CN
III VOICES
W H A T Y O U A R E S A Y I N G
P6
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contain the writer's name, address and daytime phone number… Editor
"Crazy stuff, but growing up at the
Ledges was blast."
Marquez And Honda
I think it is a fact that Marc Mar-
quez makes the Honda seem
like the best bike on the grid,
especially when Taki [Takaaki
Nakagami], who is on last year's
bike, has often been the next-
best Honda this year.
Peter H Nielson
ISDE Reunion
This is the coolest thing ever!
I was lucky enough to be a
little Penton dealer in Northern
California early on and then for
a while into the KTM days. I
even had the privilege of know-
ing some of the riders and our
guys and gals who were some
of the very best in the world.
It showed with so many med-
als awarded again and again.
I wouldn't trade those days for
anything.
I would somehow get the
news of each day's ride results,
and who did what, and it was
always worth a celebration.
Al Banta
For those of you who have
never experienced the ISDE
in person, I suggest you do. It
truly is the Olympics of motor-
cycle racing, and the cool part
about it is that you can be a part
of the team and the whole ISDE
experience.
Many years ago in Italy, I
volunteered to work as part of
a check crew and helped with
setting up the pits and doing
whatever I could to assist our
team riders when they came
in for fueling, a change of
goggles, food or whatever they
needed. I had no idea I'd be a
part of the action when I first
made the commitment to attend
the Six Days, I simply thought
I'd just be a spectator.
Plus, by the end of the week,
I had made many new friends
on the U.S. tour, and some of
them I still keep in touch with.
That was my only ISDE expe-
rience and is still one of my best
memories ever. I hope to go to
another someday and would
love to attend a future ISDE
reunion.
I wish Team USA the best
luck this year in Portugal. You
can bet that I'll be following it
every day.
Thank you.
D. Johnson
Archives: The Nelson
Ledges Reunion
Wish I had pictures but spent
many a weekend at Nelson
Ledges in the mid to late '60s.
My dad and buddies were in the
CRA and they threw many road
races over the years. The old
man always had a red pick-up
truck, so one of his jobs was
to go out and pick up bikes
that had trouble or involved in
a crash. Myself, a buddy, and
my brother were always part of
the action and along to help.
We parked the truck right near
the end of pit lane and were
always ready to head out when
needed.
I was pretty young but still
have many memories of those
weekends, including the day
the Hells Angels invaded the
speedway and how not only the
club members but also many
top racers, such as Gary Nixon,
Jody Nicholas, Roger Reiman,
George Roeder, Dick Mann
and many others fought back.
Us kids just stood watching
in awe of how the racers and
club members took control and
ran them out throwing a 2x4
through the spokes of one's
wheel, and smashing a wooden
folding chair over one's head,
and my dad hitting a dude
over the head with his Stanley
thermos. It was sheer chaos
for sure and for many years the
big dent in the thermos cup
reminded me of the day. Crazy
stuff, but growing up at the
Ledges was blast.
Bill Horton
