Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Dynamic Duo does in DRA 200-miler Dennis Greene cries "Finish hoI" as he sights the California City campground. • Win ne rs Mayes, left, and Ba k ke n. Mayes and Bakken By Dale Brown CA LIFO RN IA C IT Y, CAL. , DEC . 28 Husqvarna's . Dynamic Duo team of Mitch Mayes and A.C. Bakken. took first by almo st a 30-minute m argIn in th e Deser t R acing A sso c ia ti o n ' s "20 Mule T eam 200 ." Picking up class W illS in the inaugural DR A Pro race were Doug Winch ell a nd Ron Ho lst (25 0 Bul ) and Ph il S tumbo a nd Jim Roberts ( I i 5 Pent ). Kevi n lI aste n (4 0 0 CZ) was the firs t sol o finis he r. Th e scenario lo ok pl ace out of Gali leo Pa rk o n a snowy, foggy morn ing . The life expectancy of a pair of goggles was tw o m iles - max imu m . There were 3 0 tea m and sol o sta rt e rs , down from promote r Ron Burpo's ex pe ctations. h u t th er e were o ver 5 0 of th e best rid ers aro u nd . T om Bro oks (3 6 0 Bul) was th e lead e r at the bom b, fo llowed b y Bob Balent in e (40 0 lI us), Mar k Ade nt (2 5 0 Pen ), Wayn e Cook (25 0 li o n ) a nd Ba kk en . Bet w e e n C hec ks One a n d T w o . Bale n tine crashed a nd inj u red h is ar m . Th e injury was n ot se rio us, h u t it cos t him a nd h is partner Art Knapp a lo l of ti me. Coo k m o ved up 10 sec o nd . ahead of Ad ent , Bill Conro y (4 0 0 I1us) a nd Bry a n Brekcr (360 Bul ) moved pasI Bakken for fo u rt h a nd fif th, However, at th e 25 ·m ile m ar k , Bakken was alr ea d y lead in g th e pac k, in fro nt of Adent a nd Bro oks. Pres ton Gerber, dow n from Utah, pushed his bi g-bore Bul into fo urth a fter Brooks dro pped o ut. Breker di d a lot of pass ing between Checks Three and Four . ac h ie ving seco nd at th at p o in t. In th e tight stuff, Bre kcr moved ahead o f A.C ., bUI Bakk en got him ba ck before the end of the lo o p and sm o ked into the pits with a tw o -second lead. Adent , Winchell. J eff Wright ( I i5 Puc ), Hast en and Conroy ca m e th rough next. T h e Sp ortsman class started shortl y af ter the Pro s a nd we re led convincingly through th e first lo op by Dennis Greene (250 Yam ), wh o ca m e th rough 14 th ove ra ll am o ng th e Pro s. G ree n e lo st eigh t m in utes c ha nging a flat lire a nd he charged oUI o f th e piIs two minutes be hind the J im I rb y /~ I orga n M a lo cc o 3 6 0 Yam ah a. Ma yes, (who is rumo red t o be su ch a bad rid er tha t h e d ocsn 't even kno w ho w 10 shu t the th ro t t le o ff ), p icked u p a se ve ra l m inu te lead u n th e se c o n d 50 -m ile go aro und . Brc ker , rid ing so lo , he ld o n l o second. Bre ker w as su pp o se d 10 ride with 1I0 yl Stath am o n a Husky . Wh en Statham d idn't sh ow, Breker d ug h is sligh tly th rash ed Bul o u t of the va n an d wen t it alone. Ca rl Cr anke look ove r fo r Adcn t a nd h eld th ird, ahead o f Wright's partner, Gen e Ca nnad y o n th e Pu ch , Kir ker a nd Co nro y searched mos t o f th e we e ke nd fo r a b ike, until Dennis Mc Evo y (wh o w as u nable t o ri d e d ue t o a bro ken leg) offered them his . They were runn in g fif th . Wrigh t moved past Ad en t in t o third o n th e third lo op, otherwis e th er e was little positio n ch ang e. Th e fin al loop radically cha nged the est ablis hed or d er . Ma yes stretched out his lead . Breker m ad e it 10 th e last ch ec k before h is b ik e exp ire d . The Wright / Cannad y Pu ch b ro ke a flywh eel . Th e Ad en r/Cran ke Pen ton d ropped o ut. Kirke r suffere d th e mech anical blues as well , an d th o ugh A ndy brought h is num ber p late to the finish, it was m inus th e m o t o rcy c le, alas. Gerber 's partn er Dav e Bla yl o c k fe ll a nd b ro ke h is leg, the o nly se rio us inju ry o f the d a y . May e s cam e in to th e fin ish , fron t wheel wa ving in th e ai r. The Dy nam ic Du o had ti me t o s tri p off th ei r ridi ng gear, mu nch d oughnuts . a nd talk ab o ut the ra c e with b y st anders , re porters a nd George Ellio t, edito r o f Pop u lar Cy cl in g, th e m aga zin e th at had sp onsore d th e Mayes / Ba kk en e n try (George was head cheerleader) . Minutes ticked by, a n d se co nd pl ace wa s overdue . A coup le of lapped Sportsman riders came th ro ugh, bUI it was alm os t 3 0 minutes before th e Bultaco of Doug Win ch ell an d Ron Holst ca me in to the fini sh area, th eir steady pace net t in g th em second OA, firs t 250. In fo r th ird was th e Cook /SIeve Hol lad av I1onda , a Tom Sawyer-sponsored m·ach ine. Cook was run ning very well on the first loop , u n til hc t hrew a ch ain . 111e chain p u nc hed a hole in the case, a nd addi tio n 10 th e tim e Wa y ne lo st remo u nti ng th e chain. th e b ik e r equir ed a quart o f tr a ns missio n o il every 5 0 mi les. Dan Dawson and h is bro th er J im le arned u p un t he i r M iss i o n I1 i ll s Sp or tcycle-sponsored 250 H usky to ta ke fourth , pass ing th e Maze Bro s.' Bul on the steep d o wnhi ll just before the finish. I\like a nd lie n Maze cam e fro m Las Vegas to rid e this o ne , they fi nis he d fo urth 25 0 . Kevin Hasten finish ed sixth , first so lo ride r. Th e Jim S umners/ Larry Ro eselcr 4 0 0 Husky was seventh , th e Te rry Davis/Smo keb omb Gaet z 3 6 0 Yamaha eigh th . John DeS o to rode by hi mself an d finis hed ninth o n a 250 Os s a, despit e a flat ti re . Af t er Balentinc 's mishap, Art K nap p rode th e re m aining 15 0 m iles t o fi ni sh 10 th . In I I th was th e Stumbo /Rober ts Penton , finishin g firs t little b ik e. Mayes said it was "the best desert race in a long time," Cook echoed his feelings , saying it was th e bes t d esert race he'd been to in y ears. Despit e the miserable visibility on the first two lo op s, non e of th e riders had any problem following the co urse. Jim Irby a nd Morgan Malocco kept it up to w in the Sportsman ra ce , foll owed b y the Heath Hibbard/Gus Paull 400 Hu sky . G reene was th e firs t so lo ri der, fin ishing in third. ' b e DRA will offe r two more Pro races , one th is sp ri ng , t he o ther th is fa ll. Bill Sa ltzman leads a Maze b rothe r through the bea ut if ul California climate. Saltzman was third solo finisher at 12th OA. » 29

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