Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Overall winner of the Desert 100 with the fastest time over the 100-mile course was Bobby Prochnau of Canada.
In the Women's race, Chantel Bykerk placed third, Victoria Hett first and Megan (last name unknown) second. All were from Canada.
The hole-shot winner heads uphill as the crowd watches his progress. The Desert 100 involves several races over the two-day competition and is open to several age groups using several plotted tracks with varying degrees of difficulty.
Sally Kagele placed fifth in the Women's Class at the Desert 100 last Sunday.
Matthew Kagele and Tyler Smith in the beer garten.
Clint Knight placed 28th overall and eighth in the Open Class at the Desert 100.
Koralynne Kuch comes over the podium after finishing her race on Sunday.
Bill Kuch and Koralynne Kuch show off their race shirts before they hit the track.
The Stumpjumpers Motorcycle Club members and many others arrived in throngs last Thursday, Friday and Saturday in all manner of vehicles headed to the Desert 100 site at SR #28 and Irby Road for this year’s classic endurance race for off-road motorcycles. Some came in huge, luxurious motor homes, other types and sizes of RVs, pop-up campers and even tents.
Unfortunately for the racers and vendors at the site, the weather turned from the prior week’s balmy days to howling wind, occasional rain sprinkles and much cooler temperatures, in short, to typical spring weather in the Channeled Scablands. It did not appear that the weather deterred anyone. The crowds were on a par with those of the past couple of years. According to Odessa Chamber of Commerce president Marlon Schafer, who learned it from race officials, the Desert 100 had about 1,000 racers signed up this year, somewhat under the current record of 1,200.
Even though it may have looked as though the campsite was larger than last year’s, Schafer said he thought many of the campers were just giving themselves more room between rigs.
In terms of the Chamber’s activities, the event was a profitable one despite relatively higher expenses this year. A larger tent was rented this year, replacing the purchased tent that was essentially destroyed by last year’s winds during the D-100.
Musicians were hired and proved to be a draw to the Chamber’s courtesy tent which was very busy all day Saturday and “absolutely packed” Saturday night, Schafer said. Chris Buick, son-in-law of Patrick and Patricia Gies of Odessa, did a solo acoustic performance Friday night and was then joined by his bandmates from Rancho Loco, a band known to most anyone who has visited the Biergarten during Odessa’s Deutsches Fest in September.
Official results have not yet been posted, but Stumpjumper officials have announced that Canadian Bobby Prochnau was the overall winner with the fastest time over the 100-mile course. The second-place finisher was Jon Seehorn of Idaho, who gave Prochnau a run for the money. According to photographer and Stumpjumper member Kevin Dahlen, Seehorn and Prochnau were within seconds of one another throughout the entire race, sometimes even side by side. Prochnau was able to cross the finish line first, though, something he has also done in the past.
In the women’s race, a 50-mile event, the top three finishers were all Canadians. Our northern neighbors know how to race their motorcycles! Odessa’s own Sally Kagele came in fifth.
Other Odessa riders were Koralynne Kuch and her father Bill Kuch, who came across the mountains from Puyallup to ride with his daughter in the 50-mile race. Clint Knight, formerly of Odessa, wore his old OHS basketball jersey in the race, and like his sister Sally Kagele, he had a very good race, coming in eighth in the Open Class and 28th overall.
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