Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

~QUIET RIDE Cll M- ~ By Ron Schneiders (Continued from page 1 j ~ non-silencer-equipped machines ::;; from the pits and quiet things ~ down even more!) There were six ~ riders on a number and we started ~ on the first 40-mile loop at 24 ~ mph. The loop seemed a bit u familiar to me because it was essentially the same as the first loop of the Golden Bear. Which is to say it was not too easy! Most of the loop was sandwash uphill, power-sapping, miserable sandwash. Much of the time there weren't even any rocks or brush from which to get traction. It's the sort of course that makes you think it was laid out on one of these rauchy old single-carburetor TR-6 desert sleds. You can just imagine a couple old sledriders taking a break at the top of one of those bottomless washes and saying, "You know we really ough t to put something in for the little bikes," and they're thinking about Husky 400's. The worst spot was a long deep sand hill that I remembered very vividly from the Golden Bear. It took me about 25 minutes to push over then. Yesterday, I got over in ten or fifteen minutes and I have no urge to improve that! Doing that hill once a year is plenty. The medal for sheer determination BY THE CHAPPAREL loop. There's not much sand," Bill assured him. There wasn't. There were rocks. Marble-size to house-size. EssentiaIly, we rode about twenty miles to get to a rock wash that was the living end of all rock washes. It was only about two miles long but a lot of guys must have thought it was at least twenty. Revenge for the little bikes! Some of the big twins were wedged so tigh t in those rocks that it looked like nothing short of dynamite would get them free. At the finish line one fellow came up and swore that the course was unridable. "We had to get five guys and lift our bikes bodily over the rocks in one place," he complained. But it wasn't true. Not only was the course ridable, but there were several alternate paths at most of the blocked-up spots. My little Sachs bounced and dazzled its way past about 50 riders in that two miles. Most of those riders were off their bikes and staring in dismay at the rocks, trying to make them go away through sheer force of will, I guess. After the rock wash there was some reasonably difficult sandwash and then a 20-mile ruR home over one of those sweet, fast hare-and-hound trails. Much needed relief. With a 24 mph schedule though, you couldn't make up much time. In fact there was almost no place on the course where you could make up any time. If you once got behind, just throw your watch at a passing jackrabbit and ride like hell as fast as you can go and try not to lose any more. From a technical point of view, this run was excellently done. The checks Cycle News General Manager Tom Culp tries out his shiny new Rickman. were in good spots (which is to say unexpected) and I heard no complaints about the accuracy of either time or distance, which is remarkable for a new club's first effort. Best, however, was the marking. Having ridden a couple of runs lately where the marking varied from miserable to stinking, 1 was really ready to appreciate a well-done job. The marking was all cards and ribbon, virtually no lime and there was never on this run goes to Ellie Houseman. When I saw her on that hill, it looked like she was making about 6 feet at a shot between breathing spells and that was a long hill. But she got over it and went on to finish. She gets the girl's trophy because she was the only one to finish on time. One other girl completed the course but was over an hour late. One guy came in and complained to Bill Adams about the deep sand on the frrst loop. "Well, you'll like the second ICO , NUMBER ONE FOR 11! INTER AM CHAMP, AKE JONSSON, ,-----,----------, CHOOSES MAICO FOR 1911. THE REASO NS WHY? • FINEST HANDLING AND CONTROL • STRAIGHTER OVER THE ROUGH STUFF • SOFTEST (GO STRAIGHT) SUSPENSION • FASTEST AROUND THE CURVES • QUICKER FROM CORNER TO CORNER • FASTER ON THE UPHI LL STRAIGHTS • WIDEST TORQUE BAND • MOST TRACTIVE POWER TO THE GROUND .MAICOS ARE STRONG AND RUGGED-BUILT IN WEST GERMANY OF THE FINEST MATERIALS TO INSURE LASTING RELIABILITY WEST COOPER MOTORS EAST EASTERN MAICO CANADA AMOR SALES LTD. 110 E $..lnta Antta Ave. e .r;'do'r. Ca. 91502 Royal & Duke Sts. . Reedsville. Pa. 17084 3143 W. Broadway Vancouver. B.C. YOU Can Ride Faster on aMaico any doubt about wlrich way to go. When you'd come to one of those ambiguous spots where the trail forks half-a-dozen ways, you could always just lift your gaze and sqm the horizon. Without fail you'd see a ribbon lrigh upon a cactus or in some very conspicuous spot, just like a beacon. And I don't think r overshot a turn all day due to the marking being too close to the tum. This is one of those areas where there simply isn't any substitute for experience. The marking on this course was good because whoever did it had ridden enough runs that he knew where problems would occur and thus knew how to cope with them. The club probably used less material than those clubs that goofed it in previous weeks, but every piece of ribbon and card was efficiently used. The club used a better checking system than is normal in desert enduro.. EAch rider carried a card with him and has his time marked on it at each check. Lose your card and you're out. But there can be no excuses like, ''The checker didn't see me," or "He marked the wrong time down on his sheet." The system is better for both the club and the rider, because mistakes are bad for both. This way the rider doesn't have to depend on a checker who sometimes does make mistakes. It bears repeating that the run was put on by the Chapparel M.C., a new club with a scant dozen members. They had to recruit all kinds of help to man the checks because a dozen people don't stretch very far on an operation like this. Most all of the members of the club work for Autonetics down Orange County way. At the helm of the new club is Bill Adams, past president of District 37, who is no doubt responsible for the expertise with which the run was conducted. Bill has all kinds of exciting plans for the new club. Like, how would you enduro fans like a two-day run from Lucerne VaIley to Searchlight Nevada and back, Hmmm? Bill already has it mapped out. There were very few complaints on the run and most everyone considered it an enjoyable ride. I would have preferred a little more originality on the first loop. There was an interesting little downhill mule trail that I hadn't been on before, but most of it was the Golden Bear run, which wasn't far enough back in time to warrant running over the trail again. I realize however that there is a limit to what a very few people can do. They did have a lot of new trail in the second loop and if they had to repeat on the first loop, at least they chose a good one! Dave Evans seems like a good bet for sweepstakes winner, but Ekins and .Steffan did very well at the checks I know about so I'm not making any wagers. Seemed to me like there were about 50% fmishers, but they weren't counted. Get your scooter set for Search ligh t. D.iL.i. i 6I1tA'.OTaA' WANTED By HRLubricants. Mfg. of MIC Clutch Lube. 2-cycle Colloidal Graphite Oil. Molly-Graphite chain lube. Gear Lube. Assembly Lube. and Break-in Concentrate. Contact R. Sheldrick. 7340 Florence Ave.• Downey. Cal. (213) 927-47Bl.

• Cover