*    Bike - if your truck bed seems really empty, you probably forgot
to load your bike.

*    Ramp - unless you plan to dead-lift your bike in and out of your
truck, a ramp is a necessity.  Actually, the Club once witnessed a truck
pull into the Pits and a younger rider lifted two Suzuki RM's out of his
truck.  With the assistance of gravity this is no real feat.  However, at the
end of the day...he kneeled down and grabbed each bike so the motor was
at chest-level and lifted them by himself back into the truck.  He
received a round of applause.

*    Folding Chair - at the end of the day, when you are tired,
dehydrated, and have dust crammed into every orifice of your body...a
folding chair is wonderful to relax, view and applaud at the Awards
meeting.

*    Cash - and while you are relaxing at the Awards meeting in that
folding chair, reward yourself and buy a hot dog...it will improve your
view on life and supports the vendor, thus keeping him coming back to
support our races.

 *    Bike stand - unless you like scratches on your truck, bring a stand.  If you
 forget your bike stand you can use a tie down looped over the bed and
 attached to your handlebar.  Just don't forget to attach the other end
to the hook inside the truck bed.

 *    Riding Gear...double-check you have everything.  It's no fun riding
 without gloves and you can't ride without a helmet.  Also a spare pair
 of goggles and a spare jersey is nice for the afternoon motos.  In addition, pack
along a sweatshirt and a knit hat as the winter races can get chilly.  I frostbit
my hands pretty good while snowshoeing as a kid, so I wear a pair of Thor
insulated winter riding gloves for the colder events.  You may laugh, but I can
recall there has been more than one race day where I could have rented-out the Thor
gloves and had plenty of takers.

 *    Street clothes - it's nice to change out of sweaty gear for the
 Awards Presentation and the ride home...

 *    Sunscreen and a hat - the hat should have greasy finger prints
 on the visor and sport a moto-logo on it, absolutely no golf hats.  My wife says
 you need 45 SPF sunscreen or your wasting your time...although I'll
bet air-filter oil will work in a pinch.

*    Tool box - most of us bring a small tackle box of stuff, leave
 the rollaway at home.  Also toss in items like duct tape, bailing
 wire, large and small zip-ties, some extra fuel line, maybe a spare
 shift lever or maybe even an airfilter oiled and ready to go, at the
 most...
 
 *    Pre-Mix - I would fill the bike 1/2 way and bring another 2.5
 gallons minimum for my 390, as it's a thirsty devil.  And don't forget
 to add the right amount of oil...they do call it "pre" mix ya' know. 
 
 *    Chainlube - bring the cheap stuff as a recent Gallup Poll
 positively proved it's the most frequently borrowed item at motocross
 races. 
 
 *    Spares - this depends on how clean and prepared your bike is... 
Ask yourself what would you want to change at the track...?  And bring those
spares along...items like  like spark plugs, master links, spare cables, maybe a tube,
different sizes of nuts and bolts, etc.  If the answer is: No...I would rather not
 race than deal with that at the track, then leave those spares at home.
Thus you can leave spare pistons, transmission parts, etc at home in the garage.
 
 *    Cooler - with lots of water, gatorade, etc.  Food that you can keep
 down...bananas are good, and they taste the same going down as they do
 coming up.
 
 *    An ez-up is great if you have one...if not, put it on your
 Christmas List.  And don't forget to bring tent stakes to hold the
 ez-up to the ground...if it blows into someones truck, you are liable
 for their trip to the auto-body / painter.
 
 Lastly, if you forget anything...most of the guys in AVDRA are
 great about loaning or selling an item to keep you going. 
 
One more thing, your first race can be intimidating...especially if you
haven't raced in 20+ years.  I grew up an enduro guy, so my first few motocross
races with AVDRA...were my first motocross races, ever.  So to play it safe,  I
would wait until the Gate dropped and count to 3, then I'd go...so I didn't have to worry
about getting tangled with anyone at the start.  Also, first timers normally get
passed...when you do, it's imperative that you look down at the motor of
your bike like something is wrong with it, at precisely the same moment
you are passed...this way your buddies will think the problem is the machine and not
your lack of riding skills.

See you at the races...!!!

Eight riders participated in the April 4th AVDRA Vintage Trial, the 4th and final event of the first full season for AVDRA trials.

As usual, Nancy Ferguson did a great job with organizing sign-up, we had a quick riders meeting and got underway around 1PM.

The observed sections were completed last weekend…then the weeks heavy winds made some adjustments to the course. I am guessing there are folks in Apache Junction wondering what a paper plate with "Enter Section 4" written on it exactly means….

So during the first loop we made some repairs and additional adjustments to a few sections either before all riders rode the sections or after all rode the section once.

In the Vintage Category riding the #2 Line, friendly and reliable Eric Hodgins, left his Scorpa at home and rode his Yamaha 175 to a score of 46 marks. Great job Eric and thanks for riding with us this season…

Riding the # 3 Line was Robert Bergman riding his Honda TL 125 in his 2nd trial. Unfortunately, Robert injured his knee on the first loop and didn't ride Loops 2 and 3. We hope your injury heals soon Robert…and thanks again for riding with us.

Also riding Line 3 was AVDRA founder and man-in-charge Dave Boydstun on a borrowed Ossa MAR. Jim Rike rode the morning Cross Country event and didn't have enough energy to ride trials (it's hell getting old isn't it?), so loaned Dave his Ossa. Dave rode Loop 1 with all entries and Loops 2 and 3 quickly and quite well to a score of 36 points despite having not ridden trials in a very long time. When you got it, you got it…

Rich Palmer once again, showed us how it's done on his Montesa 348 riding the Expert Line in the Twin Shock class for a score of 45 points. At the Awards presentation we joked that the photo Nancy chose for the Award plaque looked similar to the photo of Rich and his Montesa from the 1st event in September. Thanks for participating Rich…

Yours truly rode a Yamaha TY 350 on the #2 Line scoring 47 points. I also rode the first Loop with all entries and Loops 2 and 3 quickly with Dave…then rode a practice Loop just behind all entries just for fun.

We also had Eric Lee join us for the first time…Eric brought his Gas Gas 280 out to ride the Beginner Line for a score of 23 points. A few of us teased the Sandbagger…uh, I mean Eric, at the end of the event when Nancy pointed out his low score… Thanks for joining us Eric, we hope you had a fun time.

There were two entrants in the "Run What Ya Brung" category. Joe Reed rode his Beta Rev 3 to 34 marks on the # 1 Line edging out Jim Wagner on his 4-stroke Beta with 40 points. Great job guys and thanks for all the help with course layout and ideas for the next event…I appreciate it.

Also, we have always laid out a Line 4 for beginning riders…although we've only had a few participants ride Line 4. We try to make the Line 4 a learning experience with safety being the biggest concern with the layout. We'd like to see riders bring a buddy, wife, girlfriend or child to participate…so we will continue to create a 4 Line. I am still trying to get my wife to participate at an event and maybe she can bring along a girlfriend who rides a TTR Yamaha, so they can have fun together.

Lastly, we appreciate all who rode with us Saturday…we hope you had a good time, enjoyed the comraderie of a buddy-check trial and will ride again soon with AVDRA trials.

One more closing thought…when Jim Rike and I drove the cart around to pick up stakes and ribbon at the end of the event, Jim summed up our first season of AVDRA trials in one sentence…those that show up for the trials events are really a fun bunch of guys. And that is what AVDRA is all about…good people, having fun in a friendly and professional organization.

Next years events will be posted on the AVDRA.com website as soon as dates for the motocross races are available. And speaking of motocross…check out the Sunday races for some very cool bikes and the same good people.

Have a safe summer and see you next Season…!!!

Check it out at http://vintagemxracer.com/

Entering online saves you money and saves our workers extra work on race day too! If you are considering attending an AVDRA National, please pre-enter online. You can still pay at the track when you get there. This makes sign-up go by extra fast & easy for all. See you at the races!

*Dave & Nancy

Pre-Enter Here

This is a follow-up for the people that expressed an interest in transportation of bikes from Phoenix to the Taft Race. Please contact me by email

as soon as possible for your transportation requirements so that I can finalize the list. Space is limited. Now for some bad news, the cost of diesel fuel has gone up (a flippen lot) so the cost per mile has gone up also.  The new per mile is $0.12 based on round trip mileage using Map Quest with a starting Zip Code in AZ of 85125 partial miles and dollars will be rolled-up to the next even mile or dollar. Example 123.5 miles will be 124 and dollar amounts are $123.50 is $124. That means round trip from Phoenix to Taft (1026 miles) would be $124.00. That would include one gear bag, gas can (max 5 gal) and small box of tools/support stuff (chain lube, spare small parts I hope you get the idea) per bike. If we have a full load there will be a 10% refund per bike. One ways are on a space available basis at $0.18 per mile and no refund for a full load.

I'm sure I have forgotten something and everything is subject to change. Please ask questions as soon as possible and I'll notify if there are changes as soon as possible. We are not a business we do this because we are going to the race and know that some of you need help getting your bikes to the races so you can race also. The bikes are NOT INSURED. They are in an enclosed trailer (unless notified otherwise) and made as safe as we can but there are people out there that make their living at taking other people's property. So if you have any reservations please take your bikes yourself. Also we know your bike is your pride and joy. We take every reasonable precaution to make sure your bike arrives with only the scratches it left with but things do move around and we check the bikes at every stop, So again if you have any reservations please take your bikes yourself.

Thank You
Gary Johnson
&
Jim Rike

Thank you to all the riders, families & friends that made the Duel In The Desert 12 a big success - special thanks to the crew of AVDRA, Speedworld & all the workers who made this annual vintage weekend so special. Thank you all!

Dave & Nancy

Hope to see you all at Milestone March 8-9th in Riverside, CA.

The pre-entry cutoff for the 12th Annual "Duel In The Desert" will be extended to Feb. 4th on Monday @ Midnight! No later. We can do this only because it is a local race for A.V.D.R.A. as its home base is located in Mesa, AZ.

Hurry up & Get it done!

Yes! A.V.D.R.A. is very pleased to announce that all competitors of A.V.D.R.A.'s Western States National Vintage Moto Cross Series will be covered by a medical insurance policy with a $1000.00 deductible and a $10,000.00 coverage limit. This will cover every competitor with minimum personal medical insurance on race day at the race track.

As far as we know, A.V.D.R.A. is the first and only mx racing club to ever offer medical coverage for FREE to the riders. We are very proud of this and it was done to protect both A.V.D.R.A. & you the racer!

• Southwest Awards Party: Friday Feb. 8th - About dark approx. 6:30pm; Free pizza & drink.
• Live Music: After awards party "74th Street Band" - Approx. 2 hours - Free

This is the rough artwork for the 12th annual "Duel In The Desert." It will be used for the event awards & t-shirts that will be available at the event. The artwork was done by D.C.T.'s Dave Clayden.

The weekend's announcer will be as usual "Mr. Hal Sanguinetti." He was a Maico shop owner back in the day & sponsored CMC #1 Val Tamietti. Hal will keep things going all weekend. He knows his stuff & is vintage himself.

A.V.D.R.A. will be showcasing 2 important motorcycle people of the Arizona dirt bike history...

*1st: Saturday will feature Carlos Serrano, known as the "Worlds Fastest Mexican," is the most famous Arizona MX racer in the 70's & 80's.

*2nd: On Sunday we will be showcasing the "Worlds Oldest MX Racer" Spike Warden, just 96 years old, and will make a few laps to get the days activities going.

Both racers will be there after the races at the awards ceremonies.

Now that our 2006/2007 series is completed, we are looking to make a couple of changes to our race program. First I would like to thank everyone for commenting and making suggestions. However, I would like to make a couple of observations.

1. With all the modern bikes present, our program is losing it's beloved family atmosphere. Yep, I could not agree more, and you will have my promise that it will keep our friendly, laid back, environment. And that the AVDRA program that you all know and love will remain. Like you, I need the "Vintage" feel of things.

2. We recognize that many of us want to ride a modern bike and have family members that want to ride them as well. With this in mind, we will continue to have a limited amount of modern classes, but will require that folks entering these classes be an AVDRA member, ride a vintage or GP bike that day, or have a family member signed up in a vintage or GP class.

3. Your VMX Committee is looking at what other regions are doing with modern support and developing classes that make sense, without compromising our Vintage and GP program. In short, we recognize the need for limited support classes without dragging the day out and littering the program.

4. The tracks are getting tougher, is this to cater to the modern bikes?

5. No points will be kept for any modern support classes. Trophies will be given out at each event, but there will be NO championship year end awards.

Before our next event, we will have a list of support classes available. So please check the site for information. Thanks to all who are supporting the growing AVDRA VMX Series, and on behalf of the VMX Committee, we appreciate your comments.

Sincerely,

Dave Boydstun