Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

C'I.I 51 IliI ;;= IliI ...... g ;... g -:to r-- C'> ..... 00 C'J >~ ~ J: o z 't"r > '" l'" ii ~ L I U. I rrus sm g a race just to wow the hom ero om t o o tsies. Ho w w ill the spec tators (a nd race rs) Ret to the tr ack ? Will they have to find their own rid es. o r will th e sc hoo l provide a rooter bus ? How mu ch will a ticket cost? How will the bikes b e transported ? Will th e publi c be invi ted? If so . how w ill the y kn ow ab o u t th e race ? Will th ere b e posters pl astered all o ve r town ? Maybe a local radio st a tion will broadcast anno unc em en ts of the race as a publi c se rvice ( Reese g o t anno unc eme nts o n local station s free .), Il ow will crowd co n trol be handled ? Who will in sure th at th e securit y p re p ara tio ns do n ot ge t out of hand, creat ing a bad atm osphere ? No o ne can answer that kind of question for the would-be student promoter; he has to ans we r it for himself. If yo u wan t a h igh sc hool m ot ocross tha t w orks, b e sure to provide rider identifi cation, numbers, and sco ring . How will different schools' ride rs be identified b y the spe ctators ? What most schools have done is not worry about it, but that's not the best wa y. Small, almos t invisible p iec es of co lo re d tape we re st uck on the helmets of racers in the seven school event , a different color fo r each school. It would have been a good idea if the tapes h ad been lar ger. T hatch er pl anned tha t each sc hoo l's ri ders would Wear a d iffer en t color je rsey. O th e r schools ha ve used th e colo red jumpers athletic depart ments kee p arou nd fo r gi rls' gy m classes. Since girls d o no t us u ally wear reversible gym shirts like th ose worn by boys at many schools, girls athletic departments m ay st o ck different co lo red jumpers (which look something like vests) fo r teams of girls to wear pl aying softball. They work just fin e for motocross. too. Each rider must have a number, and no two riders in any class should have the same n u m b e r. Man y times students who have never raced enter school race s. and often their bikes do not have number plates. A paper p late will work we ll when st uc k on with tape, with the number drawn on it wi th a b ig fel t-tip marker. All numbers should be bi g enough to b e easily seen while the bikes a re m oving. Some schools have let st ude nts run with their regular raci ng numbers already on their bikes if the y are alread y" into MX competiti on. To avoid race day confusion , all rid e rs' n a mes and numbers and brands should be listed before the race and cop ies m ad e available to working new spaper reporters, the announcer. the s tarter, scorers, etc . There are several different types of mo tocross scoring systems flo ating around. Whatever type is decided upon, e ve r y o ne must underst and i t com p le t e ly . The scoring system sh o u ld b e second n ature to th e sc o re rs. A t th e first fe w interscho lastic races , the girls wh o vo lunteered to score didn't kno w a mot o from a pisto n, and th e sc o ring was h opelessly b otch ed u ntil sever al race rs fin all y to ok it ove r. Progr ams and rid er lit e rature shoul d m ak e the scoring sy stem painfu lly exp licit, leavin g n o doubt in anyone's min d how it works. The a n nou nce r should also expl ain it over th e PA syste m , if yo u ha ve a PA system , A ll rid ers must know wh a t order the m ot os are in. and which race s they are in. T his sho uld b e de cided sev e ral d ay s in ad va nce, wi th lists o f who is running in wh at race p osted a t th e tr ack . Racl!l; sho u ld be an n ounced by nam e an d number. Fo r exam ple: "Race Numbe r Three, th e 2 50 Expert cla ss. " Catego rizing and ann oun cin g the races brin gs up the que stion of cl asses. Some schools ran cl asse s by bike size only, and a few riders in ea ch class smoked ev erybody . Others limited bi k e sizes an d classed people ' b y bot h expe rience and bik e size. Oth ers ran racers by bik e size, with no maximum d isplace ment, and ab ility classes. Other pl anning that must b e handled in cl u des len gt h of practi ce an d th e riders' rnee iin g. Spe ct ators should not b e forgotten. What will be th e limi ts o n where th ey can and c an no t go to watch the mo tos ? Who will enforce th o se limi ts? What time will the pit s an d the sta nds be open? Spectators will be a lot happier know ing all the rul es befor e th e y accid en tally break one. Safety is important , What are the I Expect anything at school races. T hi s 650 Triumph finished mid-pack at OCI R. requireme nts for bikes that may be ru n? On some courses , schools have allowed any thi ng ro ugh ly classified as a " d irt bike" to race. Others have limited entries on ly to true mo toc ross machines. All have required protective eq uipment (helmets, boots, gloves, lon~ sleeved jerseys o r ja ckets and goggles) and mufflers or silencers to avoid car damage. Flagmen ire the main safety fa ctor in the h igh school race. As in a n y race, a few cras h es ca n be expected. So far, no ne in a high school motocross have ever been serious. Even so, a minor slide-out can tum into a -painful pile-up if three or four bikes come off a blind jump onto a fallen racer. Alert and effective yellow-flag wavers at co rners and o t h er blind spots can m ake all the difference. In case of a cra sh , a yellow warning flag should be immediately displa y ed up th e track to let ra cers kn ow th ere is a crash ahead . How many flagmen, how lon g th ey w ill work, and what flags they w ill w ave a re all thi ngs that must be dealt w ith. Then there a re th e prize s and/or trop h ies. Which will it b e ? Thatcher and Reese • both decided to go with merchandise prizes for class winners and p Ia cers. Other h igh schools have awarded pl aques on the theory that a pl aque or troph y won't w ear o ut. "I' ve go t to scrimp for eve ry penny I ne ed for ra cing. If I can get a .ch a n ce Lo w in some b o ots, it reall y hel ps , Plaques ma y last forever . b ut you can use accesso ries now ." T he wo rds are Mik e T h a t c h e r s , b u t th e y wi n a n ov erwh elmi ng n od o f approval fro m -dozens of racers survey ed . Pre s s re lations are important. especially wh en future even ts are pl anned. No one wan ts to read , whether in a hom et own new spaper or a m oto rc ycl e publication, th a t a race was a d isaste r. Only go o d organiza tio n an d hard wo rk can preven t un favorab le co verage. If a reporter is thro wn ou t o f t he infield wh ile tryi n g to ta ke ph oto s of yo ur eve n t, he's n ot goi ng to b e ove rly frien d ly . It 's a Ro od thing to arrange press creden tials fo r e veryone w h o need s them before the race , answer an y questions th ey m ay ha ve , bu t otherwise j ust leave them alo ne to d o th e ir jobs . If someone has answe rs to all (o r a t least most) of the questions o u tli ne d above, they've got a good c hance of being able to put o n a successful h igh school motocross. A ccording to Mike Thatcher, "When you go to th e principal, y o u ' ve got to have your act together. " You've also got to be prepared for t he unexpected. When Mi ke firs t app roached his sch o ol's principal with the idea, the first thing the principal said was, "wi th the energy crisis. do you think it would be a good id ea?" "J told him ea ch bike would on ly use about one gallon of gas,' recalls Mike, "and then I kind of go t him off the subject be cause J didn't know what I was going to say ." t "W o w,lo ok at that guy gas it!" J: o tr .J :l Z J: o .., First ra ce: on the line ne rves. The payoff aft er yo u 've done it all? T al k to you r sp ectat o rs, t he ones who hav e never b een to a m otocross before. "Wow, I saw pictures of motocross before, but I nev er thought knowing the rac ers w ould make suc h a differen ce." "It was grea t. It sure be a ts football." " Fa r out ! I was really impressed." What does the future hold fo r high sc ho o l moto cross ? Continental Motorsports Club Pre sident Stu Peters, wh o put together th e Ifi -school motocross series, th inks it will end up with sch o o l leagues ru n by the school system, just as football leagues are run now. Mike Thatcher d oesn't have any d oubt in his mind at a ll. " 1 t h in k h igh school motocr oss is th e gre a tes t th in g since rear shoc ks. I can 't wait until it 's CIF ( Ca l i f o rn i a Int er s cholasti c Fede ra tion) and we h ave lettermen's jackets co ve re d with finisher pins. In stead of footballs we'll h ave little patches showing guys crossed up." High school mo tocross is here. _ 29 ~

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