Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

attem pts, he fell off. The effects of th is played out ove r the next two sections. "That obviously trigge red a st ring of a couple fives, and that was obviously my downfall ," Aaro n said . The long, t ime-cruncher section four was next , and Bell used a few smart dabs to help negotiate the tr icky step climb and huge right turn ste p descent . In turn, Aaron got hung up on t he final asce nt over a success ion of threefoot-h igh steps, finally got going again, narrowly averting a fall, but he the n timed out as he began the descent. No w five points down from Bell, Aaro n was pressu red to com e up with a str ing of cleans, hoping that Bell w ould suffer calamity in one of the remaining sect ions, but it was not to be , as in a surprising mov e, Aaro n inadvertently hopped sideways right off one of the sandstone rocks in section five. With th is pena lty, Bell was now in possession of a commanding lead. Despite Aaron's cleaning the rest of sectio ns and w inning two all-out races against Bell, the conclusion could not be reve rsed . "I was try ing to get back in the game - I know stuff can happen ," Aaro n said. " I tr ied my hardest, and I had fun riding out there , but ther e were a couple spots that got me w hen we rode the sectio ns backwards." "The eve nt was so fast paced , and there was such a time constraint, you really couldn't count points, but you had to have a game plan," Bell said afterward . "Everything is so quick, you can't think about it; you just have to go. In the final race I was going to play it safe, but when the nag dropped, I just went for it. Ian Banfield's minding helped me out treme ndously. He's really con siste nt and does an excep eN tional job. It's a lifesaver to have him the re." Cow "Parts Unlimited, Thor, Alplnestars & Pro Circuit Present" 10th Annual Lake Whitney Spring Classic PARTS IT O· UNLI PALACE SAN FRANCISCO, C AUFORNIA R ESUL TS: DECE MBER 6, 2003 (ROU ND 1) FINAL.: I. Ryon Bell (GG) 8 ; 2. Geo ff Aaron (GG) 15 : 3. Chris Florin (Mon ) 22; 4. David Chaves (She ) 21. Briefly··· All of the ride rs we re very appreciative of Ted Gansber ger and the Pacific Int ernat ion al Tria ls Society's work in putting o n the event. "The event's organizat ion was grea t," Ryan Bell said after the eve nt. "Th ey d id an exce llent jo b." And several riders ho ped to see more indoo r eve nts : "The indoor even ts will raise the who le level of the sport in the U.S. and raise the caliber of the riders," Wilson C raig said. Indoor trials is looked upon by t he trials co mmunity as a vehicle for the sport of trials to grow in the United Stat es. : , A AH $ . YM A ' • • 51a~liil· SUZ UK l H O NDA: Ka'Wa saki "~" 4i ? It)6.iio;i,:t ~ ~ « MW. --- OlYMPUS . ....._ .. _j "t[i. ~~ ~LEA ~ ~ A (i t....t.!.2!!l I I ITIlRAGE The second and final round of the 2003-2004 Gas Gas AMNNATC Indoor NationalTrials Championshipwill be held May 16,2004, at the O rang e Co unty Fa irg ro u nd s in O ntario, California. Sheree's Da vid Chave s was sporting a speciallymodified version of the now- pop ular motocross-type reversing clutch and front bra ke levers which spin freety outward witho ut res istance . Despite a couple of falls in practice and du ring the even t, the levers escaped da mage . A tr ibute to th e quality of trials machinery used by the co mpetitors was that mos t of the bikes we re nea rly stock. '~II I' ve done to my bike isto put on RenthaJ handlebars: ' Ryon Bell said. The Betas were stock, save for Peter 's we ight-saving aluminum fast ene rs. Flo rin's Mo ntesa was largely stock , too. Geoff Aaro n has spent much of the past month dealing with the aftereffects of the fires nea r his home in Southern California, wh ich caused $50,000 in damage, requiring the re placement of allof his ho me's windows and externa l sid ing. It also destroyed his trials demo nstration rig, but Red Bull has step ped up to the plate to help build a new o ne fo r Aaron . www.cy clenews .com CYCLE NEWS • JANUARY 14, 2004 71

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