Glen Helen, the name says it all

 Glen Helen - So Cal Internation OTMX

You know I’m sure I’ve said this before, but part of the destination is now the journey, for me anyway. Sure there was a time when time was short so getting there was a pain to be endured. Not so today, I enjoy the journey; you never know what you might see. Like on highway 55 in Idaho, there’s a road you pass called Chicken Dinner Rd. Every time I pass it I can’t help think out loud “winner, winner, chicken dinner”

So in that spirit I decided to take the longer but more scenic route to So Cal for the last International Old Timer MX of the year. Instead of going down I-5, or Hwy. 99 I’m going to take 395 and in order to get to 395 I have to go up Hwy. 50 to and through So Lake Tahoe, what a shame. I found in the past 395 to be much more enjoyable scenery wise than the other two options. Especially this time of year the cottonwoods are just starting to turn into fall colors, sort of a poor man’s version of New England in the fall.

Well the scenery was as expected, great, but I what I didn’t expect were all the delays by crews repaving the highways. I endured five of these on the way down anywhere from fifteen minutes to a half hour and that was just the sitting in line part of it. Then it took another big chunk of time to get clear of the area and get all the traffic in front of me to get back up to speed. What should have been about a nine to ten hour trip turned into an eleven hour plus trip?

I almost made it, but decided to pull off some fifteen miles from the track because I couldn’t remember which turn off to take. The place I picked where highway 138 and I-5 meet is also a place where trains pass each other. I’d say there are at least two segments of our economy that are doing well, paving companies and the railway industry. I have no idea how many trains went by dozens for sure. A few of them woke me up making very strange, spooky sounds as they went by. Also there was a very odd smell that bothered me all night and in the morning I could see why. A few months ago a wild fire swept through and I was smelling the left over smells that accompany a fire like that.

Driving through the gates into Glen Helen is always special because of all those who have gone before. The only thing beautiful about Glen Helen is the track everything else is fairly butt ugly. Each year the trees offer less and less shade and some are beyond offering any shade.

The beauty of this track starts behind the start gate and the memories of all those who have stared down that long, long uphill start straight and at the end a larger than life high banked sweeping right turn dubbed “The Talladega turn” because it is high a (and I mean high) banked turn. You can gain as much speed as your bike will generate down the start strait and carry as much of it as you are willing to up around through and down that turn to the next corner. Which is usually a left hand turn and up the first hill, all the hills are momentum and horse power hills. There are at least three iconic hills that are the face of Glen Helen, a downhill that passes under a steel overpass then back up a steep hill to where the American flag is always flown (The top of that hill is known as Mt St Helens) you then go down the third hill, from there on the track layout varies. Those hills are much steeper than they look in any photo or video. I coasted down the big hill one year after the flag once; I pop stalled the engine just as I headed down it. I had a Rekluse in it and couldn’t bump start it and I wasn’t brave enough to reach down and pull the kick starter out while rolling down that steep ass hill, yes I was puckered.

The other part of the track that remains pretty much the same event after event is the grandstand area, there’s usually a couple of tabletops and a single double triple, woops in that area and then back onto the start straight about half way down the start straight where your acceleration up the start straight normally takes you to the outside of that straight way. It’s pretty exhilarating and by the time you reach the apex of the Talladega turn it feels like your eyeballs are vibrating. 

As you walk to the riders meeting area, sign up, grandstands and food etc. there is the “Walk of Fame” where some of the greats from the past have had plaques laid in their honor. The first one is Roger Decoster in 1997 the last one is Chuck “Feets” Minert in 2014 (He recently passed way at 85)

The turnout was much better than the club had expected since another organization was running an event on the same weekend. The track, the racing, the food, the raffle prizes where great and speaking of dinner it was held in a big hall built a few years ago that is filled with huge posters of legends of the past. This place has so much history, I’m sure to the regulars who show up at this track all the time don’t even see the history right in front of them anymore, but us out of towners do and really appreciate all of it. But once again if you didn’t have the comrade all of it would certainly not be the fun it is nor mean as much as it does.

FYI, I didn’t see anybody kneeling or sitting during our national anthem and as I’ve said before in today’s national climate paying respect to our flag has become a source of pride to those of us in attendance. 

Then there’s the over 70 Vietnam War vet with bullet hole in his back and still has part of it in there lodged against a rib, and he keeps the other part of it as a souvenir. This guy not only races dirt bikes, he still rides bulls in the World Vet Rodeo. The pits are sprinkled with people with stories like this and getting acquainted with new friends and their stories never gets old. The weekend is full of stories where you may even tell one on yourself or point out to everyone someone else’s momentary lapses.  Like the fact that Duane started his bike and it didn’t sound right and from inside his trailer his wife (Debbie) yells at him to take the plug out of the muffler. I told a couple of the wives that woman tend to stick together and support each other while us guys take delight in finding anything we can use to rip the other guy. Carmen who rides a new KTM 250SXF-FE has been experiencing shifting problems and on Sunday because it would no longer stay in gear borrowed Mike Musco’s Yamaha YZ 250 two stroke and rode it extremely well. So I ask him if there might be a new YZ in his future, he says no but maybe a KTM two stroke. You know the best thing, his wife Rene say’s, yep I think a new KTM two stroke just might be in his future. How cool is that?

I received an email ad today from GOPro touting their new Hero 5 and it reminded me that I had taken some video’s using my Hero 4. I wanted to get some footage from the start line up to and around Talladega turn. After reviewing what I had done it’s clear I do not need the new Hero 5 because I don’t even know how to use the Hero 4.

Believe it, the fastest rider over the weekend was a young woman from Japan who rode in the support class, I understand she was out on Friday practicing with Kyle Chrisom (A National MX rider) she easily cleared all the jumps and made the rhythm sections look easy. It was a real treat to watch her. 

I asked the ambulance guys (who didn’t need to use it over the weekend) how the weekend went and they said other than a few bumps and bruises they had a very quiet weekend. (Just what we like)

Well that’s it for the 2016 International Old Timers Moto Cross series. Made some new friends, bs’d with the old ones and have another shit pot of great memories.

Here’s to hopping we can all meet again next year.

21J