“HIGH HOPES” CHARITY RIDE DAY AT GLEN HELEN PHOTO GALLERY

Here is something you don’t see very often or for very long — a perfectly smooth Mt. Saint Helen downhill with no braking bumps. Glen Helen prepped, not only the National track, but the REM track, Stadiumcross track, Pee-Wee track and Lucas Oil Off-road Truck track. (Click on images to enlarge)

Photos by Debbi Tamietti

Robbie Carpenter in the low light of early morning tries to get his rear tire in the sunlight.

Glen Helen held an open practice day on the Saturday of the Pala National. It was postulated on the internet that Glen Helen was doing this to get revenge because Pala got Glen Helen’s National. But, that is as far from the truth as possible. Pala didn’t steal the AMA National away from Glen Helen — instead, Glen Helen refused to sign the MX Sports contract to host the Nationals for the next four years. So, what would Glen Helen be getting revenge for? Think about it. Glen Helen pulled out of the AMA Nationals and, by default gifted, the 2019 AMA National to Pala. If they didn’t want Pala to get the National they could have signed the contract.

Riders got to play on every track at Glen Helen and there was even an afternoon trail ride through the hills. This is REM’s Mt. Whitney uphill.

How could a local track holding an open practice be considered unfair business practices against the Pala National. And, if holding a practice on the same day of a National is foul play—they why didn’t anyone protest all the years that Pala was open on the days of multiple Glen Helen Nationals. In simple terms, Glen Helen didn’t want the 2019 AMA National, but they are still in the race track business—and that means holding races and practice days in order to pay the bills.

Eddie Davis riding through the roost of the guy in front of him. Roost is like a cookie crumb trail for a racer.

Because Glen Helen set it’s yearly schedule back when it thought it was still going to hold the 2019 National, they had nothing scheduled for Saturday, May 25. So, they decided to do something nice for their regular clientele and anyone else who might be looking for something to do this past weekend.  So, they decided to hold a charity ride day for the “High Hopes Head Injury Program.” Glen Helen decided to open up the park, prep all of their race tracks and ask for donations from those who attended for High Hopes. And for all of you cynics in the crowd, Glen Helen did not take a penny of the $10,000 raised by the people who paid $10 donations—many of whom paid more to make sure that the charity made money (and Glen Helen’s owner Bud Feldkamp matched every donations over $10).

Nick Ziegler put his YZ125 aside to work on his four-stroke skills.

The people who showed up  at Glen Helen just wanted to ride their motorcycles. Anyone who cares about the sport should understand that the motorcycle industry needs to encourage more people to ride. So, the 800 people who came to Glen Helen on Saturday burned gas, used oil, ate up rubber, threw away tear-offs, wore out graphics, scratched up plastic and bent more than a few hard parts. That money also did not go to Glen Helen—it went to local motorcycle shops, tire companies, gear manufacturers and aftermarket companies. Which is one of the reasons that Chaparral provided every rider who came to Glen Helen on Saturday with a free lunch. They like it when people are out having fun on motorcycles and wanted to encourage it.

MXA is busy with a “Stock CRF450 versus Ken Roczen Edition CRF450 shootout” and the High Hopes Ride Day was the perfect time to get in tons of back-to-back testing. This is Randel Fout on the Roczen Edition.

It is doubtful that Glen Helen’s “High Hopes Charity Ride Day” drew any spectators away from the Pala National. It was offered as a service to people who wanted to ride their motorcycles instead of watch others ride them. Glen Helen was nice enough offer their track as a option and to do a good deed for the “High Hopes Head Injury Program” at the same time. We are not sure how Glen Helen opening its track, when all the other tracks also opened their gates, can be considered an evil thing.

This is Randel Fout on a stock 2019 Honda CRF450. With Daryl Ecklund, Josh Mosiman, Dennis Stapleton and Travis Fant at the Pala National, Jody Weisel and rest the MXA test crew went riding.

Jim Hansen lets it get a little away from him. How do we know? He probably wants to have both feet on the pegs before he reaches the backside of this rise.

MXA wants to thank ace photographer Debbi Tamietti who spent all day shooting photos of the riders at Glen Helen, and then went through the pits to talk to each rider to insure that she got their names correct on the photos. Debbi could have easily gotten press credentials for the Pala National, but her husband Val Tamietti got a doctors release to ride for the first time since breaking his leg in December, and she wanted to be with him on the big day.

Jim Latendresse at the top looking down.

And best wishes to REM racer Ron Rich who crashed on the Mt. Whitney downhill and broke his arm. Ron was at Glen Helen riding with his son and got up from the crash and walked back to his pits, where he called his wife and she came to the track to pick him up. That is one tough guy—because his arm was visibly broke.

On another injury note, Australian Dan Alamangos showed up at the track to help his friends with their bikes even though his left hand was mangled in a crash at last week’s REM race. He had bandages on the lacerations and a metal splint on his index finger, which was very dislocated in the crash. He wanted to help Debbi shoot photos, but he could not hold his camera.

Kevin Montgomery (291) sails over this tabletop, while Ray Poltack (5) plays it safe and sane.

Joe Sutter in the sand. Ever since the winter rains, a large portion of the Glen Helen’s tracks have become sandy as the rains washed the granular stuff down from the mountains.

Jack Phinn’s rear tire manages to find one knob width’s worth of traction as he arcs over this rise.

Close friends and mortal enemies, Mark Crosby (27) and Randy Skinner (38), engage in a battle that will only make them closer—once they get over being angry.

Val is back. Val Tamietti’s doctor gave him permission to start riding on Friday. We think that Val’s doctor thought he was going to ride a Harley-Davidson down PCH. Val had something else in store for his first outing on his recently healed and plated tib/fib.

ESR’s Ron Shuler never stops testing suspension settings the old fashion way— from the seat of his mobile office.

Thanks to the AMA National being at Pala, Jody Weisel was free from having to build the Glen Helen National/USGP track for the umpteeth time. He celebrated his freedom by going riding.

Mark Quintero on his amazingly durable old-school Honda CRF450.

STI Tires’ Craig Peterson took a week off from going to off-road events to break out his trusty Honda CR125 two-stroke.

N2Dirt’s Brian Bolding isn’t taking any chances of catching his foot on the ground in this corner. This is the typical leg position of a rider with bad knees. We’ll have to ask Brian about that.

Thad Friday brought out his new FXR gear to break it in.

Hollywood stuntman Mark Donaldson makes movies, collects antique motorcycles and races whenever he gets a weekend off.

Dave McCarthy isn’t exactly hooked up, but he is carving his own elliptical arc up the face of this hill.

Dave Eropkin applies a little front brake to get the front tire to bite as he enters a downhill turn.

Michelle Horton is loyal to her YZ250 two-stroke — and she know how to race it.

Lamont Dusseau is actually coming from the far left and negotiating a steep 90-degree, right-hand turn, which is across from the backside of the Triple Step-Up bleachers.

Ty Green and Bill Reimer circulate in close formation.

Patrick Flynn (23) tries to shake that pesky Bill Reimer (71).

Markus Valenzuela’s YZ250 exhaust pipe proves that he’s willing to follow closely behind the rider in the front of him.

Glenn Pietronico gets a lovely view of the sweeping right-hand hairpin waiting for him at the bottom of the hill.

Josh Clark on his trick looking, steel-framed, Kawasaki two-stroke.

Daniel D’Augostino enjoying some laps before heading down to the Glen Helen Museum to get the free lunch that Chaparral Motorsport’s provided for every rider at Glen Helen.

Josh Fout wrings out MXA’s 2019 Husqvarna FC450 Rockstar Edition.