Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125558
Left: #IOJ JIM Rice _lied III • .., past fellow BSA rider 1192< Roe CItoueJ, took 6th In Amateur filial. . farmers reluse cyclists perml:ssion to "cross their property to get to the public CIl lands. A bright spot Is a bill currently ~ before Congress to amend section 15 of ~ the Taylor Grazing Act, so that ranchers who sign up for grazing leases on pub- ~ lic land, must allow public access to ~ that land through !belr private holdings . • Letters to Senators Thomas Kuchel a3 and George Murphy and area Congress- ... men urging support of this measure will ~ help here. KucheI Is ranking Republican on the Sena te Interior Commi ttee and Is U) alrliady aware of the need for land use ~ guideline s . ~ At last wee k's meeting In Gilroy only ~ one conc rete pr oposal was agreed on; o.J that a s pecial cycles-oniy area should be U pus hed for . Tbe group dec1ded to try for another meeting Ma y I , again at HaU's and again at 8 p.m , The rider s are handicapped by an infor mati on gap . Panoche land Is so marginal that s tock Is only allowed to graze on It during " wet" years, and It Is wor th so li ttle that ranchers ge t grass leases for s even cents per acre. Few surveys have ever been made, and even the Bureau of Land Management has been unable or unw1ll1ng to supply accurate maps of just what land Is public, what Is private and what Is leased and what Is not. Cycli s ts asking specific questions have been mel with evasive answers. For instance, there Is a point where a 90-degree cor ne r ot public land touclIes a public road In the S1lver Springs area. Since a motorcycle tire Is oniy about four Inch es wide , th1s would theoretically guarantee any r ider ac cess to !be land. But the cyclists on the committee have so tar been unable to find out just where that magic spot Is . Tbey hope that information w1l1 be for thco ming at the May 8 meeting In Hollister. Another d1tfl culty Is that the land Is divided In big squares, with public aDd private lands Interspersed. U a rider refuses to leave privately- owned land, !be rancher can si gn a co mplaint and have him arrested. Yet It Is nearly Impossible to know just wha t land i s verboten, since even the Bureau of Land Management Is hazy on the matter. The meetings will continue, and hopetully a workable solution w1lI be found. But clearly , the days of carefree r iding at w1lI over public land In Nor the rn Calltor nia, are numbe r ed. DEIS S. C ES In the MaIn ahead of fello... Phil Todd and Paul ConserIiere. A most Impr essive performance was turned In by young Amateur Tom Rockwood, riding the Ascot baIt-m1le fo r the fir s t ti me on one of Joe Dudek 's Triumphs. Tommy joined the three Expert beat race winner s - Haab y, Jones and Seabourne - In the Trophy Dash and wasn't far behind his more experienced compatriots at the finis h. Then he went on to win the 10-lap Ama te ur Main Event fr om the dr op of starter Whitey Lyons' !lag, s tre tc hing It out ove r Ri ck Elisarraras ( BSA), Alex Chinowskl (Honda) and Mark Brelsford (BSA ). In the Novi ce class, Keith Mashburn (Yamaha) took over the Main Event lead trom Stockt on' s Eldon Hinkle (Suzuki) with two laps to go and continued on to victory. Hinkle , clean-sweep winner at san Jose the week before, was s econd. Both r iders earlier won their heat races, as did third place Dennis Kanagae (Ka- B y Geor ge Martia For many years the 16 million acres of federal public domain lands In Cali- m_ Yamall_lIted D..- LundIl-e (175) It to the Novice semi, IIut ell lIn'l tran.fer to Ihllal.. wasaki). DiffereB ces seWed The fam1llar Gardena, Callt. track had been playing host to midget race cars of the Bay CIties Racing Association since the 0 rig I n a 11y scheduled motorcycle opening night, Apr1l 5, was the scene ot a precedent-setting boycott by riders In protest of a t1at $1500 purse, as oppOSed to the 4O%-0t- the-gate payoff In effect for over ten years. After meetings between promoter J.C. Agajanian and the riders' group, Mo tor cycle Racers, Inc ., several agreements were reached that would have bettered this payotf structure, but a proclamation last week by the American Motorcycle Association stated that only tlat guaranteed purses would now be allowed under AMA sanction. ThIs resulted In the otfer ot a t1at $2100, $600 more than the or1g1nal setup. • • Rockwood Roars Thi.d In hi. hut '1Ca, T.lumph-IIIOIIDted Mike Morton (25. ) missed a lrallSf. spol to the 10- lap Amatour M~I .. Harl., rldor Jill Crawford (4$') look 2nd In Iho Expert semi, workod up from la.1 placo to 7th In 1110 IInal. G fornia were pretty much Ignor ed by everyone except a few sheepherders. But no more. Americans, and Callfornlans particularly, have dis cove r ed the motorcycle, and they have also discover ed public lands. The U.S. Department of Inte r i or' s Bureau ot Land Management estimates In a r ec ent report that up to 450, 000 persons have been Involved In motorcycling on public lands In Southern California only. Fewer Northern Califor nian s ride public lands, but this Is because there are fewer public lands to ride on . As might be expected, the sudden Influx of thousands of motorcyclists to areas where farmers had for years considered the land " thei r s " has created some problems. And oddly enough, the problem seems to be coming to a bead In Northern, not Southe rn Califor nia. Complaints fr om ranchers In the Panoche Hills area s outh ot Los Banos started the d1a1ogue. otflc1als of San Benito County set up a meeting . and out ot It was formed the San Benito County Subcommittee on Motorcycle- Livestock Problems. The committee Is halt stockman and bait cyclist In makeup. It met a second time Apr1l 10 In Hollister and has ano!ber meeting slated for May 8 In Hollister at 8 p.m. In Veteran' s HaIl. A problem, and a blessing, considering !be political power ot rural Calltor nia ranchers, Is that no local body has jurisdiction. Public land Is a federal atfair, and the laws concerning It wer e made long before anyone thought about the sport ot trail riding. Last week the motorcycle bait of the San Benito subcommittee met with about 30 representatives of cycle clubs at HaIl's Cycle Center In Gilroy . Presiding were Pete Lomanto of Hollister, Lefty Mlyanagi of saunas and David Dubois of HoIllster. DALE DOW" MOTORCYCLES 2441 L..g Beacll Blvd. Llllg Beadl, Calif. " We' r e sort ot a subcom mittee, " Styllsb M.k Brei"•• #47, from No. C~IIf.. _ to tile AlnUar !laIn from tho s.nl. •...., to a .fask /n l ne 4th at the n.lsh. 0 .. of two Kondas In nl_co H Il1o se was .Idd.. by Alo. Chlnow.kl (35.) III 3.d .pot In the Amaou. flu" 0""" Mlyanagl said. "Government moves very slowly. It may take three to five years before Congress passes a law about public land use, but it could come In six months. Right now we need a working agreement with the ranchers, something we all can live with." What riders want Is as much access to the public lands at Panoche as possible. Presently, riding at Panoche Is strictly limited, because private property surrounds the public lands and • .I. 10 BIk's So. of San Diego Fwy. 20 Years at same location G ~§A . . C I .0" ~ lln, . 44ZJ Se -.. • 39J-62ll , p MOTORCYCLE RACERS. INC. • SHES '1'0 THANK ALL 'l'HE NOVICE. AMATEUR AND EXPERT ,,I..~ I:: 1"0_..0 activity a. fan. mlnelo willa rldeB _nd tu...r. In tho pi ts lit dIsclIss tho happontnp of tile ftWtnCo MRI members were divided In their reAction. They had fought long and h&rd for their 40%. The majority ot members chose not to ride, hence the conspicuous lack ot many top riders In all three divisions - Expert, Amateur and Novice. No picket lines were In evidence; It was a silent protest. But with the announcement that the coming week's purse would be Increased to $2400, one and all have agreed to participate ••.and th1s Friday night' s Ascot racing progr am should be a world-beater! Then on saturday evening the mon thly TT Steeplec hase event takes place , so tans can enjoy an action-packed doubleheader thls weekend - packed to the brim with professional talent. (R e s ults on page 20) WHO HAVE SUPPORTED OUR FIGHT FO DERS BIGGER PURSES AT ASCOT PARK. NOW THAT WE'VE BEEN ASSURED OF A $2,400.00 PAYOFF FOR TlUS FRIDAY NIGHT'S EVENT, LET'S GO GIVE 'EM A RACE THEY'LL NEVER FORGET! ( Si gned) Board of Directors . OTO C LE ACE S, I C YC Tho 3S0cc Kawasaki ridden by Ralph White (15) In tho Experl class .uffered from teolhIne p.obl .... cklflne It. Il.s! 1IIl1nCo