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/125847
-1I111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111OIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII1II111111111111111111111111111UIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Saddleback hillclimb By A nn A. Powell ORANGE, CAL.,JAN . 20 Leave it to Saddleb ack Park to provide a little ex tra touch of excitement t o a hillclimb ! Today, it was the rain. Now, motocrossers mav not think a thing of a little bit o"f rain , especially if it is main ly just a mist. Bu t h illclimbing is a bit TED EVANS • 13347 W. Wash ington Blvd ., Marina Del Rey (2 13) 390 -3406 Year End Clearance Sale All New Motorcycles BSA 500 MX Pursang 250 A lp ina 250 Pursang 175 Pursang 125 CZ 125 CZ 400 $1149. 1045 . 887 . 916 . 877. 800 . 1175. Husky 450 CR Husky 450 OM Husky 125 WR Husky 400 CR Rickman 250 MX Rickman 125 MX 1305 . 1432. 1014. 1469. 925 . 800. COMPETITION CHA IN SPRAY ·LUBE • EXTREME PRESSURE LUIlRI CANl • BEST AVAILABLE FOR METAL TO METAL CONTACT • REDUCES WEAR • SEALS OUT 0 1RT • WATER-PROOF LUB RI·TEC H DISTRIBUTED BY Samm y T a n n er Di stribut ing 734 No. Aval o n Blvd . Wilmington , Ca lif. 90744 Phone : (213) 830-4040 Lubrication Throuqh Technology OOOOOOOOOCo-~o-~o-~o-~OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIO ORANGE COUNTY SUZUKI-BULTACO (John's Racing Cycles) 16 2255 Harbor BI\Id .• Costa Mesa, CA (Corner of Harbor & Wilson) 71 4-646-2 428 or 646-4655 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,ooOO different, Ra in is mo re: than just a mino r discomfort. Because of the lo ca t io n of the h ills the cl imbers co mpete on, ra in is often a n ear disaster, and at best, a real problem . Get ti ng away fro m the hill-in-the-ho le and au t of Hi llclimb Valley at Saddleback is no real hassle in nice weather, but when the rains hit those clay roads, that's a bike of a different color. It takes a four-wheel drive vehicle (or a bike... £d.) to climb those hills, and it takes a bulldozer (or a Thumper...£d.) to pull out t he bigger campers. The weather had been threatening all day . so the field was held to a minimum of climbers. Vic Wilson, operator of Saddleback, warned all of us to get out fast if the rains came. If we got once through the line up, that would make the climb official. he warned, "So be sure: you do your best on your first try." Usually the climbers get two tries at the hill, their best run being the one that counts. Today it was very unlikely that anyone would get a second chance. Things really moved fast. The members of the Saddleback Hillclimbers' Associatio n were o n the lin e to give everyone a hand, and to see that things went smooth ly . The h ill was in great condition, and with all the dam pness, the re was lit tle d ou b t th at many of the b ikes wou ld ma ke it over the top. It was even possib le that some records w ould be set... if th e rain he ld off. A ne w nam e m ad e it to the win ner's list as yo ung Ken Pet er son took the 10 0 class win o n his first time o ut a t a cli m b . You ng in age. but o ld in ex perience, Dave Powell too k the 125 class. Alice Hudnall let the m e n know tha t b ru te force: wasn't the o nly c ri teria as she again domina te d the 175 class. The 250 stockers were the o nes to blaze the trail over the top, with Gary Peterson setting a fast time of 12.0 seconds for the win. Ian Nascimento, o n a modified Yamaha, took the win in his class with a time of 9.11. Could there be any doubt tha t the hill was fast? The winner in the 360 stock class was Dave J ones, and Craig Mock, in the 360 modified class, set another fast time of 8 .18 seconds over the top. The record run for this hill is 7.53 set last summer by Neal Mackel on a highly modified 750 Triumph, so it was almost ce rt a in that a n ew re co rd would be set. Kerry Peterson, an unbelievable ride r and star of the JMI racing team, took first place in both the stock and mod ified 400 class. Chuck Pe ter so n , another team ma te, domi nated the 450 stocke rs. Craig Mock, another me m b er of the team. had a seco nd fa ntas tic run a t the hi ll a nd set a t im e of 8.4 1 to wi n in the 450 m odified class. By this t ime, th e mists were beginning to fall. The h ills j u st behind Hill cl im b Va lley w ere n ow ou t o f sigh t. With all the big bikes ye t to run, it seemed u nl ikel y that the climb co uld be c o m p lete d her arc the rai ns came. George Sauer. on his b ig BSA. came to the line. lIis time of 8.12 set a new sp eed for today. but the rains were moving in fast. There were still three cla sses to run. and the mist had turned to a light drizzl e. Spectators were be ginn ing to c o lle ct their gear and head for th e parking lot. This c o uld be tri cky . lI'ilson wanted to co m p le te the climb and the big bikes wanted a c ha nc e to beat Mackel's re co rd w hile the hill was so fas t, but what abo ut getting o ut afterwards? T he 650 stockers came to th e line. The winner's time: was a rathe r slow J 1.66 seconds, but it h eld for J oe May s. The slow ti me over th e hill a lso came in the 650 stock class, w it h J oh n J ef fr e y s' 2 1.0 seco nds. J oh n Moore took a win in the 650 modified class, and the driz zle turned to a Iigh t rain. Only the fire-breathers were left, and most of the spectators h ad already left the area. Six bikes to go, and n o w there was no doubt about it, it w a s raining! Big John Bjorkman was the first man on the line, and he was over the h ill in a flash. The scorekeeper read his time , 7.72 . It was good, but not quite a record breaker. More bikes went over. Ed Shaver took 7.74 seconds. good enough for second place, but no record run. Only Neal Mackel. the re co rd holder. was left to run. The hill was fast , but Mac was on a new bike. He breezed over the top, but his time: was a relatively slow 8 .04. Big John had taken the win. the climb was officially over, now to get out! The entire cli mb h ad taken only slightly more than an hour, but it was to take another six hours to clear the park, Boy, was it muddy! (So that's why the Cycle News van got stuck..,£d.) The climbers managed to "leap-frog" out of the valley. Each successful veh icle parked at th e to p of a hill a nd the occupan ts w en t back to p ush those who cou ldn't make it. Finally , o nly about one half m ile stood betwee n th e rid er s and th e gate... a n d paved ro ad s. Bu t, th at la st half mi le w as the w orse . By the ti me we reache d t ha t p o in t , there were at le as t 6 0 cars, va ns, trucks and campers lin ed up at th e b ottom of th e last h ill. There w as j ust no way for them to get through the m ud and slime witho ut help from four-w heel drive vehicles and the b ulldozer. The n e x t fe w hou rs were nothing but co ld rain , m ist , mire and mud. The only way over that h ill was brute strength. It was the h ill climbers who b ecame the heroes of the day. They, along with the park employees, m a n ag ed to man-handle all the veh icles o ut of t he park, Hillclimb ve hicles were a mong the last to leave the park. It wa s the hillclimbers who got the m u d d iest and worked t he hardest. T hey stayed by the park e mployees until the bitter e nd, and what's more, they seemed to enjoy every minute of it. This was o ne hillclimb that would n't soon be fogotte n. Noo ne: is an x io us to ha ve it h appen again, b ut few would have given up the chance to try it o nce. Fro m n o w on. h illclimb er s a re praying tha t the re is n o ra in on the seco n d a nd fourth Sundays of each mo n th . They wan t those d ay s clear to conce ntrate o n getting th eir b ikes up o ne h ill, n ot th eir • t ruc ks and va ns up m an y . Resu lts 100 C L ASS : 1. Ke n Pete rson (S UZ). 125 CL ASS: 1. Dave Powe ll (S UZ). 1 7 5 CL ASS: 1. Ali c e Hudn all (Y am) . 250 STOCK: 1. Gary Pe t e r son ( Y am) . 2 . Carl Collier (Yam). 3 . D on Wood (Yam) . 250 MODIFIED : 1. Ian Nascimento (Yam) . 360 STOCK: 1 . Dave Jones (Yam l . 360 M O DI FI E D : 1. Craig Mock (Yam) . 400 STOCK : 1. Kerry Pe t e r so n (Mal) . 400 MODIFIED : 1. Kerry Pet e r son (Mai) . 450 STOCK : 1. Chuck Pe t e r so n (Mai) . 450 MODIFIED : 1. Craig Mock (Yam) . 500 STOCK: 1. George Sauer (BSA) . 2. Don Wood (R ic). 500 MODIFIED : 1. Clyde Peterson (Yam) . 2. George Sauer (BSA). 650 STOCK : 1. Joe Mays (Hus). 650 MODIFIED : 1. John Moore (Tn) . 750 ·0PEN : 1. John Bjorkman ( Tri) . 2. E d Shaver (Trl). OVERAl:-L : 1. John Bjorkman (Trl) .