One killed in desert ATV race

BARSTOW, Calif. (AP) — More than 1,000 vehicles roared across the Mojave Desert on Saturday in the 165-mile Barstow-to-Las Vegas race, a cross-country contest bitterly opposed by environmentalists.

One motorcycle rider was killed and five others were injured, said Maureen Bodine, nursing supervisor at Barstow Community Hospital.

Some 1,200 motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles began roaring off into the desert about 8 a.m. in five waves in chilly, dry and windless weather, heading across the California desert to the casinos of Las Vegas, Nev.

Before the start, an inspection team discovered a potentially lethal obstacle in a culvert the racers had to use, a race official said.

A double row of heavy railroad ties barred the concrete pass under Interstate 15, about nine miles south of Baker, said race chairman Rick Hamel.

A plywood board nearby bore the spray-painted words “Earth First,” Hamel said.