Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Shootin' bllteys with Ma • the kids eRe MX By The Shadow ELSINORE, CAL., NOV. 4 Despite the fact the Riverside County Board of Supervisors still has not reacted to the pleas of Rawhide Park to install a directional sign on the main highway between Perris and Elsinore, the California Racing Club of Riverside was still able to ''Which .., to the turkeys?'" "On or off the bikes?" By Larry Langley SOGGY DRY LAKE, CAL., NOV. 11 The Pomona Valley Desert Riders threw their second Annual Turkey Shoot Family Enduro and 1200 riders came out to take part. Interested observers were Phil McDown and wife, Pat, from the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Dave Martin, President of PVDR, sent Governor Reagan a letter inviting him out to the enduro and since he was busy, he at least sent a representative. I talked to Phil and he was quite interested in the enduro scene since he i. involved in the effort to obtain land for ORV we through the Green Stickie program. The f"tnt rider. .tarted at 8: 0 I on a 29 mile loop billed as an easy ride for the whole family. My son Bobby rode with me as part of a concentrated effort to get the "Buddy-up" class going again. The loop wasn't hard but a couple of section. carried a fast 24 MPH schedule. Molt of the people I talked to agreed this was too high for the terrain. It created a bad .ituation in that the women and kids were riding along at their pace while the betler rider. were trying to pass them. An 18 MPH average would have been better. . "Go on, pick one. There's nothing in the box to bite you. Heh, hell." 12 After zeroing the f....t check, we entered a section of 24 MPH terrain I call "gully running". It was up and down, up and down for mile•. At the end of this section, was the second check which was five minute. off. Shook me up for a minute but they were aware of the error and the check will be adjusted me minutes. Lost one point here and wasn't the only rider late. Further along the loop we encountered the opposite extreme and hit a three MPH section. The section led down a neat canyon that did produce .ome bottlenecks but what a lot of riders didn't undentand is that three MPH is so slow you can't ride that slow. If they would have thrown a check at the bottom or in the canyon itself, they would have caught just about everyone early. The women and kids really had to pick their way down and it didn't help that some riders were actually snarling at them to get the hell out of the way. If they are that competitive they ought to stay out of the family enduros and ride the tougher ones. Some more easy running, one more secret check and then up a sand wash, across country, drop down to the dry lake, and tum for home. The end of the enduro for the kids and women but waiting for the rest of us was the second loop which was billed as "harder". After a 21-minute break, I tackled the more challenging second loop, this time without my riding partner who was running around showing off his finishing pin to the other kids. The second loop started off running through the sand dunes for which Lucerne Valley is famous (?). About eight miles out we came across a sign which read "URA Hill". Now the riders who rode the recent URA "Little Tuffy" enduro immediately understood the .ignificance of the sign as we went over the crest down a vertical .andhill which, at first glance, was frightening for a "C" Class rider. For the experienced riders it was a blast, just stick. it in second gear, gas it, and hang on! At the bottom was a check which was hard to hit righ t on as the traff"tc built up at the top. Leaving the check was more sand, but nothing too hard until" we came upon another sign at the bottom of a slight hill which read "Wick it on!" At f.... t I couldn't figure out why. When I tried to get up the hill I found out why... that damn hill must have been made of quicksand. With Trials tires on the bike I was riding (A new stock 350 Honda), I never had a chance. I pushed along with most riders. What a killer! If they had a check at the top, I would have lost over fIVe minutes there. We then dropped back down to the desert and more cross-country sand and rock running. Soon we entered a bitchin' downhill canyon which, at 24 MPH, had me falling further and further behind. I realized this was the section that PVDR threw in to insure no one would zero their enduro. Tight and windy, a lot of slow-down-to-f ...st-gear turns, knowing there would be a check at the bottom to record my tardine••. Finally the bottom and sure enough, there was the check .ign but no checkers! What a relief, they somehow didn't make it there. Bad break for PVDR, but salvation for me. The cour.e then turned u. on to a fast fireroad and it didn't take long to get back on schedule at 60 MPH. About 25 miles out, there was an emergency gas stop for the bike. which couldn't make the entire 44-mile loop on one tank. An enduro bike should but this was run-what-you-brung type enduro, so therefore the gas. A short break of f"tve minutes and we were off again. Awaiting us was another nasty section with another cute sign. This one read "Shock Absorber Test. Area" and did it ever! Rocks, rocks and more rocks. Eigh teen MPH and total concentration to preven t crashing. And, yes, another PVDR check waiting to catch late riders. They must have been taking lessons from Ed Wight. They learned pretty good, too. Leaving the rocks it . was back in to the sand until the final speed change of the enduro dropped us to 12 MPH for a tight canyon. This time it was uphill and there were some challenging obstacles to get over. After the last secret check, it was Hare and Hound time into the pits for the end of a good run. We turned in our time cards, received our finishing pins which showed a guy on a motorcycle chasing a turkey with an ax in his hand. Speaking of turkeys, we next rode up in line and drew a wooden token out of a box. If the token had a red uT" on it, you won a turkey! Mine did and I thank the PVDR for my upcoming Thanksgiving dinner. The marking wasn't quite up to the previous excellen t standards of the PVDR. In some .ections, it was quite hard to follow. A couple of times I had to stop and look around to find the course. I didn't get lost but I talked to a couple of riders who did. It could stand improvemen t. Other than that, the second loop was super. I had a good time, lOll one point, and can't wait for the results. _ f"tnd its way here for Sunday motocross racing. For some reason, the tax-paying owners of Rawhide Park are not allowed to place a directional sign on the highway, despite the fact their business is wdl off the road and out of sight of passing traffic. Anyway, the regular first-Sunday of the month CRC program could best be described ~ a moderate success, with a fair turnout of Expert and Intermediate riders on hand to do battle. In the Expert classes, Ron Dugan (Hus), had things pretty well his own way, although Michael Jackson (Hus), did give him a run for his money at Open Expert. Shawn Huffman (CZ), got off on the wrong foot, but won the fmal two events to capture the 250 Expert class victory from second-placer John Barelay (Mai). Finally, Brian Renshaw (Hon), broke a 700-alI deadlock with Bob Rutten (Hod), on his fmal moto to take the overall win at 125 EXperL Intermediate classes found Rick Valentine, mounted on a CZ, an easy winner over second place f"tnisher Cal Parson (Mai), at Open Intermediate. Action was just a bit hotter at 250 Intermediate, where Fultron Tidwell, riding a Honda, slipped past Brian Harber (Hon), wbo fmished in second place, by 125 points. Finally, Paul Minnis (Hon), grand-slammed the field at 125 Intermediate. Reviewing the Open Novice race, Doug Stagg (Hus), was a grand-slam winner; Richard Mata (CZ), followed suit at 250 Novice; Steve Marks (Hon), was a winner at 125 Novice; nipping second-placer Jeff Sanchez (Hon), by 31 points; and Doug Otten (Hod), defeated second-placer Geoff Singer by 102 points in a hot 100 Novice encounter. -- -Taking a victory at 80cc Minibike was Kurt Sofka, Jr. (Yam); second place . went to David Chavez (Hon); and third place was captured by _a real, live girl, Cindi Watson (Hon). In the 60cc Minibike, Steve Jackson (Yam), sailed past second place finisher Greg Maiefski (Yam). Finally, the win at Veteran went to Dave Turnquist (CZ), who was _ grand-slam victor over the field. B.A.R.F. Motocross By Reese Ultz DIXON, CAL., NOV. 4 B. A _R.F. scored another big crowd-pleaser today, when Johnnie Hall and Dick Mann arrived to compete with the locals. Dick, who is recovering from a painful back injury, had a very exceUent opportunity to witness the superb motocrossing of Danny Turner today. Turner, who is virtually unbeatable, found his f....t opportunity to ride against the venerable 'Bugs', and then only because the 250 Experts and the Open Experts were run together. Turner took the lead righ t off the line in both motos, with BSA-mounted Mann starting somewhat back in the pack. Mann, on the heavier bike, managed to catch up to Turner's Penton in short order. But, Danny managed to hold and stretch out his lead under both challenges by Mann. Turner also managed to regain his track lap record by setting a sizzling 1 :36 to best the new record set two weeks ago by Jeff Lof£. Dick Mann should get part of the credit for Turner's lap record, because we are more than a little certain that his breathing down Danny', neck had a lot to do with the outcome. Brad Brunns took top honors in the

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