Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1960's

Patrick Puts Down Pursuers At Checkers Hare & Hound Story and Photos by Dick WrIght MOJAVE, Cal., Oct. 13 - The 17th annual Check Chase was a complete success in every way. Just about everyone showed up for this annual event, which is always a highlight of the Hare&Hound season. ' The weather was cool, the lOO-mile race was long and hard, and the course had every kind of territory imaginable: Uphills, hairraising downhills, twistinj; fire roads, sandwashes, and high, pinetree-covered trails. Following were MIke Pat rIck, Tom Maxwell #54, and young Bob Steffan J r ., #122x, a NovIce looking good in fas t compa ny. The course turned r ight, afte r pas sIng thr ough Robber' s Roos t and went down the Freema n's Gulc h sand wash; then under the highway and out onto a fast, san dy trail. At thIs point, PatrIck put the bIg Norton In fourth gear and passed Bowers on the outsIde to take over second spot. The course continued to par allel the highway, then made a s harp rIgh t and through the tubes under the r oad. Avery trIcky, s teep hill was up next: the top for ty feet of it Is hard granite and straight down, then It goes Into soft sand. Dean still had the lead, bombIng the hlll In third gear . Twenty mIle s la ter , he I Bruce Dunford, #100x, was the first 250 Amateur in on his Husky, taking tenth overall, and chasing him was the first 250 NovIce In, Yamaha-seated TIm SmIth, #103MX. First Open NovIce was C. Raudman, #893 on a Triumph. It was a tough break for Novice BobSteffan Jr ., who was r unning fifth, but ran out of gas one mile from the finish. He's a r Ider to be reckoned with In the future. In the pits af ter the race, PatrIck saId that he dIdn't know who was leading until after he passed Bowers and saw that It was DIck Dean. He knew then had had his work cut out for him. Trail Bikes The la r ge entry of 180 lOUcc r Iders took off ten mInutes after the big bores ) Smoke bomb John Gales (Trl.) wenl 011 a fourfool bank Inlo a sandwash momenls after Ihls sh ot. Tha I pul him oul of Ihe race. Atter this 2 hr. and 20 minute grind against the natural elements and a total of 493 rIders, desert poInt leader Mike Patrfck, #7, came In first on the Norton, with a two- mInute lead over second man Phil Bowers, #139x on a 250cc Yamaha. They dynamIte used to start the race went off at 10:10, and the pack headed for the smoke bomb about two mIles out and slightly to the left of the stvting line, In open, sandy territory. Some of the rIders heading for the bomb angled left, and some just went straight out, maldng for a few crashes. Top contenders knocked out of the race early included Steve Hurd #1, Larry BergquIst #888x, and Dick Vlck . Then the course angled to the rIght, goIng through a large rock for mation called " Robber ' s Roost." The lead ers at -this stage were DIck Dean, #8 on a 360 Husky, really making It with a 60yard lead over PhIl Bowers, #139x. Jack Byers rode his well'prepared Mell sse 10 7th Overa ll. pulled into the pIts with a ninety -second lead over Patrfck, Bowers still In third , Wally Casperson, #32, was runnning fourth, ,follO ed by Triumph-mounted W Gene Smith , #59. These r Iders were really movIng over this rough, fifty -mIle loop , finIshing In one hour and twelve mInutes. On the long, sandy hlll three mIles out, PatrIck was able to put his power to use and steamed by Dean, but was not abl e to lose him. Dean made a bId to r epa ss PatrIck In a sandwas h, but hi t a big rock In the dust at high speed, which put him out of the r ace. Luck tly, he was not hurt. PatrIck held the lead to ilie finIs h li ne, foll owed by Bowers, Gene SmIth in third, and Bob Rodine, #17x on a 250 Husky In fourth. The first Open Amateur In was JIm Dor man, #102, taking fIfth ove rall on his Triumph. He had to move up fr om thIr tieth to do the job. Danny Kline on a 250cc Greeves looked lood at the smoke bomb but ran Inlo trouble later. - First Place 2S0cc C s las D VEBICKERS- CZ A EL TORO, Cal., oct. 9 - Orange County • Lane Leaps Back , MIke Lane came back after his fall in the 250cc flattrack final and won both the Trophy Dash and the 250cc TT MaIn, with Ray Vanderp ool, also Yamahamounted , taking second plac e. Ray comes --- - I I I GoldsmI th had mechanIc a l trouble abo ut ten mIles out and turned the lead over to Morgan, who had already bullt up a three-mInute lead over Anderson at the sandhill. Terry Clark, #395, moved up to thIrd spot at this point, Morgan pulled Into the pIts after one hour and twenty-sIx mInutes, r unning seventy -fi rst overall . Anderson froze his bike up and Clark moved Into second spot, with ErIc Jensen #7 now in thIr d. A mIle aft er the pIts, the course went up the long, sandy hlll wher e the race turned Into a pus hi ng conte s t. If you haven't seen thirty trail bIkes being pushed over a hill, you have n't lived, and at thIs point the race ceas ed to be fun. Upon r eachIng the top of that hlll, the cour s e went one mIle In open boondocks, then up another long hill whIch requIred about fifty feet of pu shing, Morgan led the pack Into the finIsh to take the win in two hour s and fifty mInutes . Clark was second, and took FIrst Ama teur. Ja ck F roelich, #2, was third on hIs Bultaco. Four th was Jim Jac klett, #11, and behind hIm were Car l Steven, Sachs-mounted #82, and Amateur Ian Dr ake, #126. J . Damay, #847, was Fir s t NovIce, taking eleventh overall. It has been dIfficult to trace hack to s ee wher e the bIg push started to have the Trall Bikes go all the way, but some say that 11 was the top Experts who wanted to show what they could do. One top Expert, Tom Hoyle, feels, "I' m going to get a 250cc If 1 have to push up hills on the trall bIke. That Isn't racing, " And I'll dr Ink to that.••••• P,S , We have received many letter voting to keep this a fun class, with hills that can be raced over Ins tead of pushed over, and only an occaslonalall-the-way cham pIonshIp race. No votes have been receIved for " pushlng" r aces . (Results on page 16) MOTO-CROSS was rained out on October 2nd and the Oi strl-bute d by """ AMERI CAN JAWA LTO. ... 1325 So. La Brea Ave. Los Angeles, Cal. 900 19 "" CIJ ~ a, ~ ~ ~ ..... Q; .Q e; ~~i~' #~~~ ~~er~~~;:. ~;.g~:;~Ie i5~~~ ~ Pepperell, Mass. International R og ers Takes Orange County Championship r Iders and fans r eturned to see a double program the following Wednesday ni ght, This was the ACA short track championship nIght at the Orange County speedpath. LIttle Mark Kruse cap tured both the 100cc Trophy Dash and the Main Event. Mike Lane on his Royal Enfield, ail the way from BakersfIeld, walked away with the 250cc Dash but had troubles in the Main Event, unloaded and dId not finIsh. The 250cc Mai n Event cha mpIonship was captured by Stan Rogers on hIs Bulta co, with the point leader In the 250Cc class, Randy Ellis, finIshing second. Fourth spot went to Dave Lenar on a 250Cc BSA. Dave has been r unning In the Open Main T T's and has been a constant winner and has switched over to fla ttrack as well. Dave only finished fourth in the 250cc flattrack event, but captured first plac e in the Open TT Trophy Dash and Main Even t. to go the entire dis tance, and almost everyon e knew It would be rough, es pecial ly on the uphills. Tom Hoyle, #31 on a Hodaka, grabbed an early lead and was movIng out until he came to a ditch which he tried to jump. Unfor tunately, he hit the bank on the other sIde, which put him out of the r ace. Dean Goldsm Ith, #39 on a Har'ley-Davtdson, had the lead at Robber's Roost, with Ja ck Morgan #1, only seventy yards behind . The Hodakamounted followers were Ji m Sumners '" ?;; Z ltJ ...:J ~ U

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