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Norton hoisting the trophy in 1990
© Paul Clipper image
Offroad
The Blackwater 100: Gone but not forgotten
1990 Blackwater 100 winner Tommy Norton toppled giants on his KTM125
By Jerry Bernardo
7 min readPublished on
Close your eyes and let your mind drift back to the days of the famed Blackwater 100 and its lengthy domination as the ‘toughest race in America’.If you are drawing a blank and haven’t ever heard of this event, just relax: we the elder statesman of off road will school you in the four grueling 25-mile long laps of mud, blood and beer. “Was the race really that difficult,” you ask? Imagine if the Blackwater 100 had a son and named him ‘hard enduro’—for its time, the Blackwater was that tough. I think former magazine editor Paul Clipper nailed it when he said: “Spots on this course reach out and grab you by the throat, and usually make you reconsider your choice of hobbies.”
During the mid-70’s a local small town preacher had an idea and reached out to a promoter named Davey Coombs. In an effort to boost the struggling economy of his town, the preacher suggested putting on a motorcycle race in Davis, West Virginia in the hopes of drawing people (and money) into the area. ‘Big Dave’ Coombs jumped on board and devised a race that began in town and led off into the surrounding harsh environment. Back in the day most guys would head to the Blackwater with hopes of completing just one of the four 25-mile long laps.
(Sadly, the race itself fell victim to an environmental attack from those people who have never popped a wheelie--in turn--the Blackwater 100 was shut down in 1993)
In what I consider to be a true Davey vs. Goliath moment in history, a carpenter from Massachusetts named Tommy Norton headed down to West Virginia with the hopes of winning the famed Blackwater 100. The year was 1990. Norton was a fast local kid in New England but competing in this race put him up against some of the best pro racers in the nation. When riders reached into the bucket to draw their starting positions, it was Baja ace Larry Roeseler who drew starting position number one. Tommy Norton, a kid that, until this moment in time, no one had ever heard of, pulled out the number two…the rest is history.
Red Bull: The Blackwater 100 was a hare scramble off road race known for being a really tough event. Would you compare it to a modern day hard enduro?
Tommy Norton: The name hard enduro hadn’t even been dreamed up at that time, but to all of us in the world of off road, the Blackwater was the biggest and baddest race there was. The Blackwater 100 or the Baja 1000 were the two toughest race of that era.
RB: The 25-mile loop Davey Coombs Sr. laid out was a beast. What did you think of it once you got out on course?
TN: No doubt the loop was long and tough. We had four deep rivers to cross, dozens of mud holes and treacherous bogs and had to ride up and down a mountain that was extremely rocky. Picking your lines through the bogs was ultra important because you could literally just disappear if you went in the wrong place. I learned from racing our local hare scrambles--when you come to big mud holes, head right towards the spectators, because they were always standing on solid ground. At Blackwater, I would scatter several groups of spectators but I'd make it through. Another tactic I used was to get off and walk my bike through the deep river crossings. It made sense to me to lose a little bit of time rather than drowning out in a river.
RB: That day you raced against the greatest names in off road, including some past winners of the event. Were you surprised that you could match their speeds?
TN: I'm from New England and I'm a proud Masshole (‘Masshole’ is a slang term for a reckless driver from Massachusetts). I headed down there to race, plain and simple. I knew that I had speed but didn't know if I could actually beat the national guys at their own game. Riding in NETRA (New England Trail Rider Association) prepared me for a race like that. Our local enduros were always over 100 miles of rocks, roots and ruts.
RB: You not only blew everyone’s minds when you won the race, but then again when they found out you did it on a KTM125. Did the small-bore bike suffer on that course at all?
TN: That day the KTM125 didn't suffer at all. The course wasn't overly wet, there was actually dust. There were plenty of mud holes and the rivers had deep water but the track itself was very fast in sections. There were times when I'd hold my bike wide open in top gear for a long time. People could hear it screaming through the woods and would get out of the way! (laughs)
RB: For you, the race wasn’t without any drama. Tell us what happened?
TN: On the first lap when I got the highway 93 river crossing, the course arrows just pointed me into a massive crowd of people. I went into them going wide-open and everyone just parted in front of me. All of a sudden I launched off the banking down into the river--the water went right over my handlebars and my motor started cutting out. Out of instinct I pinned my bike and threw it up the opposite bank. When I did that I landed flat on my back and exploded my water bottle. After that crash, I had nothing to drink for the rest of the race. A while later, Eddie Lojak took a little short cut trail and popped out and t-boned me. The impact broke off my brake hose right at the lever. As it turns out, it also broke his water pump, which caused him to DNF later in the race. I had to race 3 1/2 laps without front brakes on a fast and hilly course. I crashed so many times because of that. I still can't believe I didn't break my own bike, I fell down so many times.
RB: The famed Hwy. 93 river crossing was the gathering spot for thousands of spectators aptly named the ‘Mud Fleas.’ What was their part in this race?
TN: In order to make it up the hill every lap, you needed to make a good effort. The Mud Fleas wanted to see you give it a good old-fashioned try, if you pussed out, they'd throw shit at you. If you gave it a good effort (but still crashed) they would drag your bike up the hill and have it started for you before you even crawled up top!
RB: You went down in history as the only rider to ever win the Blackwater 100 on a 125cc machine. Looking back, was it hell or just a good old time?
TN: That race was just a fun place to go to. It was completely out of control, with thousands and thousands of people who wanted to do nothing but ride all of their toys, scream and drink beer.
As the story goes, even the race announcer asked incredulously: “Who the hell is Tommy Norton?” upon learning some unknown kid on a 125 was leading the race. At the race’s end Norton blew right past the finish line barrels only to hop off and push his bike back through them, screaming, “Number two!” to ensure that he was scored correctly.
Soon after that, four-time winner Mark Hyde arrived and rode through the finish line holding up his open hand to proudly claim a fifth Blackwater 100
However, that victory bubble soon popped when his wife Betsy told him that he'd actually finished second.
"I never knew Norton was in front of me", Hyde lamented.
Mark Hyde will know that name for the rest of his life: Tommy Norton, the Masshole that walked his bike through the rivers of Blackwater.
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