MOTOCROSS TEAM
By Ron Schneiders
Photos by Schneiders
and Ron Szilagyi
The start of the 250 Novi ce looks Iike a desert start.
. . ....
/
CASTAIC JUNCTION, CALIF., Aug. 23,
1970- The motocross boys did it to the
desert lads this Sunday at Indian Dunes,
but the victory, though well-earned, was
far from conclusive. International Racing
EnteFprises, promoters ot this Sunday's
event had advertised the match between
the desert and motocross heroes for all
it was worth and the advertising succeeded bey-ond their wildest dreams. For
three solid hours spectators and contestants struggled to reach the track. Many
ot them were still sitting in their cars
moving about I mph, when the 100cc
Novice Events started. There were ap"
proximately 1,000 rider entries and 10,
000 spectators.
The promoters, exercising rather good
Judgment, held up the start for about 35
minutes to allow as many ot the 100cc
racers to compete as possible, without
overtaxing the patience of those already
in, and ready to go. Alter the tralibikes
ran, there was another delay that was
much harder to justify: The 125cc Novices
(including this writer) sat on the start
Une for almost an hour. After that things
moved rather smoothly until the end when
there was another sizable wait for the
trophy presentation.
In an unplanned switcheroo, the trallbike and the 125cc Novices rode a much
more difficult course than the rest ot the
classes. 'Ibis to could be attributed, in
part, to collosal attendance, but only in
part: The area Where the race was held
was a fairly flat valley with a river
running down the middle, flanked on one
side by some rather steep bIDs or small
mountains, take your pick. Originally,
the riders started otf across the desertUke floor ot the valley, picked uP a' trail
that ran vaguely uP the valley, crisscrossing the stream as it went, and then
angled ott into the hWs. I said the hills
were steep but I should have added that
John Rice happily tells how it was.
John Rice learns the course from the deck of a Sachs.
A TT-type jump was one of favorite spectator attractions.
Anyone know a cooler way to watch races in the desert?
