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/128341
Farewell, B-to-V ometimes, legends - w hether rac- S ers, races or racing venues - meet sad , untimely ends. Prosperous fut ure s that lay ahead are often cut down in a single, swift instant, when nobody sees it com ing. That was hardly the ca se at t he 17t h an d fina l Barstow -to -Vegas Hare & Hou nd, held in Southe rn Califo rnia 's Mojave De ser t o n November 25, 1989. Fro m its ince ption in 1964, B-to N instantl y became the biggest desert race in the world, typically drawing over 1000 entries, making it a Thanksgiving Weekend classic. Regardless, environmental pressures cause d a prem atu re e nd to B-to-V after the 1974 run ning of the event, and the race wo uld remain shut down fo r nine years before race pro po nents successfu lly battled their way through legal wrangl ings and bureaucratic red tape to resurrect it in 1983. Despite its immediate return to popularity, the race's continued survival was a constant uphill battle wit h each passing year, as the BLM practiced a bend-butdon 't-break policy under the we ight of "pro-environmental" factio ns, such as the Sierra Club and Earth First!, who trie d everythi ng to stop t he race - including out- 118 right sabotage. T he 1988 eve nt was de layed at t he last minute when it was discovered that someo ne had placed a wall of railroa d t ies in one of the dark culverts used by racers to cross under 1-15; if the barrica de had not been found, the resu lts co uld have been deadly. Desp ite t he threat of similar terrorism (a "dummy" co urse was found near the start, containing tire- flatte ning spikes, and thr ee suspicio us peo ple were found o n the co urse the night before the race), t he show would go o n again in 1989, though the B-to -V officials were clearly weary of the orga nizational hassles at tha t point. "Basically it's beca use of the tortoise issue," B-to -V co-chairman Rick Hammel told Cycle News at the '89 eve nt. "We paid better than $ 10,000 just in consulting fees, mainly regarding the to rtoise, and the stipulatio ns t he BLM and Fish and Wildlife we re handing down got to be a real bear." But go o n it did, and just like t he rest, B-to N was t he biggest dese rt race in the world. The I200 en tries allowed by the BLM were snapped up immediately, and the starting lineup rea d like a dese rt -racing hall of fame, including such aces as two time winner Dan Smith, former winners SEPTEMBER 15,2004 • CYCLE NEWS C hris Crandall and Bru ce Ogilvie, and dez ve terans Larry Roes ele r, Scot Harden , Chuck Miller, Ted Hunnicut , Paul Krause and Grant Palenske , just to name a few. Kawasaki-mo unted Derric k Paieme nt was the leade r at t he bomb run after t he bann er was dro pped at 7 a.m., with Smith, Ogilvie and C randall all in hot pursuit. Crandall was best able to negotiate the ex treme dust in the early going, and he passe d t he three riders in front of him to snatc h the lead just 10 miles into the 148mile race. O nce Smith found his rhythm, t hough, he was able to eat into Crandall's lead, and it wasn't long befo re the KTM 540-mou nted Smith was ru nning shoulder to shoulder w ith the ATK 560-mou nted Crandall, who wo uld hold the lead for abo ut 20 miles befo re Smith to ok over. Cra ndall stayed w ith him, on ly to crash afte r blast ing a roc k in one of the sand washes. Smith held the lead throug h the first pit and had his marg in over Crandall up to a minute and a half by the second pit, with Yamaha yz I25-mo unted Eric Hallgath running a surprising t hird overall by the second pit. Paiement wa s fourt h, with Roeseler overcoming a disastro usly slow start to move up to fifth. Smith maintai ned his minute-and-30 lead into the t hird pit, but there were tense mome nts afte r he left, his bike trailing oil on the grou nd be hind it. "I put a hole in the case just before the last gas, and I knew I was losing oil, but I thought, 'What the heck - it's a KTM ,''' Smit h later joked. "KTMs are tough bikes you do n't need any oil. So I just kept gOing." Indeed he did , all the way to the finish, Smith crossi ng the line to claim his t hird B-to-V victo ry wit h an average speed of bette r than 50 mph. "I had a great ride all the way," Smith said at the finish. "Unfortu nately, there's so much [desert] tortoise [prot ection] st uff going on tha t t hey can't get all t he goo d trails. But it's still fun, and it's still B-toN It's the biggest Distr ict 37 race of t he year, and t hat makes it impo rtant no matt er w hat t he course is like." Th e 1989 B-to N course would be the last. The race was scrapped in 1990 when the BLM refused to issue pe rmits for it. Despite protests and pro test rides, the race itself vanished into histo ry like d ust in the Mojave w ind. Eventu ally, even the protest rides w ere halted by the BLM . Rumblings that B-toN w ill retu rn co ntinue to ripple like aftersh ocks in the desert, and perhaps one day it co uld happe n again. We can only hope that Roeseler w as be ing more prophet than fool when , afte r finishing fifth at the '89 eve nt, he said: "I still haven't won this race . I just can't seem to do it. But I'll win it one of t hese Scott Rousseau days." 40t h Anniver s ary 3D YEARS ACiD.•• September 17. 1974 O n t he cover was an illustration done by Darylle Purcell... Evel Knievel's highly ant icipated Snake River Canyon jump ended w ith him com ing up way too short. Knievel's parac hute malfunction ed and opened right as he w as taking off... Peirre Karsmaker, Marty Tripes and Marty Smith were the t hree big w inne rs at the motoc ross race that was held in conjunction with Knievel's canyon jump. Th is race was billed as " T he World's Richest Motocross" and offered $ 100,000 in cash to the Pro Classes and $35,000 in cont ingency to the amate urs...Bob Hopkins won the UTE Cup trials competi· tion w ith a scor e of 25 points - just one point better than Bernie Schreibe r, wh o came in second. This year the winner of the event was Nat ional Champ io n Geo ff Aaro n. i!D YEA RS ACiD••• September 19. 1984 Motocross Champion David Bailey showed up o n t he cover of this issue. Inside, we talked to him about his successful 1984 seaso n, in which he won the 500cc National Motocross Champio nship and the Grand National Champ ionship... Honda rider Bubba Sho be rt wo n the 27th roun d of t he AMA Grand National Champio nship Series. He did so right at t he en d after he passed Hank Scott to take ove r the lead... Andre Ma lherbe clinched t he 500cc World Moto cross Cham pionship t itle at th e final rou nd of the series in Italy. Malhe rbe finished with a moto tally of 4-5, w hich was just goo d enough for him to be crowned champ ion. IU YEARS ACiD... September 14, 1994 Th is issue was all about testing. We took a spin on the new yz 125 and CR125. We also did a test on a project KX250. We built the bike for off-road riding and loved it... The ISDEw as co ming to America, and we did a featu re on the riders who were going to compete in this historic event. Some of the big names fo r the U.S. we re Ty Davis a nd Rodney Smith. As fo r their co mpetition, they would have to compete against some of the best in the w orld. One sta ndo ut was British ride r Paul Edmondson... Defending World Superb ike Champion Scott Russell was the man to beat at t he seventh round in Japan. Russe ll won both races over the weekend .