Competition Etc

COMPETITION ETC

1974 UTE CUP

Mike Obermeyer

If there was any doubt left in anyone’s mind that Yamaha’s TY250 Trialer could be competitive at high altitudes, Bobby Hopkins laid that doubt to rest at the 1974 Ute Cup.

Hopkins, an extraordinarily gifted young rider from Michigan, put on a stunning first lap exhibition, completing 20 sections in a 20-mile loop with only one point lost! On his second loop Hopkins lost an additional 12 points and was edged by Lane Leavitt, probably America’s most experienced trials rider, and by young Bernie Schreiber, also from California. Leavitt came in with an excellent 11-point ride, and the diminutive Schreiber picked up 12. Saturday’s sections were not overly difficult, but many riders considered capable of challenging these riders for top U.S. honors came in with substantially higher scores.

Several sections provided interest and entertainment on Saturday. S^BRm number eight, “The Groovy Log,” was temporarily thrown out, but provided a unique challenge: 40 feet of horizontal log, about 18 inches through, with a rotted-in groove on its upper surface. The section required a tight-rope ride down the groove, a jump off the end, a sharp turn to the left through a V’d ground level tree crotch, and then a less interesting exit track over several roots of fair size.

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The idea was to stay on the log for its whole length, but Trialsmaster Bill Brokaw’s taping allowed several riders to go off the log, foot once lustily, and get back on it between gates. Others, assuming that any ride off the log would be scored a five, footed more than once to stay on. The section was thrown out, because of its ambiguous marking, but more than a fewof the better ridersÄ|d combined an aggressive approach^md body English to stay on the track. There was some grumbling over the throw-out of the section, and it was eventually reinstated.

Section five, “Hard Left,” featured just that—a super-tight uphill left-hand turn of an acute angle, perhaps 70 degrees, and a very tight radius, with several protrusive rocks to kick the rear wheel sideways in the turn. After this there was a longish hill-side turn that lulled the rider into a false sense of security before a very abrupt downhill left-hander that combined loose dirt and more tire-kicking rocks.

It was on this section that the Na(Continued on page 90) tional-class riders began to show^ieir prowess. Almost all managed the lifting, front-wheel-skating, power-on turn required to get around the first corner, then effortlessly slid and bounced their bikes sideways through the downhill turn. The inept managed to kill their engines or wheelie around and out of bounds in the narrow first turn. The less inept got through it, then killed it on the final turn by locking up in the loose dirt on the fiendishly tight and steep turning descent. Section five was a masterful “separator.”

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Other notable sections on Saturday were number 1 1, “Hard Way Across the Creek,” an enchanting up-and-back through a fern-and-moss-bedecked natural rock stream bed, and “The Cabin,” section number 14, which required the rider to enter an old log cabin through a less-than-handlebar-width door, tur^fciside the small and cluttered strucurce, then come back out the same way. Many excellent riders, including, Montesa superstar Marland Whaley, took fives on this section.

Whaley took another five on section 15, “Xavier’s Bog,” the traditional Ute Cup goo-hole, after a masterful ride that was clean almost to the end. But Whaley finally dropped almost tank deep into the same rut that stopped about 80 percent of the other riders. The first part of Marland’s ride in this section was phenomenal. He whizzed over greasy jumps and through long trenches, with the bike in a completely controlled power slide, then went off the abrupt turning descent into the aforementioned hole and either came out of gear or absolutely stuck his cases solid in the side walls, and stopped dead. Wi^^a chagrined smile he restarted, pu^pd out, and paddled up the greasy exit track to get his second consecutive five.

“Warm Spring,” number 13, probably was the only other notable section. Its challenges came from alternating climbs and descents, extreme traction and “marbles.” It was very difficult to maintain speed and line in the marbles, and even more difficult to make the transition from marbles to absolute grip, throttle on. Many riders looped out or lost their line at these transitions. The good guys all made it simple, however, by properly “reading” the section the first time through and avoiding these pitfalls. Almost everyone did well on their second ride. Experience and superior section-reading ability again made the difference for the really good riders.

Sunday’s weather was again beautiful, and, as on Saturday, the first sections were relatively easy and wif®i an easy walk of the starting line. Brokaw then gave a taste of things to come: a long blast on jeep roads followed by three or four miles of hellish, almost handmade trail through dense pine woods to sections three, four, and five. These were long, continuous Scottish-style “subs” up a boulder-strewn dry creek bed. Few points were lost here, but the sections were hard work, and the continuous climb toward timberline had many riders, including natives of the region, panting.

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Section 14 “Marmot Rock,” required a tactical decision. The section was taped on a huge outcrop on the side of a steep slope, with a looping right-hand turn approach through smaller rocks. As the rider hit Marmot Rock itself, he could either continue the right-hander onto a 20-degree rock face and make a tight, off-camber left turn up the face, over, through some more jumbled i^B^s and out; or if he was as bold as Whaley, Griffits, Schreiber and company, he could tackle the perilous “high line,” which avoided the slide-out dangers of the off-camber rock face, but which took the rider up a very steep face with a two-foot ledge in the middle. Riders such as the California aces and Colorado’s Bill Schaaf took the high line, and made it, but good speed, a strong lift and radical unweighting of the rear wheel were necessary to get over clean.

Section 16, the end of Sunday’s main loop, consisted only of a downed tree about three feet through. Tapes brought the rider in on a tight left-hand turn with about an eight-foot approach. Once over the log, more tapes forced an equally tight “keyhole,” and it was back over at a different spot, on a 10-degree angle off of straight on. StupenJ^is unweighting was necessary here,lBPd the front-wheel-only ride on the other side of the log was a real “whiteknuckler.” (Continued on page 96)

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One young rider was reputed tc^Bve “hung himself” from a projecting hmb on an adjoining tree when his bike didn’t go over and he fell backwards, hooking his shirt collar on the stub. No harm was done, and the California contingent, tickled by the story, was disappointed when the hangee turned out not to have been Bernie Schreiber.

After Saturday’s easy loop, Bill Brokaw pulled out all the stops and threw in a once-only four-section loop following the first loop on Sunday. The sections were not overly difficult, but the ride to them was a challenge: a two-mile side-hill across the talus slope atop Sheep Mountain. There was no trail across the dinner-plate-size shards, except for the fluorescent-tape trail markers, and there was certainly no “groove” because the riders went every which way, free-form. Plugs burial, engines seized, riders high-sided fQRa sink-holes and collapsed into heaps from exhaustion and high-altitude giggles. Then, after the four sections, a long trail ride back into camp for gas, and off again.

On the second lap of the main loop, Lane Leavitt threw the trial away. On section 13, a relatively easy trap, Leavitt was clean to the end, but then realized, only inches from a five, that he was headed to the left of the left-hand exit gate marker. Planting a foot and gassing it, the Bultaco factory rider did a wheelie turn over the marker, planting his front wheel just past the out gate, and continued through. To Leavitt’s surprise and anger, the score keeper awarded him a five, rather than the one he had hoped for. Whereupon, the (Continued on page 100) young Bay-area contender blew up, mostly at himself.

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This uncharacteristic display of carelessness and temper apparently rattled Leavitt, because he took another five on the next section, which also was not overly difficult. Since Leavitt finished only six points behind winner Bob Hopkins, he was understandably chagrined, and packed up and left almost immediately after finishing. The Ute Cup has eluded Lane for three years, although he has come very close to it on all three attempts. Last year only the legendary Sammy Miller got by him. Perhaps next year....

When it was over and done, Bob Hopkins’ one-point ride on Saturday had done the trick. Montesa took the sponsored-team award, thanks to excellent rides by Whaley and Griffits, a consistent showing by Steve DarrWP, a hitherto unsung San Francisco rider of considerable talent. The MichiganOntario Trials Association took the Club Team award for the second straight year.

One rather disappointing trend became discernible at this year’s Ute Cup. The smiling youngsters who have in the past made the pilgrimage from the West Coast have acquired factory sponsorships, and in the process have lost some of their smiles. The pressures resulting from sponsorships (or loss thereof), and this year’s unique chance to become the first official U.S. Trials Champion, have seemingly taken some of the lighthearted fun from the game. Their air is more that of a group of steely-eyed fighter pilots than that of wild-haired young motorcycle enthusiasts.

Those who have been around p^fcessional flat-trackers or motocross nclers will recognize the look. It’s apparently the one that comes with true world-class competence, but it’s a little sad to see it finally come to what had previously been an enjoyable, “weekend warrior” kind of sport. The price undoubtedly must be paid if America is ever to field a really good international competitor, but it is to be hoped that the pressures, and the de-emphasis on old-fashioned fun, won’t burn these excellent young riders out prematurely.