Rainman and Don Cutler ride in Maine

[bkinnon]

Yesterday in Maine it was a beautiful, cool, fall day. Just right for a trail ride with one of my heroes.. actually two of them. Don Cutler and Rainman.

   Six of us convoyed to Kingfield in the western mountains of Maine to ride Don's trail system. Rocks, roots, and some mud, along with spectacular mountain scenery. 80 miles of fun. I know many of you raced with Don in the day and he must have been one hell of a fast rider, 'cause he sets a pace now that is all I can take at my advanced age of 55 years old. Don is in his 70's.

   Rainman did his usual entertainment of horn beeping and foolishness. What a great guy. I may have started some of the foolishness. This was our third ride this fall with Don and company. Got to meet Marcia McDonald yesterday as well. She chose not to ride, but has a treasure parked in Don's shop that she still rides. A '76 Penton 175 that I am told Tom Penton rode in the ISDT.
    Maine seems to have become the place for former Ossa riders, as Don said Charlie Vincent also lives here on the coast somewhere.

May have one or two more rides going this fall, but not with Don, as he is heading to the ISDTRR soon.

If anyone wants to ride in the unspoiled mountains of Maine sometime, we have a pretty good club (Pine Tree Trail Riders)and some good rides. Three weeks ago was our two day trail ride. Our group rode 166 miles with an overnight at one of Maine's premier ski resorts, Sunday River. Sure would be nice to share some of Maine's  riding goodness with some Penton folks.

Bill

[Jeff D]

Easy to see why Don was one of the top New England riders for years, isn't it!  I've ridden with him the past two Reunion Rides and as long as I don't bobble, I can keep his back fender in sight, but one little error and I have to play catch up.  At the last Arkansas Reunion I followed him for at least 10 miles and the only time he put his foot down was when he came to a stop.  Don was New England Trials champion in the mid-60s before he started tearing up the woods on Ossas.  Ask him how he liked riding Yankees in the qualifiers!    Charlie Vincent lives pretty close to Don but he doesn't do much woods riding anymore.  Last I heard he was trying to find a Triumph Cub in trials dress.  Both those guys (as well as Dave Latham, Ron Webster, Ron Alleman and the rest of the Ossa team) were my heroes when I was a snot-nosed kid riding NETRA junior enduros.  Don and Marcia (especially Marcia) were the ones who got the junior enduro program going back them, and for that I have been forever thankful.  Wonderful people, wonderful memories.  Glad you had a good time with them!

Jeff DeBell

[bkinnon]

Thanks for the insight, Jeff. I didn't know about the trials background, but it is evident in his riding style. Don told us about an enduro in which he rode a trials bike and finished on top.
Don is pretty reserved, but likes to talk about the old days...after the ride. When you ride with Don, you go to ride. He is dressed and ready when you arrive and it is all about hitting the trail. Social time is the half hour afterward, getting ready to leave and hanging out in the shop. Kind of hard to walk around his workshop without seeing something really special. I should be taking pictures... The 1973 Ossa poster of Dave Latham, Charlie Vincent, and Don at the ISDT is on one wall and a recent photo of the three of them is on another wall. Cool and easy to break into conversations. It got Don talking about Yankee 500 and his feelings regarding the Yankee at the qualifier. Two flats and bent rims were part of it. Pretty sure he didn't like it....yup, I am positive.

I had the privilege of following Don for a lot of miles and saw no bobbles. Always on the pegs and smooth is all I can say. I know he held the pace back out to accomodate our group. He is riding a Yamaha WR250F now, but he has quite a few Ossas and other historical goldmines in the shop.

Bill

[Jeff D]

Don told me about his last ride on the Yankee.  I think it was at Trask, but anyway he said he was coming down this hill and where it leveled off there was a pretty good sized rock, not particularly high, but all the way across the trail.  On his Ossa he knew he could hit it and continue on as if it never existed.  He hit it the same way with the Yankee and he crashed hard for what felt like a full minute before he and the beast bike came to a halt.  He managed to continue and finish the event, but told John Taylor that was it for him.  I know Charlie rode a Yankee in Czecho at the 72 Six Days.  I used to have two of them and they cannot be described as svelte!  Sorry for the off-Penton discourse here, but fun memories.

Jeff DeBell

[400gs6]

Sounds like a great day Bill!  Ray had invited me along but I ran the Noble Woods Turkey Run with the gang on Sunday and was pretty beat.  Hopefully, I'll be able to make the next ride up there.  

I too grew up riding the Netra events and remember Don and Marcia. They were very well liked.

Kurt

[bkinnon]

Kurt, you missed a good ride. I am sure Noble Woods was fun, but the riding in Don's neck of the woods is excellent. So many miles click off without as much as a road crossing. The whole 80 miles took us past less than 10 homes, and most of those were where we gassed up and had lunch at the White Elephant in Strong. Good food too.

We also had as much white hair under the helmets as a beauty salon on the saturday before Easter.

I see why you guys ride with Raymond all of the time. He is entertaining as can be and a good rider. It is nice when you have a group of self sufficient riders.

Next time...and maybe I will show you my bikes on the way through Minot...

[400gs6]

Hopefully, we can get together before the season comes to a close. We rode from Crandall's yesterday.  What a hoot, we did 73 miles of rocks and roots!!!!

 Bill, I'd love to see your collection sometime!

-Kurt