44th Annual Desert 100 not for faint-hearted

 

Last updated 4/9/2014 at 6pm

--Photo for the Record by Susan Jensen

The Desert 100 race, sponsored by the Stumpjumpers Motocycle-Club, was held on Sunday, April 6. Above: Riders are racing to pass between two flag poles indicating the beginning of the course. The first rider to pass between the poles was Joel Tonsgard from Snohomish, who received 'the hole shot' award. Pictured just behind the lead rider is Jon Seehorn from Rockford, Wash.

The Desert 100 of 2014 is in the record books, and based on reports from vendors, race participants and fans, it was another great year for the Stumpjumpers Motorcycle Club, the Odessa Chamber of Commerce and the entire community. This year was the 44th annual running of this prestigeous off-road race.

In 2003, the race moved to the Odessa area after having been held near the central Washington town of Mattawa for many years. The club was able to negotiate a lease to use a winter pasture located on part of the cattle ranch owned and operated by Wes and Faye King. Both the King Ranch and the Stumpjumpers have benefitted from the arrangement.

A week or two before the race is to be run, volunteers from the club come to Odessa to begin mapping out the course and putting up the markers that will guide riders through the twists and turns, hills and valleys, and switchbacks that make up the 50-mile course through the sage brush and bunch grass. The terrain and the two laps of the course it takes to complete 100 miles gives the race its well-known name, the Desert 100.

The course has steep inclines in places and crosses Crab Creek at an easily crossed section of that body of water. Riders must have enough gas in their tank or in a separate container carried on their bike. The pit area can be entered only at the completion of the 50-mile lap. Riders carry tools in case of minor repairs required during the race.

Racers are required to attend a pre-race meeting where the rules are refreshed in everyone's minds. The group then forms a procession that leads out from the meeting point, onto Irby Road and then to the starting line on a ridge above the race course. Riders park their bikes and line up behind them. When the cannon sounds (yes, a real cannon), they run to their bikes, start them and head out across the brush to an area marked by two flag poles. The first rider to pass between the two poles is declared the "hole shot" winner and receives $500 in prize money. The rest of the racers must also pass between the two poles, where the race starting time is recorded.

Riders start the race in two waves, the first wave containing the 100-mile group and the second the 50-mile group.

According to a Facebook post, the top three finishers in the Desert 100 this year were Ricky Russell, a Washington native , Bobby Prochnau of Kamloops, B.C. and Jon Seehorn of Rockford, Wash. Since our Sunday was taken up with family obligations, we were unable to take pictures at the awards ceremony that afternoon or get a printout of the finishers for each race class. The information takes a while to get posted to the club's website.

We do know that Odessa's Keith Strebeck, competing in the Minis race for nine and 10-year-olds finished in fourth place (after placing 11th last year). We were unaware of any other Odessa riders in that race.

--Photo for the Record by Susan Jensen

Jon Seehorn tearing up the course on the second 50-mile lap.

To see video taken by various riders on the Desert 100 course from their helmet cams, go to the Stumpjumpers MC Facebook page. There is also some interesting video posted by Josh Brantley of Seattle, who had not only a helmet cam but also a DJI Phantom 2 Vision drone hovering over the campsite and various parts of the course. He has compiled and edited a several-minute video that really hits most of the highlights from this past racing weekend.

YouTube also has video of the races recorded from a drone. They were posted by Casey McManus, hometown unknown. The recordings show both the first and second waves of the Desert 100 start.

See the Odessa Chamber of Commerce story elsewhere on page 1 for more information on what Odessa vendors and Chamber members accomplished over the weekend.

For more pictures, go to the photos tab.

 

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