Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Bob Balentine in the money at ORA Hare 'n Hound By Terry Rezek JOHNSON VALLEY, CAL.,A UG. 4 On my way from Lancaster to Lucerne, I passe d through 70 miles of da mp deser t. Far, freaking out though t I! Hi Vista was wet. El Mirage was sub me rged . Ap ple Va lley was inundated . No greater fun than boppin' th ro ugh wet sand an d sage brush. A Trail Rider's Guide to the Environment California Trailbike Guide • Send with check or m o ney order to : CVCLE N EWS P.O. Bo . 49B Lo ng Beach, CA 9080 1 I 0 0 0 0 I I 2 .75 HOI Hal 1.00 Escape b y T rail Bi ke 3 .5 0 to the Environmen t Ca lifo rn ia Tra ilb ike G uide 6.45 name address ~ate I A Trai l Rider' s Gu id e shi pped postage paid c ity 34 I 1.25 0 I Speedway Poster I I ... -zj p But Luce rne wasdry. Soggy Dr y Lake wasn't soggy , an d the sand sa ilo rs rain ed ou t at EI Mirage had co m e here to p lay, braving th e fierce and deadly Soggy Lake Road . No self-respecting rain cloud would even spit on Lucerne . It doesn 't rain here, it dusts. This is the only place in the world where dust devils come to spa wn . They swim up the dragon-toothed road and sp ray the en ti re vall ey with powder th at can cho ke a rock . No t to fear, however, nothing ca n sto p a de ser t racer, not even dust devil s in th e throes o f co ur ts hip . A little dust certainly didn't s to p or even slow Bob Balentine, wh o co uld sm ell mone y. not rain , a t th e end o f the ORA rainbow. A.C. Bak ken was o n the trail of first place cas h. too, se tt ing a blis tering pace to the bomb and h olding the lead past the first check, seven mil es out. Coming back aro und th e east side of johnson Valle y, Balentine got by Bakken in the roller-coaster rough stu ff. Bob's been riding for Malco lm Smith for abou t four months now, and it loo ks like so m e of Malcol m's terrain read ing ab ilit y is rubbing o ff. Once out of the dust and maki ng his o wn, Bob stretc he d out the lead wi th every m ile. Co ming do wn o ut o f the hills, he had a so lid m inute 's lead over A.C. and hel d t hat thro ugh th e pits . Out on the very fas t seco nd loop , which was a fire road tour ar o und t he Fr y Mounta ins , he found so me mo re top end so mewhere and opened up the lead to a fu ll two minu tes a t th e end. A.C. later ruefully ad m itt ed that he should have left his Baja gearing o n . The larger fron t spr ocket was wo rth $ 100 to Bob Balentine . While Balentine and Bakken were playing fast and lo ose with the Op en class, there was a fine battle ragin~ a t third. jim Brown on a 25 0 and Bill Fnant on a 125 were swa pp ing horsepower. handling, experience a nd position back and forth with Friant in front until th ey hit some rough ground on the seco nd loop and Friant cam e ap art ! Yup. his bike's sea t fell off. After trying to hold it on wi th his knees and ride bac k on the co urse , Bill final ly gave up, stopped, strapped the wandering seat in place with his kidney belt and motored sedately off - to finish eighth Overall and first 125. Gad, these old men just do n' t know when to q uit! Alan Knebel and Howard McCasland seemed to like each other's co m pany, too. T hey kept in to uch all the way aro un d, fin ishing fo urth and fifth behind jim Bro wn. T ha t also made them firs t and seco nd Amat eurs. Ho war d see ms to do m uch better when he rid es away from his hom e area o f Portervi lle. Ap pa ren tly he co uld n 't ge t m uch furth er th an t he smo ke bo m b up t he re . That un fortunat e tend en c y earned him the nicknam e , "Smo kebo rnb ." Glad to see he's broken the smo ke habit. Dick Harris br o ugh t his Husky in fo r th ird Open Expert and sixth Ove ral l. Right behind hi m was Dennis McEvoy who turned in an o t her in a serie s of really good rides to take first Novice . Meanwhile , hack at the Beginners, Bob Balen t ine put every thing t ogeth er to win t he money. A.C. Bakken w ished he had left his t all Baja gea ring o n a lack of to p end in the desert can cost money. .-"Hot dog! He's leadi ng! He's gonna win'" "Va th ink so, huh?" Leslie Klug is a fast lady. b ut not the fastest th is time. J o hn McDowell gassed a really b ig bore Husky first past the bomb and led all the way to take first. His close companions at the bomb were Dea n Miller and Alan Newell. T hey weren't as close a t the finis h, however , with Dean DNF'ing and Ala n winding up in sixth. Bill Nicholls decided to co py the Ex perts an d m ake the first two Beginne r b ikes Huskies, too . Finishing third was Dane Clar ke , leadi ng a 250 Yam ah a pa ra de whi ch incl ud ed Bill Cha ndler and Scott Shel don. Fi rst Powderpuff to d a,y was a rider with th e very lyrica l name of Melanie Elliott , t urning in a good ride o n a 125 Yamaha. OPEN NOV : 1. Dennis M c Evoy ( H us) . 2 . D ian Grieler ( Hus) . O PEN BEG : l.John McDowe ll (Hu s). 2 . B i ll Nicholls ( Hus) . 250 EX: 1. J im B rown ( 8U l ) . 2 . Gordon Sc h m id ( Y a m ) . 25 0 A M : 1. Ron Williams ( Hon ) . 2 . Bill A t ch i son ( HO n) . 250 N O V : 1. To ny St ef n ns (Y am ) . 2 . A la n Gi llum ( H On ) . 2 5 0 BEG : 1. D a ne C lark ( Yam ) . 2 . B ill C h an d ler (Ya m) . 3. Scott S he ldo n (Ya m ). 1 7 5 EX: 1. And y Ki rke r ( Y am) . 1 7 5 A M : 1. Pat Jones (BU I) . 175 NO V : 1. Ji m Robert s (Pen) , 2. E ddie F roelich ( Yam) . 175 B E G : 1. Brett H en so n (Ya m). 2 . Robe rt W hee ler ( Y am ) . 125 EX : 1. Bill F riant (Pen) . 125 A M : 1. D en n is G reene ( Ca r). 125 NO V : 1. Da n Loros (YZ) . 2. Eric Spaeth (Hon). 12 5 BEG : 1. Matt Ava nce ( SUl). 2 . Pat L yon (Hon). 100 BEG : 1. Tony Stewart (DK W ). 2. B ill Bruce (Yam) . PO W D E A:PU F F : 1. Melanie Elliott (Yam) . MINI : 1. T im J on es ( H o n ) . Results O P E N EX : 1 . Bob Bale nt ine (H us) . 2 . A .C . Bakken fHus) . O PEN A M : 1 . Alan Knebe l ( Yam). 2 . H owar d M cCa sland (Hus).

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