HARE AND HOUND HELPERS

HARE AND HOUND HELPERS–AUG 8

While this eight-foot cliff might never be arrowed into a race loop, it pays to know how to scale it to get around a bottleneck. Destry Abbott climbed it on the first try. Lining up perpendicular to the base, Destry fed massive throttle and clutch to start his wheelie, then he shifted his upper body forward to prevent a loop-out. The wheelie also drives the rear wheel into the cliff for traction?the rear tire would spin and slew, otherwise. Destry got so much traction that the KX got ahead of him a bit, so he pulled in the clutch and locked the rear brake to save it.

Off-camber turns give most folks fits, but Destry stands up and puts most of his weight on the outside peg. Though it doesn?t leap out at you, Abbott is again in wheelie mode. The front wheel is barely skimming the ground, but he?s driving the rear wheel into the soil for traction as he steers the bike through the turn with throttle.

Destry does moto. Some days he goes to Glen Helen Raceway for training, other days he simply plays in the desert, turning parallel ridges into doubles. Although weight- and cross-training are important, nothing beats time in the saddle, reading and riding difficult terrain.

You Can Check out the September ’01? issue for more tips….