Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~OF~ROADwA~~~~~~_R_ili_~_fu~YE_~_u_ro_&_~_~R_O_OO_d5 _ ~ ~ '" ""JiII-"':z z -< '" ...... o z '" (J> Randy Hawkins made good use of his mud riding expertise to win the Bellingham 3-Day Qualifier in Washington. Hawkins reigns at Bellingham 3-Day By Mike Thuleen BElllNGHAM, WA,jUNI 12·14 he amazing wet-woods riding ability of Suzuki's Randy Hawkins really came to light in the rain-soaked darkness of the northern Washington woods, as he topped the extremely technical second day of the Moum Baker MOlOrcycIe Club's Bellingham ISDE Qualifier en route to the event's overall win, with a oneminute advantage over Team Kawasaki's Kurt Hough. After two months of no precipitation, the Washington skies finally opened up the evening before the evem, unleashing two days of unreleming rain upon the area. As a result, the trails became exceedingly slick with now-slimy tree roots sending riders on unplanned off-course excursions. The organizing club had originally planned between 110 and 1~0 miles of trail for the first two days, but an almost impassable section had 1O be cut, reducing the mileage significantly and eliminating the fourth special test on the first two days. Day three was only about half the distance of days one and two, with only two terrain tests before the final motocross in the afternoon. While Hough had experienced food poisoning at the Oklahoma round, Team Suzuki's Dave ~tram and Jan T Hrehor both fell victim to this pernio. cious ailmem at Washington. Bertram started the first day, but within an hour was back in the pits and calling it quits. Still not feeling well at the beginning of the next day, Bertram decided to spend the weekend taking it easy in an effort to recover his health. Hrehor however, soldiered on until the seeond day, when he sank his Suzuki DR~50 four-stroke into the huge rut that comprised the second special test and could not retrieve it. As the.riders ventured away from the start and out into the rain on day one, they immediately dropped down into the first special test. Times were fairly tight, with the top nine riders all within 15 seconds of each other as they emerged from the fast, sandy, whooped-out riverbed that dominated the terrain test. Rodney Smith piloted his 250cc Suzuki to the fastest time, followed by Jimmie Erikson aboard a big-bore Husaberg. Larry Roeseler, Randy Hawkins, Steve Hatch and Hough followed next, all within a three-second window. One second behind them, Kevin Hines established' himself in the lead of the ~5Occ FourStroke class with a nine-second cushion on David Rhodes. The second terrain test was much more difficult, and drew considerable commentary from the riders. Dubbed "Made in Sweden," this test was. described by Rhodes as "brutal, really gnarly with roots, lots of rocks, and slimy mud." Only three riders, Eriksson, Hough, and Hines could stay within ~O seconds of Hawkins on this tight, root-infested test. Sweden's Eriksson, whose homeland has similar terrain, could not contain his elation as he set the second fastest time, only three seconds behind Hawkins. "I loved it! It's one of the best tests I have ever ridden!" said the Swede. Other riders were not as enthusiastic. Skating across the slick tree roots and muddy rocks was causing some serious problems for many competilOrs, as several riders suffered injuries to their knees and feet. "I hurt my knee and it's been a little tough riding through the mud and ruts," explained Roeseler. Idaho riders Ron Wehr and Todd Peugh dropped out with similar injuries on the first day. Another problem was the bright sunshine and silty dust that had been prevalent right up until impound time the day before the event. "I thought it would be dry and dusty," said l25cc Intent class rider Jon King, "so 1 put on hard-terrain tires. This is my first time in roots and it's been kind of miserable." On the other hand, Washington's Scott Lathrop was beaming from ear to ear, stating, "I love it when it gets rugged and slimy!" Despite the conditions, nearly all of the field cleaned the first seven checks, with only a few riders dropping route points. However, things went awry from this point on. Mount Baker M.e.member and longtime ISDE rider John Nielsen became the popular topic of discussion by including one of his favorite sections of trail in the event. The section featured a spectacular halfmile long uphill that was filled with a combination of bike-deep ruts, muddy roots, rocks and trees. The hill quickly became filled with abandoned motorcycles as riders had to organize into teams to get their bikes up the hill. Only a few riders were able 1O climb it and not drop any route points, including King and Senior-class riqer Dwain Taylor. Losses of over 15 and 20 minutes were not uncommon, with Roeseler dropping "only" 10 minutes at the next check. One group assaulting the hill included Tom Webb, Paul Krause, Tommy Ady, Danny Hamel and Darren Sanford. "We were all totally stuck on the hill," explained Ady, "so we sat and partied on Powerbars. Webb 10id stories, Krause complained about the hill, and Hamel, Sanford and 1just sat there and hung out. We finally made it to the top and followed each other down. It was a mess!" Of his experiences on the hill, Krause remarked, "I didn't know that when 1 got to hill I'd (get to) know so many people!" . More than a few riders ended up staying on the hill for several hours as they helped get motorcycles to the top, but sometimes it required more effort. "Keith CaYlOn burned his bike up trying to get to the lOp," said Dan Harte, "so we had 1O go back,. disassemble his bike into four pieces, and drag it to the top. It took four of us two and-a-half hours to finally get it out of there!" To compensate for the problems caused by the hill, the enduro organizers decided to throw out everything past the sevemh check, including the fourth special test. Interestingly, King and Taylor, who hadn't lost any route poims, were two of only a select few riders who were unhappy that the club took this action. Day one ended with Eriksson, who had wrestled his big four-stroke up the hill through sheer desire, having a four-second lead over Hawkins, 15 seconds on Hough, 29 seconds on Hines, and 36 seconds on Smith. Pepper held an almost 20-second advantage over Scott McLaughlin in the 125cc class, while the Open class seemed to be under the control of jason Dahners of Team Crutch, by virtue of a stunning third special tes't that was only four seconds slower than that of Hough. In reference 1O his impressive riding, Dahners nonchalantly explained, "I didn't do anything really stupid." The rain continued unabated on day two and on the way to the first check, Kawasaki's Krause found his luck quickly turning sour. "I lost the rear wheel axle nut and adjuster," related Krause, "So I searched around the trail and found a rock to jam in as an adjuster, and tightened it back up. But on my way to check two, 1 got wrapped up in barbed wire and broke o££ the shift shaft. End of day'" While day one had been very muddy, with slick rocks and wet roots troubling the riders, day two introduced cold weather and mud bogs with

• Cover