THE WEIRDEST AND WILDEST DIRT CORNER EVER BUILT
Yesterday at 02:30 PM
Four concentric rings around the Glen Helen bridge—then over the top.
One Saturday afternoon ten years ago, Dirt Bike Magazine editor Ron Lawson called MXA editor Jody Weisel and asked if he was going to flying on Sunday. Jody said that since he wasn’t racing on Sunday that he probably would take his airplane up for entertainment. Then, Jody asked, “Why do you ask?”
“You have got to shoot a photo of this turn I built for the Glen Helen Six-Hour Endurance race,” said Ron.
“Where on the course is the turn?” asked Jody.
“Don’t worry,” said Ron. “You’ll see it.”
The lay of the land. In this photo you can see where the riders come down Mt. Saint Helen (right), go under the bridge and enter the circles and after completing them, ride up the stairs and exit over the bridge.
And Jody did. These are the photos that Jody shot while banking his Varga VG21 with one hand and shooting photos through the plexiglass canopy with the other. The riders entered by coming down Mt. Saint Helen and go under the left side the bridge. After crossing under the bridge the riders turn right, turn right, turn right, turn right and turn right. The track actually makes four (count ’em) 360-degree circles before crossing up and over the bridge. The bridge may look small, but it was craned in from the Long Beach Harbor years ago and is 150-feet long, 15 feet high and ten feet wide.
Jody dips a wing to salute Ron’s creation and then heads for the wild blue yonder.
Ron Lawson never built another turn with so many concentric circles after that because many riders got dizzy going around them. He settled on two circles as the perfect number.
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