77th International Six Days Enduro
When it comes to the Six Days,
winning isn't everything
II
(Above) Attending the ISDE gives one the
chance to check out places you probably
wouldn't nonnally visit, such as Prague,
located about an hour's drive from Jablonec
nad Nlsou.
(Left) The first tum In the final MX special
tests can get a little crazy. Here, a rider tails
right In front of American Jeff Fredette.
(Below) Ken Tomeo is about to start a very
slick "cross" test.
By
KIT PALMER
PHOTOS BY MIKE KLINGER
AND PALMER
've often been asked why we (the
U.S.) never win the Six Days. It's
actually a good question, but there's
really no one cure-all answer. In fact,
it's a pretty complex query, and I certainly don't have all of the answers,
but I do know that it all pretty much
boils down to the root of most problems - money. There just aren't
enough funds in the American ISDE
pot to send over our elite off-road
racers, and we certainly can't expect
guys like Ty Davis, Rodney Smith
and Mike Lafferty to pay for it out of
their own pockets. That would be like
asking Ricky Carmichael, Tim Ferry
and Mike LaRocco to ship their own
race bikes, work on their own bikes,
and fund everything out of their own
I
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OCTOBER 1 6,
2002'
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bank accounts to compete in the
Motocross des Nations. And the Six
Days is considerably more financially
demanding to partake than a one-day
race like the des Nations. So, until we
figure out a way to send six of our top
off-road riders (and the necessary
support people) to the Six Days without breaking their banks, we're just
not going to be competitive against
the likes of Mika Ahola, Anders Eriksson and Samuli Aro, who probably
get paid to race the Six Days.
Now you're probably thinking,
Then why do we bother going to the
Six Days at all? Some say it's tradition, some say it's fun, and some say
that they really don't know why but
they just keep coming back - like Jeff
Fredette, who just finished competing
in his 22nd ISDE in Jablonec nad
Nisou, Czech Republic. For some reason, I keep coming back, too. I've
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