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/125835
Not Even Nice To Visit?
Gambit Grumbles
First off, I'd like to congratulatF the
guy who laid out the track at the Sears
Point Inaugural MX on November 4.
The track was long, wide, and such a
total blast to ride, you forgot about the
dust and not-so-perfect surface
preparation. On top of that, Sears Poin t
did a fine job of publicizing the even t
(even a picture and story in the S. F.
Cronicle) which resulted in a fantastic
turnout of riders and real, live
specta tors.
Unfortunately, somebody let District
36 run the whole show. The entire day
was shot down by these guys' attitudes
towards running races. In short, you
were lucky if your $5 ($7 if you were
an Expert) bought you one three·lap
moto. Of course, this is understandable
when you consider that the first moto
(37 scheduled) didn't get oIf the line
until 1 1:30.
It is situations such as this that make
me think that District 36 is a rotten
place to visit, and I'm sure glad I don't
live there.
My credentials as a journalist are a
bit rusty; for several years - six or eight
- I've done little more than an annual
piece on the International Six Days. In
that area I qualify· my expertise based
on greater involvement on a year-to-year
basis than any other Am.erican; I began
armual participation in some aspect with
·the 1964 Trial in East Germany, the
flnt year the USA was represented with
a team.
As Ron Schneiders pointed out in his
column, "Gambit", it was perhaps
ironic that after laboring all these years
to bring the ISDT to the States, that I
wound up with no assignment to cover
the event for any of the many
magazines I have reported for in years
past, since they were all personally in
attendance. However, at the last
moment I was able to get a commitment
from "Motorcycle Industry" to write on
the aspect of involvement by
manufacturers in the Six Days - not
actually a report on the Trjal itself, but
enough to secure for me the "needed"
Press pass.
Because ·of my involvemen t over the
years, familiarity with the rules, and
knowledge of many of the Europeans, I
have perenially attended the riders'
meetings through the week. I have been
asked to speak, to explain, and to
analyze. I went to the ISDT in
Massachusetts in order to help, if
needed, and not because of any
journalistic assignment. This year, for
the first time, journalists were barred
from these conferences because one
writer lacked integrity to report on last
year's meeting without hanging out the
soiled laundry. That writer was
Schneiders, who now complains of
disbarment which affected his entire
profession.
I sat in on the first meeting becaus~
it was felt I migh t be of assistance to the
U.S. effort. Ron made an official
complain t because of my' Press pass. I
sought him out and told him that if he
felt it necessary, I would relinquish
those creden tials, and that I would
personally guaran tee him not to do a
report on the ISDT; my interest was in
adding to the conferences rather than
taking juicy tidbits from them.
Schneiders stated that that was not
necessary, but to cover, I did obtain an
Official pass and used it the rest of the
week. 1 have done no story of any kind
on the 48th ISDT._
Thank you, Ron for putting into
print the real truth: I was allowed to
stay in the meetings because I was a nice
guy. You're right. It did seem to be a
qualification for attendance.
DAN HIRTLE
Dist. 35 Int.
Fresno, Calif.
Patrick Neil, who covered the event for
us, was a little upset about things at
Sears Point, too. Below are some of his
comments to the editors about the race.
"The Sears Point inaugural
motocross turned out to be on ill run
program due to the fact that the owners
of the raceway had to hire someone
with an AMA promoter's license. Th!!
only choice available happened to be
Bill Spencer. When 1 arrived at the
course Sunday morning, 1 was
disappointed in the lack of
professionalism in handling some of the
preparations for this potentially
outstanding place of competition. The
program was cut short. The 125 Experts
ran two motos a total of fwe laps. The
250 Experts ran a total of THREE laps,
while the Open Experts ron THREE laps.
The program was cut short due to
darkness. Lee Ashbury, the man in
charge, asked me to have the following
published:
All the Open classes and 250 Experts
will be reimbursed one-half the entry
fee paid by writing to Lew Ashbury,
Sears Pt. Raceway
Hiways 37 8' 121
Sonoma, Calif. 95476
Anything you con do to help Lew to
rectify the problem will be
appreciated...
P.S. If you get the chance, come up and
take a look at this course. You'U .Iike
it. U
•
Neil was pretty upset about the way
things were run. In an enclosed
editoriol, which we just didn't have the
space to run, he made several other
points. He pointed· out that the program
was staTted far too late and then called
because of darkness, that there were too
many riders in many motos - often
more than the 30 maximum called for
by the AMA rule book, and that there
were no officiDl results within 24 hours
of the race. We expect that things will
be sorted out a little better for future
events..•Ed.
LYNN WINELAND
Los Angeles, Calif.
..ar Ron,
Just read your "Gambit" in
something called "Cycle News West".
Must be a new rag. Anyway I thought it
was very good, and I really enjoyed the
parts where you told of the ISDT
hassles. All I have to say is -that you
should have been covering the ISDT for
Cycle News Central
My attitude was that we were going
to be viewed as bad guys and so I acted
accordingly. I acted like a bad guy. I
kept moving, scowled at anyone who
came near-me, made fun of the select
few lip" folks and waved an American
flag a lot. In New England, no one, but
no one bothers someone waving an
American flag. Also, having worked on a
daily I got accustomed to sneaking
behind police lines and such like.
The problem with a large part of the
motorcycle press is that they expect too
much, too easily; they assume tha t
everyone is an enthusiast and that life is
just a bowl of cheeries and we are all
gathered here together to eat them.
Bullshit! My own feelings are that the
motorcycle press in general spent far,
far too much time at the various parties
at the Hilton and not enough time
kicking ass.
As for Marcia Lee...well, hell man,
that's her turf right? So she got her little
tush a cushy job...maybe she needed it.
Also must take exception to Mr.
Masita's kind remarks regarding speed.
Ron, 1 almost lost my lunch laughing
over that. 1 tried on one occasion to
catch a Czech support crewman on
those winding roads in a front wheel
drive car and, like you, reason fmally
prevailed somewhere around 80 MPH.
He was already gone anyway so it dido't
matter. I know of one case where two
editors followed a Czech crewman for
the better part of the morning, until the
crewman got tired of it and blew them
in the weeds.
All in all I thought it was a blast, but
then I am just a hick kid from Texas.
INSIDE
Poop
4
The First Last Annual
Hopetown
6
Bonneville Update
11
Enduros
10, 12
SoCal Motocross
12, 27
Opinion
14
Fiction
16
Road Racing
18
North
20
Desert
22
Speedway
26
Test: Carabela 125
28
Baja
30
Trans·Am
34
Cartoon
36
Results
36
Calendar
40
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C'J
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COVER: Baja Winner Mitch
Mayes and Hopetown double
winner Carl Cranke. Photos by
S am Moses/Cycle Guide and
Marcia Holley.
Yours truly,
RICHA RD CREED
Editor
Cycle News Central
Austin, Texas
Thanks to one and all
On October 28, at the Rams Hare n'
Hound, I was clipped by another rider
less than 50 yards off the starting line.
We both went down. He was lucky
enough to ride away but [ had broken
my left leg quite severely. Though I .
have never before had ro make use of
Rescue Three, I was completely
confident and assured by the knowledge
that I was in competent, professional
hands. Rescue Three's air-bag splint
brought me immediate relief from pain.
Everyone involved was concerned
and helpful, including the dozens of
racers and that red dune buggy th'at
came to offer assistance.
My heartfelt thanks goes 'out to
Rescue Three, and So. Cal. M.C. for
their fast action in getting me to a
hospital as ·fast as was humanly possible.
I especially want to thank Gail, Sharon
and Bell for putting up with my
sniveling on the way hoine.
GINO MASSARA
J87x
So. Cal. M.C.
Green Stickie Blues (Greens?)
Mr. William Penn Mott, Jr., Director,
Department of Parks and Recreation,
State of California would lead us to
believe that his department classified
Red Rock Canyon a State Recreation
Area out of his love of the off-road
vehicle user, when in fact the
classification resulted from a 14 month
campaign waged by CORVA and every
major off-road vehicle group in the state
to seek this classification. At a hearing
July 13, 1973 the classification was
awarded and the Sierra Club spokesman
were visibly shaken. They realized that
they could no longer dictate their every
wish to the State of California, but they
have not taken this defeat without a
figh t. California Assemblyman Ray
Gonzales, who support the Sierra Club
point of view at the July hearing, has
introduced AB2645. The purpose of
this is to classify Red Rock Canyon as a
State Park through legislation.
AB 2645 must be defeated; write
your Assemblyman, State Senator and
Governor Reagan and express your view
that Red Rock Canyon should remain as
classified by the State Department of
Parks and Recreation, (State Recreation
Area). and ask them to vote against the
legislation.
One final point: as for Mr. Mott's
Sharon Clayton; Ifuhli..d \cr
Tom Culp; Ct.·lll'ral ~1..Ulalo!:cr
Edna Mewton; St'ncl.lry 10 I'uhlisher
Catherine Lampton; :\n Dircl'lnr
Too Rafferty; ~lanal{inl{ Editor
Art Friedman; Editor
JOhn D. Ulrich; .\ssot