24 Hours of Glen Helen

The 2013 Glen Helen 24 hr. race had a rather large turnout.  I would guess that because a couple of other local race clubs decided to co-sanction the event and count the points earned here toward their local race series. It seemed to work by the looks of the number of entries and the size the pits eventually grew to.

I was fortunate enough to get an invite from a couple of guys that were putting together a +50 Team. In our class we are allowed to have up to 6 riders and two bikes. One has to be in impound at all times during the race. If you have a problem with your race bike you can change but you must take that bike to impound to get the other bike out. So in other words, no working on the bike in impound.  You must stop the race bike and swap bikes then take it to your pit to perform any type of work. This allows sportsman to be able to complete the race in case of a major failure on the race bike, instead of just packing up and going home. It is an unbelievable amount of preparation, as well as time and money to just get to the starting line of a 24 hr race. So it is nice to have a back up instead of just going home after all your hard work.

The Pro teams on the other hand are limited to ONE bike and FOUR riders. So they have to have a professional prep, a good crew to keep the bike going no matter what comes their way and 4 really good dedicated riders. If you ride on one of those teams you will not sleep much during the event. Because if you are not on the bike then you are in riding gear standing by in the pit in case someone falls off or has a problem you are ready to hop on and go. Then when you get off you have to cool off, clean your gear for the next ride and get something to eat before you even think about sleeping. Then you get to catch a few zzzzzz’s before it is your turn again to be on deck and geared up just in case.

Our +50 team had guys with experience and it showed. Two well prepped bikes (KLX and CRF-X 450’s) both had serious lighting to ride at night in case something happened to one bike along the way. The pit was set up with EZ ups, fluorescent lights run by generator, tables for tools, tables for food. Ice chest with water and drinks. Spare parts, extra wheels, portable heaters for a cool night, quick dump can and on and on. These guys have obviously been around this block before!

Our six man team consisted of Kris Goolsby (bike owner) and obviously team captain, Doug S., Doug H., Marc, John and #33. We had a good time and enjoyed ourselves throughout the event by keeping ourselves entertained in the pit while not on the bike. Throughout the race we seemed to only have one issue with lighting on the KLX and swapped back to the Honda for the remainder of the race. I guess it was well worth Kris Goolsby taking the time to make sure both bikes had lights to race with.

I don’t have a play by play on all the things the other riders on the team encountered but I did have one thing occur that can only be described as a long shot. While I was on the bike at night in a very dusty section with a difficult uphill I encountered a couple of downed riders on that hill. As I started up and got to the downed riders it seemed they were blocking the track and I was forced to stop in the dust. It was so thick I couldn’t identify or see the other riders until the dust cleared a bit. Then I looked at the rider that was stuck on the hill and read his number plate.  #M3 with a Checkers Jersey which is the +50 team that was in second place! We were lapping them while we were both sitting on the side of a dusty hill together. I had to laugh thinking while I was trying to get up the hill that at least I know I am not being caught while he is sitting here with me!  It made it almost comical and definitely let me relax and not get my shorts in a bunch!  Besides I got going first and he was still stuck on the hill as I rode away, I hollered Whoo Hoo! as I topped the hill.  What are the odds I would get stopped next to our competition on that hill on a 10 miles course during the race? Like I said, a long shot.

We finished our 24 hours with Doug H. stopping at our pit on the last lap to allow Kris the honor of taking the checkered flag at the finish. Kris did an incredible amount of work and prep to make this whole 24 hours go as well as it did.

A big Thanks to all of our riders, Doug S., Doug H. John, Marc and especially Kris Goolsby for allowing us to use his bikes and pits while making the whole event a memorable experience.

#33

“We are often so caught up in our destination that we forget to appreciate the journey”

Idaho IOTMX A Big Hit!

Another HOME RUN!

Once again the Idaho Old-timers’ club has hit it out of the park. I was wondering what in the world could they do to improve their event from the previous year. Last year the track was excellent, the dinner superb and the Friday night potato bar was just icing on the cake.

As hard as it is to believe, they did it again. The potato bar was still open on Friday night for the early comers. The dinner was something you would expect to see at a restaurant or buffet, not a motocross with a bunch of geezers chomping at the bit. The new and improved part of the weekend seemed to be provided by Mother Nature in the form of rain during the week leading up to the event. This allowed the club to lengthen the track and run the hilly sand sections that are normally reserved for winter riding since water is usually the limiting factor. The track grew to well over two minutes for lap times and got fairly rough in the sand sections by the end of the first day. Yet everyone I spoke to was having the time of their life and all I heard throughout the pits was how much fun the track was. One of my buddies, who has acquired the aka “El Guapo” had an ear to ear grin after practice and was walking around saying, “that was the best time I have ever had on a motorcycle.” I heard the same sentiments from several others as I visited through the pits.

For those of you that did not make the trip to the Idaho round of the IOTMX series, all I can say is you made a mistake to sit this one out. There was great food, good people, a fantastic track and more fun to be had than is legal is some states.

There was some very good racing along the way. The 60 and 70 Master class is always fun to watch since these guys haul the mail at what most people consider an age too old to be riding motorcycles. Guys like Gary Chase, Bart Kellogg, Kyle Montgomery and several others ride like old pros, very impressive! Great job guys, you can play golf when you get old!!!  One rider that showed up as the new and improved version of himself was 70+ rider, Don Nelson. The guy showed up 30 pounds lighter than last year and it showed in his riding. I have never seen Don jump as high or as far as he was this weekend. I think he intends to own that #1 plate!

A big Thank You to the Idaho Old Timers for going the extra mile to make the weekend such a success. 

#33

“Live your Life…..Forget your Age”

Another Undiscovered Ride/Part II

I may be wearing out my welcome by going back for part 2 of the Undiscovered Ride. It was so much fun seeing new stuff in a completely new area that after leaving to continue my “thumb rehab tour” I returned to ride with Barry one more time. The excellent part was that Barry recruited Howard (Mayor of Ragdump) to be the ride leader for our second day of riding.

We started fairly early because “Mayor Howard” had mapped out a ride that stretched our day to well over 100 miles. This was like going on a guided tour because throughout the day the Mayor made stops and told us history of some of the areas and things we were seeing. Simply amazing how much information the Mayor has gathered in his 35 plus years of living and riding in No. Cal. The views were some of the best you could imagine without riding into a National Park.

The day started out with some dirt road that the Mayor used to access a single-track trail I never would have spotted. Let the fun begin! We rode for a while on trail that had my head on a swivel looking at the trail and the surrounding scenery. It rivaled any single-track I have been on anywhere with boulders, logs, descents and climbs, all the while dodging trees. What more could you ask for on a trail!  We immediately got warmed up enough that the Mayor stopped to take off his jacket before continuing on until we popped out on a road that headed for the high country. This road climbed until our next stop that had spectacular views of the canyons we had be riding through for a few hours. Picture time, so out came the cameras. It eventually passed by some High Lakes that were near the Pacific Crest Trail. We rode for what seemed like hours through back country and mountains with view after view never letting anyone get bored.

We had gone about 60 miles when Barry flags the Mayor and I down because he has a front flat tire. We find a stump to use as a stand and Barry sets out to fix his flat, the second one in two days.  So the Mayor and I take a seat in the shade to spectate as our friend demonstrates his mechanical prowess. The first problem is that Barry can’t find the hole in the tube due to the fact that his pump doesn’t work. Luckily I carry a pump and a tube. So Barry replaces the tube and we are back on the trail. The Mayor leads off until he stops at an intersection that has a sign that says we are 21 miles from the place he was headed! He looks around and says he doesn’t know how we ended up at this intersection. My odometer is now showing us at the 72 mile mark. I just laugh because Big Red (my Honda 450x) has a big tank and is good for about 125 miles or so.  Mister Flat tire boy has a stock tank on his bike and is probably down to his last ½ gallon or less since we are a bit off course.  So now we have to follow Barry to make sure he doesn’t run out of gas behind us. We cross our fingers and head on down the road.  Even then I had a great time because the views were great and I had plenty of gas! We cross over a fairly high pass that provided some really good scenery.  I don’t think Barry enjoyed the view because he was probably worrying too much about running out of gas.

We cruise to conserve fuel and make it to the store/gas stop the Mayor had planned. The Mayor had done his homework by calling the day before and checking to see that they had gas. Unfortunately he didn’t ask them if they would have gas today. Yup, they had run out of gas in their pumps. So now it is about 4pm, we have not eaten lunch and are at least 2 hours from home if we go the shortest way back and we have no gas. I find this a bit amusing and start to weigh my options. I have a siphon hose in my back pack and will swipe some gas from a lawnmower if I have to. Or we could just get a room and stay overnight. So we ask the girl behind the counter, the one with no gas, if there would be anyone with a 5 gallon jug we might be able to buy from. As she dials the phone up drives a pickup truck with an old timer driving. He is the person she was going to call. A nice old gentleman, that appears to be in his 70’s. We ask him and he says he does have some gas at home for his chain saw and won’t be using it for a couple of days. So he retrieves the can and we split it between the 3 bikes.

It is now almost 5 pm and we are about to get back on the road for home when the Mayor says he is hungry and we should stop for a cheeseburger. I can’t believe he wants to eat already, we have only been on the trail for 7 hours and I did give him a Slim Jim beef stick while flat tire boy was fixing his flat. We stop for a cheeseburger at the Bambi Inn before heading home. I like this place because right over the door they have a sign that says, “We don’t dial 911” with the silhouettes of a couple of rifles. Perfect, my kind of place.

Heading for home is fairly uneventful since it is now after 5 pm and we are taking the shortest route back. We come to an intersection and say good bye to Mayor Howard as he turns toward his place and we continue down the road toward Barry’s house. We still go through another cool canyon and over a bridge before we climb up to a fire lookout on our way home. We finally roll into Barry’s driveway around 7 pm. There is a message on the phone from the Mayor letting us know he made it home ok since he was riding alone.

All in all it was a great day. Fun riding, friends, scenery, getting a bit lost, sweating gas and ongoing entertainment the whole way. What more could you ask for on a guided tour? I think I will sign up for the next one as soon as I recover.

#33

“Life is a lesson, so take good notes”

Another Undiscovered Ride!

The “thumb rehab tour” made a stop in No. Cal and rode nearly 200 miles of roads and single-track trails that I had not seen before. The stop was not on the itinerary and turned out to be one of those lucky breaks that you always hope for. I was given a tour by a rider, Barry Behm, who is also known by the aka “Bear”. That was a bit of a disappointment since most of the guys I ride with do something that earns them a name and I am quite often involved in the selection process. But since Barry has been around the block I guess his riding partners enjoy the name selection process as much as I do.

We rode for 4 days and saw some great views, cool mountain roads with waterfalls, swimming holes, a deep canyon and some of the best single-track trails I think I have ever ridden in Calif. We dropped down into a canyon a couple of times that was so steep and so long it made me start thinking about how we were going to get back up. When I stopped on this hill to take a picture it was necessary to use one hand to take the picture. The reason being when I let go of the front brake to use the camera the bike started sliding downhill. This decent had to be at least 2,500 ft. 

 I intend to go back soon to explore further and provide some video of the trails I was privileged enough to ride. I can hardly wait for a few days of rain to make these incredibly fun trails even better. I expect after a bit of rain this is going to turn out to be one of those rides you classify as “Epic” when you reflect at the end of the day. Now GO RIDE and Stay tuned.

#33

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, Make sure it is worth watching!”

Magoo Memorial/Chandler Classic

Riverfront Park August 25, 2013

After attending what may become the first Annual Chandler Classic MX, I came away with a big smile on my face.  The event was held at Riverfront OHV Park in Marysville, Calif. It was centered on vintage bikes but included modern classes as well. The idea was to get anyone with an off road race bike out to have a good time while dedicating a newly constructed Magoo Memorial placed in concrete at the OHV Park. If the chance ever arises to see this memorial I would encourage anyone to take advantage of seeing the partial motorcycle frame with plaque attached. It is a very nice and professionally assembled Maico frame with forks and handlebars that have a beautifully constructed plaque attached where the gas tank would normally be. Hopefully it will endure many years of sitting unmolested as a display and tribute to Danny “Magoo” Chandler.

The plaque has a picture of Danny and a brief overview of his life along with his achievements.  It is worthy of anyone’s time and outlines his life and things he accomplished that may be unknown or forgotten by many.  As I read the plaque it was almost overwhelming having all the things Danny did throughout his life listed. One of the things that I felt was the most impressive was the fact that he won both the 250cc Trophee des Nations and 500cc Motocross des Nations  in the same year and incredibly winning ALL FOUR MOTOS!  That was something that was never done by the greatest riders of all time, including 5 time 500cc World Champion Roger DeCoster and 6 time 250cc World Champion Joel Robert. There was also a replica of the Maico that Danny rode while being photographed for advertisements as well as the cover of a magazine. The Maico was restored and supplied by Gene Anderson of Rio Linda, Calif and sported the #42 that Danny ran when he rode that model. It was an awesome display and reproduction that made you feel like you were looking at Magoo’s bike.

A quick story, around 1980 I remember sitting on the back of a pickup truck tailgate at a track one day with Danny while we were riding. Just talking about dumb stuff that young guys do when Danny looks at a jump on the track and tells me, “I think I can do a flip”.  My first thought was that this guy really is crazy. I dismissed it as a guy with one too many crashes talking and just forgot about it. Now that I look at the freestyle riders and what they are doing today I am even more impressed with Danny’s forward thinking and vision. I look back now and remember him telling me that over 30 years ago, long before Travis Pastrana was even born. Simply incredible.

If you ever get the chance to make it to Riverfront OHV Park in Marysville, Calif. Check out the newly placed memorial and think about what a ride it would have been to look though the goggles that Danny “Magoo” Chandler wore!

Gone but not forgotten, Godspeed Danny.

#33

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”