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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128348
with th e mud had no momentum to
make the climb .
When the lead group hit the
mud hole , Deutscher and McLevy
took a wide line , allowing
Blackwell a clear shot to the fro nt.
Woodford tucked in behind
Blackwell and blasted up the hill
past McLevy and int o second .
McLevy retaliated by repassing
Woodford later on a fast portion of trail. Howe ve r, the
trail soon ducked into a very
tight section of new trail ,
whe re McLevy and Woodford missed
a marker an d lo st ground to
Blackwell.
" I was just follow ing Josh, and
the next thing I know, I see him slowing
down and looking around , a nd I
thought, 'Oh no!'" Woodford said. "I
knew we d o ne got lost , so we had to
turn around and backtrack a bit, whi ch
pu t us a litt le behind."
By lap two, the ba t tle be tween
Woodfo rd a nd McLevy had carried t he
duo to wi th in st riking d ist an ce of
Blackwe ll, goi ng from nearly 30 seconds
down fro m the leader to just a 10-sec o nd
deficit.
O nce in the tight sections aga in,
Woodford fo und his way around McLevy
for second .
" I hate to say it, but I am really not that
good in the technical stuff," McLevy
admitted. "It was pretty tight out the re ,
and I am more of a wide-open desert
guy."
O n lap three, both Woodford and
McLevy encountered pro ble ms at the
muddy wooden pallets, and while
Woodford on ly bobbled , McLevy slid
completely off the artificial bridge, losing
touch w ith his Kawaski teammate completely.
Woodford had problems again
on lap four, colliding with a lapper,
wh ich allowed Blackw e ll to gain
some breathing room.
" Fro m there, I just put it in survival mode," Woodford said . " I had
lost too much ground to be able to
make it up , so I just tried to main tain a steady pace and brought 'er
home in second."
At the finish of the 3 Ill-hour,
six-lap event, Blackwell came home
in first with a comfortable lead after
runn ing a problem-free race, fo llo wed by Woodfor d and McLevy.
Cole Calkins to o k fourth, nearly 10
minutes beh ind McLevy, with
Yamaha rider Justin W illiam son in
fifth .
"Today went about as good as
you cou ld ask for," Blackwell said. "I
got a good start and got o ut into the
lead . Those guys were kind of using
me as a guinea pig through all the
new stuff on the first lap. I bobbled
once and tried to let Chucky go by,
but he didn 't want to pass me. Then
I guess those guys kind of got lost
out there, which he lped a litt le bit
because I was able to pull enough of
a lead that they couldn't use me.
The trail was real hard to find initially, with all the leaves and pine needles, so it was kind of sketchy the
Carl and Kathy Donelson attended the event as
special guests of the Little Egypt Off-Road Me.
They were being honored for their many years of
dedication to the sport and for promoting and
organizing the famous Flat River Gran Prix for 15
years. Befor e the GNCC series came into being,
the Flat River GP was the largest off-road event
east of the Mississippi, regularlydraw ing 700 to
800 entries .
first lap.
"My FMF/Sport Cycles/Suzuki was
unbelievable today," added Blackwell,
who is in his 14th year of GNCC and
National Hare Scrambles competition . "I
am really starting to get things dialed in it' s a shame it' s the last part of the year."
Sixth-place and top-Sen ior A rider was
Suzuk i-mounted Scott Martin , while top
U.S. trials rider David Chaves of Spain finished eighth overall in o nly his second offroad event riding the new Sherco fourstroke Enduro model.
eN
www.cyclenews.com
lmu EGYPT OFF-RoAD PARK
CRAB ORCHARD , IWNOIS
R80as:~ONR 17,2004
(ROUND 100F 101
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Olk I. Doug BlockweII (Suz): 2. o.ucx Woodfonl (Kow)
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3. joY> t1cI.evy (Kaw): ~ . Cole CalI