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/125892
Super Action 17" x 22" black & white poster Only S1.50 or 4 for only $5 .00 postage paid. Name _ Address _ City _ Gary Bailey's How to win State Zip _ Send Check or Money Order _ fo rS Send to: O&OTopCo. MOTOCROSS * .J Strategy and conclusion 225 W. Riggin St. Monterey Park, CA 91 754 ~~Be in control of your own race." o n 't let others "psy ch" you in the pits. Yo u will hear about some tough guy who knocks all the other rid ers off the course. O r so me guy wh o is so fast nobody else has a ch ance. It \ p robably just Joe Speedwell . Keep your co o l. If you pic k a line and you know from p ractice that it's the best line for you, don't change it just because you sec people riding somewhere else. Don't change it just because somebody passes you in the co mer. He ma y be fas ter th an you no matter wh er e yo u rid e. If everybody passes you, mayb e yo u need to d o wh at th ey ar e doing, bu t oth e rw ise, h ave a mind o f yo u r o wn a nd ride yo ur own race. Don't let o th er peopl e co nt ro l you r race. A lot of ti mes yo u will co me in to a co rn er with so mebody an d he will take a line which assu mes yo u a re go ing to take a certain line, o r get o ut of the way , or d o so me kin d of thing wh ich fit s in to the pl an s of the o ther rider. Yo u d o n't have to do th at. Naturally yo u d on't wan t to get ta ngled up in a crash but. shor t of th a t , ride th e way yo u in tend to rid e a nd never m ind what the oth cr people wa n t yo u 10 do . Be in co n tro l of your o wn race , T ak e ad va n tage of o the r riders ' hahits . If yo u ca n o u tbra ke a no ther ride r. rid e pa st him into th e co rner a nd st uff y ou r bike into the turn fi rst. I will neve r deliberately try t o ca use ano ther rid er to cras h but I thin k it is fair to tr y to put him off hi s line a nd th at is part of ra cing . If ano ther rid er likes to go wid e a nd square off the tum, you ca n go inside. When he ge ts turned an d all read y to bl ast off again, th er e yo u arc ex actl y wh ere h e was pl anning to ride . Some p eople call this bl ock-passing. You ca n get past a faste r rid e r if yo u make a tum in such a way as to block th e path he intends to use. There is a distinction between doing this and just getting in his way. or riding into his line so the two of you have to cra sh . In D *.* * oureasonsGreetings *S customers & friends to >I: CarR, l, Hodl kllndi.n Milico MontllSlPuch S",n, :v~ ~ THE ~. INTERAMA WINNER MACH INES THAT WIN AT COMPETITIVE PRICES Coast Moto Cycle 714-645-8008 Barstow to Vegas action photos Phot os taken 12 miles past Baker (Hallon Springs Rd J . 1st 500 bikes pho tographed in B&W and Color. Send us your b ike n umber and we will mail y o u a f re e sample p h o to and order form fo r en lar gemen t s. Jim St eaff ens, Pho to graph er . Ol7lnge COUnty Film Service 21 11 So.Standard Ave.,Santa Ana.CA927 07 714-546-9001 Contact us lor all yo ur photo needsl -~ ........ - ... race doesn't begin down there at the first turn." ~~The y o u aTC read y t o r ace . Between pract ice and the start of yo ur fir st mota, you check ed over you r bi ke , added fuel if ne cess ary, ch ec ked t ire pressure and adj uste d it if ne cessary acco rd ing to your experience during practice. N ~ OW The start Some riders want to crowd yo u on the starting line and even get so close their handlebars la p over the end of yours. That leads to the little adagio number where you wiggle yo ur bike to Baile y : Wh ere you sit o n the starting line d epends on ho w good yo u th in k you are. Be honest. 2334 Newport Blvd . Costa'Mesa, CA 92627 30 bl o ck-passin g, you have co ntro l at all times he has co n tro l o f h is m otor cy cle bu t he just ca n 't rid e it wh ere he was hopin g to. Always co ntro l th e o th er ride r if he will let you. Some guys will swin g wid e in a turn if an o th er rid er com es up inside. If you see somebody who does that, co m e up inside. You'd better be pre tt y sure th o ugh , a nd this is one way it pays to observe and understand the other racers. If you get one that doesn' t move ove r whe n you want h im to , you ar e in tro ub le . Some riders get lo cked up on using the outside line into the first co rn er because it's safer o ut there . Finally they forget all ab o u t getting to th e tum first and they ride every tim e on the outside and co me onto the straigh t behind the fast er riders. If you a re doing that, you ma y have to us e some strat egy o n yourself. Start o n th e inside and sta y o n th e insi d e all th e way to th e firs t co m er. Th at will give yo u a very bi g incentive to get down there fir st a nd it ma y im p ro ve yo ur ra cing, Th e race isn't always won by the fast est rider. Som et im es it 's won b y the smar test. get your bars ahead o f his a nd then he does it a nd then yo u d o it. Pretty soon you run in to th e sta n ing gat e or get your wheels over th e line a nd somebody co mes along a nd pushes yo u back behind the line. You ca n maybe avoid th is by so me su b tle gestures that will tend to kee p the next guy from c ro wd in g you. Firs t, when yo u pull in to lin e , d on't cro wd the guy alread y there. Say h e 's o n your left , and nobody is on your right. Leave about th ree or fo ur inch es between the tip of your handgrip an d h is. If yo u leave much more than that, and th e line is crowded, somebody will try to force his way in there at the last min ute. Now th at you have so me space to your left, you want to avoid getting crowded on your righ t side. As you wait, lea n your bike to the right and put your righ t foot down a nd 'way o ut. Whcn the next rider lin es up you will lo ok lik e y o u a rc c ro wd ing him and he will just nat u rall y p u ll up a little farther away from yo u th an he would if your o ther foo t was o n the gro und. The start is im portan t. Yo u want to be rea dy fo r it b u t not keyed up a nd no t dist racted. Th at m eans you try to avo id lini ng up n ext 10 your buddies, If the y ha ve hee n beatin g you lat el y , tha t will tend to rna ke yo u more tense and nervous about th e start just because th ey are n earb y. Or if yo ur friend has been m aking po or sta rts lately fish taili n g an d all th at - yo u will be thinkin g more abou t him than yourself and you will h e distracted. I th ink you will make a better start if yo u gel between people yo u don't know. Then you ca n tend to busi ness whe n the race st arts. Your position on the starting line Where you sit o n the st arting line depends o n some o th er th ings besides the best position - that is, the best position if there were no o th er racers on the lin e. If yo u co uld start , make the dash to the first tum, and go a ro u nd it all by yourself, then the starting position and the line you should take would be pretty obvious after a little practice . But there are other co mp e t it ors there and that complicates th e problem . Riders co me off th e starting line 4 0 abreast. They get into the co m er an d th ere are usually four or five who arc a little in front - a little bit quicker. The tu m creates a funnel. Except for th e riders who get there first, few everybody else gets slo we d do wn an d nobody can go any faster than the guy in front of him. Everybody wants the insi de line in the first tu m because that is the fas tes t way around. If yo u co m e off the line firs t, get to th e co m er first , a nd then sw ing wide, that wo uldn 't make any sense. Th e n ext gu y s wo uld d ive insid e and pass yo u. So. if y o u a re co m ma n d ing th e tu rn , ta ke th e in sid c lin e. Making the corner o n th e in side line do es n o t necessarily d ictate whe re you sit in th e sta r t in g lin e. It ca n b e on the outside o r th e in sid e o r ev en in the middle. It depends o n h ow well you rid e . .. .... \ J .,. .J .... \l~~\\.l .. ,