Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Curtis Tannel of Davenport fastest racer from Lincoln County
More than 1,500 racers showed up Sunday morning for the riders meeting for the 50-mile and 100-mile events of the Desert 100.
Dyland Summerlin of Hermiston, Ore., was the first racer to pit in the race. He finished third overall in 3:33:32. Below, racers emerge from a cloud of dust as the first wave of the Desert 100 gets underway just west of Odessa on Sunday morning, April 3.
ODESSA – A temporary "city" of campers, RV and motorcyclists became the largest community in Lincoln County last weekend and thousands crowded into sage-filled field for the Desert 100 and related events.
Visitors began arriving Thursday, March 31, to the site along state Highway 28, with traffic backing up for several hours.
By Friday afternoon, thousands of people had "moved in" to compete, assist and enjoy the largest off-road motorcycle event in the state.
Officials reported more than 3,200 participants jumped on motorcycles Saturday morning, April 2, to participate in poker runs and ahead of Sunday's main event.
The Desert 100, which featured 50-mile and 100-mile events, attracted more than 1,500 racers Sunday, April 3. Just shy of 1,000 were in the 100-mile event.
The start of the race was staged in two waves, with the lineup stretching about a third-mile wide each time.
It took about 40 minutes to get both waves of racers off the startline and through the holeshot, where riders flew over a large gravel mound between two gates before make a right-hand sweep through mounds, moguls, sage and gravel.
Some riders didn't make it through.
At least one racer suffered an ankle injury before clearing the holeshot and had to be transported off the course on a trailer pulled by a side-by-side.
Others making through the gates found themselves in a sea of thick dust, kicked up by the bikes ahead of them.
Experienced racers had bright LED lights on the front of their bikes, giving them a better chance of navigating the rugged course, and avoid downed competitors.
Paul Neff of Eatonville finished the 100-mile event, consisting of two laps around the 50-mile course, first in a time of 3:26.27, followed by Jaden Dahners of Enumclaw in 3:27.26.
Dylan Summerlin of Hermiston, Ore., was third in 3:33.32. Summerlin was the first rider to reach the half-way mark.
The highest placing rider from Eastern Washington was Jesse Burnside of Ellensburg, who took fifth overall on a Yamaha 250 in 3:41:10.
Lincoln County's fastest racer was Curtis Tannel of Davenport, who finished 75th overall in 4:43:01. Codi Williams of Davenport finished 321st in a time of 5:54:44.
From Creston, Jesse Luiten finished 62nd overall in 4:37:46.
Odessa's Cory Boss was among the approximately 300 racers who started the 100-mile race, but didn't finish.
In the 50-mile event, Reardan's London Bell started, but didn't finish.
From just over the county line in Airway Heights, Wyatt Wells did finish the race, competing in the 15-and-younger division of the event.
Wells completed the grueling course in 6:01:57, riding his Kawasaki. He was 54th in his age group and 406th overall.
The 50-mile race had 551 competitors.
The fastest woman in the field was Harris of Everett in the 100-mile race, finishing in 4:45:01.
Natalie Riel of Moxee was the top woman in the 50-mile event, finishing on her KTM in 2:45:55.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
Reader Comments(0)