Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Round 1 OFF-ROAD ~ My Own Race 1 Russell Pearson 4th The defending series champ had a disappointing day that began with a gloomy start. "I practiced my starts· practiced, practiced, practiced," he said. "Every time, it's good. I don't know what happened. For the race, it [the bike] just did not start. I finallygot it started after I don't know how many kicks and just found my way out of the dust. Actually, it wasn't the end of the world. I was 10th or 15th when it [the course] finallyfunneled down way out there, and I just worked my way up, picking by people. I caught up to Ty; he was working by people. Coming into this last valley at the end of the first loop, I was right on Ty. I pulled off just to get out of his dust and hit a sage brush, and it [branches from a bush] just shot me, right into my boot. Two pieces went into my boot. I couldn't put any pressure down on the footpeg: one was just stabbing me, the other one was on a nerve or something. It [the stick] went all the way through my boot. I came into the pits, and it was like, 'I don't want to go on the second loop with just one foot,' I finallyhad to take the boot off. They were jumping on the boot trying to break [the stick]. We were trying to ask people if they had boots. It was just one of those days· not my day," 1(0-37) Steve Hengeveld 8th After getting a third -place start, Steve Hengeveld anticipated a podium finish, but it wasn't to be . "I was right there," said Hengeveld, who rode a big Honda XR650 thumper. "We got in the tighter stuff, and every time I'd hit something, the front end would deflect. We'd get into the rocks where the 650 usually has the advantage just blowing through 'e m. All of a sudden, I'd hit one, and the front end goes left, and I'd almost eat it. I did everything I could not to crash . I fell back to eighth on the first loop and just stayed there on the second loop . I was pretty bummed. I had something new on my bike that I'd never raced with out there, and I think that was the problem. It made the bike too rigid. I wasn't even thinking it'd be a problem." P150 ra inwise - it was good . It was definitely ch allenging. With the bad w inds we had last night, it probably knocke d down a lot of course markings.to After getting passed by Abbott, Davis didn't give up . "He [Abbott] was go ing the same speed I was, " Dav is said . "It was one of those deals where I'd catch him, then I'd lose him . I'd catch him ; I'd lose him . I'd catch him ; I'd lose him . It was like th at all th e way to the end," SO FEBRUARY 11 , 2004 • Abbott later said, "I d idn't rea lize unti l I w as in th e lead how hard it was to lead. From there , I just rode a good race. Ty was bac k there, so I just made sure I stayed smart and d idn't put it on the ground . I was pretty nervous. Losing the trail a couple times, you get all e xcited, and hopefully you don't get lost . It was almost easier following most of the race." Abbott held off Davis for the w in, his first N ational H&H win since ro und one of 2002. "It' s nice to finally ge t a w in aga in," Abbott sa id. "It was a long dry spell ." eN JOHNSON VAUlT OHV AREA LUCERNE VAllEY, CAUFORNIA RESULTS: JANUARY 25, 2004 (ROUND 1 OF 8) O/A : I. Destry Abbott (Kaw); 2. Ty Davis (Yam J. ); Brian Brown (Kaw); 4. Russell Pearson (Yam) S. David ; Pearson (Kaw); 6. Kurt Caselli (KTM); 7. Johnny Campbell (H an); 8. Steve Hengeveld (Han ); 9. Rob Phillips (KTM); 10. lu ke Dodson (Suz); II . Nathan Woods (Y am); 12. Elmer Symons(KTM); 13. Ryan Mcintyre (Yam 14. Nicholas Blais ); (Hon) ; IS. Qu inn Cody (Hon) ; 16. Christopher Blais (Hon) ; am); 19. Rob 17. Sean Brad ley (GG); 18. RDben Laughlin (Y Zimmerman (Y am); 20. Thomas M y (Hon) . CYCLE NEWS Kur t Caselli 6th "I had a really good start for once," sixth-place finisher Kurt Caselli said. "I usually never get good starts. I think I was third at the end of the bomb. I wasn't taking too many chances, and Tyand Russ got by me. I just kind of rode around and had fun for once. I didn't have a steering stabilizer; I figured I might as well go hold on for dear life and get in shape, so I ran no stabilizer. Coming across the valleys was kind of sketchy. If I was doing the series or trying to win, I would've put a stabilizer on and taken a few more chances and maybe done a little better." P130 Nathan Woods 11th Competing in his first desert race, MXer·turned·off·roader Nathan Woods said, "The bomb run is different. The hardest part for me was the bomb, because I got a good jump· first kick - and I was out in front. By the time we got to the bomb, I looked over and saw Ty just blowing by me. I'm just going, 'What am I doing wrong?' I'm just not twisting it all the way. I mean, those guys don't let off the whoie way." 12 Paul Kr a use 47th Not so fresh from finishing the Dakar Rally just a week before, Paul Krause had to readjust to the American desert. After spending three weeks and nearly 7000 miles wrestling his works KTM 950 V·twin through Europe and Africa, he felt odd to be back home. "Over there, bumps mean death!" he said. "I actually had a very uneventful race today. I never fell, I never got stuck, I never had any bike problems, and I finished 47th overall! My timing was out of whack, my speed was way off. 1felt like I was riding a 60·horsepower mountain bike. I was pinballing off stuff. It was great to be back riding, but it was really difficult to deal with one, the narrow trails and, two, how rough and bumpy it was . With the 9S0, the bike will take pretty good shots, but if you hit three or four bumps in a row, that's a big problem on a big, heavy bike. And in the desert on a 525, you can slam across a mile of whoops, and it's not that big a deal. I'd slow down for stuff [today] thinking, 'Oh my God! What's going to happen when I hit this?' And I'd kind of almost miss it. 'Wow, did I go over it already? Oh , that's right, I can hit bumps on this bike.' I'm hoping the transition is continuing at a much more rapid climb this next week when I go riding." 4 0 t h A nniversary

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