Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

11II I: Enooring • • the Cal State 11 ..:I Rainy Southern California•.. E By Ron Schneiders SOGGY WET LAKE, CAL., NOV. 18 It was just like the start of any enduro the world over. Cold, pouring rain making a swamp out of the pit area. Guys struggling to get into stiff Barbour jackets before the jackets were as wet inside as outside. Guys trying to use duct tape to seal the bottom of the pan ts to the boots. Bikes being unloaded on slippery ramps to splash awkwardly into the mud.... "Wait a minute!" you holler. "This end uro was in sunny Southern California in the Desert. District 37 ... " Yep. And that was the 'scene. It doem't rain very often in the desert, bu t it does rain. And as it proved this weekend, sometimes it can rain pretty hard. A good man y riders either had oever experienced rain in the desert before, or didn't believe it could happen to them or both. They had no rain gear. Some decided to tough it out. Others made rain suiu out of plastic trash bags or had picked up some of the cheapy ponchos and such on the way out. One far-out guy was wearing a diver's wet suit. Fortunately for some of the more ill-prepared, the rain stopped about a half hour after the last man left, the sun came out and it turned, temporariJy, into beautiful riding weather. The first loop went eastward in to the sand dune area that many riden remember from ,the Larry McClellan benefit enduro of last spring. Lou of deep soft sand out there that soalts up power like a sponge. Since the schedule was 24 M.P.H., the more experienced riden felt that a loss of only 15 points or so would be good enough- for a win - before the rains came. With a few million gallons of water added, the sandy desert becomes a quite pleasant riding surface, with many of the same qualities as asphalt. One of the the resulu, of' the liquification was that quite a few riders didn't lose any poinu in the morning section. Some of those who did lose a poin t might not have lost it permanently. There is a conflict about Check Three that has yet to be resolved. Seems there was a checker there marking cards whose watch was right (or at least corresponded to the riders' watches). However, they were using the flip card system and the girl who was flipping the cards was watching another clock which did not agree by about one minute with the checka's watch or the riders' watch. What, if anything, will be done about it is not known at this time. Several people noted the discrepancy, but many did not. After a 36-minute "lunch break" (at 10 a.m.) the riders started the second loop. Under the influence of a warm sun and particularly blue skies, many of them discarded their Barbour jackets and rain suits. Shortly thereafter they learned the error of their ways. Abou t ten miles ou t mountain and cloud interfaced in cold driving rain. In moments the temperature dropped ten degrees. But again it didn't last long, not much more than half an-hour and at the conclusion there was a beautiful rainbow. The riding on the wet surface was really great. Both sand and rock behave better under knobbies when they're a bit moist. The route itself had a couple of interesting sections, but nothing that could be considered difficult. There were no push-up hills or hairy descents. There were some rocky sections but they were rather short. As one rider put it, "You could tell it was put on by a motocross club:" Like a motocross course, this coune would be difficult at high speed, but easy at slow speeds. The rain, of course, made it much easier at high speed. About 15 miles from the end of the run there was one section that 1 really liked, which somebody called a serpentine. It was a ravine not much more than six feet wide and seven or eight feet deep with very shapr tums every 20 feet or so. Normally you would have to go very slow through something like this, but in this cue the bottom was rounded and smooth so you could ride right up the banks and do a miniature "wall of death" number. Really neat. Unfortunately quite a number of riden missed the turn into the ravine and went on the road alongside. And, of course, they also missed the observation check that was down in the ravine... The organization of the run was This is whet the -'I~rnsed enduro rider is _ring this SMmll. It's emazing whllt you ell" do on e DT-1. quite good. The marking was well done right up until the very last few miles, when it got a bit spotty. The mileages were consisten t and within ten percent and the times, with the exception of the disputed check three, were right on. This is the first District enduro to be hosted by the Double-Crossers MC and most riders were very enthusiastic about it. The club however, "lucked out." Without the rain the course would have been pretty dull. A bit more exploring should be scheduled for their next effort. Wmners are not available yet, but most of the desert stan rode the run and had pretty low scores. Among those noticed were Bob Steffan, Dave Ekins, Dave Evans, Gary Calltins, and Carl Price. Carl, as some readers might know, has been extremely sick for the past few months. Welcome back, Carl Results when available. • Orange Bowl MX By Tom Corley IRVINE, CAL., NOV. 16 Now everyone's heard that the haulin' 125 Experts can actually set the quickest lap times on some motocross tracks when timed by a spectator with a wrist watch, yet few people have had the chance to see for themselves if the 125's can actually dodged around the faster 12 yet heavier 250 and 500 Experts. Well it may seem unreal but in tonight's Orange Bowl of Motocross at Orange County International Raceway the best to hit this track yet (Dave Carlson on his Mission Honda) roosted ahead and was out-a·sight of all others in a combined type grudge race between the 125, 250 and 500 Experts! The top name of the 500 Expert class lately, Jeff Szueber (who is in the money on a Yamaha of Buena Park YZ) had his clean machine goin' like crazy trying to catch the main flash Carlson and came the closest to doing so. He jetted about in a fixed second place. The jack knife berm tum was where Szueber keeled over to kill his third moto rating but not the overall of the night. On top of most of 'em was Frank Rowe of the 250 Expert class (also on a Yamaha) who has been water skiing lately and returned to motocross tonight with a smash and great luck. The Carabela 'crossen were on the loose in this race and were radical as Ohio racer Daniel Bales and Joe Flores (who has raced for B&V Motorcycles and Norm Reeves) were both at it and smolting the more powerful bikes, along with Steve Gannon on a Penton. The last moto was of course Carlson's, but other top names were jumpin' and jivin' after the super Honda racer and gettin' closer such as Bryan Justice, Frank Rowe and Madden, who was noticed as he was a big threat on a Maico. Dave Carlson deserved the first place 125 Expert and overall Expert title and at the same time enjoyed doin' it. Steve Gannon punched it out with Daniel Bales as the Pen ton totaled the poin ts higher than the Carabela. Frank Rowe topped Bryan Justice's CZ on his Yamaha to win the 250 Experts and it was a pure Yamaha race in the 500 Expert match with the winners being Jeff S:c.ueber and Bob Rowe. Now here's something that will blow your mind. Saddleback Park (which is headin' the Orange Bowl of Motocross) announced that the Suzuki factory works team, including the world famous superstars Roger DeCoster. Sylvain Geboers, Mike Runyard and Rich Thorwaldson will be at Orange County International Raceway .with demonstration racing factory bikes on display two Fridays from now on November 30. Be there! •

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