Widely considered one of the most prestigious off-road races of the year, the Odessa, WA., Desert 100 treated a small group of local dirtbikers to an epic weekend April 5-6.
Brayden Methot, his dad Brad Methot, Dave Dunaway, Steve Mass and Mike Kozolofski made the trip to the race, which has attracted close to 3,000 entrants for the annual poker run Saturday and another 1,000 racers for Sunday’s main event annually since 1969.
Sunday’s Desert 100 has the longest off-road starting line in the world stretching more than three kilometres wide.
“All the racers stand 10 metres behind their bikes and when a cannon in the distance goes off everyone runs to their bikes, starts them, then it’s a drag race across open desert for the ‘holeshot’ — the first one to the first turn,” Brad said.
For Mass and Kozolofski, it was their first race ever. The duo competed in the Iron Man Poker Run Saturday, and the 160-kilometre Desert 100 Sunday, placing 205th and 125th overall, respectively.
Brayden turned some heads in the pro class finishing fourth in four hours and two minutes in the Desert 100, good enough for a top-10 finish.
“Each lap was 50 miles,” Brayden said. “The starting line was crazy. You were seeing guys going down right beside you going 100 kilometres an hour in the desert and making blind passes because you can’t see anything because of the dust.”
Dave and Brad, meanwhile, had a good day in the “Fast Old Guys Class” posting 20th- and 17th-place finishes.
“Desert racing in the U.S. is crazy to say the least,” Brad said. “A big shout out to Williams Lake Honda for all the support.”
