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/125848
DeAnza hillclimb By Ann A. Powell S UNNYM EAD , CAL., FE B. 10 Tw o by tw o, th e 124 co n testants came to th e line to ch allenge each other and th e super fast drag hill at DeAnza Cycl e Park today. Every bike was tuned to the nth degree, every rid er h oned to peak efficiency and every spectator filled with anticipa tio n at what was bound to be the top cl im b o f many months. Never before had so man y riders en tered th e race , so many spectators lin ed th e hillside. Even th e weather c o o pera te d , providing a n absolutely perfect day for t he climb . An e x tre m el y l arge field of minibikers were th e first on the lin e. The exci temen t h it th em as hard as the others. Some jumped th e start, some forgot t o ge t into gear, so me forgot to tu m on th ei r gas. They were aU determined, a nd afte r seve ral false starts, they proved th at th ey were al l g re at c o m p e t i t o r s. Little Becky Mathison show ed th e wa y a nd ga th er ed in a firs t pl ace troph y with a rid e th a t was h ard for eve n th e bi gger I OOcc bikes to beat. Tod Jensen took t he win for the 100 class, nearly b ec o mi n g the first bike t o top th e hill. Young T oo got all the way to the ga te, but just co uld n ' t quite ge t over the crest. Firs t bi ke over th e top, and fmal winner of h is clas s, was 13·year old Mike P ow ell o n a Suzuki 125 . Both bike a nd rider were in to p form and seemed to take th e hill as easily as if it were a m olehill. The 175 class is usually dominat ed b y Ali ce Hudnall, but this time Bobby Dahlin pulled an upset. R iding with a b roken fo o t stil l in the cast, Dahlin forced Alice into sec o nd place . One of th e bigges t classes o f th e d ay, an d some o f th e most co m p etitive riding, ca me with the 250 stockers. When th e dust had se ttled, Gary Peterson had «ked out a first pl ace , with Ron Powell a nd Bobby Dahlin fin ish ing second a nd third. Th e bigg e r th e b ikes, the faster th e runs o ver th e hill became. It was not a question o f wh o co uld top the hill but o f who co uld go ove r the faste st. Some of th e b ike s see m ed t o sprout wings and fIy ! With each ru n , another bike was elimin ated, an d a n oth er winner moved close r to a first place. By m id afte rnoo n every clas s had a w inner, bu t the ra ce was not y et over. T he re was still th e big b attle fo r the top elim inator. This award goes to the biker wh o ca n ta ke on any and 'al l of th e winners and still keep first place. Th e final race o f the day had two Triumphs fa cing off. On the one hand was th e fuel burning monster 500 of Ke n Miller, on th e oth er the 750 dragon of Neal Mackel. Both had been winners in their class, both had been ridden with top skill and performan ce. When the starter snapped the rubber band, Miller got off the line first. The 500 took the early lead. But power p ays and Mackel m a kes no m ist a kes. It was close, but the bigger bike skipped ove r the crest just half a wheel in fro n t, Top eliminator for the day went to Neal Mackel. Co mpetition at the hillclimbs is getting tig h ter as me mbers of the Saddleback Hillclimbers' Associa tion (the on ly h illclirnb ers' club in Southern California) begin to compete for the right t o ca rry the No . I pl ate for 19 74. Each mem ber must earn the points to qu alify , and eac h member wants t o prove him self first. With two regul a rl y sche d ule d cli mbs eac h m on th , the co m peti tio n is stead ily increasi ng. It 's m ak ing hillclim bin g a m o re impo rtan t sport, one th at is provid ing a b igger a nd better show fo r the specta to rs, as proved by th e increased number of n on ride rs at ea ch ev ent. • WE'RE LOOKING FOR PEOPLE wao L KE 0 SELL OUT. Accord ing to our latest survey, more than 60% of all Cycle News dealers sell every copy on their counte rs. Every issue. Cyc le News sells out because readers like our no·B.S. approach to everyth ing from ecology and motorcycle legislat ion to shop t ips, home repairs and no-ho lds-barred prod uct evaluatio ns. per issue makes you an official Cycle News dealer. As adea ler, you' ll receive a handy Cycle News counter rack for your counter and a swell Cycle News window poster for your window. Why wait? Wherever yo u are West , East, or Central - there's a Cycle News editi on for yo u to sell BEFORE Most importantly, Cycle News is news. Race results. Point standings. Up-comin g events. News w hile it's sti ll news. As a Cycle News dealer, you' ll not only have th e pleasure of di spensing a lot of good cycle news to your customers, bu t you'll also have the pleasure of pocke ting 40% prof it per copy sold per issue. A mini mum order of 10 copi es CYCLE NEWS out of. 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Hacienda La Puente, Calif. 9 1744 Cycle Park · Own It! 10 acre parcel @l $350 per s ere. Lucerne Valley between Lucern e & Barstow. . Hilly t errai n, E xcellent riding. 40 acre & 80 acre also available. Use it Ride it e Mak e money • Learn about income tax adv. e Low down .Terms 213-986-2555 Mr. Larson 23