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has been on about 10 different bikes over the years," said King. "This is a tough event for us - lots of whoops and lots of sand washes, and we feel like we are working hard but we can get through it. That's why we do it on these. If you've done it once on a solo bike, it's really just a long Sunday ride. With a sidecar, it's a bit different." From Jawbone, the trail continued northwest on serpentine dirt roads. It skirted Red Rock Canyon State Park, crossed Highway 14 near the Dove Springs turnoff and headed east into the EI Paso Mountains, where the trails became rough and rocky. The EI Paso Mountain section included the first of the day's limited speed. zones, and a challenging twisty, uphill canyon that surprised many of the riders and caused sidecar duo Mike and Kevin Braverman to turn their camouflage-painted rig adorned with fake bullet holes and a snarling, tooth-filled dragon's mouth around and go looking for an easier route. Even more surprising were two archaeological sites within a quarter mile of each another in which the trail was narrowed to single file and covered with PVC and a woven black fabric. "You're going across a point of archaeological concern that we've covered with what we call filter fabric and some woven PVC," said a BLM ranger stationed at the site. "It's covering what's called a midden. I'm not sure of the spelling, but it's an historical site that's being protected. Native American probably; I'm not real event that originally spun off the now defunct Barstow-to- Vegas Hare and Hound drew a record number of entries. "We had 317 entries, which, according to current knowledge and any records we can find, is a record," said Jim Woods, Vice President of AMA District 37 Dual Sport. "Personally, I think it's because the quality of the ride is so high. We try very hard to put on rides through wilderness and places you normally can't go or can't find, and people are amazed we can still do it." Mother Nature got with the program, too. High winds that had blasted the desert the da y before the event disappeared in time for the start, and a cold winter storm packing rain and snow in the higher elevations that was heading in from the north held off until the very end of the two-day ride. But there was still plenty of hand rubbing and blowing on fingers as the riders gathered in Lancaster the morning after Thanksgiving. With 216 miles to complete on the first day's ride to Barstow, an early start was a good idea and temperatures were in the mid-40s as the riders mounted the roll charts that spelled out the route on their handlebars and pulled on their helmets. The opening section of the first day's ride took the dual sporters north toward Mojave on graded dirt roads and then the trail turned ugly, with silt, ruts and buried rocks that kept the riders on their toes as they paralleled Highway 14 to Jawbone sure." The spelling is midden, and, according to the dictionary, the word means a "manure pile, dunghill, or Canyon. "Hey, this is really fun. It's cold when you start riding at 7:25 a.m. but the wind is nice because it's off to the side and it's blowing the dust away. I'm having fun," said first-time LA-Bto-V'er Scott Shaner, who was piloting an ATK 605. "I had a bit of trouble with the directions - there was a spot where it was left, right, left, right and that was a little tricky, but I love it so far. Of course, I'm only 60 miles into it." Multi-event riders like Mike Shannon took time to compare this year's course with those of years gone by. "I like to start on the other side of the mountains [in Canyon Country] because we get to ride all the mountain trails and it's a lot more interesting than just riding the desert," said Honda XR650L-mounted Shannon, who has ridden LA-B-to-V at least eight times. "That gives you a bit of a work out. I got more worn out walking to the truck to get a beer at the finish than I did all day riding." Of course, if it's a work out you're looking for, you could always try tackling the trail like actor Perry King does - on a dual-sport sidecar rig. "It's a Yamaha 650 with a leading link front end and a Ural sidecar that refuse heap." BLM restrictions meant it also had to be tackled at no more than 10 miles per hour. The course then headed north to Ridgecrest, where the adventure continued with hot dogs at one of the town's gas stations or a multitude of fast-food options. Then it was south to the popular off-road racing area of Red Mountain, across Cuddeback Dry Lake, and southeast toward Barstow, most of the way restricted to a 30mph speed limit to protect hibernating tortoises. "The tortoise area is kind of a drag, but we've got to do what we've got to do," said Mike Shannon. "Some people didn't pay attention to the speed limit, though. There were some speeders there and that's kind of annoying when you're trying to play by the rules." But for dirt-riding neophytes like motorcycle officer Adam Gwartz, a 30-mph speed limit was just about right. "This is my second-ever day on a dirt bike," said Gwartz, "and I fell three times in the same place. It was after the lunch stop, right after we ATK'. Frank WhIte gets prepared for the ride from Barstow to LB. Yeo.· cue. lEO n lEO _ os • DECEMBER 12, 2001 25