Ever heard of the Trask ISDE? Ever RODE the Trask ISDE? For those of you that haven't, it was the oldest U.S. ISDE qualifier that covered a span of over 25 years. This event was often touted as too tough or too easy, usually depending on the weather. The event had the likes of the Penton family all the way through Larry Roeseler riding this classic event over the years. Alas, the Trask Mtn. Club decided to hang up their riding jacket and stopped hosting it in the middle 90's. Sadly it was the end of an era. A group called The Three Amigos tried resurrecting it for a couple years, unfortunately it just didn't happen, after a gallant effort.

Last year the NW Tour & Trail Club hosted the first annual Beaverton Honda Rat Dog Dualsport Ride and the start/finish was just out of Tillamook, OR, but Bryce Mitchell of the Flying M Ranch requested to host it at his ranch for 2k. With that, the NWT&T made plans accordingly. After countless man-hours of exploring, trail clearing, rerouting, flat tires, working with the landowners and getting lost more times than can be counted, NWT&T arrived with a bona fide killer ride. The A loop had over 50+ miles of single track that could challenge any advanced trail/enduro rider, whereas the B loop was the typical easy putsy consisting of mostly gravel road. Plus there were many bail-out points along the way, should a rider have their fill of trails and decide to retire to the easy route - a veritable seven-course dualsport menu! This was also part of the OMRA Dualsport Series.

At the day of the Y2K-9 Rat Dog event, it was clear that last year's event must have been successful, since there were twice as many entries for 2k! This took the club by surprise and slowed down the signup process a tad, but everyone got through. It was a spectacular day, which had the sun shining, no clouds, and some rain a few days prior had moist soil conditions. Just like the old Trask ISDE days, the signup was in the old cabin by the Flying M Lodge. The Beaverton Honda Dualsport Team of Walt Koch and Frank Noe had set up a meticulous signup area and collected a great array of prizes for the riders afterwards. Spirits were high for the 93 entries.

From the start, the B loop was incredibly easy, but scenic, as stated earlier, but the A loop was a ride to remember. Here's the gory details: The A Loop left Flying M South and took gravel road to Moore's Valley, headed up to Meadow Lake Road at the Haskin's Creek fire danger sign, which was the first check. Frank Noe was the man running the check. Local rider Don Womack was coming the other way in his truck and reported that some wild rat racing was going on and almost had a couple riders as hood ornaments. Luckily Don is a rider and not a cop! You guys know who you are… tsk, tsk, tsk. From the first checkpoint, the riders took pavement up to the first off-road section called Dye Estates Road that goes up behind the old, original Meadow Lake. This (as many others) was part of one of the old Trask ISDE sections. After some single track, the riders were on a trail section called The Whips, aptly named for all the face slappers. It then headed over towards Boundary Road, and up Cedar Creek Road. Our Canadian friend, Lisa Burlmeyer was seen crossed up on the hill trying to muscle her little 650DR Suzuki up over the top. Fortunately her entourage was there to help her out and visa versa. Then the route went over a long windy section called Autobahn and descended down Special Test Hill, through Gooseneck, and a couple little trails to East Fork of the Trask. At the end of Gooseneck, Teresa Ruddy and Janet Backen (on a KE100 and Big Wheel Yamaha) were having a difficult time navigating the course. Evidently their odometers didn't reset in tenths, so they were not able to follow the roll chart. This was too bad, since these ladies were enthusiastic and gave it their best shot! In past years the Goose Neck Trail was often a popular special test section. Tire Iron and Poe-Wade trails brought everyone out at a major logjam on Stretch Creek. The next trail was up the challenging Clay Banks Trail and part of the special test trail that the NORA Club used on the '99 Lone Squirrel ISDE. It then headed through On Any Sunday to Sypher's Gap and over a gnarly downhill called The Leap Of Faith. This section received its name for good reason - shattered rear-view mirrors attested to the challenging drop off at this section. A number of people did lipskids on this section including Beaverton Honda's own Dave Newell, plus vicious rumors are out that Tom Ginsbach also may have parted company with his scooter here along with plenty of others.

It then went on the East Fork Bypass to a couple of trails off Bushong Road that dropped everyone down to the South Fork of the Trask. From there the road wound over Trask Summit and meandered through some scenic 2-track, through Marlene's Ranch and her grazing llamas, tigers, lions and bears - oh my! Then it was a pavement scratch down to the town of Beaver for gas and lunch. Okay, no jokes here.

After everyone ate a tasty lunch at the Beaver Store and gassed up, they then were routed North on Hwy 101 for a few miles and turned right onto Pleasant Valley Road up to Simmon's Ridge. This then changed to BSM Road where one BMW GS rider slid out on a turn and tweaked his collarbone. After taking an extended breather, he decided to go ahead and call it a day. The course took a long, steep downhill trail here called Stevie Ray's Trail that brought them out by Hollywood Camp. The next stop was Trask County Park, which was where one gentleman lost his engine due to an oil failure and had to be hauled back in a pickup. Then the course went up the historic Toll Road and doubled out and back through some killer trails off Eagle Hill Road - nothing short of fantastic stuff here! A few more on and offs and then the A riders had one more section that looped down the Two Dogs Trail and came back up Pigeon Creek. Yet more awesome trailage! It then went off of Big Bertha and made its way to Murphy's Camp, where Walt Koch and Frank Noe were doing the final course check. Unfortunately, Ken "Mad Dog" Murphy was slated to run the Murphy's Camp check, but he came up ill. Too bad, since we wanted to have "Murphy at Murphy's Camp"! It then went off the backside of Trask Mountain, down to Toll Road again, dropped off Whiteface Bypass, transferred to the original Old Toll Road, through Wayne Melby's Cowabunga Trail and then the coupe de grace to Flying M Ranch and the finish. The A course had more trail than most riders wanted.

Overall, there was an enormous amount of trail, but there was also plenty of bail out points to get back onto the easy B course, should a rider become too tired, which many riders took advantage of. Along the way there were many great stories, but a few items happened such as John Geduski lost his ignition switch, so he had to rewrap leads and McGuyvered it together with a bottle cap (rumor has it). Somehow our faithful Canadian friend, Lisa Burlmeyer and friends got onto the A course instead of the B - what an ironwoman! It was almost dark by the time that Lisa and crew got in, but they were loving the entire course. Nothing but an ear-to-ear smile at the finish!

We hope everyone can make it for 2001. For next year the routing will be the usual chock full of trails, plus it will probably start on the ocean, working the route inland to Flying M Ranch and finishing on the coast again. This means a dose of sand riding may even be on the menu. The location change is due to the Flying M Ranch being for sale and it's questionable if the new owners will be "OHV positive", so let's hope so.

At the awards presentation, the famous Bob Schwarz won the overall trophy! Washington State AA enduro champ, Al Fetterly said, "This was the best dualsport ride I've ever ridden. The trails were great!" There were plenty of awards for everyone, plus the $100 cash prize, so most everyone went home with something. Many huge thanks goes out to Dan "Hatchetman" Hatcher for laying out an A loop trail route to die for! It's simply amazing how much of the Trask area Danno knows! Plus the guy can do anything if he has vine maple and some duct tape. The event couldn't have happened without the help of faithful sweep riders of Randy "Rand Eye" Beadle, John "Jobias" Hughes and Jim "Jimbo" Dukes (Dan Hatcher also doubled as sweep crew too). Gunny Claypoole was sorely missed due to a conference he had to attend (ya missed out, Gunny!). Beaverton Honda's own Wanda and Kevin also helped out with the proceedings, along with Walt Koch and Frank Noe. Tami Buedefeldt also lent her usual organizational prowess to smooth things out. Thanks also to American Honda and the Red Riders Club. A shout also goes out to the world renowned Billy Toman for helping MC the trophy presentations, since yours truly had to leave early. Special thanks goes out also to Chris Green and Leroy White for all the trailwork, Clyde Zeller and Ian Caldwell of Oregon Department of Forestry, plus Dan Upton of Willamette Industries, BLM and Flying M Ranch for letting us enjoy our forests! For more information on next year's events go to: www.blackdogdualsport.com for NWT&T's events, plus also check out Beaverton Honda's site at: www.bhy.net or call them at: (503) 684-6600. C-ya in 2001!