Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Utah Planning DRY Closures .... Ol ..... c. ell By Terry Newfarmer SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, Aug. 17, 1971 - After some pressure from the local press, officials of the Wasatch National Forest have announced their plans to close to off-road vehicles aU of the forest lands overlooking Salt Lake City and Bountiful, except for paved roads, two jeep trails and three bike trails. The order will not become law until signed by Regional Forester Vern Harme, 324 25th St., Ogden, Utah, which Wasatch foresters expect will be done before mid-September. Several public hearings were held, but the merits of the specific proposal were not discussed, as the details of the plan were released for the fITst time Aug. 16, at a press conference. Wasatch Assistant Supervisor J. Lamar Beasley said "We did not mean that a second public hearing would be held before the order was signed; we meant to say the hearing would be held to explain it before it was implemented." Forest Supervisor Chandler St. John said enforcement will not begin until after the order is signed, and signs have been posted on all roads and trails closed to vehicles. ''This is a flexible order," he said. "Open and closed trail designations can be changed according to management needs, or as other trails may be constructed or reconstructed to accommodate vehicle use and to allow for a rotation system of use." The order calls for the closure of the entire area of national forest lying just east of Salt Lake City, from the north end of Davis County to the Utah County line, except these trails: -The Mueller Park trail southeast from Bountiful. --The Dog Lake Trail from Millcreek Canyon to The Spruces in Big Cottonwood Canyon, with a short side branch just west of Dog Lake, but not including the run to Desolation Lake. --A jeep trail up to a mine in Mineral Fork of Big Cottonwood Canyon. --And a 1 Y,-mile jeep trail sou th along the ridge from the paved road at the crest of East Canyon. Except for paved roads" the balance of the forest will be closed, but the order does not apply to snowmobiles, except in a specially set-aside area surrounding Lone Peak, between Little Cottonwood and American Fork Canyons, which will even exclude helicopters. ~ w Z W ...J U >- U On the line for the start is Ken Watkins (29). Mark Carbonie (341, David Watkins 1821, Tommy Hall (6), Dunciin Paul (711, Mike McAdams (10) and Kenneth Smith (4), Odem New Aqua Festival Champion By John Blanton AUSTIN, TEX., Aug. 15, 1971 - The fourth running of the annual Austin Aqua Festival Motorcycle Road Races has proven to be the best one to date with more than 80 entries taking to the city street course and a host of spectators, both local and from out of state, turning out to lounge on the lawns and - watch Mike Odem o( Garland, Texas, charge to a hard-fough t victory over Joe Delgado's Honda in the Open class feature race. This event had been dominated by the late Rusty Bradley for the fITst three years running. Mike won it on his first-ever visit to the course. The opening lap of the Open Final _ almost turned into a shoving match at the Boulding Ave. hairpin when Mike, Joe Bennie Campbell on a 350 Yamaha, and Larry Beall on a Harley mixed it heavily, all trying to get through at the same time. Benny got bunted around a couple of times by the bigger bikes before things got· straightened out, but nobody fell. Campbell, who had easily won the 500cc event, was pushing to take the Open, too. However, after pressing the leaders for a few laps, he had to retire when his TR2 ingested a carburetor gasket. Beall had won the heat race, but in the final his brakes went out, and he had to retire, leaving the field open to Odem on the Storm's Norton and Delgado on the Honda. For the remainder of the race, Delgado saw his good lead over the Norton slowly eaten away until, finally, he settled back to clinch second place over Ronald Byrd's Norton. In the 500cc feature, Ralph Threlkeld was second on his stock Kawasaki behind Campbell. Jack O'Leary had run a close third on a borrowed R5 Yamaha, but he once or twice brushed up against the curb by the Auditorium, and, after rattling viciously alongside the auditorium wall, the twin quit running on the near cylinder. Jerry Brust and Tommy Hall, on perfectly matched team Ducatis, pu t on a crowd-pleasing show, weaving through the turns in close formation and scratching ,all the way to take fourth and fifth behind Mike McAdams on a Suzuki. In the ahsence of.any other big 250cc artillery, Jet Tharp on a TD2 Yamaha was the undisputed winner in that class over Larry Beall's high-bar Honda. Once again Brust and Hall, on yet another brace of matched Ducatis, finished together, only third and fourth this time, with Hall in front. The Ducati racing team from Arkansas brought no less than seven immaculate team bikes this year, a 175 Ducat!, three 250 Ducatis, a 350 Ducati, a 500 Ducati, and a 500 N orton, all decked out in team colors and ably ridden by Hall, Brust and fellow team Experts Shine in Two-Day Motocross Battle Parker won the last two motos to take first over Terry Larsen. Steve Burgess took all three motos of the 250 Expert class, in one of the best rides of the day. Cal Crosby, Kerry Fowler, and Phil McDonald took turns pushing Steve as fast as he could go, with no Su.ccess. Steve made no-mjstakes all day. The best battle though, was among the Open Experts. Don Fuller won the fITst moto and flfst overall. Touy Jacobs won the third moto to take second. Frank Myers didn't win a moto but still took third over Dennis Packard who stomped the class in the second moto. It was quite a race. The Minibikers provided quite a contrast to the Experts in speed, but not in style. Crossing up a mini-enduro By Larry Knop Photo by Gary Payne SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, Aug. 15, 1971 - The best motocross Utah has ever seen, and also the biggest... that was the Continental Motocross Association's Saturday-Sunday Rider Appreciation Motocross. Saturday was Novice day, while today was for the Experts, minibikers, and Powder Puffers, with a News Media race thrown in for good measure. The contrast was unbelievable. What Saturday's Novices lacked in skill they more than made up for in inexperience. Thrash'em, bash'em, crash'em. It was an exciting day of racing, with all the subtlety of an endo. There were up to six bikes and riders playing spaghetti at the same time. No serious injuries all day though, thank the Great Motocrosser in the sky. Sunday, the Experts. It was also the best flay of racing this reporter has ever seen, 1nter-Ams not excepted. All five Expert classes were hotly contested all the way down. The fight for eighth was an intense as for first. No more than three of the 15 Expert motos ended with the leader 50 feet in front, and the average lead was more like a bike length. In the 100 Expert class the only time Gene Christensen finished first was at trophy presentation. Gene parlayed three seconds in to frrst overall. LaMar Walker took the first two motos, but a DN F put him in second. Peter Crandall took all three motos of the 125 Expert class, but he had to work. The first moto was especially tight - Pete didn't get the lead until the last quarter of the last lap. In the 200 Expert class Qave I. _ ... . ,. ~ ~ over a jump is old hat to many of the kids. Ricky Chatwin had an easy win in the Mini-Bike class while Shane Burrows had a hard fight with Greg Madsen in the Mini-Cycle class. The racing fever seemed to get to the ladies in the second Powder Puff race of the season. The first race was for funsies, but this one was for keepsies. Shirley Knop put her hard-earned experience racing aginst th e men to good use, opening a comfortable lead over the furious pack each moto, and then coasting home.. Even the radio and newspaper personalities in the News Media race got into the spirit. Dave Kadleck beat Terry Newfarmer for fITst in a fun and funny race. (Results on page 24) The big four in the Open Ex. class: Dennis Packard (237). Don Fuller 11661, Tony Jacobs (270) and Frank Myers. J. ~ H J I'~ ~,,, :. member Jim Cox. Early in the 250cc bash, Jim brought his number eight bike up against the curb on Bouldin Ave., but otherwise the team members finished well up in their events. One team that did not come was the Carabela group from Mexico City. They attempted to persuade the factory to extend their stay in Texas for another week after running the previous Sunday at Green Valley, but one of their bikes had suffered a broken piston, and, smce their only mechanic had gone back to California, the team manager ordered rider Jaime Glenn to show up at Torreon for the six-hour event there on the same day. The races, themselves were run very smoothly by the Kapital Katz M.C. Races went off smartly in military drill order. An alert crew of flagmen was stationed at each blind spot, and they were Johnny-on-the-spot with the flags when there was trouble. 1 was out for practice in the morning on my Honda, and for a time I was constantly coming upon one of this hard-working crew, flag out and waving vigorously for some fallen rider. Finally they even brought out the flags for me. (Results on page 24) Texans Given Hi-Speed MX By Richard Dunn SAN ANTONIO, TEX., Aug. 15, 1971 - Despite widespread rumors of a rain-out and conflicting races in Chappel Hill, Cloverfield, and Austin, a fair number of riders and spectators were treated to a track surface whose coefficient of friction approached that of rubber cement. Traction was excellent all day, and the high speeds were a direct result of the heavy rains of the preceding week. Steve Stackable (Yam), accustomed to first place money with the 125 Experts, belled his professi'?nalism when he forgot to tum on his gas at the start of th e first moto. Bungle notwithstanding, he charged to fourth that heat, and finished second overall. Most exciting of the day's dices was the Open Jr. event wherein Jim Blackwell (AJS), Mike Offenhauser (Suz), and Jimmy Doran (Yam) made maximum use of the sticky track to finish in that order. Th e Open Expert race saw a very consistent Dave Dismukes continue his love affair with his new Husky as he rode unopposed to first, leading Jeff Clark (Hus) and Floyd Dunn (Mai). Prior to the races, severe rumbles of discontent were heard when the track officials announced that there would be only two five lap heats. The motocrossers, who hadn't driven all that way to not even work up a sweat, were so upset that a compromise of three four lap heats was agreed upon. Thus did the day pass; not too many riders, but superb track conditions which showed a good many riders just how fast one can go. (Results on,e'll!e 24)

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