By Tom Niemela
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A few days prior to the event, there was a misty rain, but come the day of the event, it was a spectacular, clear, sunny day. An oddity for Oregon! The folks that did not show up really missed a super ride.
The Friday Night-Ride was huge grins as the course took everyone up the mildly muddy Bushong Road and back. The stories ran rampant of people stalling their rides in a cloud of steam as their headlights bounced over the waterbars!
This year’s main event again staged out of Trask County Park up the Trask River (just East of Tillamook). The course was completely different in that it was a series of three cloverleaf loops that looped back each time to the park.
The first loop took everyone up and over Hembre Ridge by way of Zig-Zag Trail and Roger’s Road, then crossed to the North side of highway 6 and back over Kansas Creek Cutoff, where the A riders got treated to the Briar Trail. It got that name for a specific reason – at the bottom is a huge conglomeration of blackberry vines, which created plenty of stories by the riders as they came in.
The second loop had everyone going East up the North Fork of Trask River, then onto Bark Shanty Road, Laughlin Road and Township Road. The A riders were challenged with the new Beadle’s Bail Trail, Jawbone Trail and Pungee Jump Trail. The Old Toll Road brought everyone back to the finish again for lunch at the Trask Store.
The third loop went South from the park, up Bushong Road for waterbar giggles again, then the A & B courses split. The A riders had a 12-mile section to challenge them, while the B riders worked their way up to Grindstone Summit for a stellar view of the coast. All riders then worked their way to Hollywood Camp and back to the finish.
At the finish, the awards were handed out and the partying started. Everyone agreed that riding in the same area and trails as the old Trask ISDE really added to the event. In a weird twist, Clyde Kersting won the overall first place trophy, PLUS the random $100 prize. How lucky is that? Scott Adams and his ham radio folks again added their expertise and skills to the event to make things safer for all. Ron Rice of Affordable Trophies showed up Saturday morning with his girlfriend in her Corvette with the t-shirts and trophies. Nice delivery vehicle, Ron! David Van Riper rode the ENTIRE event on a Honda 50cc scooter – hardcore! Of course he won the trophy for smallest bike (quietest too!).
Saturday night, after the event was over, everyone gathered around Frank, Walt and Dave’s vehicles and the party ensued. A hearty group of people huddled around the fire, listening to James Brown, smoking cigars, telling jokes, huge lies and some questionable benchracing. There must have been over 20 people at one point.
I want to be sure and thank Leroy White, Ron ‘Moose’ Collins, Kurt Schronbroad and Chris Green for their help on the trails, and also Clyde Zeller and Kelly Foster of Oregon Department of Forestry. The kind sponsors were once again Beaverton Honda-Yamaha, Affordable Trophies, Clarke Plastics, Moose Off-Road, and Thumpertalk.com Hope to see you in ’04 on September 18!