Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

SADD::'::::::~CAL'J~JO.Fun Guaranteed In Rid i ng ~ 1971 - To see American riders compete s u c c e s s fu II y i n in terna tional competition is the dream of many American motorcyclists and sportsman. It is a dream that is admittedly far in the future, for in every area of cycling competition our riders are not the equals of those overseas. One of the reasons for this is that our riders do not have the opportunity to experience and learn from top competition. Our riders compete mostly among themselves and the level of ability rises very slowly or not at all. In trials, a form of motorcycling sport that has all style, tradition and grace of a bullfight without the gore, the situation was the same as in other branches of the sport until a few years ago when trials master Sammy Miller came over here and lit a fire under some of our trials enthusiasts. A dramatic leap . determining the world champion of English Trials. Central to the fund~raising effort was Sunday's event, fittingly called "El Trial De Espana." All of the profit from the trials is to be used to send Bob Nicholson and Kevin Walker to the Spanish trials. Normally the profit from an event of this type is not very large because what comes in usually goes out in the form of trophies to the various winners. The club, realizing this, solicited trophies from the people who make the most money from the sport, the bike manufacturers. They were wildly successful Ossa, the company that makes the club's namesake contributed some beautiful cups. Doug Yerkes, head of Bultaco Western, contributed some trophy-models of Spanish galleons. Some fine silver trays, intricately r engraved with a motorcycle scene were the gift of Permanyer S.H., which somehow translates to the Montesa factory .. But the most spectacular trophies were those donated by a Spanish motorcycle magazine, Motociclismo. These were two swords made in the famous Toledo steel works, which makes them about the best money can buy. Each sword was about 4 feet long and beau tifully engraved. Although the trophies guaranteed a good turnout for the trials, the entry fees alone were not enough to furnish the needed bread, so a raffle was held at the same time. First prize was one of Steen's newest products, their F-I00 minibike which has a retail value of somewhat over $400. It was won by Don Williams. Somewhat overshadowed, but still worthy of mention was the second place raffle prize, a pair of Full Bore books from Yankee. Chuck Cooper of Lakewood won these. The trials was engineered so that everyone could ride and, at least in theory, hav.e a fair chance to win some of the gold. There were classes for Experts, Amateurs, ..Novices, Women, Kids and Press. Since all classes except Press apd Experts rode the same traps, the level of difficulty was something of a compromise. The Experts and Amateurs also rode the same course, but they had a couple of more difficult traps to negotiate as well. The Press section had a completely different set of traps which were run through after the main event. The cOllrse for the main trials consisted oi14 total sections which were to be ridden twice. Most of them were fairly easy, laid out in typical Saddleback sandwashes. One sectionM~,_ was a fairly long, straight line hillclimb -... . ~ in general level of ability followed that visit, but of course one visit, even by Sammy Miller is not enough. Our top trials riders must get to Europe, where the action is, and compete with the acknowledged best. The question is, how? One club, the Plonkers, have answered that question by staging an all out effort to send two top trial~ masters to Spain for the annual Spanish Trials Championship, one of a number of such events that are staged around Europe. and Great Britain for the purpose of 0' which put rather more emphasis on '" horsepower than riding skill, but no one ~ seemed particularly bent out of shape .., about it. Another section was a curvey ~ little gem first laid out by Mike W Jackson's crew for thc Press Trial of a ~ month back. A little more originality ...J might .have been in order for an event of ~ this importance, but perhaps I'm U nitpicking. The special sections for the Experts were laid out in the grove of trees adjacent to the picnic area, in a kind of ravine that has seen abot.t 1,000 or so different traps. There seem to be almost limitless possibilities for new traps, and each new set becomes more difficult than the last. Even Trials Master Bob Nicholson, who was riding unofficially, managed to fall a couple times in one of them. They were tough. Most exuberant winner was first place novice, Charlie McHose, wholooked so happy that I asked him if it . was his first win. UNo," he grinned, "it's about my third." I asked him how he liked the course. "It was pretty easy but there were two tough sections. One was that long hill." Charlie has a perfect score, no lost points! First place Expert was L.S. Lebitt, whose score was minus four. First Amateur was Lonny Ortiz with -12. The very beautiful sword of Toledo went to the top woman rider, Amateur Carol Stone. Carol did not ride in the Women's class. That class was won by Barbara Wilson with -21. First place in the kid's class was Brian Mayercell. One kid got a real surprise. Jim Wilson, whom most people know as a motocross star, actually started his career as a trials rider. To encourage other youngsters to start the same way, he institu ted a perpetual trophy about four feet high to go the Best Young Rider each year. This year the trophy was won by 16 year old Mark Eggar, who only managed to gulp, "Thank You!" About that time the announcer called for a ride-off between the riders in the novice class who were tied for third place. There were five of them including Malcolm Smith. Malcolm Smith?! First place in the Press class went to Tony Murphy, editor of M/C Sport~ in a fiercely contested battle he managed to beat out such stalwarts as Joe Parkhurst and Chuck Clayton. Tony is our hero. I asked Bob Nicholson, who was one of the beneficiaries of all this, how he expected to do in Spain. "Better than I did today," he said. "Actually, we don't expect to do too well, but it's sure going to be a fun ride. We'll learn a lot and see what the guys are riding there." The Plonkers wish to thank all of those who helped by don~ng trophies, but their special thanks goes to the Lockeed Recreation Club whose 25 members spent the day checking in the traps. It's a precision job and they did it well. I I San Diego Trials SAN DIEGO, CALIF., Dec. 1970 Master BobNicholsonlurned in his usual sterling performance by losing only seven points and successfully defended his title as the top San Diego Trials Rider. Finishing second and third in both the final event of the season and the y'ear's standings were Kevin Walker and John Walters. Bill Smith and Vic Conoway, going into the final event with only five points separating them in the oveqJlI title in Expert. had a "photo" finish; Conoway nosed out his competitor by one point. Amateur class results showed Bill Robertson and Lonni Ortiz were tied with 2 points lost and a ride-off ensued. When it wa over, Ortiz held a one-point victory. John Woodruff lost seven but settled for third. "It's only one dab'" .~- Photos by Ron Schneiders and Ron Szilagyi

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