NORTHEAST REGION GP and Ultima start L to R: Ed Abdo (268), John Fisher (17F), Tom Curry (4C), Craig Curry (47C), Dustin Loss (741), Pete Komerek (59S), Pat Foti (126)
You Build It, IfThey Will Come... By: Bob Close
Photos by: Sarah Lane
The Cayuga County Riders Cross Country and Motocross
I finally found the CCR club’s parking and pit area (it’s not the first Town Line Road turn-off, it’s the THIRD Town Line Road turn-off ), and a great spot amongst all the trucks and trailers on yet ANOTHER dry, sunny morning in upstate New York. I turned off the engine. I couldn’t help but think as I looked around at the corn fields, dairy farms, and their cows that this place reminded me of that movie where they built the baseball field, and Donny Schmidt and Dane Leimbach came riding out of on their motorcycles. WAIT—right movie, wrong guys. Dave and Trisha Barnes—and a whole host of others who we will thank at the end of this article—know how to set up and run a cross country race in these parts. They established the Cayuga County Riders club in the late ‘90s and have been hosting regional hare scrambles and enduros ever since. About a half dozen years back, I’m guessing club member and AHRMA racer, John Frakelton, must have talked them into hosting AHRMA XC and MX races and we’ve been making merry ever since. Or making mud. Or dust. You get my meaning. 48
WWW.AHRMA.ORG
King Ferry, New York / October 3rd, 2020 This year they figured out how to XC race for the Northeast region since accommodate our ever-shifting regional the middle of July and there was one schedule (due to the COVID pandemic) more round the following weekend, there by having the AHRMA XC racers were not a lotta complaints about the compete on the first 4.4-mile loop of a somewhat abbreviated XC race schedule three loop “Sprint Enduro” race that was when all was said and done. scheduled for modern bikes on the next day at the club. For motocross, we would And oh, what a fun cross-country cornucopia this CCR loop turned out to once again “Race In The Maze,” a onebe for the 42 entries who took part in the mile-plus “grass” motocross track where the areas between the turns and straights Vintage and Post Vintage races. While the course utilized about two thirds of just do not get a haircut very often. It’s the motocross track and a couple of a little disorienting—and a helluva lot of corn field “crossings,” the woods sections fun—when you can really only see about were slippery (it had rained pretty good 15 to 25 yards ahead of you on the track mid-week), rutted, tight, and technical and just about every turn is blind as far with much of the “better have bark what might be on the other side. And, busters” tree-weaving done in second you have no idea if you are catching gear for most riders. The Vintage racers someone until you can actually see their left the line in one row, and yours truly rear wheel ahead. (me, Bob Close, on my awesome 1974.5 With a single day event schedule, that Jackpiner 175) got the holeshot, leaving meant we had to get the XC races going the Experts, Intermediates, and Novices first thing so that MX practice could in the dust for about the first third of begin before lunch and motos start by the lap before realizing I was holding up noon. Both the Vintage and the Post EVERYONE in the woods. I pulled over Vintage were run with the timer set to throw the checkered flag when the overall several times to let Al Schnug (Yam), Mike Ferguson (Pen), and Rich Ketcham leader reached—or was even NEAR— (Hon) go by and quickly restore order one hour. Since this was the seventh to the Northeast XC universe. A couple AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION
DECEMBER 2020
