unaDILLA!!!

ok, looked like a rainy weekend at home, and the return of James Stewart was upon us. so i just HAD to ride up and see whether he had anything for the current AMA Outdoor National Motocross series leader Ryan Dungey, #5 below.



so I-81 it is, a not-too-bad slab that travels along the west slope of the Appalachians. 800 miles later i was there!



for those unfamiliar, Unadilla is the grandaddy of all motocross tracks, located just northeast of Binghampton, NY. what beautiful country... someone needs to find a rally site near there.

the best racers in the world were out...

Andrew Short on the factory Honda.


Justin Brayton, on a support team Yamaha, followed by a very fast Belgian, Clement Desalle.


In the Lites class, wild child Justin Barcia on a support team Honda.


and my fave, Kevin Windham on the factory Honda. he had a rough first moto, casing a jump so bad that he broke his bike's motor mounts.


Here's a link to more pics, if you're interested.

Unfortunately, Stewart didn't have 30 minutes worth of speed and Dungey went 1-1 for the win. it was still an excellent race and a perfect day for it.

Overall the ride was pretty non-eventful, but since I-81 goes right past the site of the MOA 2011 Rally... Bloomsburg, PA... and since the rally chairs were having a site walkthrough on Sunday for the local clubs, I stopped in for a visit. No pics, though... it was raining and i kept the camera in the bag.

Outside of the MX, the highlight of the trip was the "shortcut" Statdawg took me along, PA339 from the rally site south over the mountain to I-81. niiiiiiiice!

it was my first ride with that bad boy, i look forward to many more.

ian

Nice Pictures and great report. I remember what I/we used to do and wonder how it would be with the technology-engine,suspension-that the riders are using nowadays.

Omega Man said:

Nice Pictures and great report. I remember what I/we used to do and wonder how it would be with the technology-engine,suspension-that the riders are using nowadays.

Click to expand...

thanks!

they had a great vintage exhibit there, with a nice selection of 70s bikes. don't ask me why i didn't take any pictures.

i helped one guy load his his truck with a late 70s factory husqvarna special, featuring two really loooong ohlins rear shocks. this was one of the machines that brought on the big suspension revolution, which rocked the MX world.

motors are through the roof. people are putting $5-10K into tuning and still not getting the power the factory bikes have. you could really tell this on the wall turn, where the bikes had to climb a very steep and loose slope, with a tabletop double at the top.

jeesh, those kids can ride!

ian