Cayuga County Riders - Northeast Regional

If You Build It, They Will Come...If You Build It, They Will Come...By: Bob Close The Cayuga County Riders Cross Country and MotocrossPhotos by: Sarah Lane

I finally found the CCR club’s parking This year they King Ferry, New York / October 3rd, 2020 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. figured out how to accommodate our ever-shifting regional schedule (due to the COVID pandemic) by having the AHRMA XC racers compete on the first 4.4-mile loop of a three loop “Sprint Enduro” race that was scheduled for modern bikes on the next day at the club. For motocross, we would once again “Race In The Maze,” a onemile-plus “grass” motocross track where the areas between the turns and straights just do not get a haircut very often. It’s a little disorienting—and a helluva lot of fun—when you can really only see about 15 to 25 yards ahead of you on the track and just about every turn is blind as far what might be on the other side. And, you have no idea if you are catching someone until you can actually see their rear wheel ahead. With a single day event schedule, that meant we had to get the XC races going first thing so that MX practice could begin before lunch and motos start by noon. Both the Vintage and the Post Vintage were run with the timer set to throw the checkered flag when the overall leader reached—or was even NEAR— one hour. Since this was the seventh XC race for the Northeast region since the middle of July and there was one more round the following weekend, there were not a lotta complaints about the somewhat abbreviated XC race schedule when all was said and done. And oh, what a fun cross-country cornucopia this CCR loop turned out to be for the 42 entries who took part in the Vintage and Post Vintage races. While the course utilized about two thirds of the motocross track and a couple of corn field “crossings,” the woods sections were slippery (it had rained pretty good mid-week), rutted, tight, and technical with much of the “better have bark busters” tree-weaving done in second gear for most riders. The Vintage racers left the line in one row, and yours truly (me, Bob Close, on my awesome 1974.5 Jackpiner 175) got the holeshot, leaving the Experts, Intermediates, and Novices in the dust for about the first third of the lap before realizing I was holding up EVERYONE in the woods. I pulled over several times to let Al Schnug (Yam), Mike Ferguson (Pen), and Rich Ketcham (Hon) go by and quickly restore order to the Northeast XC universe. A couple

more riders came by over the following three laps, including Otto

DeJager and his Ossa. And 50 minutes later it was over, with

Mike Ferguson taking the Vintage race overall (and Sportsman Open Expert), followed by Al Schnug (first Vintage 60+ Expert) and the faster and faster Rick Ketcham on the Bennett Brothers Secret Sauce XLsinore (first Sportsman 200). Otto once again secured a Vintage 60+ Intermediate first place foam board, and our fearless AHRMA Northeast leader/coordinator

Jody Curry (37C), Mike McCullough (217) Rick Ketcham (283) on his ‘XLsinore’ Dave Symien (210) PV 200 Novice

Merritt Brown grabbed the Vintage Vintage 60+ Expert foam board. Mike 50+ Expert first place. Ferguson grabbed the Post Vintage

Thirty-plus riders were dead-engine 200 Expert win on his XR200 (which started from three rows for the Post looks waaaay too stock for how fast Vintage XC racing and circulated pretty he goes) and Richard Heins won Post damn fast the next hour. The woods Vintage Open Expert. First overall sections had tacked up nicely and the Intermediate in the Post Vintage race motocross track now had working (and I think about seventh across the lines/berms, reducing the rider error line!) was Vince Monk’s Yamaha (first situations that had cropped up for some 50+ Intermediate), with Tony Yanitelli’s (fine, ME!) in the first race. And five mighty GS Maico not far behind to laps later, it was hometown hero Dave take second in that class. There were Feary bringing his Kawasaki KDX420 seven riders in the Post Vintage 60+ home first overall (and first Open Age Intermediate class and Carl Hucheson’s Expert) in front of the Husqvarnas Husky led them all home with Jim of AHRMA Northeast regulars Rik McCarthy on a Yamaha taking second. Smits (first Post Vintage 50+ Expert) Historic class bikes were again in the and Dale Sonnenschein (second Post house with Rick Ketcham winning 200 Vintage 50+ Expert), who themselves Intermediate and Dave Salmen winning finished in front of five other 50+ Open Intermediate. Finally, a shoutexperts who had signed up for the out to Ryan Collins on his Honda day. And while we are mentioning tall XR, who not only won Post Vintage guys who go fast (Rik, not Dale), it 200 Novice, but finished in the Top 20 should be known that Ithaca, NY, overall after a third row start. native, Dan Fish, showed up with There were 84 entries across six an immaculately prepared early races for the afternoon motocross ‘80s KTM250 MX and beat session on what was turning out to Jay Danak and Rich Daley be a beautiful, if increasingly dusty, to the line for the Post 60-degree afternoon. Race one was one

Eric Miller (083) Ultima 125 Intermediate winner

of the largest and fastest barn-burners of the day, featuring just about all the Post Vintage Age classes, with 24 riders behind the rubber band and leaving in two starts (Expert and Intermediate/Novice). Racing was furious with Drew Smith’s WR Husky beating all the Experts off the line in the first moto but ultimately getting passed by Brian Teague and his Honda CR125, with Brian getting out of the gate first in the second moto and beating Drew again. Clearly this race one (and Post Vintag Open Age Expert) winner was not going to let a motorcycle with a headlight beat him to the line (Drew DID get first in Post Vintage 60+ Expert). Dale Sonnenschein (Hus) collected the Post Vintage 50+ Expert win with a 2-1 finish, while Mark Therrien (Hus) was denied that class win after beating Dale in the first moto but finishing third in the second moto. For the Intermediates, it was Craig Curry (Hus) first to the checkers in both motos and claiming the Post Vintage 60+ Intermediate win over six other racers in his class. Novices Todd Benson (Post Vintage 40+ Novice) and Ed Abdo (Post Vintage 60+ Novice) claimed the wins in their classes.

Race two was all about the Vintage Age Group classes and apparently a primer on how to speak German as

Al Schnug (31a) Vintage +60 Expert followed by Jim McCarthy (255) Post Vintage +60 Intermediate

Jim Kechison’s Maico brought home the bratwurst in both motos as well as the Vintage 40+ Expert foam board. Following Jim home was the immaculate YZ250A of Ron Krzaczyk (first Vintage 50+ Expert) with Loren Westcott’s CR390 claiming Historic 500 Expert accolades. Fastest of the Intermediates were Mark Schneider and his KX250 (Vintage 60+ Intermediate) and Dave Salmen (Sportsman 250 Intermediate), and, drum roll, Ray Rondinella in Vintage 70+ Intermediate. Geezus, I hope I’m still racing when I reach 70. Race three and race four represented Next Gen bikes and GP bikes respectively. Brian Teague once again schooled everyone and claimed the Next Gen 125 Expert first place in doing so. Mark Curran was not far behind and notched up a 1-1 victory in Next Gen 250 Intermediate. Jana Schneider showed a bunch of guys how it’s done (first in Next Gen 125 Intermediate) and I will go ahead and throw in a race six win, Post Vintage Women Intermediate.

It is fun to watch Rob Clare (first GP 250 Expert) go fast on his Honda CR250, and that is we were treated to in race four as he reached the checkered flag first overall, beating Richard Heins for the class win. There were three racers signed up for GP 125 Expert, and Nick Abdo’s Yamaha YZ topped Rich Daly and Terry McDonnell for the win. The GP 500 Expert win went to Carl Rehatchek (Hus) over Rich Field (Yam). Amongst the Ultima classes it was Eric Miller over Dave Salmen for the Ultima 125 Intermediate win, Pat Foti and Jim Bell taking the Ultima 125 Intermediate and Ultima 250 Intermediate wins, and Jim Bell with the Ultima 500 Expert

Dan Bourgeois (27) Next Gen 250 Ron Krazczyk (211X) YZ250A Vintage 50+ Expert winner

win. There were two riders signed up for Ultima Four-stroke Novice, and Josh Fisher beat Ed Abdo to the line for that foam board.

Race five brought a bunch of fast guys to the starting line for the Vintage displacement classes, and Mike Robinson’s Bultaco Pursang (Sportsman 250 Expert) was unbeatable in both motos, followed home by Drew Smith (first in Vintage 60+ Expert), and Dan Fish’s show-room quality CZ (second in Vintage 60+ Expert). Actually, let’s just insert here that ALL of Dan’s bikes are beautiful. Wayne Zebrowski claimed the Sportsman 500 Intermediate win on his BSA, Rondinella the Vintage Open Age Intermediate win, and Carol Bailey grabbed a Vintage Women Novice foam board for first place. Race six mixed up some Pre-Moderns with the Historic classes with Mark Curran and his Honda CR the fastest combination in this race (first in Pre-Modern 250 Intermediate). The Historic 250 Intermediate and Novice wins were claimed by Ed Hewig and Hollis Acome respectively, and our hardworking AHRMA Northeast coordinator, Merritt Brown, topped Jim Bell for the Historic 500 Intermediate win.

While things got a bit dusty by the end of the day, the majority of the racers agreed they had enjoyed the fast, relatively whoop-free track and its demanding requirement to choose and maintain a precise line throughout its many turns to grab the fastest lap.

The AHRMA Northeast coordinators and racers would like to thank the Cayuga County Riders for hosting us again in 2020. I’m going to give a special shoutout to Dave Barne’s dad, Larry, as well as John Frakelton. Phil Miller, Doug Radcliffe (running an excellent food and grille operation and repping the Genoa Fire Dept) deserve a mention. And finally, just WHOSE land are we riding on when we show up at King Ferry to race? Well, we wanna thank Todd’s Poultry Farm, Turek Farms, Lynn Davidson Farm, Christopher Hess, and Willet Dairy Farms. And thanks to Southern Cayuga EMS for providing us coverage on the day.

Check out all results for this event by going to national AHRMA website and clicking on our Northeast region link located at the bottom of their page.