Fernley, NV.
The second round of the Old Timer International Motocross championship was held in Fernley Nevada. Fernley is about as opposite in beautifulness as it gets when compared to say Washougal. I didn’t even bother taking pictures, the same could be said for round one which was held in a giant pit behind a prison in Arizona.
The track in Arizona had many sections that were fun even had some up and down elevation changes. But there were parts of the track for us not as brave guys that were very sketchy to say the least. The Fernley track on the other hand was flat and fast and at first glance didn’t have the look of a very technical layout, but as time went on it turned out to be a tough challenging track. At first you could over jump some of the table tops but as the track got rougher you had to keep your courage up down the long back section in order to even come close to jumping them. A little head shake in the rough sand straights tends to shrink you.
I think the east track at Fernley tends to have much deeper softer sand and the track had three or four corners that were flat, deep and loose. One right hander in particular gave virtually everyone problems. The track seemed fairly short or the lap times were just that fast I’m not sure but we made lots of laps. Unlike Arizona I don’t think they hauled anyone away, there were lots of tip over’s but nothing really serious that I know of.
Carmen Ogino #72 leads the 50 Expert class at the Fernley sand track
I don’t know how many riders there were but I heard they had about a hundred pre entries plus people like me who post entered. I’m not sure but I believe this was this particular group of Old Timers first time to put on a race and I must say overall they did a good job. Things started out a little disheveled but they pulled it together when it mattered, I’d go back, if they promised to get rid of the mosquitoes that appeared every evening. (Question, where do mosquitoes come from when there’s no water in sight in the desert for miles?)
I enjoyed the weekend had a great time visiting with all the people I’ve come to know doing these events; it doesn’t get any better than that. And sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you, this weekend I ate the bear. There were seven in my class (including last year’s class champion) and I won all the motos, sweet. Looks like I’m going to stick with my KTM 450 for motocross. It worked great!
Next up; The Sierra MotoCross Classic at Prairie City June 6-7.
Doug 21J
Answer, the locals say the mosquitoes come from the sage brush.