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TRICKY SECTIONS
and how to clean 'em
Story an d p ho tos b y Ron Schneiders
PART I OF TWO PARTS.
J
Jack's Submarine
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Trials riders do thi ngs with motorcycles that seertl impossible to most people. We
thought it would be interesting to take sequence pictures of a top trials rider on
sections that he considers difficult in the hopes of shedding some light on the
"impossible" feats. The rider is Rich Bledsoe. winner of the 1971 Southern
California T rials Champ ionship. Rich is go ing to Spain, this year to represent the U.S.
in the Spanish round of International tria ls. An ind ication of h is talent is that he has
on ly been rid in g trials a bo ut 2'1.. ye ars!
(J)
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Section 1) Rich calls this sec tio n "J ac k 's Submarine Section" because a friend o f h is
dropped his b ike in to the water at th e left edge of Photo No.1. The bike sunk out o f
sight. The ma in problem of the sec tio n is avo iding a similar fate. The b ank of the
pool is very slick mud and off-camb er to boot. The entrance to the sect ion is st eep
and rock y and care must be taken t o go slow enough to make the turn a t the bottom .
nut the most difficult part is ma king th e tum to go back up the bank .
3,) Rich has now placed all his weight on the outb oard peg in his effort to make the front wheel
track in a full lock turn on the slippery surface.
1 J Here Rich sta rts his descent re lying o n engine comp ressio n and rear brake to kee p his speed
down . Note the defo rmation of the front tire on the sharp rock.
4 .} This is the "moment of truth". T o get up the ste ep bank Rich must apply powe r quickly ; b ut
he app lies any power at all while he is still in the t urn, his rear wheel will break traction and slide
off into the water.
5,) Successl T he wet tire finds precious little tract ion on t he steep rocky bank, but it's enough.
