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/128091
• = Terry H8hn (41) gets 11M jump _ a big field of MIdcII ••algilt (;oI1tastanta, Including ISDE wat8nIn Jeff Fradetta (13) at 11M Staal Shoe Fund Endurance Ice Race. Hahn and taanunata Ro)f Nafzgar ~ on to poa111M win In 11M 1hraa hour rae•• STORY AND PHOTOS Bv SCOTT ROUSSEAU LAKE KOSHKONONG, WI, JAN. 21 s I come to from my daydream, I suddenly realize that I'm standing in a puddle of my own urine, but it's okay really, because it's already frozen - just like the rest of the Godforsaken landscape upon which my gaze is fixated. Staring out at this barren nothingness calls to mind that quirky little sci-fi flick The Empire Strikes Back, you know, where after Luke Skywalker and company nuke the Deathstar, they decide to chill out on the planet Hoth, the furthest iceball from the sun. If you never thought that such 2f place could exist on earth, then you've probably never been standing on a frozen lake, in Wisconsin, in the dead of winter. Now, you're probably wondering what kind of idiot would want to attempt such a thing anyway - not the peeing in 26-degree weather part, but the standing on a frozen lake in general. Back to that moment in time, I'm just beginning to wonder that myself when a voice booms through the haze of the moment, startling me back to reality, back to a spot just in front of Gimmer's Sunset Tavern on Lake Koshkonong, Wisconsin, and the Steel Shoe Fund Endurance Ice Race. A 34 FEBRAURY 14, 2001 • cue • "Get ready to gol Jesse's probably not going to stay out there long!" The voice belongs to Steve Janisch, who along with my pals Glen Schnabel Sr. and his son Glen Schnabel Jr. - the latter more recognizable as AMA Grand National number 33 J.R. Schnabel - has invited (suckered?) me into participating in this three-hour endurance ice race to benefit the Steel Shoe Fund, a subsidiary e n e _ s of the Wegman Benefit Fund which is set up specifically to help injured flat track racers - guys who are near and dear to my heart for obvious reasons. Steve's 13-year-old kid Jesse is one hell of a good flat track racer already, one mediocre motocrosser and one fourth of our four-man team that also includes J.R. and his uncle Scott Schnabel. Oh yeah, and me, the guy who is due to get back out on the ice with 31 other crazed lunatics in about a minute. Of course, way back when the idea for this story was pitched to me, it was the middle of summer, and the only ice that I had been used to seeing was in the bottom of a soda glass. And it's pretty hard to get a motorcycle in there to experience what kind of riding surface frozen water actually affords. I still remember the words coming out of the pie hole where my foot should have been: "Come ice racing with you? Sure, sounds like fun." What the hell was I thinking? Too late now, I think, as I once again don my wool socks, knit cap, stuff on the old Arai and then climb into a heavily fleeced mechanic's jumper before putting on a pair of light gloves that will allow me to feel the controls while my arms are stuffed up to the elbows in a hand warmers that envelope the ends of the bars on our racebike. It's time for my second and final shift of the day. I spot Jesse as he enters the pit lane, checks his speed through the "no fly" zone that arroyos past all of the team transporters and back to where I stand waiting. It's time to get it on. Just over 30 teams have entered the event, some of them competing with as few as two riders or as many as four. Despite its funfest status, the Steel Shoe has drawn a fair amount of quality competition, including several MX and dirt track hot shoes from the state of Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois. Beyond those guys, former AMA National and ISDE Enduro stud Jeff Fredette has come back to claim another victory in an event that he has won before. Aside from his time(Below) Fradatte (13) lad much of the race in the earty going, ....Iy lapping ride,. within the first 20 minutes of the race. His team _n' on to finish second overall.