Rick Platts and Kerry Fowlers are two of the best "Hare and Hound" riders in the country.
They are what? Hare and Hound? A more generic description would be desert rider.So, Platts and Fowlers are two of the very best motorcycle desert riders in the country.
Which means, despite the unfamiliarity of most people with this type of racing, Platts and Fowlers are national champions in one of the most arduous, most demanding sports there is.
From a mass start that can include up to 300 entrants, racers ride from point A to B, which is anywhere from 100 to 150 miles, and at speeds sometimes hitting 100 miles per hour. They ride over undeveloped, unimproved and unfamiliar territory. And often they ride as fast as the motorcycle engine will tolerate. No rests or breaks for the winners. Non-stop, full-throttle, all-out.
National champions in "Hare and Hound" racing were recently announced and Platts was No. 1 in the country in the senior division (38 and over), and Fowler was No. 1 in the veteran class (30 and over). This is the first time anyone can recall Utah riders claiming the No. 1 plate.
Over a seven-race national circuit, the two Utah riders were the best. Platts, in fact, had the title sewn up before the seventh and last race and in doing so beat out an eight-time national champion.
In another four-race series, called the Best in the Desert, Platts finished second.
Platts, 43, started entering desert races about 20 years ago. A friend, he recalled, talked him into entering, "and from the first race on I was hooked."
The secret to winning the national honor, he said, was good bike preparation, consistency, fast riding and being steady. Among his finishes were one second, two thirds, a fourth and a fifth.
Out on the course, he said the key to good riding is learning to read the terrain, "so that you don't run into too many surprises."
"You learn to look ahead. You notice things like the change in the color of the sagebrush, and the way the terrain slopes. You learn to read the markers and you know your limitations."
It means, too, a responsibility to the environment . . . "staying on the trail. Being aware of what you are doing and where you are going."
Fowler grew up on motorcycles and was one of the state's top young riders. In 1975, though, his younger brother was killed in a cycling accident and he quit the sport. Last year he climbed back on a bike for the first time and after he'd gone about 20 feet, "I knew I'd be riding again."
He rode in some races last year, enough to get some of his endurance, timing and balance back. This year he went after the national title and won it over the best riders in the country, many sponsored by motorcycle manufacturers.
He felt the keys to good riding were: Keeping a cool head, perseverance, good eyes, being able to read the terrain, having a good mechanic (Bart Papworth) and having the adrenaline flow of an 18-year-old.
"I try to stay focused on what's coming up. I usually can until I get tired, then my mind starts to wonder and think about things I shouldn't. Then I start talking to myself, yelling at myself to get back into gear. You have to keep thinking that this is a 100-mile race and that you've got to do something to do well," he said.
What this means, now, for both riders is that next season they will each carry the No. 1 plate on the front of their motorcycles, signifying the fact that they are, truly, national champs.