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/128230
(Left) Chr i s Florin was in the hunt and ended up third. (Right) James Es pe y negotiates one of the bridges that kept the riders o ut of the streams. (Below) Up-andcomer Eric T idm o r e , of New Mexico, finish ed a solid f ourth. this event is experi en c e - U te Cu p experience, to be sp ecific , " E x p er ien c e is a definite plus at t his e vent , " sa y s Wic hita 's Allen Guyot , who has 24 Ute Cup event s to h i s c redit an d h o l ds th e rec o rd f o r m ost co nse cutive finishes , "Becau se of it s uniqu e forma t , lo ng tra il and high altit ude, very few fi rst- timers do well at th e Ute, Bik es perform d ifferently at th ese ex treme elevations , and to be able t o ri de an ane m ic b ik e over 80 m iles of tr ail in thin air and still be ab le to att empt 80 clea ns is defin it ely a learned art form ," The 1999 U t e Cup w inn er Ry on Be ll used his Ute Cup ex pe rience to f in ish t wo po in t s behind A aron f or sec ond overall at th is yea r's eve nt, whil e 200 1 w inn er Ch ri s F lo rin was th ird, another four points back , " I thin k I was a li ttle bi t ner vo u s yesterday, bec au se I had a point on a very easy sec tion: Bell said , "It was a little m ore technical yesterday th an tod ay , and we were going a little bit quick er , too , Today , I enjoyed it more and had fun , All in all , it was a good weekend , th ough ," Sec t ions ran g ed from t ight t u rn s over fallen log s to uphill and downhill runs over ro ck step s and tight bends through th e pines. "I just c aught m y spark arr estor on a tr ee and lost m y balance ," said Bell in refe ren c e t o th e unluck y p oint taken in Sunday's bonus section. "For sure , it takes some lu ck t o win here. You can 't do anyth ing stupid , and yo u have to tr y to balance o ut enjoyi ng you rself but stayi ng foc used at th e same time . Fo r th e top three or fo ur rid ers , if you put yo ur foot down once, it drops yo u one to two positions. Bu t, th at's th e nam e of the gam e - that's why we come and ri de it. " bl ed to c onfo rm to th e Forestry Ser v ice 's wishes , whi ch included ty ing back li mbs (as opposed to trimming them) and placing log bridges ac ross the creeks t o ho ld d o wn th e s i lt de posited in the water. The event was put on h old in 2002 bec ause of the fires tha t were rag ing th ro u gh Co l o ra do at the time, which m ar k ed the first yea r sin ce the event's incept ion in 19 7 0 th at t he eve nt wa sn 't hel d , The Ute Cup has suc h a lon g, storied past th at it woul d have been a sha me t o hav e she l ve d th e eve nt f or two eN years in a row . Th e M ont e sa -m ount ed Flo r i n ended day o ne t ied w ith Bell for th e second place position , each with one poi n t lost, but d ro ppe d a 5 i n the bon u s section on Sun da y to finish third overall . Florin's aggressive style serves him better in the very radica l secti ons used on the NATC c irc u it , rath er than the m ore m od erate one s used in the Ut e Cup. Up - and- c om er E ri c T id m or e o f Ne w Mexic o finished fo urth, j ust o ne point behind Fl orin , while Col orado 's Chad Whit e rounded o ut th e top five another two points down . " A s a to p rid er , it's very hard t o win he re ," fi ve -time w inner M ar k Manniko said , "T he Ute Cup is unique bec aus e it is th e on ly eve nt where the av e rage rider com p et es against the top rider. The sections are relatively easy, so it' s fun for the average rider to be ab le to compa re t hems el ves wi th the t op rid er s. So, fo r the to p rid ers, it's pu rely menta l. Th ere are 20 guys here who can win th e eve nt, but it' s ve ry ea sy t o make a sm all m istak e, w hic h will dr o p you back five or San Isa bel National Forest San Isa bel, Colorado August 16-17, 2003 10 places, So , it' s a very difficult ev ent to wi n, but it' s fun and prest i - UTE CUP: I. Geo ff A aro n ( . ) 0) ; 2 . Ryan Bell ( ·8) ; 3. Chris FLor in ( -4 ); 4 . Er ic Tid m ore ( -3 ); 5 . Ch ad Wh ite ( - I) ; 6 . Jake W iel and (0 ); 7 . Keith W ineland g ious. The Ute Cup is proba bly th e (0) ; B. l ach Clement ( 1); 9. Brad Vil land (5); 10. N ick Mantzo ro s (6 ) ; 11. Derek Ma rtinson (6) ; 12 . most p restigi ou s non-national eve nt Maria Co nway ( 14 ); 13. Dale Higgin botham (14) ; 14 . U nda Meyer ( 18 ) ; 15 . Steve Dol an (22) ; t 6 . Stevi e other than EI Trial." Th i s y ear' s even t a lmost didn 't Darrow ( 25 ); 17 . Sc ott Carpe nter ( 26 ); 18 . M ik e Sha y (2 6 ) ; 19 . Jame s Zuro sk e (2 8); 20 . Ker r y Will iam s (30): 21 . Tom as Thomp son (32) ; 22 . Garry H o o v er ( 33 ) ; 23 . B ill Burgener ( 3 7) ; 2 4 . M a r c take place, as the U.S. Forestry Ser- Carpenter (37); 25. James Espey (3 7); 26. Dale vice had decl ared the area a po ssible M al asek (38) ; 27 . Christy William s (39); 28 . T on y Herald (4 0 ) ; 29 . Ken Melody (4 1); 30 . Ste ve Morgan (43); 31. Mike Cr a ig ( 4 5 ); 32. M arv in Edg ingt on (46) : 33. Br ian Koerwitz (4 6) ; 34 . Br ian Brow er (4 7) 35 . Ron Sho em aker ( 5 1); 36 . Tracy Zentz (51) : 37, N ic ol e Bradfo rd ( 55 ); 38 , Allen Guyo t (5 6): 39 . Ken lynx hab itat an d didn 't appro ve the area for the co m pe t iti o n perm it until the m orn in g of the ev ent. Th e Roc k y Mount ain T ri a ls Asso ci at ion scra m- White (62); 40. Alan Duke (64). B R I EFLY: Geoff Aaron wa s not in C olorado just to try to ge t his name on the Ute Cu p . - We' re o ut here for the C opper Mountain Cycle Fest nex t we ekend , " said Aaro n " We're go ing to be doing an exhibition, whi ch gav e us an excu se to co me and ride the U te C up. " A w eek after the event. RMTA club members wi ll retu rn to the trail used for this yea r' s event to rake all of the sections free of any trace s o f motorcycl e activity and replace the limbs and debri s that we re cleaned from the area. Forestry rangers we re at the event shoo ting video of stream crossings and sections and w ill no doubt compare it wit h their post~event inspe c t ion . " In two wee ks you won't even know we were here," said RMTA member Stan Hensley, who was one of the course marshals of this year's event. Ah er the event. the rang ers see med ha p p y with the club' s effort and vo lunte ered the venue fo r anoth er Ute Cup in five years . cue' e n e vv s • S EPTEM BER 3 , 2003 39