Published: December 04, 2006 04:58 pm         

Still standing

Bikers brave cold, rugged terrain to compete in televised race

There’s a reason why promoters called the motorcycle race “The Last Man Standing.” The course that featured car-sized boulders, loamy sand, dirt, high speed straight-aways and difficult techniques challenges. Most riders would not finish the course. But Saturday, it could’ve easily been called, “The Last Man Slipping”--or sliding or digging out of the mud.

Riders from all over the world arrived at Red River Cycle Trails Friday for qualifying runs on a muddy 40-mile high speed enduro course at the Red Bull Last Man Standing off-road race. The 100 fastest riders qualified to compete in Saturday’s main event.

The weather was clear with high winds. The course and surrounding areas were wet and muddy.

From the highway, tents, RVs and hovering helicopters near the track could be seen long before one reached the entrance.

“It was cold, wet and muddy,” said Carthage resident Jeff Nichols.

Nichols said he had trouble just getting his motorcycle going, and at every obstacle, he had to wait in line for his turn to cross.

He said he began the race with a group of about other twelve riders.

In the early afternoon, he was off his bike, having given up the quest to finish. His protective gear was mud-splattered, and he paused outside his bike trailer in the cold wind, checking his KTM and reflecting on the race.

For of the 300 registered riders who signed up to take on the challend, knowing when to say when was important.

Nichols said riders were mostly courteous during the long, punishing course where dropped bikes seemed to be the order of the day.

“The bikes fall. If yours don’t, you know the next one will,” he said.

Nichols— who said he races in the Dallas area — gave up before reaching the end, and about 3:30 p.m. said he had neither seen or heard from the other twelve or so riders in his group.

“Nobody’s heard from any of them,” he said.

He said he liked the track, liked the rough terrain, but would prefer to come back when things are a bit different.

“I’d like to do it when it was drier,” he noted.

In a warm media relations RV, stocked with snacks and soft drinks, including plenty of Red Bull energy drink, Jordan Miller, media relations manager for Red Bull North America, Inc., said Last Man Standing pitted 130 of the top riders in the world against each other.

“It’s one of the toughest tests in off-road racing,” he said.

“The course is looped, and it goes along the Red River,” he said, indicating a wide course that encompasses hills and gullies in an area that is known for its scenic beauty.

One can stand on a hill and see miles of valleys studded with trees, cattle and horse pastures and not much else. The residents who live in this part of Montague County say it is beautiful country.

The brief snow and ice wave that swept into North Texas late last week, left the course deeply rutted and muddy, Miller said.

How does that affect the physical condition of the course and the rate at which riders can complete it?

“It slows it down, but some guys like the rain (and mud),” he commented.

The race is designed to be difficult with few finishers.

“Last year of the 88 starters, only 14 finished,” he said.

The racers— those who completed the course, at least— traveled over 40 miles through rough terrain and obstacles, both man-made and natural.

“The track was created by Red Bull,” Miller said, “(using) local knowledge. Some of the people who helped design it grew up riding this track.”

The track is not last year’s course, he said.

“The track we created is unique to this event,” Miller said.

The riders are busy all day. The race began at 11:15 a.m. Those who finish don’t have a lot time to rest.

“They fuel, eat, put on lights and reverse the course,” Miller said.

Riders start at the finish line and work their way back in the dark.

Completing the course takes close to three hours in daylight, he said.

Riders included David Knight, a professional motorcycle rider from the United Kingdom and a World Enduro Champion.

“It’s just beyond ridiculous how strong a rider he is,” Miller said.

Rider Tim Hinion said the course was good, but crowded with riders waiting their turns to get through difficult portions of the track.

“I just kept waiting in line,” he said. “It would’ve been nicer not being so muddy,” he commented.

He had another observation as well. “There were too many people.”

Spectators, many with cameras in hand, wandered the open areas above the track, talking with riders and mechanics from motorcycle manufacturers such as KTM or Yamaha, eating snacks purchased from food vendors and waiting in the wind by the finish line hoping to catch a photo or have a word with one of the riders who completed the course.

Some riders brought their mechanics with them.

Chuck Ware, a KTM mechanic said keeping the motorcycles in top shape during the event is always a priority.

Ware said members of his team were in first place and one of the KTM riders were leading by at least twenty minutes.

Back in the media RV, Ware had two things on his mind — finding the lost keys to his ATV and keeping things running smoothly until the conclusion of the event.

“We probably won’t get out of here until after 1 a.m.,” he said.

More than bragging rights were at stake for the winner. Riders paid $100 registration fees, 100 percent of which rent to the prize purse.

It wasn’t easy facing the cold and the bitter wind — even for dirt bike aficionados such as Rosston resident Dylan Robertson and his friends Julie Arizpe, Chaz Jarvis, Trent Jarvis and Dustin Lemons. The friends drove out Saturday afternoon to see the race and the young men in the group said they would love to try to the course for themselves.

“I wish I was out there,” Robertson said wistfully.

Reporter Delania Trigg may be

contacted at dtrigg [at] ntin.net