Northeast Region Update WORDS: BOB CLOSE PHOTOS: SARAH LANE, RICK COWERS
After these final three races in our Northeast AHRMA series, I am ready to proclaim the following: NE men and women are the best vintage mud racers out there. No one has slid, or spun, and climbed, and fell as much as we have over this 13-round 2021 series in what has been a wet Northeast fall and summer. Remove your muck boots before you come inside, grab a cup of coffee, and let’s wrap up this fall’s racing.
Kelso Creek Classic,
Minerva, NY Sept 18th & 19th
up somewhere. And ‘somewhere’ is usually out there on his XC course in a couple of choice locations.
We all show at Brett Darrow and Alicia Coon’s “compound” in the Adirondacks with mixed feelings. The beautiful Gore Mountain backdrop, the wonderful food spreads his family and friends serve up—including breakfast, and once again—the most amazing 20-minute back yard fireworks display you will ever witness on a Saturday night. On Saturday, it was at least 20 degrees warmer than last year. The flip side? Possibly our toughest four-mile plus cross country course on the northeast calendar made tougher this year by lots of rain. In theory, these mountainsides allow for plenty of run-off, but it had to end
Racer Rik Smits is drawn to this setting like a bug to a porch zapper. Before Saturday’s XC race, he had the great idea to create a final sand section. A SAND section, in the Adirondacks. To his credit, he possibly created the driest place on Saturday’s course. Okay, let’s get to the XC racing and the 40 entries who signed up for Vintage and Post Vintage racing. This is “Spoonagle Country.” Son Chris and dad Kurt pretty much own the overalls in this race and our latest expert gunslinger, Darrel Wassil, showed with his bikes. “Spoonagles are going down,” was the buzz. Didn’t happen. Chris beat Darrell for the overall in Vintage and
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WWW.AHRMA.ORG
rubbed salt in the wound by also taking first Sportsman 250 Expert (over DW) with his Can-Am MX. Darrell had an awful day in that first race, losing his Ossa’s gas tank. The best of the rest included Rick Ketcham taking third overall, and first in Sportsman 200 Intermediate. Joe Chodnicki, sick man that he is, liked the conditions and finished behind Rick, also winning Vintage 50+ Intermediate. And while I don’t talk about myself much in these articles (I DO talk about myself in the pits, but that is different…), I must mention that I did my best Benny Hill Show impression in a big cover-your-cases waterhole, hitting a rock with my right peg, stopping, losing balance, and falling over. I was soaked, and strangely, laughing. What a wise purchase my Penton Jackpiner w/
AMERICAN HISTORIC RACING MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022
