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/128643
LA-to-Barstow-to-Las Vegas D u a l Sport R id e ., ., . • a nyth ing fo r th e d ust at times, bu t th at' s nob od y's fa ult." Th e e pic two -da y , 500 -m ile crosscou n t ry eve n t th a t began as an adj unct to the long since gone B-to-V Ha re and Hound is now in its 17th year, and that make s it the oldes t consecutively running off-road event in the United States. "T h e only off -road events that have been running longer are in Baja," said Da ve Tonkiss , president of AMA District 37 Du a l Sport and chairman of the LA-to -B-to-V ride. "We 're very proud of our history ." The dual sporters turned out ea rly for the start of day one 's ride and began leaving JMG Motorsports (fo rmerly Dick Allen 's) in Newhall shortly after daybreak . Day one's 212-mile trail, with an extra 16 miles of hardway options for experienced riders , began with a run along the curvy pavement of Place rita Canyon and Sand Canyon . Temperatures in the low 50s kept s peeds down, but the morn ing a ir and the p a c e s ta rted to he a t up as the riders hit the first dirt section a t the Texas Ca nyon/Rowher Fla t Off-Road Vehicle area . With the first of the dirt came the first o f the day's two hard -way options. BY ANNE VAN BEVEREN PHOTOS BY TOM VAN BEVEREN LAS VEGAS, NV, NOV. 25-26 r:"'\ual-sport riders ate a little d ust L!J with their Thanksgiving turkey when they hit the trail for this year's LA -t o -B-t o -V. Bright sunshine and un usually dry trails greeted the 300pl us riders who turned out for the classic Thanksgiving weekend run that is part of the AMA 's National Trail Tour , but it would take more than dust to cloud the enthusiasm of the du a l sporters as they crisscrossed the desert from the outskirts of Los Angeles to an overnight stop in the high -desert town of Barstow and then continued on to the glamour and glitter of the Las Vegas strip. "Th is is the first time I've done this ride . It's the first time I've ever been to the United States, actually," said A ustralian spee dway racer Steve Johns ton, who was ridi ng h a ndl e ba r to ha ndleba r with 1996 Wo rld S peedway Cha mpion Billy Ha m ill. "This is gre a t fun an d I' d d o it agai n in a min ut e . I'm ou t th ere j ust cruisi ng alo ng, looking at the countryside, s inging to myself. The o rganization 's great, the rid e rs are laughing and having a great time . The only bad th ing wa s the dust; you couldn't see 10 D EC EM BER 1 3, 2 0 0 0 ' cue r I e n e vu s "I've done a lot of dual sport rides before, but never this one. It wasn 't the hardest one I've done. but it was the longest," said Tom Ha we s . "The hardest part of the first day's ride was the uph ill on the first hard split. It wasn't the hill so much as the people that we re sto pped o n it at s trateg ic points . Th er e was o ne guy in th e m idd le of th e hill for at lea st half an hour. It wa s nice to hav e peo ple cheer you on as yo u pa ssed by , but the y re a IIy wer e in th e wa y ." Ride rs wh o t oo k t h e easy wa y option started th e ir se ction with a no cha llenge ru n u p a J e e p ro ad , but t h e re was plenty of c ha llenges t o co me as the t ra il p lumm e ted dow n the far side of the ridge on a narrow single-track trail with deep ruts and the occasional section of loose rocks. "I'm having a g reat time . This is such fun ; especially on a bike like th is , " said Tim Tresch , who was aboard a brand new KTM 520EXC. "It' s a 200 1 a nd I had to go all the wa y to Omaha, Nebraska, to get my hands on it. I wa ited over a year but we couldn 't find one out here, then this one came through in Omaha . I'm having a great ride , but it 's a bit dusty . I wish it was wet." The trail came out of the hills a t Lake Hughes, where the riders cou ld gas up before ' th e y hea ded ou t into t he seco nd sectio n of the m orn ing 's ride . A la st -m inute c ha nge in th e roll chart too k the dual s po rte rs ba ck into (Above) Riders make the transition f ro m the shadows to th e sunshine in t his year's ru nning of the LA-to -Barstowto-Las Ve gas Dual Sport Rid e. (Right) More than 300 rid ers partici pat ed in th is year's ri de. the dirt with a hard left at a church at the end of the town . Reading the second instruction on the roll chart correctly meant a left turn and a run through some rolling foothills , but a moment's confus ion took many of the riders past the turn and headed them straight up a silty hill so steep it had experienced riders on torquey four-strokes looping like hillclimbers doi ng batt le with the widowmaker. Then it was back out to the desert floor on t he outskirts of Palmdale, where the riders criss-crosse d t h e Cal iforn ia aque d uc t a n d e njoyed a ra pi d run thr o u gh t h e n e a rl y fla t desert. "I don't normally go thi s fast in the dirt ," s a id C h arl ie Coon s, wh o had trav e led a ll the wa y from Pine Isla nd , Minne sot a , for the event. "I do proba bly nine -tenths of m y riding o n street bikes a nd I just don 't ha ve th e ex perie nce or re fle xe s to cope with goi ng fast ou t here. In the mountai ns on th e sing le track I was in low gea r an d on the brakes. Out here , I'm doi ng 20 to 25 miles per hour, then, if it smoo thes out, 50 or 60 is fun. I'm having a great time , but I'm not a deep-sand fan ." An undulating ride th rough the desert gave way to pavement as the riders crossed Highway 395, north of Mojave , and headed into the lunch stop at California City . Despite the single-track trails that had kept speeds low for much of the opening section , there was still time to wander around and check out other people's bikes ove r lunch, a nd so me inte re s t in g moun ts co ul d be found . "It's a 1969 BSA Victo r - a 44 1 a n d it ' s ru n n in g fine . I've ha d no