Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Group of the stout hearted attempting an Impossible hili. AL ROGERS SCORES AT atERRY CREEK AGAIN! All Tbe Fair WUII.. Peiat Riders Stay ed HlIIIe. Story by J im Da vi s Photos by Lynn Win eland The following story may look like a rundown on the Cherry Creek National Championship Hare and Hound held May 19 at Eureka, Utah, but don't you believe it! Really, it is a skillfully disguised blast at fair weather point riders who don't have enough ambition to leave thei r own District to compete against other riders who may be better. How about that as a lead paragraph to a story? The reason you can't do this, is that you are too busy working on getting those precious points week alter dreary week. We'll talk about thi s In a bit, but let's go on to the story before we do. Cherry Creek has been a fiasco so many times, that rider s from the L.A. area have always gone up there expecting the same thing eve ry year . This time they were pleasantly surprised, as the run was well marked, and was liad out better than It has ever been before. The cry babies and complainers were there as usual, but thank goodness , most of them wer en' t from this area. One valid complaint that our troops had was that the danger areas weren't very well marked, it they were marked at all. Our riders tend to ride a tri!le faster than the folks In Salt Lake are used to, and when you're r iding over your hea d like thi s , the bad spots come uP faster than you' d like them to. Several well known riders trom Southern California can vouch for this fac t, but all of them are healing nicely a t thi s time. It was good to see the pits In that far off land containing jumpers an d banners fr om the Shamrocks (good club ), Viewfinders (movie club), StumpJumers (wher e wer e the stumpsz), Rams (Welty wasn't there), Victors (Orange? Ughl ) C hlcke r s (a club?). There were man y more people in Utah from this area than have been there since Al Rogers was a little boy, but still not enough to satisfy me . What's that you say, " You don't care it you satisfy me or not ?" Who cares! The r un was 110 miles long, and rougher than whoopee. In fact, It was rougher than it has been in the past fe w years. Out of 190 bot and ready starters, 21 fini shed. This should give you an idea just how It was in those dunes. It was bad, but shouldn't a Natloual Championship be that way? You ride all year, one event alter another, but a time mus t come to separate the men trom the boys. ThIs was the ti me . The temperature was perfect for desert racing. There were little wispy clouds in the sky , but they didn't begin to thicken until about four In the af ternoon. The start was a good one , and Just about everyone got off the line at the same ti me. Immediate ly Dickie Dean, AI Rogers and Max Switzer began swapping the lead spot. There were many mor e miserable miles to go, so although the leaders were racing, they still tried to cool it to conserve their energy for the dunes and mountains that lay ahead. As they boomed Into the fi r st chec k, Dickie led the bash with AI and Max trying to kick each other r ight behind. Dickie roared out of the check and promptly got lost, which gave the lead to Max and AI for a while. Harry Greeley, one of the Chl cker s who commutes from Northern Callfor nia had made the mistake of bringing his wile along to this run. Harry charged ott the starting line and promptly lost his gascap In the sand. While he s crambled around on his hands and knees looking for the lost cap, his lovely spouse was doing a little easy cowtrailIng; At the end of the firs t loop when Masked bandit traversing trail. The trip to Cherry Creel< is groovy. You get a chance to go throng!! Death Valley, s cenic Bea tty, Nevada and also the magnifice nt thriving metropolis of Elko, Nevada. Why take a vacation during the s ummer months and fight the crowds , when you can make this trip in May when the weather is perfect, and the n not only ride a keen desert event, but also visit salt Lake and other spots of interest? '. My first tree. they came in to the gascheck, Dir ty Harry's wile was running 6th overall and raring to go. I tol d you that you never should have taught her to ride Harry! Meanwhile , Harry was still on his hands and knees looking for his gascap, Harry Is a member of the Chlckers motorcycle club. Wow! Harry went out later with mechanical problems, and as I understand it, is still out there lookin g for his wife. Those of you who remember the Big Bear start at Lucerne Valley will know what the start was like at Cherry Creek. As you sit on the line, you look out through a sea of sage to the mountains abo ut ten miles out . The r un to the bomb is easy, but once you pass tha t point, things get nasty. There are lots of ravines, deep sage, and barbed wire entan glements (remember those, Murphy?) from the bomb to the mountains. ThIs year, instead of going around the mountains, the course goes over the top, Chic ken fellers can go around as many did, but you'll mi s s the fly ing ch ec k a t the peak of the highest hill. From there, was a long downhill section, lots of rocks, and then a gr adual turn to the r ight. Around another bend, and ' then all of a sudden another check. From here, the country opened up, headed north and led the riders through foothills, brushland and nasty looking sandwashes that always seemed to be heading the wrong way. Most r iders di dn' t need gasoline, but stopped anyway to get some water before they he a d e d into the dreaded dunes. The second loop was only 18 miles long, but this Is the one that took the largest toll of machinery and men, boys, ladies. It you've eve r ridden through a . sand dune uP to your axle nuts, you'll know how bad this was . Dunes aren't too bad It you can bomb through and stay In a high gear, but this was one place this just would . not work. These dunes are covered with lots of scrub pine and brush, which forced the r iders to zi gzag and lose momentum. The moment they dropped thei r speed, they overworked their engines, clutches an d aircleaner systems. Custer' s Last Stand was nothing compared to all the wr eckage scattered abo ut on these dunes as late as Monday an d Tuesday of the following week. One of the oldes t living desert r iders , Bob Mc La ughlin aboard a Sachs was running 10th overall which was pretty fine for a 11 ttle scooter, but he burned It up in the soft sand a t this poin t. Can you i magine what's going to happen when Sachs gets those 100cc machines In a fe w months? Meanwhile , Al Rogers, the Great Masked Rider Of The Plains was cowtralling