NEOTT MotoTrials

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NeottNews Monthly Newsletter

Issue #2 : December 2017
Email feedback, articles and ideas to neottnews@fastmail.com

Links to previous newsletters:
Nov 2017 :
Rider Profile - Kevin Kight

Like a lot of youngsters my love of motorcycles was preceded by bicycles.  At a very early age bicycles provided that feeling of freedom, wind in my hair (as I had never heard of a bicycle helmet) and a smile on my face.  I logged many miles biking on rural gravel roads on an OTASCO Flying O. 


In my earliest years I never had a motorcycle of my own.  My Dad was a bit of a “Picker” and a cowboy who had no use for anything with two wheels, if he could buy anything low and sell high he made it happen.  One day a Honda trailbike showed up at home and I rode it every chance I got.  A few months later… it was gone.  I guessed that Dad was able to make a buck on it.


Fast forward to age fifteen.  I was in Ft. Smith, AR at a second hand shop.  I was really uninterested in everything in the shop until I spotted a large stack of Dirt Bike magazines.  I still have the image in my head of the front cover photo.  It was the 125cc MX shootout.  Oh my goodness….. those bike were beautiful.  All the latest in Japanese models and Yamaha had two, YZ and MX.

I really wanted a motocross bike.  I had been to our nearest motorcycle dealer in Poteau, OK many times looking at the KX250 and 450 and pleading my case to Dad about how badly I needed one. 

Dad, being the boss that he was, brought home a 1975 Kawasaki KT-250.  I took one look at that thing and was actually disappointed.  I had read about trials in Dirt Bike magazine so I knew they were SLOW.  I’m sure when my Dad spoke with the salesman he said, “Show me the slowest bike you have”.   Nonetheless part of me was happy to have any bike that was dirt worthy.


I rode that bike for about five years then entered my first trial about 1982 or 83 with NEOTT at the Sand Springs grounds.  My trials career lasted about two or three events then I sold the bike.


Twenty-five years past me by when I decided to purchase a “modern” trials bike and give it another go.  In 2008 I found a 2001 GasGas 321, purchased it, got it home and was hooked, became a NEOTT member soon after.

About seven years ago I starting missing the KT of my youth.  Located a ’76 KT250 in Longmont, CO and had it shipped to Tulsa.  I ride it occasionally, have taken it to events to use as a pitbike/section setting bike.  That old iron really does help in reliving the past. 


Over the years I’ve made a lot of great friendships and I enjoy everything that goes along with trials.  Being outdoors/camping, camaraderie, the challenge of bike control and terrain challenges.


Much like Jason’s (Shack’s) rider profile from last month I have to say the Ute Cup has been my favorite mototrial memory.  All the challenges it brings. Such as power loss from engine because of elevation, sections, loop, a hail shower, wondering if you’ll have enough fuel or will I have enough stamina.


Last Ute I attended I was ready to tap out.  I was so tired. The last section was just a pile of rocks and in my memory it was a hundred yards long. I was ready to punch out with a five when I hear behind me “Come on Kev…you can do this”   None other than Shack shouting words of encouragement and coaching me to the finish line.   Thanks buddy.


My mototrials plan for the future is to make more memories.

2009 UTE Cup 13,000 feet and climbing, no air and a full backpack - awesome scenery and a great workout.
One tired crew after a 7-hour day on the UTE Cup Trail (Cramsey, Kight, Martin, and Meyers - not a law firm!)
December 2017 Event and Season wrap up - Wildcat Ranch, Decatur, AR
The season finale was held at the Wildcat Ranch, home of Almosta Race which supports the RiderDown.org.  Fred and Mary were awesome hosts as always.  Kevin, Todd D, Penni and Jon setup a terrific course on the slippery slopes that are seemingly everywhere on the ranch.  Weather was perfect for the eleven riders and their supporters who were in attendance but the highlight of the day was destined to be the Senior Amateur class coming down to this last event with Todd D. and Eldon all tied up with 200 points each.  It was a winner take all smack down.  Eight well-groomed but slippery sections meant that any little bobble could determine the championship.
Even though it was a typical NEOTT group ride given that the championship was on the line Mike punched out for the day (his rear brake hose lost a battle with some barbed wire during practice) and followed the riders around the course and acted as a mobile judge punching their cards just to keep everything clean.  The side benefit of that is he had a front-row seat to all the action so we get a rare play-by-play review of what went down.
Loop 1 saw little dabs here and there from both riders coming into section 7 where they were all tied at 3 apiece.  Todd went first and brain farted and rode through the AM gate at the entry log for a 5.  Then Eldon had a nice ride for a 1 giving Eldon a 4 point lead.  On to section 8 and it was time for Eldon to brain fart right back and take a 5 after he entered the section in 3rd gear only to end up killing his engine.  Loop 1 ended with Todd having a 1 point lead 8 to 9.

Loop 2 saw each rider going clean up until Section 6 which had a good sized log with a tricky approach followed by making a u-turn on lots of rubbly rocks covered by leaves.  Todd went first and picked up a 1 tying the score.  Eldon got a little off line going across the log giving him hardly any room to make the u-turn.  He had to use up a couple of dabs to get situated then once we was rolling again the rubbly rocks gave out out and he ultimately ended up with his front wheel thrown on the wrong side of a tree and on the boundary ribbon.  He had to pull his bike backwards to get around the tree for a 5.  Then in tricky Section 7 Todd picked up a 1 while Eldon had a great ride for a clean.  Then off to Section 8 both Todd and Eldon were clean so Loop 2 ended with Todd having a 4 point advantage 10-14.

Loop 3 was pressure packed since with all the loose gravel and steep cambers getting just a little bit off-line could mean bike and rider sliding down a hill for a five.  In Section 1 both Todd and Eldon traded safety dabs.  Both were clean through 2, 3 and 4.  The exit on Section 5 was getting looser as the day wore on and Todd picked up 2 points while Eldon got a 1 to close the gap to 3 points heading back to the tricky sections 6 and 7.  In Section 6 Todd went first and got a little off-line going over the log and was within a hair of having his front tire go out-of-bounds but he held on and escaped the section with a 1.  Meanwhile Eldon rode the section beautifully for a clean so now the gap was 2.  Section 7 was very technical and loose and literally anything could happen here to decide the winner.  The tension was high but each rider managed their way through with a one to get through the section leaving the gap at 2 points.  Section 8 if you rode it right was pretty straight forward except the entry was a very steep downhill turn on a loose gravel camber and you had to control your brakes perfectly or else you were going for a very slippery slide down the hill on your butt.  Both riders held their butts firm and cleaned it to close out the day.  The final score was Todd 15 and Eldon 17. 

Overall Results:
Exp: Ron Lee - 7 ; Chris Shellenberger - 32 ; Mike Cramsey - 120
Int: Todd Phillips - 28
Sr Ama: Todd Duesterhaus - 15 ; Eldon Malone - 17 ; Kevin Kight - 22 ; Joel Honea - 79
Nov: Bill Kleeman - 18 ; Penni Taylor 28 ; Charlie Mallow (N\C) - 14

Almosta Race:
Remember that Fred and Mary are hosting the Almosta Race on Jan 1, 2018.  All the latest info is their FB page here

2017 Awards

2017 Class Winner Awards

Penni Taylor, Novice : Todd Duesterhaus, Sr. Ama : Mike Cramsey, Expert
 2017 Year-End Awards - New S3 Hydration Tool Packs

Five riders attended 7 or more events and received these cool S3 packs:
Mike Cramsey, Todd Duesterhaus, Eldon Malone, Kevin Kight and Penni Taylor

Thanks Kevin for getting these ordered and embroidered they look sharp, carry well and have room for all essentials ... Just the right size for the UTE Cup loop - hint hint.
2017 - Iron Man Awards

The annual iron man award is earned by riders that attend every NEOTT event during the season.  The winners get a new Dunlop D803GP front tire.  For the first time ever, NEOTT has four Iron Man Award Winners in the same year.  Tires will be handed out at the January 21, 2018 event at Grand Lake.

1. Mike Cramsey
2. Todd Duesterhaus
3. Eldon Malone
4. Kevin Kight

Lifetime Award


Then this totally unexpected event happened, the tall guy got a Lifetime Membership Award.


"From the members of NEOTT in recognition of the countless hours you have dedicated to our club.  You are hereby granted a lifetime free pass to membership and all NEOTT events."


Thanks guys!  I'm thinking 30 or 40 more years of free sounds great to me because it may take that long to eventually get my name on the Sooner Cup.

2017 Club Meeting - Election of Officers, Club Business and 2018 Schedule
2018 Club Officers are:
Kevin Kight, President
Todd Phillips, Vice President
Mike Cramsey, Secretary
Kevin Kight, Treasurer
Penni Taylor, Officer-at-Large
Club Meeting Notes for 2018
- No June event, all members expected to help with Keenan's National
- No events scheduled for Byrd's Adv Center in 2018
- No leveraging other clubs events for NEOTT points
- Finances are good, fees remain the same for 2018
- For 2018 NEOTT will host the Sooner Cup at Fry Lake (Todd D has the cup for safe keeping and showing it off to all his friends - Bacon is guarding it)
- Discussion: Proposed build out of man-made trials grounds at an existing motorcycle park near Tulsa. Great concept but more work than the members want to take on and in general the membership prefers natural terrain courses.   All were in favor of riding it if someone else is willing to build it out and first half of the year will be very busy with Nationals prep.
- Discussion: Attend one BJEC and one OCCRA event with a pop-up tent, club banner and informational flyers to increase awareness of NEOTT with riders of other disciplines.  Will need someone to take the lead on this to make it happen.
- Discussion: NEOTT hosted national: 2020 could be too soon to host a National but 2024 would be 50-year anniversary of the first NEOTT hosted National and could be used to rally the troops around that.  For fun, see the results of the 1974 NEOTT National here you may recognize a lot of the names.  Will continue working on this throughout the year.
2018 NEOTT, CRTC, NATC, Ute Cup Consolidated Schedule

NEOTT riders must attend 7 of 11 NEOTT events and be trialsmaster at least once in order to qualify for NEOTT year-end awards.  LOTS of riding opportunities in our region this year.

- NEOTT: Jan 21, Grand Lake
- NEOTT: Feb 18, Grand Lake
- NEOTT: Mar 18 Grand Lake Dam Gate Trial
- TTC: Mar 24 & 25, Trials Training Days - TTC, TN
- CRTC\MITA: Apr 7 & 8 TBD, MO
- NEOTT: Apr 15, Gruber
- NATC-West:  Apr 21 & 22 - Roswell, NM
- NATC-West:  Apr 28 & 29 - TBD, CO
- CRTC\MWTA: May 5 & 6, NE
- NEOTT: May 20, Gruber
- NATC-East: Jun 9 & 10 TTC, TN
- NATC-East: Jun 16 & 17 Uniontown, AR
- NEOTT: Jul 21,  Grand Lake, SATURDAY Night Trial
- RMTA:  Aug 18 & 19 Ute Cup, Rainbow Trail, CO
- NATC-West:   Sep 1 & 2 - Donner, CA
- FIM:      Sep 8 & 9 - Vancouver, Canada (Canadian Nationals)
- NEOTT: Sep 9 Fry Lake Seminole, OK
- CRTC\MATT: Sep 15 & 16 - Trenton, MO
- CRTC\NEOTT: Sep 29 & 30 - Sooner Cup, Fry Lake Seminole, OK
- CRTC\AVTA: Oct 13 & 14 - Sedan, KS
- CRTC\NTTA: Nov 3 &  4 - Muenster, TX
- NEOTT: Nov 18 - Wildcat Ranch, AR
- NEOTT: Dec 16 - Grand Lake with year-end banquet and awards

You can subscribe to this schedule by copying and pasting the following link into your desktop or mobile device calendar.  How you do that varies by device and operating system - google it or call Cramsey if you get stuck.

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/bbgv3f6dcvcans0g1menjv8v08%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

Benefits include automatic updates if the dates change, links to web sites for more info, get directions on your phone when addresses are known and reminders 3-days prior to the event.

Cool Stuff


Super Dave brought his drone camera out to Disney back in October and filmed Shack riding the Master Line in Section 7.  Definitely cool stuff.

  

Click the image or here to watch the video.



In 2018 NEOTT will have five events at Grand Lake which usually results in some interaction with other off-road enthusiasts which is also an opportunity to pass along some info about trials.   The club has come up with these double-sided business cards showing Pat going off the rock slab at Grand that can be handed out to anyone with an interest in Trials.

You can pick these up at event sign-up and hand them out like candy to friends, family and anyone that has an interest in trials.  If you need a rush order, let Cramsey know and he'll get them dispatched to you posthaste.  Many thanks to RYPUSA for helping with the printing costs.
Classifieds

Looking for a bike? (Seriously aren't we always looking :-)) here are some quick  links for trials bikes on Craigslist in these nearby cities:
Already have a trials bike sitting in the garage and maybe it has some dust on it?  Clean it up, bring it out, ride and rediscover the joy of riding trials.

Coming up in the January 2018 Issue

- The origins of NEOTT by Mike McCabe
- Rider Profile - Mike Cramsey
- Various updates from the world of trials
- Also never too early to get your 2018 Membership form turned in - the form is here.