vacancy on the team.