Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

.. ~. > :; .., ~ w Z w ...J U > U NIGHT RIDING FOR PROSPECTOR'S I.S.D.T. TEAl By Ron Schneiders Photos by Ellen Schneiders LAZY 3 CAFE, CAL., July 10,1971 What a difference the moon makes! Last year the Prospectors threw the first of what promises to be an annual nighttime enduro. That first one was put together rather hurriedly and one slight miscalculation resulted in a spooky, dangerous run: It was scheduled for a night when there was absolutely no moon. This year the name was changed from "Midnight E!)duro" to "Moonshine Enduro'" and there was a b ea u ti ful only-tbree-days-from-full moon lighting the landscape for miles. It came up right on schedule too: about five minutes before the first man was due to leave. Night enduros require a lot more in the way of judgmen t and preparation than daylight enduros. The potential for getting someone killed is enormous, and even a very slight mistake can result in hundreds 0 f riders wandering around the desert all night, finding their own dangerous rou tes. It is my very happy (because I rode it!) duty to report that the Prospectors did a really great job. The rout~ began at the Lazy 3 Cafe near EI Mirage dry lake. Along the edge of the lake, heading north, we went at 15 mph. Last year over about the same trail, 15 mph was just about right. You'd hit the deep powder pockets and be absolutely blind time after time. There was no wind and the powder would just hang in the air. Sometimes it would be a full minute before you could see again. The schedule allowed for about 7 good spills before you were irretrievably late. This year with the moonligh t and a slight breeze, the powder pockets weren't so bad and the schedule seemed too slow. The schedule gradually picked up as we progressed toward Four Corners first jumping to 18 mph and then to 22 mph, but it was still pretty tame and most riders seemed to be hitting checks early rather than late. A couple of rocky downhills were the only features of the terrain that seemed to give any trouble. Some confusion was generated by Check C, the third check along the path. First of all, the fellow manning the check managed to get in th e wrong spot by about 3 miles, a fate which befalls every checker at least once in a tifetime. But further complicating things was the check card giving such vital information as key time and the mileage to that point. It said we had travelled 17 miles instead of 27 which was actually 30... _ Everyone knew something was wrong but no one was sure just what. Riding at night does strange things to your sense of time and distance and your judgment. 1 caught myself wondering'if I had in fact got off the trail and managed to somehow double back and hit Check 2 again. Or maybe somehow I was riding the course backwards. Good grief, the possibilities were endless! Pretty soon we arrived in Four Corners for an hour's rest. Rest we didn't need but we put the hour to good use anyway. I had to fix my taillight which had ceased working (a taillight is almost as important on these runs as a headlight, if you want to keep from being run over in the dust), and my speedometer which was acting strangely. I managed to fix the taillight but the speedo was a lost cause. Gary Satterlee, team member number two had to ride into Four Corners proper to buy some gas, having neglected to make any provisions for pit support. He was running one of those strange machines that won't fun on 'prem ix ... Al Fox, genial transplant from the happy isles that spawned all this off-road motorcycle madness, had to fix a flat front tire and did so in tlie best Six Days tradition, if not quite in the same time. ~ c~ ~!~~!~~!M Sport Lube Specialties. P.O. Box 629. So. Gate. Calif. 90280. 213-863-7786. Poly·Oil and Lube Distributo",. 4610 W. Indian School Rd.. Phoenix. Ariz. 85019. Ph. 606-278-6368. Cycle Speed. 3201-D Orange Grove Ave.• North Highlands. Calif. 95660. 916-481-0808. Competition Products Co., 1757 Foothill Dr.. Salt Lake City. Utah 84108. Ph. 801-484-5524. Texas Cycle Distributo",. 5216 Whitesettlement Rd.. Fort Worth. Texas 76114. Ph. 817-732-5181. breakfast. Most of the riders were going to race somewhere the next day. I was headed for the Desert Foxes race. Al headed for the motocross. Gary got lost on the last section and toured an old desert race course until dawn. Because this year's race started at 10 o'clock .instead of midnight, we fmished earlier, which made it easier to go to a different spot for the next day's race, but which removed one element which I had enjoyed last year, the ride across the desert just as the sun comes up. I suppose I'm an incurable romantic. I've men tioned a couple of times that the schedule speeds seemed slow but in fact 1 think the Prospectors used excellent judgment in setting the speeds. Rescue Three which was thankfully on hand reported no injuries. It wouldn't take much higher speeds to turn the fun, injury.free ride into a night of disaster. While on the subject, in spite of the fact that a few riders got lost, it seemed to me that the course was very well marked. If you were awake, you would notice immediately when you got off the trail because the ribbon was spaced so that as soon as you went by ~, _. , ~~" . ~! 1 It Al was riding his DKW in this bit but hehad brought along an AJS 250 (which his Burbank shop has just started handling) to ride the next day in the motocross. That'S quite a schedule for a guy who remembers when the Japanese were better knowIl for the quality of their Zero's than their Yamahas. After Four Corners we had a long deadly slow section along a dirt road. It was like a parade of ants or something. But that ended and we got into some of the more serious enduro stuff. There were a couple of tight canyons with rocks and deep sand and ledges and all that good stuff that makes you wonder at the time just what madness prompted you to show up for this thing. For the first time, the schedules became a bit of a challenge to keep. There were a couple of fairly steep rocky hj1ls to go up and down, and a couple of mining roads, full of rocks, with pretty neat drop-offs to one side. One interesting thing about these night rides is that if you fall off the trail and hurt yourself, you're there until morning. As soon as your engine stops, the ligh ts go out and that's that. Nobody could possibly see you if you were even 20 feet off the main trail. It tends to make you a bit cautious. Most of the way, other riders were in sigh t. but for while! was ridinll:by myself, able to see no other tights. The trail was one of the more difficult stretches. The sense of lonetiness sets in almost intmediate1y. It is one of the few times when you're riding the desert when you really start thinking about how big it is. And how unpopulated. And how dark, even with the moon. It's a strange experience that every rider should have, once anyway. It's a change of perspective that's good for the soul. Before long we were back in the powder pockets alongside El Mirage. Choking, blinding stuff and a whole line of riders that I couldn't get by. But it didn't last long and we arrived at the Lazy 3, too late for sleep, too early for Liftin~ GET IT UP WITH A'FlOATER' SUPER UGHT21IN FRONT WHEEL "= $5995 ~ $6985 ~ con~be we""""combined opokes and _ _ bearinga "'glve"",a light weight ~ - . . . Tho FlOATER _ _::=1tlI1be.... 1oy _ 101be. boIh _-. U1iversity Honda Bult8CO Kavvasaki &OZ 5908 Roosevelt ~ NE Seattle Wash, 200 LA4-5282 ____ .iiI SEND FOR FREE CATALOGUE \ '", ". be more accurate. There are many top riders entered so I'm not going to go out on a limb and predict a winner, but it wouldn't surprise me to see Bud and Ellie Howesman right up in there. They seemed to be hitting checks pretty close. Another nigh t enduro is coming up in about a month. Hope they do as well as the Prospectors. (Results on page 24) events than most people have ridden, and did pretty well on this one, according to Neil Holt, his Webco team member. Fcw"IBuIIaco5 _ _ modIlIodtDftt _ _ " (. nor:mally a Trojan speedway rider, who was one of 18 riders sponsored by Maywood Honda! He's riding, naturally, a 100cc H-Onda. Eddy Day gets checked out at the "noon" check about 1 a.m. Eddy has won more weight .. Inside the fishbowl is 17 year old Don Wright. " Bud Howseman, winner of the Greenhorn on the starting line. That clock slung around his neck weighs about a pound and costs $180.00 new. Ttlere's a matChing one on his bike. When he gets to a check. the checke'" ask him what time it is. one piece, your headlight picked up the next one. Turns and difficult spots were marked with irridescent green arrows that could be seen from a long way off. 1 was amazed last year when the run was marked well enough that few got lost and I'm still amazed. Most clubs have a difficult time marking a course wen enough in the daytime. It's a real tribute to the Prospectors' abilities that they can do it at night. About 350 riders turned out for the ride, a bit less than the Prospectors had hoped for. The proceeds from this run (along with quite a chunk from the Prospectors' treasury) go to send three of their club members to the ISDT, which this year will be held on the Isle of Man. A well-executed run for a worthwhile cause: Something which can be said of the Prospectors' event and damn few others. There are no results as yet, but scoring was by rider-carried card which should make the results come faster and The night brings out all sorts of strange things... like Gene Cannady on one of those old fashioned iron' barrelled Sachs. Where's your DKW, Gene? Romero, Others Suspended Effective July 12 the AMA has suspended Charles Palmgren, Freehold, N.J., Richard Hammer, Artesia, Calif., Gordon Van Leeuwen, Los Angeles, Calif., and Gene Romero, San Luis Obsipo. Calif., from professional competition for 15 days for the violation of falsifying medical forms required for professional licenses. The I5-day suspension is the minimum penalty provided for in Chapter 7 Article B, Item K, (Page 55) of the AMA 1971 ProfessiGnal Rule Book. In accordance with this rule, suspension was levied by the chairman of the competition congress. The minimum penalty is based on AMA past precedence for first offenses regarding medical falsification. The offense of each rider came to light during a routine review of all professional riders medical forms that is currently being conducted by the AMA. Each rider listed above is guilty of submitting a falsified medical form with forged physician signature. The forgeries were discovered when it was learned the physician named is a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynecology. =' "f4T. 10' '_'_ ._ ' ._'_' ..

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