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AMA Youth/Amateur Hillclimb Nationals Country's top climbers crowned at Nationals STORY AND PHOTOS BY CHRIS MURRAY t was like day and night - or. more like rain and sunshine . The two days that made up the 2004 AMA Youth/Ama te ur Hillclimb Nationals coul dn't have bee n any more diff erent . Saturday. August 21 , where riders got their first of two shots at the Canaan , New Hampshire, hill, was a mud fest . Early morning spr inkles turned into an all-day rain that left the hill a mucky disaster. Riders in the first few classes tackled a wet hill. After that , the going got tough with wet, concrete-like mud making up the mountain 's surface . Then, Sunday morning, as the night sky disappeared, so did the rain. Ridge Runners Promot ions couldn't have dreamed of a better day as temper atures hovered com fortably in the 70s and a beaming sun dried the hill and drew in the spectators. Many riders wrote off their Saturday runs, almost immediately, with expectations of a goo d, clean hill on Sunday. I Ironically, the w inners in the 80cc Senior, 12Scc and 200cc classes took their best times on the slo ppy Saturday hill. Jacob Pre be. w ho made the I300mile trek fro m Frontenac, Minnesota , took top honors in the 80cc Senior class. The IS-year-old won by a commanding half-second over Charles Conn and defending champion Jay Sallstrom . Less than 12 hours before his run, Prebe was in a local emergency room having a gash in his skull stapled shut . A bicycle accident Friday even ing almost jeo pardized his title shot. "Jay is a pretty good rider and he usuallycomes back ," Sailstr om said of his regular Minnesota rival. "At all the races this year, I can catch him on the first run and on the second run, he comes right back. I wasn' t quite fo r sure... a little nervou s." The title marks Prebe's second National Champio nship. In 1998, he took top honors on a SOcc. This year. he added 34 SEPTEMBER 29, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS an eighth-place showing in the 12Scc class. Sallstrom , who admitted to having a rough weekend on the hill, carded a de cent finish in the 125cc class w ith a fourth but redeemed himself fully with a win in the 200cc class. Aboard his KTM , he cres ted the hill at 8.28 1 seconds on Saturday morning, in front of Danny Mears and Mitchell Davis. SaJlstrom ran into the same trouble that ate others alive on the 250-foot hill. The climb cons ists of two breakers. Many riders were bottoming the ir suspension and losing either control or power, or oftentimes, both, after carrying too much steam over the first breaker. Sallstrom was able to navigate the tricky section well enough, but not as well as he had expe cted . "I came up on tha t with too much speed, and the shocks just compress," Sallstrom said. "You don't have any more momentum ." The 200 gave him a smoother ride, Oth Annrve sary though . "You've got bigger tires to get through the mud a lot quicke r;" Sallstrom said of the 200s. "It's just a lot eas ier transition. It's a lot easier to ride, too, beca use you don't have to sit way up on the seat . You just kind of move around on it." Sallstrom, like Prebe , made quite the trip to New Hampshire from Mankato, Minnesota. "It's worth it, no matter what, to compete against all the guys who are obviously great, or they wouldn't travel this far," Sallstrom said. "This is what it's here for: to try and get a National title." Now 16, Sailstrom plans to park the 80cc and move on to a SOOcc mount for nex t year 's National. W hile the tiddlers made their mark on Sat urday, the bigger bikes waited until Sunday to post the fast times. But, before that cou ld happen, the Ridge Runners Prom otions crew had to clean up a disas-