Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

G OB SERKO WITH THE By Ron Schneiders u pp o sc yo u wa nted to turn m o to cro ss in to a " pcrfcct " spor t. \Vh at cha nge s wo u ld you m ake ? T o b eg in with , yo u wo u ld n ' t want to m a ke: any ch anges that wo u ld red uce th e excit ement o r the com pet it ive ness. b ec a use tha r 's wh at m o to cro ss is all abo ut. Bu t you m igh; cu t d own un the noise somewha t so that m o re peo p le w ould come to wa tch it. and tracks wou ld b e bu ilt in c loser to p op ula tion c e nters. T o kee p th e env iron me n talists ha p py . yo u m igh t d evi se a wa y to elim in at e the exhaust gases .•\ nd it wo u ldn 't h u rt if th e mac hi nes co u ld b e made sm alle r so th ai th ey wouldn ' t tea r up the gro u n d so bad ly . T he n , since a ll m o tor spo rt s a rc s o mew h at d eficient as a thle tic eve n ts . yo u mi gh I fig ure o u t som e wa y t o r ig m OIOl"rUS S so th a t rid ers wh o t ra in ed a nd wh o were in sha p e would have the e dge. La st hu t no t le ast. s in ce an y sport d ep end s o n a co n tin ua l fr esh su p p ly of y o u ng tuleru , yo u would mak e th e sport ap p ea ling to kids a nd sa fe eno ug h th a t ra tio nal parents wo u ld a llo w th em to com pe te . If yo u ad d lip a ll th ese chan ge s y o u co m e up w it h Bicy c le Mo to cro ss . or BX . as it 's k n o wn to th e lI ot Sneaker Set. Dep endin g on yo u r ge n era tio n a nd o r ie n ta t ion . yo u m igh t ca ll b k-vclc m ot o c ro ss th e newes t thin g in sports o r a pre tz el twist o n an o ld a rm o f a n anc ien t sport . Bicycle motocro ss h as sp ru ng up as a mo re o r less sponta neo us re sp o ns e u f kids to th e mot orc y c le spurt. Seve nteen -y ea r-old Scot Brei th aupt. w h o is o ne of th e tw o m ajo r promo te rs of BX in So u th e rn Cali forn ia . te lls how it ~ot s ta r ted fr o m h is vie w . "Ab o u t fo ur y ears ago I was h ot-d ol:l:ill)l_i l _'lr l' lIt1(t on _m y J 2 ;; _ l m oto r< d 'I :y _ c an d th ese k ids wen: wat ch in g. w ith th e ir b ic y cl es. So I sa id. ' Hey . you wan t to race ? ' So I we nt h o rne and go t so me tro p h ies and gOI each o f the kids 10 ch ip in a qu a rter. a nd we se t up a race." .\ t al m o st th e same time. Bruce Bro wn wa s fil ming kids wh o were p la yi ng mutocross on bi c y c les fu r a novel in troduct ion to his m ovie, "O n ,\ n y Su nd a y: ' Bu t like m a n y ideas w hich seem as fr esh as a sp ring rain. this one: is on ly a rediscovery by .1 new generatio n . "Cycl o -cr o ss; " wro tc Pe te r l loffman in 1966. "is eq ua lly e njoyed by the p romoters who deligh t in searc h ing o ut the must im possible courses. If nature h asrr ' t co me up wit h e nough obstacles, you can bet the pr o m ot er will co me u p wi th some of h is own." li e goes o n 10 d es cribe so me o f th e o bstacles w hich include m ud ho les, s teep b a n ks, wa ter crossings , a nd eve n sno w . T h at was the y ea r some o f tod uys BXers wer e h o r n ! Cycl e- cro ss h as never ca ugh t o n in thi s co u n trv , hut it is o ne o f th e bi g sp o rt s in Eu ro pe. l le re th ere arc a bo u t a d o ze n c lubs a nd maybe !l0 0 ad u lt r iders w ho pa rt ici pa te in cyc le -cro ss. .. s ked a bo u t cyc lo-cross . Scot Brei th au p t \ sa ys . ' ' I nev e r h eard of it. " Bicycl e-cro ss h as a b c t t c r c ha nce of r eally ca tch ing O il. Yamah a est im at es th a i th ere a n.' :!OO,OOO p otential h ic ycl c-c ru ssc rs in Ih e U,S. a nd a Few th ou sand have already di scover ed th e.' s port. T o d a te th ere arc a bc u t 10 tracks o pern ti ng in So u thern Ca li fo rn ia a nd a t lea s t that m an y in Nor th ern Ca lif'o ru ia. Scot o pera tes fo ur of the tra c ks in So u th er n Cal ifo rnia. L ni c Al e xan d er o pe rates ':r ano t hcr four. Be sides ;1 I.t r~ t' po ol of p o te nt ial riders, pr omo ters o f b ic yc le-cro ss ha ve a secre t w e;tp o n tha t c y c lo -c r o ss p ro m ot e rs pro bably d id n' t kno w . a nd •• would n "r have used any\"·'ly. It 's cu lled grav'if . . . . &: 4 As m o st p eople k n o w. p ump ing a b icy cl e o n a fl a t, paved su rf a ce is n ot a ll th at easy . O n a dirt surface it ge ts d o w nri ght hard , Add some bumps, wa ter crossings , ju mps. wh oop-d e-doc s. t igh t chica nes . and it b ec omes a SP0rl for s upe r a thletes who do n't mi nd gelling off th e hike and carry ing it at dead ru n when the occas io n demands, w hic h is exact ly wh a t happens in cyclo-cross. But when you .rd d the magic ingr ed ie nt . gravity. it turns b.rc k into a nor-mal huma n-size event. in fact. even a small-human-size event. It works like this : The race always slarts ;,1 the top o r on the side of a h ill. So m e t im es th e course simply makes a scrpc n tin c way t o th e hottom o f the hi ll. as d o c s a course ca lled Yarnell loca ted n ea r Sy lma r. Oth er co ur ses. such ~IS the Sa d d lcbac k course , arc m ore so ph ist ica ted. Th e Sndd lcb uc- k co u rse is located in a bowl and th e s ta r t , na t urally , is h igh u p on th e side of th e ho wl. This a llo ws a kin d o f shoo t- the-ch u te action . w h ere the rid er goes d o wn o ne side and u p th e o th er. ha ck d own aga in . a nd fin al lv finish es in a ma ze a t the b o tt om . \\'i th such a co urse , it is po ssible to ru n m o re th an o ne lap. w ith th e rider e n ter ing th e co urse fo r th c seco nd lap a t a lo w er eleva t io n . ,\ s ill e very new spor t. there is st ill a lo t o f d isag-rccmcnt about b asic conce p ts. Speed ge n e ra tes exc iteme nt . a nd Sco t is qu ic k to p oi nt o ut tha t a ll th e " act ion," m ean in g p rim a r-ily j u m ps and hum p s. sho u ld he on th e fast s cet ions. Th e s teeper th e h ill. the fast e r th e fo llo wing" section . T he spectators like th e fa s t scci io us to o, a nd many o f the kids wo uld pre fer to do as li u lc pu mp ing as p o ssib le . All th ese fac to rs point to a ma x im which has already become a cl ic he in th e spor t: " T h t id ea l t/)u rs" is, a ll d o \\'.nJUII . ' : . 19

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