Motorcycle Maketplace Magazine

Sled Dog Derby & NZFSS Dryland Champs, Waitarere, July 25 & 26, 2009.
By Steve Green
www.workshopmanuals.co.nz

6am Saturday morning and I was sitting in my van behind a row of trucks and trailers at the entrance to Waitarere Forest, thinking to myself that it was so dark that all I can see is a row of tail lights. Add a light frost to that scenario and you would wonder what I was doing there so early on a cold Winter morning. The reason was the 20th annual Sled Dog Derby and NZFSS Dryland Champs which was held over the weekend at the far Northern end of the Waitarere forest just North of Levin.
For the various dogs, the frosty Saturday morning was ideal to keep them cool while racing. The Sled dogs competing on the weekend included Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes, German Short Haired Pointers, Alaskan Huskies, Dalmatians, however Sled Racing is open to any dogs that love to run.
During the middle of the day it gets too hot for the dogs to so the event was split into three parts for the dogs benefit, Saturday morning and late afternoon with the third session early Sunday morning.
The competitors were split into eleven different classes ranging from eight year old  Lashaye Theodore in the single dog Pee Wee class through to Deane Wald in the eight dog class. There were four different courses for the different classes from the longer 8 Kilometre course down to the shorter 3.2 Kilometre course for the Juniors and Veterans.
The Sleds that the dogs pull behind them roll on push bike wheels and are mostly constructed from light weight tubing with the rider standing and controlling the team by way of brakes on the wheels, voice commands to the dogs and shifting his or her body weight. The bigger classes run three wheels while the smaller classes just have two wheels and are effectively a children’s push scooter design with a low platform the rider stands on and can use one foot to assist the dogs.
Local Foxton entrant Colin Whitley was on one of the smaller three wheeled sleds competing in the two dog class, towed along by his two Siberian Huskies, Stripe and Cheyenne.
It was painfully obvious that the dogs just loved to participate, as between events, they would lay around patiently but as soon as they were hitched to a Sled then they started barking and pulling on the leads. More than a few dogs were so keen to go that they had to be physically held on the start line by helpers until the starter said go. Once released they were off at a run obviously enjoying themselves and not slowing down until they got back to the finish line. For photos of this event see www.sportsimages.co.nz

On Sunday July 26th, a group of Vintage Motocross enthusiasts held a charity event in a maize paddock on Darryl Stratton’s property at the top of Potts hill, Levin with the money raised going to the local Poroutawhao School. Although it was a low key club event there were close to forty riders including a small number of children and one Mum riding on the children’s track and six of the old style, three wheeler all terrain vehicles out on the big track.
The car park and VMX track were on the stubble and left over maize from last seasons crop which will eventually be replanted in grass or possibly more maize in the coming months. Although slippery to start with, the field held up very well all day with small ruts forming in the corners by the end of the day. Marked out by wooden posts and marker tape the main track lead the riders on a serpentine path around the large paddock and would have been close to a kilometre in length. Riders included Levin Builder Terry Sanson on a potent Yamaha TT500, Bruce Fergusson of Palmerston North, on his British, BSA B441 Scrambler and all the way from Auckland, Mark Wooding on a 1980, Suzuki RM250.
Vintage Motocross is for the early bikes from Pre 1985, many of which would have been seen in the Horowhenua in the 1970′s at the annual Johnny Old Motocrosses in Kukutuaki Road, Koputuroa. The local VMX group are planing to have more VMX events locally when they can find suitable paddocks, and are even hoping to revive the legendary Johnny Old Motocross which was a Nationally recognised event in it’s day. For more information contact your local motorcycle shop. For photos of this event see www.sportsimages.co.nz

Motorcycle Trials, Sunday, July 19th.
By Steve Green

On Sunday, July 19th I was one of a small number of spectators at the third round of the Manawatu Orion Motorcycle Club’s Trials Championship. The venue for the event was a rocky valley on the Davison Farm in an off shoot of the Pohangina Valley behind Ashhurst.
With a cold wind blowing through the valley, the day started out quite miserable, however once we got down into the lower river valley, the wind died away and the sun came out. For the riders the weather is just another factor to account for when they are trying to ride through a marked out section of terrain that may include anything from rocks & steep banks to wet grass, mud & small streams.
The official idea is that competitors have to ride the marked out path through each section without putting their feet on the ground or stopping, and they are marked on how many times they had to stop or put their feet down. For Nick Ball, putting his foot down was the least of his worries in one section, when he finished flat on the ground with his bike upside down on top of him. Even International competitor Warren Laugesen took a swan dive off one of the big rocks ending up flat on the ground beside his bike. Needless to say when you have one of Australasia’s top riders falling off, then the sections are some what challenging. Laugesen’s bike is the latest 2009, Beta EVO, a potent 290cc, two stroke engine in a very light weight aluminum chassis with a wet weight, ready to ride, of around 76 kilograms.
Unlike Motocross where speed is a major factor, the emphasis in Trials is the rider’s skill and involves slow speed riding over almost insurmountable obstacles. Well worth a look if there is an event near you, and the Trials Club’s do not charge spectator entry fees and are more than happy to explain and best of all you can stand within metres of the action.
For the full set of Photos see www.sportsimages.co.nz