The Real Deal

This is dedicated my parents who made a memorable childhood for me in the High Desert and for all the Distrct 37 desert riders who where the icons of my youth, thanks for being around to remember these golden years.

1-13-08

Sunday noon after a good week of rain I figured this would be the best time to go out and ride the old Ponderosa Hare Scrambles course.
The sand should be packed well, and on a 500+ pound R100GSPD, doing the whoops would be challenging enough.
I figured I needed the "training" anyhow. Work on the old dirt skills...man was I right about that, except maybe for the packed sand part.

Avenue J and 145th Street East. coming from the east, the old rancho came into view.
You guys will remember the starting line (red line).

Looking West................................................................................................................Looking East

There isn't alot left of the old homestead I'm afraid, or anythging else for that matter.
Even the reservoir is has eroded into dust.
Funny how everything some much larger than life when I was 15.
The ranch, the house the bikes, the riders...it's an odd perspective 40 years later.


You can buy just the the buildings and a couple acres for anearly ten times what my parents sold
the 160 acres for back in the late 60's.

All the trees are dead or gone. Prey???.

Depressing. Time to get out on the course. The famous whoops seem to be pretty well blown down too.
...but I imagined the smokebomb.
Go due north.


About a mile out,at the first hardpan, I searched for stacks of old burned tires...non to be found.
It's been a while.
Finding the trail heading east was hard enough. This pic facing due east towards the butte.


Here's a ballpark aerial view of the course if you ever have the hankerin'.
I remember it as a 13 mile loop, original Lost Coyotes member Daryl Ellis remembers it as 16 miles.

I think I found the trail, lots of them out there. Jack Ross, the big daddy that promoted the race and laid out
the course probably took it out farther than I think.
Heck, you just followed the course markers after the bomb...if you could see them...

The trail east is firm and you could make good time here.

Then the hard stuff started. Heading up towards the butte you cross an alluvial fan, a good mile of short whoops.
The fast guys learned to skim the tops risking only their necks. Nowadays it's no biggie.
The youts who might read this won't remember front forks with 3" to 6" of travel.
My stock Ace 90 had 2.5"...

The closer you get to the backside of the hill the steeper and deeper it gets...duh!
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...
I started to sweat. I started to loose my direction. I started to cheat.
Staying on the whoopage of the trail seemd silly when going across flatter sections of virgin dez was mucho easier.
If the Saddleback Butte park ranger could see me now.
Lucky for me Saddleback is the next butte south of here...

Shitza! I can't remember which trail it is!
The sand and whoops pushed me farther esat, kinda like being in a cross-current.
Once I found a trail with some purchase I just hit it.
This one cut up and back in the general correct direction...
But not da kind.

...then it got steeper...

UP top it had a nice view....now to get der bearings.


I could see Heartbreak hill right infront of me, but it was either transverse a fairly technical section...
(Hey, remember I'm riding a GS)...or, head back down a deep sandy section that would catch the uphill
deep sandy section, after making a hard left from the first steep sandy section...
What's not seen in this pic is the drop off about 50 feet ahead. I chose to turn down into the soft stuff.
Less pain when I get off...ahem.

....I am so proud of myself, yes... Down and up, piece-of cake.
Welcome to Checkpoint One, Heartbreak Hill.
Have the man in the orange vest mark your fueltank, please!

Did I mention how everything seemed larger than life? Well some things remained the same.

View from the ridge: the water tank, and now cell site.

Old dude, sweating profusely...

From up here you can see forever...the trail down from the hill is direct and easy to see.

Gee it's great to be back...after gulping water and telling myself I am one macho mofo', it's time to head down the steep sandy section...
I'll spare the readers the details, but suffice to say, going down the other side was every bit as exciting with my behemouth airhead as it was with my tiny Ace 90, just different....and steep...and deep...and sandy.
"After it rains the sand is well packed"...NOT! I did not however, "tump" over.

This pic makes it looks like a baby donkey trail.

HEE HAW!!!

The rest of the downhill is more cheating... flat un-touched sand is better than hero-whoops.
Lots of those coming down to the flats.

...and finally the trail smooths out to hardpan along the fence.
This is the fast section going due west.

...and finally, coming into the home stretch going south where the whoops came at a lower frequency.
That's good cuz I'm beat.

Get your tank check (correct color crayola please!) and head back out.
Big bikes 2 loops...
Trail bikes, your done, go get a cold beer and a Ponderosa Burger.

Glad I did it, glad it's over. That's the beauty of a dualsport.
Back on the pavement you're abusing the law to utilize your god given swampcooler rights. Ahhhh!
Next stop, 90th East and Avenue J.
The really old dudes will remember the Old Timers tavern, yet another watering hole.
There was one about ever 10 miles back then, from Lancaster to Hi Vista, 25 cent drafts.
The old Old timers was on this corner before it was torn down in the late 60's.
This was their gas sign. It's now the Big 9 Market's sign.
The Old Timers was moved to the new building seen here in the back, now called "A Wing & A Prayer" or some such...

Surprise! The Big 9 Market has always been owned by Jewel, that's our buddy Daryl Ellis' mom.
Just by luck Daryl was in.
Shit, Daryl is always in. He's as goofy and laughable as ever.
I told him I just rode the Ponderosa and he cracked up.
He said "On that!?!" incredulously, and cracked up again.
Funny guy that Daryl...


It was giving him shit for not having ridden since 1984...taking care of his parents and all...but he had
a story right off the top about how he rode the second Ponderosa Hare Scrambles on his Honda 160...
not a Scrambler, a CB160...street bike...he finished 189th...
So I one-upped him with my story about how my first race there I came in so dead last that there wasn't
anybody at the finish line..everyone was gone.
Daryl cracked up.

Bonus! Big D told me he had a two and a half hour VHS of Ponderosa footage...then he went and got it for me!
He said Lonnie Petersen had it for years and just got it back recently.
He said there's another tape floating aout somewhere, prolly one of the Lost Coyotes crew.
Well, at least I now have 1/2 the holy grail of the Ponderosa Hare Scrambles archive. (DVD coming soon!...)