Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

• The Outdoor Nation the y just don 't h ave any o the r so urce o f information, To p romote better un derstan ding between all associations engaged in outdoor recreation. Do y o u, righ t now, h ave an y understanding of th e most ur gent problems facing ro ckhounds? Were you even aw are that they are having problems with land closures? Th ey do. And many of them tend to blame bikers fo r the ir problems - we arc the ones making th e noise and dam agin g th e terrain. There is a need for better understandin g between all user groups. To assist and ins truc t in th e w ise use of our environmen t . . . and to dem ons trate that people ofgoo dwill can unite in th eir conc ern for th e outdoors, can participate in all recreat ive en deavors in harmony with their env ironment. At any meeting to discuss land use we hear: HIt's not the organized groups, it 's the 'bandit' rider who causes the problem." A few bad apples among ORV users ride too close to residences without a silencer, litter the land, in short, a few who would be slobs wherever they go. The Outdoor Nation hopes to educate the careless user. A vo ting membership shall be limited to organizations that primarily en courage outdoor recreation and whose members as individuals participate in outdoor recreation. Each organization of users which joins The Outdoor Nation will be allowed tw o rep resentatives with one vo te between them on the Board of Dire ctors. While there are bound to be di fferences of opinion in how to go about any particular ac tivity, the general goals of each member organization are virtually identical. Only these representatives will be voting mem bers of th e Board of Directors. A no n-vo ting class of m embership shall be any com mercial or in dustrial organiza tion accepted fo r m embership. Who besides th e users of public lands have an interest in outdoor recreation? Manufacturers of ORVs and ac cessories, manufacturers of lanterns, campstoves, icc chests , etc. Support from the recreation industry will be solicited on a non-voting basis. Initial du es shall be 50 cents per m ember ofany organization joining The Outdoor Nat ion, with a minimum of 1250. This is not an organization of individual members, but an organization of independent organizations. The Outdoor Nation does not have the desire to interfere with the individuality of various associations; only to draw a mere 50 cents per member per year in an effort to put some common sense back into the land usc regulations. Great. But it will take money and members to make it work. So let's support it. Next week: M.O.R.E. Information Center. Leslie Richards . The environmentalists are organ- Meet ized and dedicated to a single Rapid Rat goal: the formation of a coast to By Danyle Purcell coast, border to border sanctuary We of Cy cle News w ould for the protection of all species of plant .and animal life (with the l ' nota.b e exception of the species, homo sapiens) . They have divided 36 themselves into splinter groups with various names for tactical reasons: to give the appearance of separate groups pushing for the same thing. Outdoor recreation enthusiasts arc not organized. The loosely knit groups that have formed are more in the nature of fraternities; companionable individuals participating in th eir own particular form of recreation. A situation very different from the army of environmentalists united against a single enemy. But the need for a united front among all land users (r oc khoun ds , miners, bikers) is apparent. Over a year ago Hildamae Voigt of CORL (California Outdoor Recreation League) and Ray Moon of CA4WDC (California Association of 4-Wheel Drive Clubs) began the monumental task of organizing users against the invading forces. Following meetings in Washington, D.C. and other cities, the Ford Foundation several years ago attempted to set up a common meeting ground for environmentalists and outdoor recreationists in Illinois. The effort, named The Outdoor Nation, failed, but the shell of the Outdoor National Corporation was established and ready to be used. Hildamae Voigt saw in it an opportunity to realize a longtime dream of hers. The formation of an organization to further the needs of all outdoor users. Let these excerpts from the bylaws of the corporation st ate the purpose and objectives of The Outdoor Nation. To coordinate th e ed ucation al, legislative and legal affairs of its m em bers in order to promote . . . the use of all public lands f or all reaso nable users. In short, an attempt to be an organized voice of more than three million persons who use public lands. To provide repres entation for all aspects of active outdoor recreation before the national legislature. The Sierra Club maintains a battery of 26 environmental lobbyists in Washington, D.C ., but no voice is heard in defense of the far more numerous land users. To coop erate to th e fullest ex tent with persons or asso ciations wh o represent active outdoor recreation before state an d lo cal bodies. Russ Sanford o f M.O.R .E. works primarily on the state and local level. In view of the limitations of staff and financin g, the job he does is nothing sh o rt of astoundin g. The Outdoor Nation will work on the national level, and cooperate with other organizations on state and lo cal level s. To promote th e understa nding of th e gen eral public and gov ernmental bodies of th e values and needs f or all types of act ive outdoor recreat ion. Off-road enthusiasts have a terrible public image - and m otorcyclists arc the worst of the lot. Individually and in small groups we just don 't have the means to promote a more accurate public image. To offer participation in all bo dies acting in advisory capacity to government, industry and educational institutions. Elected officials use as their primary source of land use information the environmental lobbys which are organized exclusively for this purpose. The need for accurate information is bordering on the desperate. Weekly Reader, a publication distributed to most elementary schools across the nation, recently ran an ar ticle describing in detail " devasta ti on" left in the wake of th e San Gabriel M.C.'s Barstow-t o-Vegas race. The editors of Weekl y Reader are not p ropagandists - like to in tro du ce a new m em ber of our staff : adventurer, bon vivant, daredevil, raconteur, Rap id Rat. In future issues , w e feel privileged to present selections from th e scrapbo ok of th is soldier of f ortu ne. Th e following is a sh ort bio -history of his adventurous life. Born in 1942 in tile small European country of Rodentia, Rapid Rat's earliest memor ies are of the terror of Fascism . He was barely weened when his parents were taken to Mousvitch and he was placed in a youth camp . Hi s duties YVer8 to exercise the camp cat. Rapid never heard from his parents again ; not even a POSt card. After the war, he emigrated to the United States via a box of famous Rodentia Crackers. No sooner was the lid opened and Rapid Rat given his first look at the new country , than he was almost eaten by a near-sighted Girl Scout. Settling down in the ghetto of San Pedro, Rap soon became a prominent Civil Rights leader. He was the first to advocate " Cheese Stamps," and equality for Bats and Muskrats. In 1960 he led the famous Poor Rodents' Protest March to the White House. Unfortunately. the majority of his marching followers were lemmings. The protest ended tragically in the White House Pool. Rapid Rat's career as a Civil Rights leader ended abruptly when, in 1965, he wes called before the Grand Jury on false charges of Kitten-napping, The charges were dropped but his credibility had been destroyed . Alone and friendless. he turned to the New Act ion Army . Private Rat spent two years in Ankhe. South Vietnam living in a sandbag bunker near the mess-tent of 0 Company, 1st Battalion, Bth Cavalry. He fondly remembers the base-camp meals of dehydrated-d iced potatoes with hot water added and Gainsburgers. Ah, sweet putridity . Upon retum ing to the U .S.• the V .A . job center placed Rap in many posit ions, none of wh ich quenched his thirst fo r adventure.. At one time he worked in the White House as a temporary replacement for a broken-dovvn paper shredder. However . the hours vwre too long and he couldn 't keep up with the work. This was definitely not the way to make a living. He tried a string of investments : the electric straight razor. edible tennis socks. "I ngomar Johanson Forever" bumper stickers. the Schwinn Blimp . None of them paid off. It was when he was corner ing the market on fender skirts for Yamahas that he became interested in motorcycles. Rap won his first cycle event at the 1972 Carlsbad Guano Trials. He followed that w ith a st ring of successes including: three times winne r of the San Pedro Vermin 500. twice winner of the Muskrat . Ramble MX . and just recently . his much publicized jump over the Frog R iver Canyon in his Rocket Lambretta. Today Rap id Rat lives. eats. and breathes motorcycles (not to mention Peanut Butter and Cheese). Watch for more adventures of Rapid Rat in fut ure issuesof Cycles News .

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