The Bennett Boulder Bash
WORDS BY BRAD HANNON PHOTOS BY DEBRA DAWSON
On March 21st , 2021 , the Plonkers Trials club hosted Round 8 of the SCTA 2020-21 series at Cougar Buttes OHV in Lucerne Valley , Ca . Weather leading up to the event was a bit unusual for the Southern California high desert spring season , with high winds , rain , hail , and cold temps . Saturday before the event was slightly better with temps in the mid 60 ' s but the wind was 20 + mph , a bit more than preferred . Thankfully , Sunday was just epic with low 60 ' s weather , and the wind died down nearly completely until the afternoon breeze .
The event was named to honor local rider , past Plonkers president , fire MC , 2015 KOM 2nd place amateur team finisher , and generally allaround great guy Todd Bennett . Plonkers has a bit of history with adding some creativity to the standard trials event , and this year was no different under the new leadership of current president Lior . Generally , this creativity occurs the Saturday before the Sunday trial . Past years they have hosted festivities including a luau , live music , stadium lights for a night section , taco night , built a water section in the desert , and much more .
This year the Saturday activities included the traditional " adventure ride " where 20 + intermediate and above riders rode on a top-secret loop to a top-secret location where past members have been memorialized on plaques overlooking the valley . This trail is fairly challenging and physically demanding for the average rider , but the memories and views are very much worth the effort ; this time the trail claimed a 5 off a national Pro rider ! ( you know who you are ). Esteemed Plonkers member Charlie provides those who survived the " adventure ride " with a commemorative date engraved dog tag .
While the upper classes spent a few hours on the " adventure ride " Lior and Todd hosted a beginner
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 150