Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

I' .... .... ~ Q., CYCLE NEWS TALKS WITH KERRY KLEID KelTY Kleid is an intelligent. pretty college girl from New England. She has brown ha ir and green eyes, her fingernails are flied and sh e races a motocros s C Z faster than the majority of the men that line up beside her. Kerry's west coast racing debut was promoted by the Bay Mare Team Pri" and her. appearance in California has sparked a lot of interest in the girl who is billed as the World's quickest woman motocross racer. ' Over the din of two stroke race bikes CYCLE NEWS talked to KelTY Kleid between races at Bay Mare. . I KelTY . how did you get started with motorcycles? When I ha s 16 I had j ust gra dua ted from - high school' and I wa s in Colorado. I had some money saved so I bought a Bri dgestone to use on the street . Did you ever race it? No, it was j us t a street bike. Later, i n t he Eas t I had a Ducat! that I wa s us ing for tr an s portation . I goofed ar ound wit h it i n th e dirt a little but th e first expe rie nce I ever had with a dirt bik e was last March . One time after the rac es Barry Hi ggin s loan ed me his Twin P ort CZ to rid e . I trie d it a nd I loved it ! I bought it from him the next day . Did you start racing right then? In Marc h I went to Florida wit h a gro up of E xperts from my area and raced in a n Exper ts rac e . I finished dead la s t . Ba c k in New En gland I beg a n racing wit h th e Amateur s . When I started I usually finished no fart her back t han fif th . By t he end of t he s ea s on I was winning ra ces. You have a sponsor now, don't you? Yes, in July of la st year Ghost Motorcy cl es in Port Washington, N.Y. made me a good deal on a single port CZ . Barry worked th ere and we were dating s o he brought th e bike s to the tracks and did my mechanical work. At one of the Int er-A ms the Jawa fact ory ga ve me a new 360 CZ. Then in september I went awa'y to sc hool and Bar ry and I broke up so I had no one to take th e bikes to the races . J us t th en an oth er shop, Gandalph Racing, offered to s ponso r me on a CZ so it worked out ju st right. . But you are riding for Ghost now? Right . After s chool was out in December I talked to Ghost and they are sponsoring me again. Today is my first rac e since November. It seems that you don't ha ve an y tro uble getting sponsored ri des. Why do you suppose that isso? I've had offers from almost ev ery single major motorcycle manufacturer. Gre ev e s, American-Eagle, Bultaco, they all wa nt me to rid e for them . I guess it 's be cause it 's pret t y co ol to s ee a girl rid ing a bik e a nd winning. I'm staying with CZ because th ey ar e th e most gen erous and their bike is best . You aren much or a mechanic , are you? "t Not rea lty.. but I can take t he engi ne apart, se rvi ce the air cle a ner , change cable s and t hings li ke t hat . Aside from racing what else are you doing? Well, I' m going to college and I ha ve a horse t hat I rid e i n sh ows . What would you be doing if you had been born a man? I certainly wouldn ' t be in Viet Nam. If I wer e a man I'd have the essent ial moto cr oss t ra it; musc les. You seem to have overcome that well enough . What about endurance? My endura nce is good e nough. I usually rid e t wo classes and beat guys who ride only one. Smoothne s s is my real fort e . Vou mentioned horseback riding earlier, ll a ve you been athletic mos t of your life an d was there a lot of training to go through to get in shape for motoc ros s ? I gues s it must be smo othness th at mak es it easie r for me. Barry and I us ed to pra ctice riding every night afte r he got off work at Ghost. Really it is Barry' s influ en c e that let s me do as we ll as I am now. Th ere is j ust no one in this country t ha t ca n beat him. A lot of peopl e say he co mes on s t rong a nd s ounds co nceited but he isn't th at kind of person when ou know him. • ~~' I Barry Higgins and Kerry Kleld relax after a long day at the races. Keen's Husky Unchallenged In Trail Blazers Monster Run By Jack Light I've ne ver met you before but I nave bee n tol d that you too seem to be self centered and very sure of your self. Oh, I didn't know that . Well.. .you have to hav e confidence in yourse lf . Are you eighteen? Nineteen. Where do you go to co ll e ge ? Franconia College in New Hampshire . It's a progressive school , very liberal. What is your major? Cinematography. We get a lot of wacky . far-out film s. It's really very creative . What do you parents think of your rac ing? At first th ey were embarrassed but t hen when the stories and ads started showing up th ey were proud . Th ey don't really dig it but they don't mind. t The ThIrd Annual "Monster Run" was aptly named, the r olling hills of western Kern County proVided the brutal, challenging course. Th e "Tra1I Blazers" once again proved to be matchless In the pr eparati on and organization of motorcycle events. The 27 mUe clrcult demanded the utm os t of rider and machine. The large bikes wenttor 81 mUes, while the smaller ones ran only 54 mUes, the hardest mUes many of the riders have ever had to contend with. The cloudy, over cast day promised rain that would have be en most welcome, but nev er developed, except for a slight mi st that turned the powered fl ne dust Into clinging mud, giVing r iders a had time, and made goggles a nd glasses usles s, Two wave s of r i ders left the starti ng line , three minutes apart. The big bikes left first In a thun derous, earth shaking roar, each rider hopeful of cr os s ing the line for the Victory. Youthful Mike Keerie had his hopes fulfilled In flying his new 360, 8 speed, Husqvarna Viking, In fine s tyle. Mike and his Husky were never challenged at any point as he rode a flawless pace to Victory. Dick Miller looked r eal good In aklng txe second spot, also aboard a Husky. Butch Wils on tooled his big-bore Triumph to a well deserved third. Jim .Robb and his BSA f1n1shed NEW fourth, Indy 500 veteran, George Snider, doing his fun thing of racing motorcycles, earned fifth posttton on his Malco. George said after the race "these 81 mUes were far ' more gruellng and demanding than Indy " from the general appearance ' ", ;iI-;" . Th e winner' s smil e. Mike Keen and hi s 8 speed Husky. of all the riders, these 81 mUes were . monsterous, Bob Campbell finished sixth on hi s Husky. These front runners all proved to be r eal competitors, as wer e all the riders, but these six perhaps had a little more Iron under them, gave a little more, and used every oPportunity and skill they had to place ahead of the other 90 plus rider s , . 400cc MAICO WINS MAICO 400cc W INS BAY M ARE COMBO-CROSS Ja••ar, 25t' Jan. 25, 1970 Ascot 3-Hr. TealD Motocross Jst OVERALL & Jst 500cc EXP. 500cc SENIOR CLASS: lst Mi ke Chamberlain MAICO (fi.is".' 2 Laps A'.a" Of 2."') J. St.re H.r" • 8i11 8roiaw MA'CO 2. JI. Wi'so• .; Jo'. SI"ra."t Gr••res 3. 11. Hart· Jo'. r."".r.....o.t.sa O WESTER N DISTRIB UTOR COOPER MOTORS 110 E. Santa Anita Ave. Burbank, Ca. 91502 SO UTHEASTERN MAIeO SO UTH EAST 6918 Tam iam i Trai l Sarasota, Fla. 33518 EASTER N DISTR IBUTOR EASTERN MAleO Royal & Duke Sts. Reedsville. Pa. 17084

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