Vintage Trails... Bend, Oregon

Riders test mettle at Steel Stampede

By Scott Hammers / The Bulletin

Published May 4, 2014 at 12:01AM

CROOKED RIVER RANCH — The air thick with the scent of sage, juniper and burning fuel, Crooked River Ranch welcomed a few hundred motorcyclists and spectators Saturday for the eighth annual Steel Stampede.

Over the din of revving motorcycles, creator Pete Fisher said the idea for the Steel Stampede came to him one day while eating lunch at Crooked River Ranch. Looking up the hill, he saw an ideal location for a trials course and motocross track.

Since then, the Steel Stampede has become a fixture at the ranch, with riders testing their technical skills in a trials ride Saturday, to be followed by a more familiar motocross race today. Proceeds from the event have helped fund the ranch fire department, the Boys & Girls Clubs and the construction of a new disc golf course.

For Saturday’s trials event, riders tackled 10 different sections of track three times, each one involving a combination of roots, rocks, soft patches, steep hills or technical turns in less than a minute of low-speed riding. Every time riders put a foot down, stop moving forward or veer out of bounds, they’re issued penalty points. As with golf, a low score is preferable, and “cleaning” a section — no errors, and a score of zero — is the goal.

A motocross rider for 35 years, Jones said Saturday was his first attempt at competitive trials, and the soft course and tight turns had been a struggle.

“It’s just a chore holding on,” Jones said.

Even for more experienced trials riders, a flawless run can be elusive. Prineville resident Alex Finnerin said he’s been running trials events since he was 13, and now at 22, he’s yet to notch his first zero score.

Tuning up his bike in the pit area, Finnerin said there are two schools of thought in trials riding — ride the course early before it gets chewed up, or wait in the hopes of learning the optimal line.

“If you get to go last, you get to watch everyone else make their mistakes as they go though the section,” he said.

Ely Schless somehow managed to get his hand-built, electric trials bike into Saturday’s event, otherwise restricted to motorcycles built in 1979 or earlier.

An Ashland resident, Schless has been building electric motorcycles for more than two decades. Trials riding really allows the technology to shine, he said, showing off the scattering of zeros on his scorecard.

“It’s probably the most appropriate application of electric motors on the planet, because it’s all about low speed and torque,” he said.

Gil Driscoll, a veteran of every Steel Stampede but last year’s when he was out of commission with broken ribs after crashing while riding on snow, said he’s trying to create a similar event in his hometown of Quincy, Calif.

Driscoll, 65, said he’s been impressed by the cooperative spirit of the Steel Stampede, with riders helping one another out by lending spare parts or mechanical expertise, by the armies of volunteers, and the funds raised to improve the community.

A below-average trials rider by his own admission, Driscoll said he was ready to get started on the second half of Saturday’s festivities — a golf tournament where scores will be combined with penalty points racked up on the trials course.

“These guys are getting me here, but I have no modesty on the golf course. I’m gonna kick their (butts) out there.”