Trail Rider Magazine

including Finland in 2010, and Kerrie Swartz, who's been on the US women's team the past couple of years. Both firsttimers had big smiles on their faces and will be back for future Reunions. Drew Smith on a Suzuki PE250 getting ready to smoke a special test. represented by J. D. Hammock and Steve Travis, with Steve using home field advantage to take top overall honors for the weekend. A couple of "newbie's" were Aaron Sanders, who's ridden a couple of ISDEs 48 Trail Rider The mornings were a bit chilly, but the weekend was sunny and dry, and the typical Oklahoma wind helped push the dust off the silty sections of trail. Saturday's route was approximately 50 miles which included a mid-day gas stop at the park farmer. Sunday's route was a shorter 30 mile loop which ended in late morning to accommodate the afternoon's grass track motos. The course was open and fast, and big bore riders were pleased with the chance to open their bikes up and let them fly. Even the special tests were fast, a departure from some years where the tests are tight and twisting. There was one special test that twisted and turned through scrub brush and small blackjack pines and wasn't a full throttle affair, but it was still a ball and gave your cornering technique a real workout. The Zink Ranch is noted for its rocky terrain and riders were cautioned not to ven- ture off the marked trail. Even a momentary jog into the tall grass could mean a hidden rock sending you over the bars in short order. The bad part about the rocks on the trail is it's hard to tell if a rock is just sitting on the trail waiting to kick your tire to one side, is a "loaf of bread" sized rock barely holding onto the soil and ready to separate you from your bike, or is like the tip of an iceberg with the other 90 percent of it firmly lodged into Mother Earth…a real stopper. The really gnarly rock beds were routed around, and the Tulsa Trail Riders even went to the trouble of using fluorescent orange marker paint on the few treacherous outcroppings that couldn't be avoided. The riding was fast and fun, but you let your concentration lapse at your own peril! The special tests had been brush-hogged and the whole course was easily managed even by the novice class. No stoppers, no bottlenecks, just lots of fun trail riding. Like all Reunion Rides, the trails are picked to make it easy on 30 and 40-year old bikes…and riders from 18 to nearly 80. Scoring was provided by Brian Jahelka and Moto Tally, and was nearly in- www.TrailRider.com

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