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Motorcycling Lifestyles
BIKES: East Coast Qualifier For The GS Trophy 2012 - Experience Over Muscle
Mud, dirt, sand, 60 degree inclines covered with shale, clay ruts and two-foot deep water obstacles and the deep woods. Road of Bones? No. It was the GS Trophy Qualifier 2012. ~ Competitor Scott Rocknak
Thirty-six BMW GS riders brought their personal best to compete on measures of physical endurance and a variety of motorcycle trials involving navigation, on- and off-road skills. (Photo: Neale Bayly)
By now, adventure motorcycling enthusiasts know that from September 21-23, BMW Motorad held two simultaneous rally-style qualifying events on the east and west coasts to pick the top six American GS riders. Those six riders are currently lobbying hard for your vote in a Facebook popularity contest that ends October 5 and will give half of them berths on the US GS Trophy team. The US team will compete against other national teams in South America during late November.
Neale Bayly and I watched the east coast event at the BMW Performance Center just outside Greenville, SC where thirty-six BMW GS riders brought their personal best to compete on measures of physical endurance and a variety of motorcycle trials involving navigation, on- and off-road skills. They were required to tent camp throughout the event
Dan Farson, UAE to USA
The top scorer and oldest competitor, Dan Farson, whose elegant riding made every challenge look deceptively easy, had just returned from military duty in the United Arab Emirates(UAE) in June. He didn’t do any motorcycling while stationed in the UAE, but 42 years of enduro riding served him well in the GS Trophy competition.
I asked him about his riding style and he told me about growing up in southern Ohio enduro country, studying the riding techniques of champion racers Bill Baird, Dick Burleson (aka “King Richard”), Terry Cunningham and others of the era. “All those old-time Enduro riders didn’t stand straight up. They had thighs like tree trunks because they crouched an inch or two off the seat,” Dan told me. “I have better control when I ride that way; it’s easier to make the transitions.”
Dan said he tallied the total riding over three days and figured it was only about three full hours over nine different challenges. “My impression was that the other competitors were wearing out thinking about it. Just like Yogi Berra says, ‘half of the game is 90% mental,’“ he chuckled.
Dan’s military training might explain how he kept a cool head, but how did the 56-year old do with the physical endurance portion against men in their 30’s? He didn’t lose any points, but he said his motorcycle boots felt like they weighed 300 pounds as he carried two five-gallon buckets around the track and righted a fallen R1200 GS. “I was running every other day starting in August and doing pushups and situps to get into better physical condition for the event,” he said, which of course meant he must have been in great shape to start with.
Jeanea Washington, “Fear is a good way to miss out on a lot of fun”
Jeanea Washington, the only female competitor, rode her lowered-chassis F 650 GS in the competition, which gave her obstacles that riders on taller bikes didn’t face. For example, at times her foot pegs got caught on the walls of the ruts that the taller bikes sailed over. She always had to factor in the lower clearance of her machine as she planned her lines, but she finished the weekend unscathed and proud. A sales representative for Kellogg's, she admitted to being scared, but quickly went on to say that giving in to fear is a good way to miss out on a lot of fun in life.
Her proudest moment was negotiating the deep water obstacle. Some suggested she should pass on the challenge because it was swamping bikes, but as dusk headed for dark and her turn came up, and she executed it with hardly any wake, “Textbook like I learned!” she exclaimed.
How was it competing against 35 men? “People were very supportive but someone said to me, ‘Boy I will be really embarrassed if you beat me’ and I thought, why?”
Why indeed. Perhaps we can discuss this in the comments section?
Click photo below to see more photos from the event »
Neale Bayly and I watched the east coast event at the BMW Performance Center just outside Greenville, SC where thirty-six BMW GS riders brought their personal best to compete on measures of physical endurance and a variety of motorcycle trials involving navigation, on- and off-road skills. They were required to tent camp throughout the event
Dan Farson, UAE to USA
The top scorer and oldest competitor, Dan Farson, whose elegant riding made every challenge look deceptively easy, had just returned from military duty in the United Arab Emirates(UAE) in June. He didn’t do any motorcycling while stationed in the UAE, but 42 years of enduro riding served him well in the GS Trophy competition.
I asked him about his riding style and he told me about growing up in southern Ohio enduro country, studying the riding techniques of champion racers Bill Baird, Dick Burleson (aka “King Richard”), Terry Cunningham and others of the era. “All those old-time Enduro riders didn’t stand straight up. They had thighs like tree trunks because they crouched an inch or two off the seat,” Dan told me. “I have better control when I ride that way; it’s easier to make the transitions.”
Dan said he tallied the total riding over three days and figured it was only about three full hours over nine different challenges. “My impression was that the other competitors were wearing out thinking about it. Just like Yogi Berra says, ‘half of the game is 90% mental,’“ he chuckled.
Dan’s military training might explain how he kept a cool head, but how did the 56-year old do with the physical endurance portion against men in their 30’s? He didn’t lose any points, but he said his motorcycle boots felt like they weighed 300 pounds as he carried two five-gallon buckets around the track and righted a fallen R1200 GS. “I was running every other day starting in August and doing pushups and situps to get into better physical condition for the event,” he said, which of course meant he must have been in great shape to start with.
Jeanea Washington, “Fear is a good way to miss out on a lot of fun”
Jeanea Washington, the only female competitor, rode her lowered-chassis F 650 GS in the competition, which gave her obstacles that riders on taller bikes didn’t face. For example, at times her foot pegs got caught on the walls of the ruts that the taller bikes sailed over. She always had to factor in the lower clearance of her machine as she planned her lines, but she finished the weekend unscathed and proud. A sales representative for Kellogg's, she admitted to being scared, but quickly went on to say that giving in to fear is a good way to miss out on a lot of fun in life.
Her proudest moment was negotiating the deep water obstacle. Some suggested she should pass on the challenge because it was swamping bikes, but as dusk headed for dark and her turn came up, and she executed it with hardly any wake, “Textbook like I learned!” she exclaimed.
How was it competing against 35 men? “People were very supportive but someone said to me, ‘Boy I will be really embarrassed if you beat me’ and I thought, why?”
Why indeed. Perhaps we can discuss this in the comments section?
Click photo below to see more photos from the event »
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