Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Ch ina Hat Cross Country: Nev LaBord e cooks a corner on his way to an overall win at round four of th e OMRA Cross Country Series in Milli can, Orego n. OMRA C Country Series ross Round 4: China Hat Cross Country and soft who ops defy a ll types of sus. p en s io n settin gs and br ing o ut th e best in "Ioo k at m y bliste rs " conversations . Afte r the pa in had turned to nu m bness , th e riders were rewarded with another lovely roc k field , wh ich was actua lly a relief. Th e fina l s p rint to the e nd wa s a h igh -s pe e d blast to the c he cke rs . A lo t o f th e larger classes ha d very close finishes. J ust like last year, by th e e n d of the race th e ride rs ha d tears o f h a p pi n ess strea mi n g down th e ir c heek s and we re o b v io usly wa nt in g m o r e , judg in g fr om their gl e efu l e x p re s s io n s a n d a ni m a te d ha nd gestures . Th e tra il boss wa s once aga in the venerabl e Billy Toman of the Lobos Moto rc ycl e Club. Th e re viva l of the China Ha t Cross Country has b e e n largely credi te d t o To m a n and the cooperation of the Deschutes Nation a l Forest. So ends another chapter in the book of desert ra cing. eN China Hat C ross Countly Millic an, Oregon Results: May 20, 2001 [Round 41 AA: I. Nev LaBorde; 2. Rob Cha stain ; 3 . Derek Steahly ; 4. Rick Bozarth; 5. Larry Oliver. O PE N EX : 1. Ja s on Mat heney ; 2 . T ommy Clouse : 3. Bry on Smith; 4. J eff Pratt ; 5. Ken Romero. 25 0 EX : 1. Jas on Dan iel; 2 . Mark Miller; 3 . James Wilson; 4 . Mark Grell; 5. J osh Huffm an. 200 EX: 1. Ted Ostlund; 2 . Thom a s Whitco mb ; 3. Tyl er Whitc omb ; 4. Scott A utry . 30. EX: 1. David Morton ; 2. Greg Sum mers ; 3. Ada m Ac hepo hl ; 4. Kurt Va n derpoo l; 5 . Sha wn Servo . 40+ EX: 1. David Winte rs; 2. Kerry Patterso n; 3. Ken Spruit; 4. Willia m Perk ins; 5. Be Teasedale. 4- ST RK EX: 1. J esse A lton; 2. Rick Goodm an; 3. Scott McNew; 4. J ason Kennedy; 5. Cory Menetey. OPEN A M: 1. Chris Chambe rs; 2. Chris Stinnett; 3. Brett McBee; 4. Cody Harris; 5. Tod d Wilson. 250 AM: 1. Robert Sum ner; 2 . Corey Farrell ; 3. Eric Hobbs; 4. J osh Hogue; 5. J osh Stoc kdale. 200 AM : 1. Brent Bauer; 2. Jame s Ack erm an; 3. Jerry Moore; 4. Jeff Crum p; 5. Brian Ac ke rm an. 30 + AM : 1. Mark Hop segger; 2. Steve webber: 3. Rob U ving ston; 4. J eff Stolen: 5. Russ Bolin . 40+ AM : 1. Br i an Cro sby; 2 . Denn y Day ; 3 . Randy Haugstad; 4. Greg Stephens; 5. Scott Sagor . 4 ·STRK A M: 1. Terk el Mc Broo m; 2. Keith Bolt ; 3. Matt Kennedy; 4. Ben J ohnson; 5. Lane C1ow. 50 + AM : 1. Richard Wilson; 2. Gunny Claypoo le: 3. Robert Osbo rne; 4 . Gary Forester; 5. Joe Barrell. 60+ A M : 1. J im McCl ellan; 2. Bob Cham berlain . WMN : 1. Ci ndy Roberson ; 2. Ju li e Hoffman; 3 . Val Henningsen. JR : 1. Reid Br own; 2. Spe nce r Fol ey; 3. Rya n Foley. SPTSMN: 1. David Wasson; 2. Dennis Dowrey ; 3. Kevi n Hill : 4. Brandon Robinson; 5. Ronald Saund. Oklahoma State ChampionshipS eries Round 5: P onca City MX Park All LaBorde at China Hooley High Hat Cross Country By By A DA M A CHEPO HL MILUCAN, OR, MAY 20 e v La Borde, r iding h is bone s tock 1997 Hond a XR400, held off 160 compet itors at the China Hat Cro s s Cou ntr y in th e hig h desert of central Or egon. Tak ing th e le a d after the first 20 -mil e check , LaB ord e took advanta g e o f th e dusty co nditions and m a int ain ed the le ad t hro ugh the hal fwa y-p o int pit stop , ke e ping KTM 520 EXC -mounted Rob Ch a st ai n a t bay t o th e e n d . La Bord e h eld to a tried an d tr ue phil os ophy. "I kn ew I h ad t o ge t my mind ready, be c a us e m y bike a nd body a re a litt le old - mind over ma tt er ," sa id th e 35-ye ar old from Ben d , Oregon . Hidd en in t he d u st b ut clo se be hind at th e finis h was Chastain, on h is Fartb ike /Pow e r Yam aha /KTMba cked four- stroke . "Dus t wa s a big pr ob lem toda y," Chastain sa id. "1 couldn 't ride th e way I wanted to ride , bu t in the e nd I still ha d a good tim e ." F inishi ng thi rd ove ra ll wa s KTM 250 EXC -m ounted Derek Steah ly, also at th e edge of t he dust clo ud in front of him . In th e ea rly miles of th e race, fou r AA ride rs , includ ing dese rt pro Rick Bozarth, m issed an arrow in the "fo g " and lost va luabl e positions that c o u ld n' t b e retak en . Sufferin g from a g n a rly c h est col d , Bozarth foug ht his wa y back to an impressive fourth -p lace finish in the brutal dust a nd pounding whoops . N 64 JUNE 2 7,2001 • cu e I e Jason Ma th en e y, riding an Ande rson Cycl e -ba c ked YZ250 , took top h ono rs in th e Open Ex pert a nd fifth overa ll, while J esse Alto n c ruised to the Fou r-S troke Expert win. Top Ov e rall Amateur wen t to Chris Cha mbers . Th e cou rse fe a tu red two 35- mi le loops of class ic desert m at e ria l. Fo r sta rte rs , there was t he dus t - you know , the kind of talc th at gets stirred up ju st fro m a dow nturned four-stroke tailpipe while sta n d in g st ill. T h e n there wer e rocks . The rocks at Ch ina Hat are bu ried lava boulders ; the y are sha rp a nd hard - and so me of them a re gra pe f ru it - sized and ar e n ot buried , a nd they roll out from under yo ur t ire s at ino p po rt u ne m o m ents . Ther e are a lso e n dle s s p u m ice wh oo ps that brin g a sp e cia l kind of joy to th e rid ers , e s pecia lly at the two -hour point of a three -h ou r rac e in th e hot sun. Flat tires claim ed man y vict ims , and fat igu e took its toll. Aft e r the fir s t 15 mil e s of hi gh spe ed sections , the tra il m ove d into the woods and the du st d isappe ar ed . T en m ile s o f "b it c h in '" t h ird - an d fourth -g e ar th rottl e -t ickling fo llowed a very tight section in th e aforeme n tion ed rock fields . After a splash of gas a nd a new set of gogg le s , the racers set off on the second loop - w h ic h mos t k new wou ld be the hard part. Sure en ou gh , a fter a few m ile s th e cour se tu rned toward th e infamous wh oops of th e East Fort Rock OHV Area . Set in th e cute and cudd ly trees , th ese deep n eVIl's C O NNIE J OH N SON PONCA CITY, OK, MAY 20 ound five of th e O klahoma St at e Ch amp io ns hip S erie s la n d e d a t Pon ca City MX Pa rk , a nd Ta ylo r Hoo ley was o n t he g a s in th e Pee Wee (4 -6) class . Hoo ley's Cobra s hot to the fro nt of th e p ack an d s t a y e d t here in b o th m otos of t he you ng est class of th e da y. Le m-mounted Jordan Nassane y held off KTM rider Mason Todd Banfield for second in m oto one, a nd KTM rid e r Zac h ary Du ran held o ff Lem mou nted Alexander Nagy for fourth. In moto two , th e line up c ha nged be hind Hooley , with Banfie ld comin g in seco nd, followed by Nagy , Yamaha -mou nt ed T rey Martin, and Cobra ta me r J e remy Dunham . Th e 250cc Beg inn er c lass had som e bar -to -b ar a ction , with Randy J o h nson J r. putting hi s RM out in fro nt for th e first two la ps of m o to one. To dd Bowen rode h is KX past John so n on la p th re e , and Barney Ha stie eased his Suzuki on into sec ond on th e last lap, leaving Johnson in third . Suzuk i pilot Garry Milchesla a nd Hond a pilot Joe Baran rounded out th e top five . Moto two featured a differ ent mi x, with Kawasaki jocke y Ken Hag er get ting th e hol eshot b ut qu ickly falli ng back to fourth, where he stayed until the c hecke rs flew. Hastie moved into firs t fo r o ne lap and then turned it ov er to Milchesla . Greg De are fin ished all five la ps in third p la ce , a nd Scott Butcher put his Yamaha in front of Johnson for fifth. R YZ p ilot Bria n Gamer got the jump off th e ga te in moto one of the 250cc No v ic e c la s s , w ith Suzuk i jock ey Aa ro n Muelle r mak ing the pass for first on lap two . Rya n Ba iley moved p ast fello w Yamaha r id e r Cash Maitl e n, Ga m er and Mueller, putting h imself in fir s t p lace in just th ree la ps . Su zuk i joc ke y Bre n t Pr esnell ro un ded out th e top five. Baile y jum pe d out in front early in m oto two a nd c ro sse d the c hec kers wit h the o ve ra ll win in hi s pock et. Presne ll go t a better start and ca me in secon d , followed by Todd Stoll on his Yam ah a, Gamer, and Brett Fisher on his Kawasaki. Blai r Lively nail ed the ho le sh ot in moto on e of th e 250cc Pro class on his Honda . On lap three , Ryan St. Cyr too k the insi d e line of t h e tu rn just - past the fin ish line a nd powered h is Kawasaki past Live ly for th e lead. St. Cyr was kept hon est with Lively on his back fend er for the next five la ps . Denn is Ow e ns kept his KX in th ird , with Ho nda pilot Jo n Hed den and Yamaha pilot Chr is Drummond in tow . Hedden got the jum p on everyone in moto two , bu t St . Cyr moved into first and stayed there, with Hedden, Drummond and Lively following . In t h e Ove r 25 Amate u r c la ss , Mark Rausch put his Yamaha out in front whe n the gate d rop ped for moto o ne. Two ot her Yamaha p ilots , Rusty Scheiterle a nd Larry Kopp, gave pursuit, with Kawasak i jockey Brennen McKellar and Honda p ilot John Wolf ro und ing ou t the top five . Rausch agai n got the ho leshot in mo t o two , but h e t urned th e lead

• Cover