Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

.. '" '" Q., NO PlACE FOR II CHICKEN story by John Shedd - Photos by Bob Bradford & John Shedd Enduro p.rtIclpant 'killfully nnl,.t., tllrou&ll mounuln shrubbery. The Fifth Annual Chicken Enduro was presented on May 7 by the Motorpsycho Explorer Post 305. The starting place for the mn was a few miles sonth ofYosemite National Park on Highway 41 at Yosemite Forks Lodge. There were 276 entries, and when all was over, only 170 had completed the mn. Believe it or not, some of these riders tnmed chicken and back tracked. Blinding Snow Everywhere Due to bad weather and deep snow, the Scouts had to re-route the run several times and were forced to put in more pavement than they anticipated. Because of this, the average speed was quite fast with a 28.5 mph overall average and 36 mph in the fastest section. In reporting on a enduro, it is advantageous to outline the course, so that riders who missed it can tell what it was like and determine if they would like to ride it in the future. Bill Green's Odyssey Kn_dup .ud f.lled to spirit. - do.,. tills &lrI', So let's follow a rider around the course. How about number 48A? He looks experienced and his desert-equipped blue Triumph appears capable enough to do the job. We find that the rider's name is Bill Green, and that Bill drove up from Hermosa Beach looking for a change from the typical desert enduro. Key time for Bill is 10:48 a.m., and as the starter points his finger, Bill and three other riders sharing the same number are off. The trek starts with a short ride north on Highway 41 and then swings left/leaving the pavement. After a short distance, Bil~ hits a hard s~rface road. with a bIt of a slope WIth the left side high. The melting snow, running down from the. mountai~s, has caused quite a bIt of radIal erosion, and Bill finds the high left side the best place to ride. Leaving this, he drops over a steep downhill with a sharp ri~t ~ at the bott?m. .A water crosSIng lIes a short dlstance ahead. Bill says, -No sweat-, and plows through. Tronble Ahead As we follow the blue Triumph over the hard-packed dirt, we soon reach the highway at Big Cedar Springs. The trail leads to the left away from the highway, and we follow the narrow grassy path uphill. There are a few close trees in this area, but they don't seem to slow Bill down. Half way up. the course goes left, and then - it looks like there may be troubl e ahead. There is a short downhill with a big mud ·hole at the bottom, and then an almos t insurmountable bumpy uphill as soon as you leave the mud. Wow! Som e of these guYS are really ha ving problems getting through the mud. It appears that mud baths are the oIder of the day. Here come 48B and C, each riding a black Matchless single. with Bill on his Tl'i,umph close behind. Zip, zip, zip. All three fly through the mud and bounce up the hill with mud-caked knobbies fighting for traction. And what do we find at the top? You bet! Another downhill, and down we go. A nice grassy uphi II lies ahead, so they screw open the throttle and up they go. Guess what? They find they have left the trail, but wh at the heck. It was a real fun hill but now, down we go to find the trail. didn't ~k. It tIIrouih C.bove). Now Bill hits the spot where the snow has really done its deed. Here is one big mess of slick muddy road. We follow Bill through without a mishap and hit Highway 49 just above Nipanawasee. We follow the highway for a short distance and then cut right back into the mud. Then we climb to about 4000 feet. and there it is, snow everywhere. It's about a foot deep, with a narrow trail thFOugh it. Perhaps the first bikes had a bit of trouble here, but Fill follows their trail with no problem. Leaving the snow, we hit some mud switc.hbacks and then .start the descent. It s a ~It bumpy gOIng down and there are QUIte a .few clI;st-offs•. After c~osslng a brIdge, BIll pulls IDtO t~e fust check. Fast Sections After leaving the check, we hit a long stretch of pavement. Now off the pavement again, and we're on a hard dirt road, with fast TT typ e corners. This leads us to check #2. Now we change speeds, as we enter the 36 mph section. We are on fast gravel for awhile, and then we hit pavement, and follow it into check #3. Check #3 is in, Raymond and the riders have a five minutes stop to gas up. We leave the third check and follow the pavement passed a Quarry and into check #4. We drop our speed to 30 mph and off we go on a dirt farm road through a beautiful green valley. The dirt ends, and we find ourselves on more pavement. Here's a fast downhill. Boy! Bill is really whistling; he thinks he'S late. More dirt and then pavement as we come into Awahnee. Bill's still cranking it on in fourth. Oh no! There's a cop abead. Bill slows down; the cop waves and away we go. The pavem ent ends and Bill pulls in to check #5. So far no trouble. but Bill can't figure out if he is on time or not. Back to the Start Now the trail doubles back, and we hit the first part of tbe morning course. We travel back over the eroded road, With the high left side, and strike out for the downhill. As Bill descends the hill. someone calls to him. He looks up, at the wrong time naturally. Then he gets off in the weeds. Who called? Bill's buddy, he's up in the trees shooting a movie of the whole scene. Bill checks out his bike and finds everything o.k. and he's off again. We go back through the morning water crossing, and then arrive at the finish. Well. who won? We don't know yet, but Bill Green arrived four minutes earlY. 1*****************: * HOIBAS * : LOWEST PRICES IN SO. CAL. : * * * u.tu, __ * * * \*****************, ~.& A' 2073 W. PacIfic Cout Hw,. C.llf. 326-3110 ~ 775-1&02 Trill blk. _tr.t cool, It Into checkpolDt. Mud 9tIIs wer. til. order of til. dlIy. Socne StMp downhill ,ectlon, pl.ced • prl8ll... on cour.c.. SCOUTS TO OPEN TT TRACK by J. C. Thomson While covering at the Chicken Enduro, CYCLE NEWS happened onto Milt Allen, located at the radio jeep at the top. of the Hillclimb section. Milt is one of the Committee Chairmen of Explorer Post 305 and also owner of 250 acres that has a motorcycle hillclimb. Not content with just being the first official motorcycle SODUt Troop. they are presently buildin1( a clubhouse with an AMA the Oakhurst HillbillY$: sanctioned club. Milt also says that by next spring the Explorer Post will complete a 25OO-foot TT track with banked sides and with liglts for night racin1(. The entire track will be within vie w from any pain t. Racin g will be for trophies only.

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