Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

class. With a 530 foot hill, this class se t a h igh m ar k of 440 fee t. Usually one or two of the better 250 stock bikes will manage to top the hill , at least on the second run. But, today wasn't the usual hillclimb, Craig Mock managed a win, but his high mark was only 514 feel. Gary Peterson, riding two different bikes, was a dominating factor in this class. fie took second place on his 250 Honda, came back and secured third on his 250 Yamaha. The smallest bike to crest the hill today, and even then it wasn't done in the first run, was Doug Hall's highly modified 250 Bultaco. Hall Was the only 250 modified to go over the hill, being awarded first place brass for his efforts. During the first rou nd of competition, Mike McDanel, ridi ng a stock 360 Yamaha, was the first man over the hill. Only about 20 other riders could repeat the feat on their first try. Most of these were on bikes of 500cc or more, The second round of competi tion saw a few more riders go over the top. Even so, with 100 entries, a surprisingly few made the grade. The thi rd round of a hillclimb competition is often one of th e m ost exciting. This is when the starting line is mo ved higher up on the hi ll a nd the riders don't get to start on the easier grade. Often there were as many as three move-up points, but with the condition of the hill today, one was enough! With the starting block set at the 220 foot mark, those riders who had topped the hill from the original start prepared to go at it again. Smallest bike on the line was flail's Bultaco, It was valiant, but not strong enough to go over. The bikes got bigger and bigger, but the going didn't get any easier. Ron Saffel, riding a modified 650 Triumph, looked like be had the top eliminator spot all wired. The mark he set at 518 feet from the move-up point looked good. Then came the last run of the day. Everyone else had been eliminated, and no one had been over the hill. Last man to ride in the Open class, and the last one with any chance of taking the first place trophy from Saffel, was lanky Neal Mackel on his 750 Triumph. Mac's bike is highly modified, but he had switched back to burning gasoline instead of fuel. Was his big bike ready to RO over the top? No one doubted that Mac had th e ski ll, but the hill had progressed from bad to impossible . It was now a m atter of could the ta ll man miss t he holes and ru ts dug by the previous riders, get hi s bike revved to full p ower, and keep ' it un d er can trol ? Mac pulled away from th e line, fought to rou nd the dogleg on the hill, finally got his feet on the pegs, and tu rned on the powcr. He hit the ru ts, bounced wildly, but managed to regain control. Finally. jumping up and over the bump, he topped the crest of the hill. One bike topped the hill from the move-up point. One man managed to keep going where all others fell back. Neal Mackel held on to his title of "King of the Hill," and walked away with the top eliminator spot. • Results in the Results Section. By Tom Corley Mackel Triumphs over DeAnza hill IRVINE,CAL., MAY 10 By Ann A Powell AMC night MX Bruce Baron (Yam) jetted 10 the front of the pack as he took command of the first 250 Expert mota. The biggest stars of this 50 class lately have been Mike Stearns (Kaw) and Mike McGowen (Kaw) but this time they were snuffed back to second and third after a close battle. Baron was on Morris Malone's l\laico knobs when he came to the first jump and his chain derai led. Marty Moates wicked his super Honda for second over Steams and McGowen. McGowe n was cranking 011 the throttle in the . final mota so hard that his silencer cracked off and his left shock came unbolted . Moates was super aggressive and streaked to second over Morris "Bud" Malone. The big bucks were into the hands of McGowen , Malone and Moates in that order. " • SUNNYMEAD,CAL., MAY 12 The sky was overcast, the threat of rain was very obvious, and the _ air was really cold and damp. On lop of that, it was Mother's Day! But did that hold back the hillclimbers? You bet your helmet it didn't! A ricld of 100 braved the elements and the wra th o f ignored Mothers to climb the big hill at De Anza Cycle Park. They were rewarded by an exciting day. and a sun that put in a spectacular appearance about 10:30 a. rn, Despite all the moistness in the air and the efforts of the DeAnza watering crew, the hill was something to behold. It was dry. powdery and super slick, taki ng its toll on riders as o ne after another they tried for the crest only to faIl far short. The minibikers, those stalwart midgets of the hillclimbers, were first to tackle the hill. Considering that none ride bikes bigger than abou t 75ccs, they didn't do too badly. The high mark, set by young Chris Bridges on his little Honda, was 230 feel. There were a lot of the bigger bikes that didn't do as well. The 100 class brings out riders who arc a bit more experienced on bikes a bit bigger. These rid e rs fall into the 10 to 15 year old age range. Top mark here went to new-comer Brian Collier (Yam). fie fought his way up nearly 300 feet, coming to a stands ti ll at the 294 mark. Youth and age battled it out in the 125 class. For the last few months, 13 year-old Mike Powell has led the way. Today he fell back to make room for the more mature Tom Turner on his super hot Honda. Brent Coffey, on a Yamaha, managed to squeek out an eight foot victory over second p lace Carl Collier in the 175 When t he thumper ran out of horse power, Tom LaRue t ried some foot power. Even th at wasn 't enough to get over the top today. ,.. Z UJ :; U III C( Z Z C(

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