missyfinishesbbtr

Missy Finishes BBTR

From The District 37 Newsletter: 

Yep, 15 1/2 year old Missy Glassett, who recently obtained her motorcycle permit, completed all the hard sections on the 145 mile Big Bear Dual Sport Ride last Saturday, June 21, on a CRF230F. She rode with her dad and it took them 11 1/2 hours, finishing at 5 p.m.

Missy was six years old when her dad, Kevin, won the first of his nine Big Bear plaques. She asked at that time if a girl had ever won one. The Big Bear Trail Riders told her that yes, two or three women had won plaques in the past, and at least one had been a professional racer. Since she knew she couldn't be the first girl to win it, she told her dad she wanted to be the first father/daughter team to get the plaque. So her dad started preparing her.

Missy started riding at age four on a PW50. At eight years old she conquered Redonda Ridge, riding on an XR70. She rode a TTR125 for awhile, and then a few years ago she started riding the CRF230F, although it now belongs to her younger brother. The bike is stock except for a change to the tip of the muffler and the dual sport kit, which was put on in 2003.

Missy just received her permit recently, so she hasn't been able to ride all the difficult trails in the mountains, since some of them require street legal bikes (and a motorcycle license, of course!). And because she's been so involved in volleyball tournaments during her freshman year, she's only had time to ride twice since last February. In May she did get to ride Gold Mountain, along with Redonda Ridge and White Mountain. But it was her first time on the other hard sections.

Missy fell over and had to pick up her bike about five times last Saturday, but since she rides at a slower pace these were just tip overs on steep hills, and didn't damage the bike or her. She's certainly at an advantage being 5'8" tall and able to reach the ground on the bike. And since she's quite slender, the bike has plenty of power to get her up the difficult hills she had to conquer, like Del Mar Mountain and Lightning Ridge (Bowling Ball Hill), which is near the Onyx Summit at 9500' elevation.

Missy only carried a Camelbak with water, but had a large bag on the rear fender. Kevin Glassett navigated the whole time, but had Missy proceed him up all the difficult hills so he could make sure she didn't have problems.

Kevin and Missy stopped for a few minutes about every hour, so she could keep her energy up by eating snacks. Missy's mom met them at the gas/lunch stop at the Malt Shop in Cedar Glen, so they were able to save time by quickly getting gassed up and chowing down a banana and granola bar. They were out of there in ten minutes.

I saw tears on Missy's mom's face when her daughter was recognized at the Saturday night banquet. Kevin told the story about the goal Missy had set at six years old and what it felt like to see her complete that goal now nine years later. The Big Bear Trail Riders awarded Missy a new helmet for her accomplishment.

To see if any of your fellow racers won the plaque, check out this thread:

http://district37ama.org/forums/showthread.php?t=22258

There are a few pictures and some tales of the difficulty, including break down woes and many having no energy/time to finish. By the way, Larry Rosseler completed the route in 11 hours, but almost four of those hours were spent helping several people, one of whom had a broken chain but no chain breaker. Thanks for doing that, Larry! Ron Lawson, editor of Dirt Bike Magazine, was also there.

Congratulations to Missy and the 53 guys that won the Big Bear plaque! For those that tried and didn't accomplish their goal, there's always next year. Start practicing now!

(By the way, for the guy that said that there was no way a girl could have completed that route on a CRF230F , Dave Harlan, former pres. of the OC Dualies, said that his group kept encountering Missy. "We left a little earlier than her, around 5:15 a.m. She passed us when our group had issues but we kept catching up to her for six of the seven checks," he said. Dave watched her go up those difficult hills, some of which wore out the guys in his group. "She's a good rider," he said. "I watched her keep riding at a steady pace until we lost her at check six when one of our guys finally needed to rest.")

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