THE TRASK MOUNTAIN TWO DAYS
By
Trask M/C, 2003
For twenty-five years – 1971 through 1995 – the Trask Mountain Two
Days was a qualifying round for the United States entry at the International Six
Days Enduro (formerly the International Six Days Trial).
In late 1970, at the District 28 Sanction Meeting for events to be held
in 1971, the Trask Mountain Motorcycle Club applied for a sanction to stage a
One Day Reliability Trial. The
American Motorcyclist Association had just become the FIM-affiliated
organization for the United States, and was thus charged with selecting the
teams for our country’s participation in the International Six Days Trial.
The Trask Mountain MC was the only club in the country that had applied
for an event of this type.
The AMA requested we host a Two Days event to be used as a qualifier for
the United States ISDT teams (Trophy, Silver Vase, and Club teams) and the Trask
Mountain Two Days was born. A club
member had a copy of the FIM regulations for reliability trials from the ADAC,
one of the two West German affiliates. Translated into English, these rules
turned out to be the only set in this country, and the 1971 event ended up being
the sole qualifier that year, with sixty-seven hardy souls entering that first
effort.
The first two days started and finished at the Yamhill County
Fairgrounds, on the east side of McMinnville. This meant that competitors had to
ride through town on Highway 99 West, adding considerable zest to the event.
For the local citizenry, trips to the supermarket took on new meaning, as
riders intent on making up a few minutes threaded their way through traffic.
The McMinnville police more or less looked the other way initially, but
in 1973 finally requested that riders stop pulling wheelies on their return
journey to the Fairgrounds at the end of the day.
The Fairgrounds remained the headquarters for the event through the first
nine years, enriching local folklore immeasurably.
As the ISDT featured two hundred mile days at that time, the early
editions of the Trask Mountain Two Days regularly exceeded that mileage each
day, all in a single huge loop, with the second day run in a reverse direction.
Special Tests were Terrain Tests, some up to eight miles in length.
The first four years were held in good weather conditions, but in 1975
the entry was badly mauled by sleet and snow during the event.
Heavy snowfall made it almost impossible for support crews to get to the
checkpoints. Some sections of trail
ordinarily utilized at Trask were covered in up to five feet of snow. This was in the middle of May, mind you.
To this day, in the Fall, hunters still turn up rusted Bultacos, Puchs,
and Montesas, abandoned in the brush as their owners struggled out on foot
through the drifts.
The Final Motocross Special Test became a fixture at Trask in 1977, the
first year the course finished at Mulkey ORV Park, southwest of McMinnville.
From 1980 through 1984, the event headquarters was the ORV Park.
All riders not on Bronze medal level were required to compete in the
Motocross. For many woods riders,
actually lining up for a motocross was a new experience, not without some mental
distress, followed after the start by physical distress.
The Two Days became Three Days in 1980 and 1984, staged on Memorial Day
weekend, the only three-day period in the Spring when logging crews weren’t in
the woods. The loggers may have been out of the woods, but numerous
campers were happily set up in the nice wide trails cleared for the event, not
realizing what those colorful little markers signified.
Camper ignorance ended on
the first morning, when early-numbered riders rode through many still-slumbering
campsites. Coolers, coffeepots, and
dreams were shattered. Clumps of
goose down and holofil fiber clung to bushes along the route for weeks
afterward.
Early in 1985, an optimistic club member – rumored to be the same
bonehead who thought up the event in the first place – suggested the club
approach Bryce and Barbara Mitchell, the owners and operators of the Flying M
Ranch, with the idea of running the Two Days out of the Ranch.
This would eliminate the long pavement sections necessary to reach the
actual course loop which were features of both the Fairgrounds and ORV Park
sites. Happily, the Mitchells consented, and the final form of the
event began. Being able to utilize
the Ranch and its environs proved to be a great boost to the quality of the Two
Days. The two hundred camping
spots, twenty-eight-room motel,
excellent dining facilities, numerous restrooms, and the beautiful setting were
a positive change.
The number of entries increased markedly during the years, reaching over
five hundred by 1990, after which it was limited to four hundred riders.
Support personnel and spectators brought the total number of people in
attendance to around two thousand, perhaps slightly more.
The Club planned to end the event in 1995, and did so.
The Trask Mountain International Two Days passed into the history books
as the longest-running AMA Qualifier, as well as a perennial rider favorite.
So there you have it, a short history of Trask Mountain.
Don’t think it wasn’t fun for us, too.
Most of the time, anyway.
---
The Trask Mountain MC
Denny Bershaw, Jay
Cayton, Carl Mendenhall, Mike Poe, Allen Sitton
TRASK
MOUNTAIN OVERALL WINNERS
1971
Jeff Penton
125cc. Penton
1972
Dick Burleson
125 cc. Penton
1973
Jeff Penton
175 cc. Penton
1974
Jack Penton
250 cc. Penton
1975
Dick Burleson
250 cc. Husqvarna
1976
Jack Penton
250 cc. Penton
1977
John Fero
250 cc. Yamaha
1978
Dick Burleson
500
cc. Husqvarna
1979
Dick Burleson
500 cc. Husqvarna
1980
Ed Lojak
250 cc. Husqvarna
1981
Frank Stacy
250 cc. Suzuki
1982
Ken Maahs 250
cc. Husqvarna
1983
Kevin Hines
250 cc. Husqvarna
1984
Kevin Hines
250 cc. Husqvarna
1985
Fritz Kadlec
250 cc. Husqvarna
1986
Geoff Ballard
500 cc. Can-Am
1987
Larry Roeseler
250 cc. Kawasaki
1988
Larry Roeseler
250 cc. Kawasaki
1989
Kurt Hough
250 cc. Kawasaki
1990
Kurt Hough 250
cc. Kawasaki
1991
Kurt Hough
250 cc. Kawasaki
1992
Rodney Smith
250 cc. Suzuki
1993
Rodney Smith
250 cc. Suzuki
1994
Rodney Smith 250
cc. Suzuki
1995
Rodney Smith
250 cc. Suzuki
Okay,
so five guys can’t put on an event.
A lot of thanks are in order:
The
Trailsmen Motorcycle Club (without whom the event wouldn’t happen)
Bryce
and Barbara Mitchell and the Flying M Staff
American
Motorcyclist Association Amateur Activities Division
Wesley
Allen and the communications crew
Acerbis
Plastica USA (many years of Special Test Ribbon)
PABATCO
(for the classic Hodaka Banner)
Malcolm
Smith Racing (thousands of course markers)
John
Rothlisberger
Tim
Erickson
John
Barnum
Wally
Brosamle and Mulkey ORV Park
Dr.
Scotty and the Wanton Former Maidens
Jerry
Duncan and Pat Garvey
Charlie
Keller and the little Neanderthal Girl
Walt
and Jean Williams
Glenn
and Helen Reid
Ralph
Williams
Susan
and Bob Brunner
Everett
and Kathy Moore
Jerry
and Pauline Morrell
Al
and Carol Parker
Wayne
Melby
Dan
Hatcher
Bill
Leppo
Greg
Mardock
Tom
Young
Alvie
Seward
Kenneth
Payne
Willamette
Industries: Graydon Adcock and Dan
Upton
Bureau
of Land Management: Jeff ‘King’
Kovach, Neil Carr, and Richard M. Prather
Boise
Cascade: Rudy Frazzini, Monica
Jelden, and Don Wales
Yamhill
County Sheriff’s Department: Sergeant Rob Nou and Deputy Butch Clason