Home Page Photo March 2020

[Admin]

Where's the worst place you've been stuck? (Besides home due to COVID 19.) Unnamed rider. Mother's Day Enduro. Standish, MI. May 8, 1977.
Photo by Bob DeVolder.

Click on the homepage photo to enlarge:
//www.pentonusa.org

[454MRW]

2006 Reunion Ride "mudfest" in Park Hills Missouri on the first day after 5 days of rain. Attempted going through the bog at the bottom of a hill on my 79 KTM MX-6 250 and buried it up to both axles, thought I had timed out for sure by the time I got it basically stood up on one wheel, then turned sideways to get out, but just finished in time. The sand completely wore away the rear brake shoes. Later that night watched the Cardinals win the World Series in a St. Louis bar. Good time & sore muscles the next morning.

Michael R. Winter
I enjoy rebuilding and appreciating Pentons!
1974 250 HS Penton
1976 MC5 400
1978 KTM 78 GS6 250
L78-79 MX6 175-250 KTM's
1976-78 125-400 RM's
2007 CR125R Honda
1977 MC250 Maico
2017 KTM Freeride 250R

[dennis brown]

2018 grand cane la.ahrma cross country picked bad line.there was no good line,a big 4 wheeler was used to pull me out

dennis l.brown

[skiracer]

2020 White Lightning...  Could not see the front axle, and the rear fender was 2" off the ground...  I was able to get the front wheel out, and stood the bike up on the rear wheel hoping to leverage the bike out of the rut; soil was too hard and would not give.  If not for the help from David Brown, I'd still be there! Good times!!!!!

1976 250 MC5 Original Owner
1976 Penton 175 XC

[wfopete]

454MRW; I remember the ISDTRR.  My 73 'Piner somehow made it. I fouled a plug shortly after the start right in the muck. I swapped it out and rode carefully though that mess.  As I recall the ride got better if you survived the first mud sections.

But my worst experience I can remember was in the early 1990's on on a hot and humid summer day not far from the Canoe Camp road trail head near Houghton Lake, Michigan. I dropped my YZ490 into a giant mud hole and buried above the frame rails. The worst part was it was 90 degrees out and where I was stuck was a giant breeding ground for mosquitoes and Deer flys.  They swarmed in on me and my two riding buddies while we were trying to dislodge the big YZ.  I remember you couldn't even take off your googles they were so blood thirsty.

Pete Petrick
175 Jackpiner
Slow but Good

[Mike OReilly]

Attempting to link to an e-mail from fellow POG'r Richard Colahan: the attachment (word document) is an excellent story about the  1978 Corduroy Enduro.

Richard and I were both there. It was an iconic year: ask anyone who was there about the "Powderhorn Trail" and they will still remember, all these years later. The "check out" of the Powderhorn that year was on a beach, and the check crew came in by boat! Anyone who was anywhere near their hour arrived back after dark.

It's a great read and I will let Richard's words fill in the rest.

If the link doesn't work, my aplogies, and if anyone has suggestions about how to link a word document to this forum, let me know.

Mike

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#search/rcolahan%40epix.net/FMfcgxwChJlBCGZnLNVJQvlmXnGLnVbX

[Pat Oshaughnessy]

I think it was 1975 the Sawmill Enduro near Clearlake No. Calif. I had just bought my 74 250 Penton from my pal who had been racing it at flat track. He was a Expert & very good rider! I came to the Enduro with my buddy who had 125 DKW . I was not keeping up with my buddy on the 125 DKW. We were pushing our bikes downhill through 2 ft. of snow. I thought what if wehave to go back up this way?  WE got seperated & I was all by myself. I got stuck in a mudhole with a foot of water & ice on top! By this time I was completley exhausted & wet With sweat. I kicked my bike & it started but sounded like it was loaded up. I grabbed a big handfull of throttle & let the clutch out. It pitched me over the bars on my back!  It was running backwards!  They will run backwards if timing is to advanced![]

[Daniel P. McEntee]

Three places come to mind and I will describe in chronological order;
  1) Not sure of the year, probably fall of 1974 or so. An enduro in Mechanicsburg, IL near Springfield. Not far from the start, there was an oddball creek crossing. The arrows took us in a specific line that I took, since I was on a Penton 125 Sixdays, and back then they started enduros with small bore bikes first, I was an early row number. I got stuck up to the seat. Didn't look to bad when I entered  it but it was like glue. Another guy got stuck next to me. There was a steep drop off into another part of the creek that some other riders took with some success, and to the left was a rather easy line that cleared everything. Being an early rider, i just never saw it, but since I was plugging up the marked trail, and the route to the right wasn't too inviting, everyone else went to the left with no trouble! If you were there and participated, you're welcome! I finally got some help to get out from the other guy, and then I helped him, and since we both had houred out by that time, we just headed back to the start.

  2) This was at the 2003 ISDTRR in Massachusetts. The area got soaked by a weeks worth  of rain from the remains of a hurricane that made it's way that far north. It was raining Saturday morning when we all left the line, and I was riding my new to me 1977 250 Hercules and was riding with my brother Tom. We got a fair ways into the route with not many problems. The ground seemed to be taking the rain well and no real muddy areas. I lost track of my brother, and I soon found myself facing a large mud bog on Old Brown Road. If I remember correctly, this was part of the original 1973 ISDT route, and was an old clay logging road that was hundreds of years old. I watched a few guys navigate the ruts and muck trying to decide my line. There was fencing on either side that prevented going around, as far as I could tell. There were some spectators there, and one guy was point out a large flat rock he had placed at one rut and encouraged me to take that line. Turned out to be a big mistake, as the puddle in front of the rut was about three feet deep! I hit the rock and rut, and came to an immediate stop. The back end of the bike was in mud up to fender. It was raining steadily still at that time still, and I looked like a drowning rat! Could not get the bike out, used up all my spare plugs in the effort. The people left and said that they would send back a truck with a guy and a XR-400 to pull me out. About an hour later, they arrived and it took the XR-400 and the rest of us to pull out my Hercules. It turned out I was only about a half mile from getting back to the main road and heard that the rest of the trail that day was much better. I had come down with a bad cold the day before and by that time I was completely spent and exhausted. The bike got a good rinse in the rain in the back of the truck on the ride back, and I let it lean against the trailer when the rain stopped. After about two hours, I checked the air box for mud and water, put in a new plug, and the bike fired right up! Better weather was predicted for Sunday, but I opted not to ride. it was a clear but cold day and I had trouble staying warm so just watched from the parking are. I had to drive back to St. Louis the next day, about 1800 miles I think, so it was best to just rest up.

 3) This was the before mentioned 2006 ISDTRR at Flat River. I was on my 1975 250 WR Husky that I had bought new from Dave Mungenast and road that i his memory. I got about as far as a lot of people, to that muddy pine section a few miles from the start ad got stuck at the bottom of the hill. I had plenty of company there this time around! It looked like a meeting of VINDURO members and I think I knew everyone there!. It had rained all day Friday, and Saturday was still gray and cloudy. But while we sat and chatted on the hill side, the sun came out, and we could see the ground drying out. Andre Ming said that we should all clean off our bikes and see if we could ride out while we were all there and could help each other if needed. While we were at work, the guys that was on the side car came through (I can't remember his name right now, and he was a VINDURO member) and he made it up the hill with little trouble. So, one by one we all got finished, fired up and went right up the hill. Over the top of the hill was a gravel road and then the first check, I think, and again, we weren't far from a lot easier trail. Some went on  just to ride, I headed back to the camp grounds. I decided to ride the next day just for the experience and did OK until the last couple of miles, when I just could not seem to stay on the bike! Lots of slippery ruts and tree roots. At one little creek crossing I went down and got used for traction by some one!. I got back to the starting area and was cheered by Jack Penton and some of his gang. That last five miles really whipped my but and I just sat still for about 3 hours before I could move again. St. Joe State Park and that area around it can have some really tough trail, since it has been ridden on for so long and it's hard to make or find fresh trail. I haven't been back there in quite a while and this far down the line, a ride like that again would probably kill me!

  Looking back at it all, though, it was a lot of fun and learned something from each situation.

  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Steve Minor]

I think I remember that section at the 2003 ISDTRR in Dalton. I'm still cleaning mud out of my gear. Super wet and muddy but still a great weekend...wouldn't have missed it for the world.

Steve Minor

[derek martin]

Summer 1977 two riding buds and I were fearlessly trespassing on Sahara Coal  and hill climbing Sahara 5's gob pile. 5 had been running since the 30s and the gob pile was huge. Halfway up was a ditch cut around West side . We climbed up to ditch and stopped. Ditch surface looked dry  as a bone.  Got off my TL125 Honda , found a good sized rock and bounced it off said ditch surface - hard as a brick bat. I wheelied down the bank to get a good run on the rest of the hill and broke through the crusted surface promptly sunching the TL to the tank and flipping over the bars landing on my back getting half buried in the grey gob mud myself.. Took over an hour to extricate the bike. Ruined a good pair of blue jeans and a pair of the tall Dingo harness boots we all wore at the time.The grey gob mud is severely corrosive and you can still see evidence of this episode on the bike's cases - still have the bike and under restoration.

[Pat Oshaughnessy]

2012 on baja 1000 course. My buddy had a GPS guiding us to stay on the race course. We came to a stream it had a tree branch across the road. In Baja that means dont do it! We didnt figure it out! No wheel tracks across  DUH!   IT was wide & flat sand W/1/8 inch water on top. Looked solid. It didnt look right to me so I stayed back. He got about 30 ft. & sunk! The more he gassed it the deeper it went! It was quick sand! It took 3 of us & a 4 wheeler to get his 650 Honda out!   [:0]

[Rick Bennett]

In 1973 when I had a Six Days, I raced the winter hare scramble series at Gran Prix Raceway in Canal Fulton, Ohio. Winter racing was always a struggle. These races were muddy even in the snow. This track was on the side of a big hill with stream running thru the lower section. By the end of two hours you would be covered from head to foot with frozen mud. Getting your goggles covered was a real problem. We hadn't figured out tear offs. One race I couldn't see a thing and pulled them off. Big mistake. As the race went on both my eyes became filled with mud. I stopped at a stream, broke thru the ice and splashed water on my face. By the time I reached home, hours later, I was in pain and couldn't see. A trip to the doctor showed both corneas scratched. Now I was taken home with ointment and patches over both eyes. This went on for about a week before my sight started to return to normal. Now I know what it is like to be blind.

[wfopete]

While not the worst case scenario, for a vintage MX race I think this deserves "Honorable Effort".  Name withheld. Diamond Don's circa 2012:



Pete Petrick
175 Jackpiner
Slow but Good