Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1528606
18 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com even raced it in Zschopau. Chilly White spent a lot of me dialing and tes ng his 1978 Bultaco 370 before it went to Spain. Haim Beressi lovingly put his red- tanked 1975 Penton 250 into race form. Each rider then must ride the bike, test the bike, get used to the bike, and then ship it across the country to the Conex container or build a shipping crate and put it on a plane. Then there is gear, team jerseys and hats, lodging, plane ckets, and car rentals. It goes on and on as far as prepara on and planning; a lot has to happen to even get to this event. I am thrilled to report that all the bikes arrived, and every US rider finished the event! We had a broad spectrum of experienced team riders and crew. Some were seasoned, like Hoess, White, Burns, Grossman, and Johnson, all with past ISDE experi- ence. This was the first interna onal event for the other riders and, in some cases, the first race for their crew. Prior to the start of the event, we had a team meet- ing and explained some of the dos and don'ts; we discussed how the course was laid out, where all the tests and checks were located, and how Parc Ferme and each check worked. All the crews worked out who would go to what checks; we had Team USA tents at all the Time Con- trols and got hi ng on all four cylinders, servicing all the riders throughout the race thanks to a terrific support crew! We also reserved a nice tradi onal Italian restaurant for our 30-person US con ngency. This was about the only me we were all able to get together and it was a really nice me to visit and revel in what we were about to do. The course wound around the beau ful Italian coun- tryside, u lizing some trails from the 1974 event as well as huge Cross Tests, each full day traversing over 100 miles. Then add an accelera on test and a final moto at the really nice San Severino Moto Complex, and it is a full four days of riding and racing. We had a few mishaps and mechanical problems along the way that significantly skewed the results from an actually spectacular event for Team USA. Perennial stand out, Fred Hoess had a rare engine seizure on day 2, but with some quick thinking and crew experience, he kept his bike going, but not without a lost route point, which is downright sacrilege in the Hoess camp and difficult to overcome.