Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Raw hands at Rawhide: Two hours of non-stop R.A.C.E.-ing • • ." ... = l1li Fastest enduro I ever rode l1li ..,;I • ~ " By John Huetter Photos by John Ulrich & Huetter "<:l" r- " O'l ....... ELSINORE, CAL., JAN. 26-27 Loweri ng gray skies greeted the bike-lade n ' vans that rolled into Rawhide Cycle Park early Saturday morning under scattered drizzle. About a hundred and a half racers even tuall y materialized for R.A.C.E.'s first attempt at running a Grand Prix-type of event inside Rawhide Cycle Park. Friends and family staggered under the load of gas cans and folding chairs to the small gas pit marked out near the finish line of Rawhide's regular motocross course and settled down, awaiting to service their heroes. The GP course itself was more enduro than motocross, however. It was Ion g, a sbade " over eigh t miles, demanding, and showed imaginative use of the terrain avai lable inside the park. Parts of the course consisted of narrow, sidehill off-camber tracks and splashy-wet stream running, both up the streambeds and across them. And hills, lots and lots of hills. Credit to R.A.C.E. for a course that was well-marked witli helpfu l flagmen o ut t here freezing their toes and finge rs off to keep adrenalin-pumped racers from overshooting some less obvious turns. The even t was timed: two hours from the time the rope went up til the checkered came out which meant the front ru n ners got about eight laps over the demanding terrain. It was more than enough for most of the Beginners and Novices to whom this event was limited. There were no complaints about it being too easy. A large section of the mo re vertical parts of the course was cut o ut for t he Minibike-Powder Puff Combined race which made a lot of sense. A course that minibikes can actually race on is not one that 500 Novice machines are going to find challenging. There was still a very hig h mechanical casualty rate as water got some of those that were ab le to conquer the uphills. This was true in all classes. Waterproofing was recommended in the riders' instructions and it was advice welI-heeded. There lC") >- l- ::d ~ l- ..D V ~ The ank le-biter brigade showed in respectable numbers but we know the kid with t he Marlboro pack on his helmet is too young to smoke. Thi nk what it does for motorcyding's image. were no big soakers, just a lot of me di um- deep to shallow well-spaced water crossings. It was a reflection of the general good layout of the course that all aspects of the run were balanced. Just when you got tired of running off-camber sidehill it would change to fast fire road, then before you got time to wire the throttle open, it was back to uphill turns and jumps that de ma nded a combo of speed and skill. Each lap terminated on Rawhide's MX track so all the hot dogs that still had the energy got to demonstrate their cross-ups and berm shots to the fans. But the race wasn't won through fancy stuff in the few MX turns. The winners, and all those who placed high, got that way by riding the rough, back sections of the course with skill and concentration. It was more importan t to not make mistakes than to go full out fast . Those who did it best on Saturday are listed below. Satu rday Results 125 Beginner : 1. John Whitcomb (HOn); 2. Tom Watson (Hus); 3. Glen Page (SUZ). 125 Novice : 1. Mike Lee (Hon); 2 . Randy Mcintyre (Hon): 3. Art Mcintosh \SUZ). 175 Beginner: 1. Tom McDona d (SUZ) . Bill Sears wo n th e 500 class overall on Sat urday and was coin cidentally first Old Tirnerv He liked it so well he came back on his trick CZ t o win th e Golden Age Gang on Sunda y, too. / t , 250 Beginner: 1. Jim Hildebrand (Hon): 2. Gordon Duncan; 3. Ken Johnson (Pen). 250 Novice : 1. Way ne Martin ( Hus); 2. Ed Mason ( Hu s): 3. R u st y Carter (Suz). 250 Old Timer : 1. Frank V age (Yam). Mini: Scott Cecil (H on ): 2. Mark B ur k es (Hon) . Po w d er Puff: 1. Terl Be n der ( Ya m). 500 Beginner: 1. Ned Joy (C Z): 2. Anders Horberg (HUS) : 3. Chuck Sickler (Yam). 500 NOVice: 1. Rick Moore (Suz): 2 . John Huerter (Mal ): 3. Tom Whitten (Suz). O ;d Time rs : 1. William Sears (CZ): 2 . Dana W il so n (ez). In welcome contrast t o Saturday's grayness and cold that b rough t on early darkness, brilliant blue skies and sunshine warmed about 180 racers who opted to do their competing on S unday, The only strange thing is that there weren't more of them. Have bikers really stopped racing d u e to the gasoline thing or are there a lo t who d on ' t t hin k they can ride for two ho urs on a natural terrain closed course? The fast lines we re well worn-in by Sunday and grooves had been worn on m uch of the off-ca mber so th ose th at had the sp eed co uld ta ke advan tage of Saturday's trailb reaking. The sligh tl y larger turnout still had the hill s, the mud, and the water to conten d with, though. There was a m o re m ar ked con trast between the speeds an d skills of Beginners and Novices on Sunday, co m pared to Saturday ' s ru ns which, t o o ur way of thinking, is as it should be. The speediest and m ost skillf ul in their respective classes are list ed below. Sunday Results -.. . ,- 5 00 Novi ce : 1. D ale Bu zza: 2. M i k e Har r is (CZ )· 3. Roger Co o p er (Mal). 500 Beginner: 1. George D er b y (Ya m ) . O ld Ti mers: 1. Will iam Sears (ez): 2. G . L . F oreman ( C CM). 125 Beg i nner : 1. T ed Van De n Raa dt ( H o n): 2. C h ar le s St ar r (Hon): 3 . Rob Westbrook (H onl' 1 25 Novice : • B o b H en ry ( H on ); 2 . M i k e F o re ma n ( H on ) : 3. cnr ls Clark (Bul). 175 Beg i nner : 1 . Tom F ore ma n , J r. (SUZ ): 2 . Ken K ledzlc ( Yam). 1 75 N o vic e : Dila s B eh n ( V am ) : 2 . Andy Fly n n (Va m ). 250 Beg i n n er : 1. N ewt on B rad Y (H on ): 2. Jua n Calderon (CZ) : 3. J err y see ley ( H us). 2 50 Novice: 1. B u t ch Ba k er ( Y am): 2. Marcus Phares (Hus) : 3. Perry B lac k (B ul). Mini: 1 . J ohn Sliva (H On); 2. B ob Gon zal e s ( Hon): 3. T o m W at son (Hon ). Powder Puf f : 1. Joanna Amy (Vam). Desp it e th e ro ugh ness o f the co urse, th e m ea t wa go n n ever made an y long tri ps and th e only regre ts sho uld b e fro m riders who missed th e whole scen e. With two days of racing to choose fro m .. .it's the clos est you 'll get to th e • old Elsinore GP th ese days. 7 t , ,

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