Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

r-~ ."'" '" 0> Shadow Glen: It 's' Glen: I,'s' a Jolly Good Course Ily Pete Szila gyi By Szilagyi to Du n es recently? Been out to Indian Dunes recently ? n o t, rid e o ut to If not, take a ride out t o Valencia and check out the sweetheart of a mo to cross th e sw ee th ea r t o f motocross track that the ACE boys h ave built. trac k have built, Racing a t the Dunes h as b ecom e a lot Ra cin g at th e has become more m ore interesting: inter sting since the new th e European.-style circuit opened about Eu ropea n-s t y le a bou t thre e w eeks ago,. three weeks a go The latest addition to the Old T he ad d it io n to Reservation is rough-and-tumble despite Reservat ion its F o rest Lawn-like name, Shadow i ts Forest n ame, Glen. Total length of 1-1/8 miles makes Glen . it somewhat shorter than the [0 it th an ID International track, Shadow Glen is also track. narrower and tighter. There are more T h ere sharp s harp turns, switchbacks and off-cambers so the riders have to remain alert every second. With no p lace to rest place to and a new obstacle every few feet, rider few skill skill will win races. Dunes regulars no [anger have to stay awake nights lo nger devising methods of squeezing more horsepower from their engines. Shadow engi nes. Glen has a couple of places to wind it G[en to ou t, bu t nothin g like the out, but nothing Bonneville-type straights on the old Bonneville-ty pe straigh ts course. A mixture of sand and loam make up make the track surface. There doesn't seem to doesn 't be much compacting and few hard spots few appear as the day's racing progresses. progresses. Plenty of traction everywhere. The of track's serpentine layout, combined lay out, co mb ined with l ots of uphills and d ownhills, lots an d downhills, should make rainy season racing a real raci ng sh ould trip. [n the fu rure , Dunes w orkmen plan In th e h,ttlre, workmen to disc in some hay or oth er ab so rhan t so me h ay o r o ther absorb ant material to cort·trol excess m oi sture. t o c o n tro l ex cess moisture. There are a coup le of dis t in c tive a re couple o f distinctive obstacles th at give th e new tr ack the, track ob st acl es that character. Immediately afte r leaving the charac te r. Im m ediately after super-tacky starting area. rider s com e t o super- tacky sta rt ing area, riders come to a downhill jump . The change in d o wnhill jump. T h e elevation is about II feet spread over a ab.out 11 fe et sp read eleva ti o n 30 degree grade. What makes the hill g ad e. r ma kes 30 interest ing is it s location. Riders hit it interesting its lo cation. going full bore.. It's a real heart-stopper go ing b o re It 's he ar t-st o p per when twenty or th irt y guy s sail off t he off the wh en twe n ty o r thirty guys togetb.er. judging spec ta tor hill t oge ther. J udging from spectator concentrations, the most popular plac e c o nc en tra tio ns, th e m ost pop ul ar place is the, mudhole. No t just a m udh ole th e rnud h o le, Not mudhole , wnere w a ter tru ck p ar Rs while. . wncre the water trucl< parKs for a wh ile . but bonafide stream -fed m uckp it. b u t a b on afid e stream· fed muckpit. A wide. sweeping 180 degree curve with wide, swee p ing degre e cu rve about a 45 feet radius goes through the abou t 4 5 radiu s th e glop., The exit is slightly uphill. whkh uph.ill, wh ich glo p makes it ro ugh on 125 'so Lots of water rough o n L25's. of st ands o n th e mud, stands on top of the mud , so waterproofed engines arc a must. en gin es are Hopetown's mudhol e ain't got nothin g Hopet owri 's mudhole ain ' t go t nothing on Shadow Glen!! Sh ad ow Glen Racing at the n ew Dun'es tr ack will be be Ra cing a t th e new Dun es track more enjoyabl e for both riders a nd b oth and m ore enjoyable watchers. For particip ants. it's a go od watch ers. participants, it 's good test of skill and stam ina and that, after stamina th at, a ft er all, is the name of the game.. [n th e first o f th e game In the th e three weekends of ra cing at Shadow o f racing Sh adow Glen,, no serious injuries have occurred.. Glen inj u ries h ave occurr ed The nature of th e circuit encourages lots o f the circu it of little crashes, but few bi g ones. big Alth ough not much of the track is Although tr ack visib le from any given spoi, spectators visible fr om a ny giv en spot. spec tat o rs will like the cl ose racing resulting from th e close will fr om the layout. There is less margin for rider lay out, T h ere fo r ri.der error, hence more passing and more m ore err or, h en ce action. ac ti o n . Shadow Glen is located at the eastern east ern Sh adow end of the Indian Dunes Park and runs through ,through a grove of giant cottonwo od cottonwood an d tress ; shade in . the summer and a tress; in. windbreak in stormy weather. Two Bay Ilay Mare-style foothridges connect the p its footbridges c o nn ect pits and infield spectator area. When the sp ec ta to r rains finally come , the management come, promises to plant grass in p opular promises to p lant grass popular viewing areas. As per usual Dunes policy, security is tight. Tall cyclone policy , Tal[ fences keep errant mini-bikers off the erran t track and there are plenty of uniformed ar e p lenty u niformed patrolmen around to help you pushst.art to pushstart your bike. e, 0.. .... 0> g' ~ z Z ;@ ~ w w Z W ..J ...J U > >U BillYGrossi bit es the d ust at La9u iS o d i a c BillYGroSSibitesthedustatLa9uiSodiac By Sam Mangalin MONTEREY , CAL., Nov. 7, 1971 - A Nov, MONTEREY, quick glance at the race results and one res ults o ne q uick gla nce feeli ng was o ne gets the feeling it was one of those regul.ar " b u sin ess regular "business as usual" kind of days. d ays. Once again, Bob Grossi topped the Open Senior class, with Russ Powell wi th right in behind him. Powell was nrst firs t Se nior Carl overall in the 250 Senior class with Carl Cran ke Cranke still stuck in that runner-up slot. The scene was once again the was ag ain beautiful Laguna Seca Cycle Ranch, located just above Monterey and the loca ted th e blue Pacific shores. In its usual manner, the fog clung tenaciously to the rolling fog clu ng th e rollin g t hen back hills for a few hours then slipped b ack fo r out to sea.. t o sea That's when it all began to happen. began The Open Senior class erupted off the Se nior erupted o ff th e st arting starting line, shattering the morning sh attering m orning ca lm, an d calm, and sending w omen , children and women, child ren coff ee -so aked photograph ers scrambling coffee-soaked photographers scramblin g for cover.. Th e reverse program caugh t fo r cover T he p rogram everyone but the riders off guard. The gua rd. T he eve ry one pack disappeared off the downhill drop dis appeared o ff t h e d ownhill and it became irr!mediately apparent b ecam e imm ediately ap p are nt that something in the Zodiac was th at some thi n g th e Zodi ac putting on pressure, for one of th e last p ressu re , o ne the me n off was th e favored Bob Grossi , get men o ff the fav ored Bob Grossi, ge t very b ad h ole o t, a ver y bad hole sh at. Thirty mi nutes can b e an eternity for T hi rty minutes be e te rn it y fo r some,, but for the spectators kee p ing a th e sp ecta tors keeping so m e watchful eye, b o th times and Grossi eye. both tim es quickly flew. He cha rged up through th e q uic kly fle w , lie charged u p thro u gh the ranKS to take o ver first place around th e ta ke over arou nd the ranks p o int. R on th e o nly halfway point. Ron Bast was the only a t bay, rid er ab le t o h old rider able to hold Grossi at b ay , and h e he did it for more minutes th an anyone than any one would like to count, but he too fell lik e t o c o u n t. he t oo under the sign and suffered a series of suffered missed shifts o n the uphill climb, and miss ed shi fts on clim b, an d Grossi was gone. go ne. But, Grossi could not escape it that co uld n ot esca pe th at Bu t, easily and he soon found himself aboard so on a spouting Husky when th e gas cap let wh en the ca p loose. He found the cap, replaced it and th e cap , repla ced an d was off, but again it let fly and a very let o ff , disappointed Bob Grossi crossed the disapp ointed Bob nnish !'ine, a hand on the gas tank and finish line, th e frustration on his face.. He finished a face fin ished distant third, with Ron Bast surviving R on the WOeS of a 'scrambled gear box' to win woes 'scram b led box t o ahead of the omni-present Russ PoweLl.. Powell The 250 Seniors came to the line Th e cam e t o with younger Ilill Grossi sporting super yo unger Bill sp or ting tape on th e gas cap.. Bob's problem was o n the ca p Boh 's attributed to h is knee unscrewing the his uns crewing th e a ttrib u ted cap when laying over in the corner s. We' t h e corn.ers. \I' e' ca p Pressures the Grossi's the' learn from our mistakes and Billy was ready. As the sun rose higher, however, h igh er, h ow ever, so did the Zodiac, a nd a ver y surprised and very d id Grossi was left sitting on the line as the pack bl asted away,, victim of a stubborn p ack blasted away gear box. He finally got it into gear and was was off in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, up in front on the lines, Dave Longcore was on setting a blistering pace over the rough track with Ron Stockman and Carl t rack Stoc kman Cranke mixing it up for second. Powell it got his u su al steady start and was his usual keeping in sight of the leaders. Powell is lead ers. notorious for pl aying the waiting game, playing and he p lays it like no one else. Then plays th ings began to happen quickly as mings h appen Longcore tired and fell off the p ac e a a.nd fell pace bit. Cranke was exchanging the lead Cr anke excha nging th e with Stockman until Stockman crashed. S tockman cras hed . Meanwhile, a faltering Longcore met up Lon gcore Meanwh ile, with a charging Powell . and Longcore's chargin g Powell. Lon gco re 's tail-hopping slap pe d Pow ell th e tai l-hop p in g CZ slapped Powell to the dirt. Powell remounted and b egan a Powe ll remou nt ed began to th e fro nt th at every o ne charge t o the front that left everyone a little brea th less, taking o ver first and breath ta king over firs t stretching it way out over Cranke. stre tching w ay o u t ov er Cran ke. what of the Grossi? And wh a t o f th e high flying Gros si? th e di rt fly ing an d He had sent the dirt flying and sp ect at or s jumping spectators ju mp in g as h e b ounced and he bounced an d w ing-dinged himsel f int o h opped and wing-dinged himself into hopped co ntention o n ly contention only to ge t zapped again , get za p ped again, dislodg~d this time by a d islodged gas line. th is tim e b y Refitting t he line, he was o nce again once agai n R e fitt in g the tlying flying and b o un cing and b angin g hi s bouncing banging his way into con ten ti o n h e su d d en ly wa y in to contention when he suddenly came unglued in flight and crashed. A f1jght ca me unglue d cra shed. sticky ithrottle endcd it there fo r Gr ossi. sti cky h ro t t le e nded th er e for Grossi. Pow ell wo n , Cranke h eld onto second Powell won. Cran ke held o nt o and Longcorc struggled in for third.. for thi rd an d Longco re st ru ggled In be tw een matos, In between m o tos, Bob Grossi sized up the situat ion a t hand. up th e situation and task at han d. Lady luck, fa t e or misfortune, wh ate ver y ou luck . fate o r misfortune. whatever you call it . was Grossi pri ncipl e adversary it, principle ad versary this day . Sp orti ng su pe r tap e o n th e gas this day. Sporting super tape on the hi s cap and determination in his eyes, Bob d et erminati on cap Grossi came t o th e line for the fi na l final Gr ossi ca me to the Open m o t o . lIi s psyche was on this o.pen mota. His psych e on time, and that was as close as anyone tim e. th at clo se a ny on e came to him in the fmal race. .Lady th e final race . .Lad y Luck had been tamed and Gr ossi was ta m ed an d Grossi Lu ck the victor. co nvincing ly , th e vic tor. He won 'convincingly, displaying the usual smooth style and displa ying usual grace for w hich he is known, but more f or which h e importantly, he won with a tremendous tremend~us display of superior speed and control an d con trol reminiscent of th e Bob Grossi of a few t1)e Ilob Gr ossi few months b ack before his injury.. back be fore injury To cap it all,, Bast Was eliminated cap a ll was elimin ated from the money when he broke down in th e m oney he the final mota, and aga in it was Russ moto, again Powell in for second money. Powell is m oney . fo r getting stronger with every race. He st ro n ger He attirbutes his smooth, consistent and unspectacular sytle to knowledge gain from the Europeans last year on th e on the fr om Inter-Am circuit. Powell definitely looks like world class material, but his age might be working against him. Then T hen again, they said something like that th at about a guy called "Bugs". abou t call ed Looking b ack , . it was one of those back,. of days ... days... (Results on page 32 ) 32) Sou'westers Go Mexican Mile By Joe Rosson joe JUAREZ, MEX., Nov. 14,1971 - Flat Nov . 14, 1971 Flat track racing with an international flavor came to the Southwest today when the cam e Juarez, Me xico Race Track opened its Mexico R ace Track one-mile horse circuit to cycle riders from both sides of the border. An exhibition race to determine d et erm in e spectator interest in the area, the event a t trac t ed an overflow crowd to the attracted showplace of the Americas. . Riders from A lbuquerqu e, N.M.; fro m Albuquerque, N.M . ; Alamogordo, Tex.; EJ Paso, Tex. ; and EI Tex.; Juarez turned out to compete in the juarez turn ed o u t trophies only, eigh t race me et. . o n ly , rac e meet. N a fast groove developed and the No track was extremely quick both on the was inside and the outside. The surface held t he together beautifully with a minimum of dust, and t he only real hazards to the the re al h azards riders were the over enthusiastic th e spectators who poured onto the track during several of the races. Mike Collins of Alb uquerque Albuquerque dominated the Open Main from start to finish, taking an easy win over Stanley takin g wi n Johnson. Lanny Wilson edged out Jack J ohnso n. Rich in the 250 Main . Wilson and Rich 25 0 Main. Ric h earlier provided the most exciting race raoe of . the day in the 250 trophy Dash as of. Rich took Wilson in a real photo finish . finish. R ich Hopefully the outstanding spectator sp ectator response will encourage track officials to promo te future races with purses promote futu re worthy of national level competition. Everything is there... an excellent track, there...an ex cellent exceptiona lly exceptionally fine spectator spe ctator accommodations and thousands of ardent enthusiasts, All they need now is enthusiasts. All th.ey Mann-Romero-Rice and Company to get it all together. it _ _ R esu lts on p~ge 3~ __j (Results on Pilge 321 _ MITeo SPONSORED larry pfutzenreuter L EA D ER IN POINTS, DISTR ICT 37 LEADER IN DISTRICT (250ec CLASS). WON THE 21st ANT HE 21st AN I2SOcc NUAL "CHECK CHASE" , A GRUEL ING " CH EC K CHASE", A GRUELING ACROSS 145-MILE HARE & HOUND ACROSS SOME OF CALIFORNIA'S ROUGHEST CALIFORN IA'S COUNTRY. LARRY'S BULTACO IS FITTED WITH A BASSANI QUIET PIPE, WI TH A BASSAN I THE EXPANSION CHAMBER WITH A A BUlLT·IN EXHAUST SILENCER. BUILT-IN SI LENCER. 50 e~::CHURE SEND DEALER INQUIRES INVITED DEALER (7 14) 63G-1B21 1714) 630-1821 Sasson) Sassani .. .. Manutactu"ng 1117 FOUNTAIN WAY Dept. CN 1117 FOUNTA IN WAY CN M ~ fl u t d c t u r l n g ANAHEIM, CAL IF .92B06 ~~!,!!!!~!!!AN~A!!!H,!"E!,!IM!!"",C_A_L_'_F_.9_2806 1.

• Cover