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22 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com AHRMA State Line Challenge AHRMA State Line Challenge Pownal, Vermont Pownal, Vermont By Kurt Flachbart By Kurt Flachbart Known for its beau ful rolling hills and picturesque scenery, having an opportunity to ride in the state of Vermont is tough to pass up. The terrain is typi- cal New England with endless rocks and roots and steep eleva on changes that challenge even the best of riders. When we learned there would be an AHRMA Na onal Cross-Country event in our fa- vorite state to ride there were no second thoughts. The bonus of this year's State Line Challenge would be the same loca on that hosted the 50 th ISDT An- niversary Reunion Ride held last September. Huge thanks to the Jelley family of North Pownal, Ver- mont for once again being such gracious hosts to yet another epic off-road racing experience. The vast majority of racers, friends, and family ar- rived Friday a ernoon July 12 th for two full days of vintage Cross Country bar banging. As expected, the excitement level was off the charts as many par cipants had a ended and raced the ISDT Re- union last year. With temps soaring into the 90s and humidity thick as pea soup, proper hydra on would be in order, and many went deep into the evening preparing for the weekend's shenanigans. The first order of business would be the vintage class. Per AHRMA rules, the defini on of vintage is pre-1975 and older. My tool for this job has been a '73 Husqvar- na 450 WR that belonged to my old friend Howard. Having ridden a fair amount of this property last year, I thought I had a good idea of what we'd be in for and, to be honest, wasn't too concerned about the level of difficulty. My main concern was the heat and humidi- ty. The start of the event began in the grass-track por- on of the property and wound its way through the fla er sec ons of "Jelley Town" and then wrapped up with a couple of long straights with a radar trap dis- playing riders' top speeds. We all had fun holding it wide open to see who had the best "score". Our friend Tony Yannatelli was the unofficial winner clocking 62 mph on his big 490 Maico with my old Husky ten mph less.