Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Los Angeles-to-Barstow-to-Las Vegas Dual Sport Ride turned off of Highway 395. It said hard left, and I kept taking a 90degree left and I kept ending up in the same sand wash-with three-foot deep green sand. I fell off in it three times." Fast riders completed the first day's course in less than seven hours; others, like dual-sport newcomers Gerald Vince and Austin Vince, brothers who hail from London, England, were still on the course two hours after the sun set. "This is the first off-roading I've done in America and it's brilliant," said 44-year-old Gerald, the older brother. "We had one or two problems reading the doo-dah [route chart], whatever you call these things, but no mechanical problems. Everything went perfectly." Everything once the ride got started, that is. "I did have a problem before the ride. My motorcycle was stolen the day after I got it out of customs. It was a Suzuki DR350," said the older Vince, who was able to ride thanks to AMA District 37 dual-sport coordinator Dave Tonkiss' loan of an ATK 605. "Brilliant bike - it's great," said Vince. "It's turned me into the next Danny LaPorte, instead of being some sort of foot-down off-roader. I wouldn't have missed this for the world." Younger brother Austin Vince was also having the time of his life. "We've done a lot of what we call trail riding back in England but of course we don't have deserts or sand, so my only experience up until now has been in Tuerkemanestan, Uzbekistan, Kazikistan and Spain," said Vince. "Your readers may balk at the idea but this is the furthest off-road I've ever ridden in one day. The scale of this event has no equal in Great Britain. It was great fun - fabulous. I just hate the soft sand. I'm totally Of course, I'm an idiot. We all run our tires at street pressures because we haven't got the wherewithall to have tire clamps." The end of the first day's ride saw lots of smiles, albeit some of them very tired smiles, and an almost complete lack of whining. "There were some people who were getting lost and all turned around because they weren't reading their roll charts right, but I've done this probably five times and I thought everything was marked really well. I'm not a sniveler, though. I just enjoy riding," said Kenny Meter. "I have to praise everyone who puts on this event. They work so hard. People think they just come out and ride and layout the trail, but it's all the political stuff they have to do with the BLM and everything. We need to thank them." The evening in Barstow gave the riders a chance to recap the day's events and catch up with old friends. "I've ridden this stuff a million times, so it doesn't really ring my bell. What's fun is coming out here and seeing everyone. It's a social thing more than anything for me," said Larry Langley. unused to it and it really annoys me. International Award: Gerald Vince, Austin Vince, Charlie Benner and Matt Hill, who came from England via Russia on their Suzuki DR350s. Smallest Displacement: Yamaha 1W200 ridden by 15-1/2 year old Shay Thomson of Barstow. Most Unusual Motorcycle: 1958 AJS twin ridden by Ed Crowell. Ed's age and the age of his bike also qualified him for both the oldest rider and oidest motorcycle awards. but he was restricted to just one win. Oldest Motorcycle: 1964 Triumph Cub ridden by Ben Fakkeldy. Oldest Participant: Paul Skidmore (71). Longest Distance Traveled to the Event within the 0.5.: Russ Holley and Denney Lewis, who came all the way from Ohio. Hard Luck Award: Doug Britton, who crashed near the end of last year's ride, rode in to the finish and later had his spleen removed. He was not yet ready to ride again this year but provided support for his brother. He plans to ride the event next year. "All Hacked Op" Sidecar Award: Perry King and Suzy Frenchman. They broke down again this year but only once. King has still not made it to the finish of the event in three tries. Special Service Award: Dieter and Wanda Hemsig. A rock broke the hydraulic clutch release mechanism on their sweep truck in a tough sand wash. They continued another 100 miles to Las Vegas carrying a broken bike without using the clutch. Special Service Award: James Brown, for another year of riding Tail End Charlie-final sweep in the rain, after dark. 26 DECEMBER 12, 2001 • cue I e n e _ s Mike and Kevin Bravennan were one of a few pairs that braved the LA-B-to-V ride on a sidecar. Ditto for Jack Shannon, who, along with brother Mike Shannon, use:, LA-B-to-V to touch bases with old-time friend Don Dixon. "We hook up with a friend we used to race motocross with back in the '70s at Indian Dunes. We only see each other once a year at this event," said Shannon. "It's fun for us old guys to get out here and fool around in the dust once a year." The end of the day also gave riders the chance to do a little maintenancewith help from crews sent by ATK, Honda and Fineline Suspension. "The Honda Rider's Club is doing this to help the riders, plus gain awareness for the club and help protect the environment," said Chris Real, who was providing rider help under the Honda banner. "I set up a parts washer so guys don't clean their air filters with gas and leave a big mess. Did you know that every gallon of oil or gas that gets into the water system can contaminate a million gallons of drinking water? And we helped out in other ways, too. Honda sent a bunch of parts. They said if it's a Honda Rider's Club member, give the part away free; for everyone else, we'd like a donation of about half of what the retail value is and we'll donate that to Ride For Kids. We don't care if it's an ATK, a Suzuki, a KTM; everybody's welcome. I actually changed about 20 flat tires and, for each, I requested a donation of $6. That's nothing. The guys were absolutely ecstatic about it." Day two's ride was more scenic than day one's and included terrain that hasn't been available for dualsport riding for a number of years. The riders were up early, conscious of the long ride ahead, and most of them hit the trail shortly after 6 a.m. Among the early starters were Terry Pratt, aboard a 1966 Triumph Trophy, and Eddie Crowell, whose newly restored 1958 AJS Twin was about to get its first taste of dirt. "We're only riding day two and we are going to unload up the trail a ways because the last part of the trail is the best and we want to make sure we get to do that part and still finish on time in Las Vegas, on time being any time before midnight," Pratt explained. "We ride these bikes hard, but we're slower than most people bec;ause of the ground clearance and the fact that we just have four inches of wheel travel. We just can't hit things; we have to slow down even for the small bumps, and we don't want to hour out and have to take the bailout past the best trail." The course headed east into the rising sun, skirting the Calico Gold Mine, then paralleled Interstate 15 to Baker. After a short run north on Highway 127 toward Death Valley, the trail split. An easy option took less experienced riders along a power line road, through the Mesquite Mountains Wilderness Area and If you wanted to arrive in Las Vegas before dark, it was best to leave Barstow in the dark.