Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125732
ning at 35 Years and went past the other way. I did that all the way up to Yosemite. It's about a IOO-mile drive but I must have ridden 300. "After that, I decided I gotta have a bike. I went out the next week and bought one - a Cushman." So began John's career. It was actually some years before he began to race seriously. His first race was an enduro: "I rented a trailer and took my BSA Golden Flash to Lancaster. I got aLI signed up and then, what do I do now? I didn't know anything about enduros. When they started us I went as fast as I could. When I caught the guys in front of us, they said 'Hey, you're supposed to keep a 25-mile-an-hour averaRe.' Shee-it! 25 miles an hour? Man, I 8. '" "- Cycle Park, near Livermore, Calif. The previous Saturday John and his family arrived at 5 :30 a.m., after an all-night drive. The Dodge van was littered with somnambulated bodies, except for one. Rice was scurrying about making all sorts of preparations for the day's practice_ He hopped on his Maico and began exploring all the green hills and vallies with Bryar Holcomb. He found a steep, grassy slope and spent part of the monring sliding on ills leathers, laughing like a child. Later, he handed me a helmet and borrowed a teammate's bike and pointed to his racer. "C'mon," he chortled, ''See how you like it." We sped off and found some hills. John opted for the steepest one while I wanted to race. Endoes? I did about a thousand of 'em. When they mailed me the results, 1 had come in 24th overall. I couldn't believe it." Afterwards, Rice found himself competing in scrambles and, in the years 1967 and 1968, took District 37 Number One, on a Honda. His interest in IT scrambles waned after that - his temperament is such that one year he didn't race at all but chose to go boating - but the latest rage was motocross. John R. found a ride M watched. He tried it a couple of times, getting progressively further up the trail each time. I decided to find a less challenging obstacle and rode some trails and hoops. He politely looked the other way when 1 dropped the unfamiliar machme on an easy climb. After I patched things up, he motored over and mentioned the Puch is tuned way up on the pipe... "gotta keep it with Mako and later, Sachs, and began looking for the Number One plate in a different form of competition. After two long years of struggling, and times when he actually felt like a has-been, he won the 500 Expert division of Hopetown last November, securing the long-sough t plate. John now ridcs a Puch in the 125 class and a Maico 400 in the Open. Any sponsor would be glad to have him: he's consistent, colorful and knows how to take care of a machine. In his familiar striped shirts, no one could ask for a bener ambassador for their product. When I mentioned to him that I was in the market for a 125 he said, "Hey, ['11 let you ride my Puch this weekend. You'll love it. When I had a Sachs, Ted Lapadakis (the distributor for DKW (Sachs) and Puch) let me ride one of the new Puchs. This one was a four-speed, one that those Europeans kids were riding when they were here. After 1 rode it 1 wouldn't give it back; they'd have to come get it from me. Finally I braugh t it in and they had a surprise for me - a brand new one." That weekend was the American Motocross Team Benefit at Carnegie ~ w Z W ...J U >- U wound." Back in the pits, after the practice session, all the hotshoes were bench-racing when Rice announced he wanted to do some more hill-climbing. He shoved an expensive movie camera into my hands and led Bruce Baron, Jim Wilson, Gene Cannady, Billy Payne, Tim Hart, Bryar Holcomb, and a host of others to some incredible hills. I shot two rolls of film as some of the best-prepared racing machines in the country bombed up and down Carnegie's rugged climbs, like kids on a gymnasium. John mostly sat back and watched all the action, smiling a grandfather's smile_ He never slept until he checked into the nearby Holiday [nn that night, but first he toured the dining room in his stocking feet to say goodnight to his pals. When I retired to my room and called the desk for next morning's alarm, I discovered that someone named "Rice" had asked my room be rung at two hours earlier than necessary. Race day was an anti-clima.x to the previous day's activities. The brilliant sunshine was replaced with an all-day rdin shower. Few competitors were looking forward to the mud, including John R. "[ hate the mud." he groaned. HI never cOllld race in the mud, no way. " Would he go ahead and race? Absolutely. He raced five motos that day, and did miserable in everyone of them. It was a rare lap when he didn't fall, but he kept plugging along. One race, he was being lapped for the second time by the leaders. John was having a hard time getting his 125 up a hill, but continued his attack until he conquered it. Everybody else was either cutting the course or dropping out altogether. He never gave up until the checkered nag came out, although any chance of place in the Gnal standings vanished in the ftrst mota. You have to admire that. [n the last race of the day, he crashed coming downhill, so when Billy Payne came by, Rice knocked him down and started a mud figh t. It g-dve the spectators a treat and John an opportunity to beat someone, at least. Recently, John has been on a winnmg streak at Indian Dunes, including the grueling three-hour Open Class Team Race last month with Junior, Jim McDonald as the other half of the team. (Please tum to pg. 20) WEST Weekly $9.00 per yr. 0 enclose _ _ for the (01l0\,\ln9 o West Iweeklyl 1 yr. S9.00 o East (Biweekly) 1 yr. $6.00 o Dixie (Biweekly) 1 yr. $6.00 _ _ _ _ STATE _ .=. . ..................................... : ~ MOTOIIICYCU INCUWMIIY COUNCIL, INC.