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/125988
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Fr am e Mod s-Accesson es PARTS Wo rld's largesl inventory • John Trani's Competition Cycle Products . spectehzrnq In desert & motoc ross 16612 Beac h Blvd .. Hunt ingto n Beach . CA 714-847 ·220 2 • The Gila Bend GP: Light at the end of the tunnel race By Philip Briggs GILA BEND, ARIZ., APR. 13 .. Ridin g up to the tunnel you co uldn't see anything, just a dark and dusty hole. Inside, for m aybe 50 yards, or so you could see riders cause their helmets seemed to glow. After th at it was pitch blac k, and the noise, dust and smoke were overpowering. I eased over to the edge and put my righ t elbow up against the wall, and felt my way slowly alo ng, slipping the cl utch. I'd bump into other bikes and/or riders an d wait a bit to see if they were moving if not I'd creep aro und them and then go back to t he wall. I didn 't think much abo u t it at the time, but if some cla us t ro phobic had gone be rse rk in there, it would have been a real m ess. Anyho w I crep t along for a lo n g ti m e , m ay be three - fo ur m inutes before I co uld finally see the light at th e e nd of the tunnel." I'm drinking a beer, ta lking with Ed abo u t his impressions of th e Gila Bend Grand Pri x . We 'd both com e down for Ari zona 's first Grand Prix; a three loop , 75 mile race st artin g in town with a trail com po sed of virgin de sert, sandwashes, an d a little ro ad. Ed had co me t o ride, I'd co m e to watch . Before the race was o ver we were both wat ching. U\Ve were out on the open desert . The trai l was real dusty , and cro sse d lots o f li t tl e washes , y o u know, those th at are just a line of low bushes. I was off the trail on the windward side trying to st ay out of th e dust, and had slowed wa y down fo r th e first few washes, but the y were just lit tle dips. I was getting back up t o speed, m aybe 45 - 50 mph in fourth when I saw a no the r wash . As the others were so small, I just let the bike ac cele ra te. By the time I could see the hole it was too late. I knew I wasn't go in g to make it , but I pretended. When I go t up , there were st ars bursting everywhere I looked. My first thought was to pick the bike up and go, b ut I figu re d I' d better wait ti ll things se ttled down. After a few m in u tes of fiddling the bike started, but the crash had jam med the fo r ks at full co m p ressio n. I popped the front wheel till it unstuck. On the second loo p th e front tire blew in an o t her hole, and th e forks collapsed , so I hung it up." Down at th e o t he r en d o f town, frien d Mike has set up the lawn chairs , be er, an d lunch at th e fork o f a y-i n te rsect io n , The rac ers shut down from a four bloc k d rag through t own and ta ke the le ft fork off the pavem en t onto th e dirt and under a rai lroad bri dge. One , ap parently riding faster than he th in ks, can 't decide which fo rk to take, sp lits the differe nce an d slides to a stop 10 feet fro m the p icnic. Except for Mike, the picnic panics, b ut then Mike had n o choice as the fell ow p ush in g his wheel chair had split. Back in our pits, Bob who has obviously h ung it up, is downing so me lun ch. As he forks down some p otato salad his elbow drips blood - about eight square inches of road rash sh ow. "Fall down?" I ask. " Yah, little to o m uch front brake on gravely comer on the pavem en t. Course, I wouldn't have done th at except for the fact that my brake pedal was bent way up fr om hitting a log. n "Log?" "Yah, maybe part o f a p o werp ole , anyhow, I was smoking down a dirt ro ad wh en it appeared fro m o ut of the dus t right in fran t of me. Though I had it m issed, but I just caught it with the rear wh eel. Rode the fron t wheel for a ways before it wen t ove r. Later the rear tire went flat. n UEh!" Standing at the home check watching ti re d riders slithe r to a sto p on th e du st y p avement, ge t punched , an d drag out for t he last lap , talking t o an old ti mer. " Worst broken leg I've ever see n. There was a bi g p ileu p just pas t the railroad bri dge , the first of th e ol d timers wave . Ten, 12 guys do wn . They al l got up an d rode off but this gu y . His foo t was com p le tely bac kwa rds, th e sale t om off his boot. Bad. " A rather portly fellow slides up to his pi t next to home check, ta kes on gas , water and goggles an d roars o ff . He 's go t his own p ersonalized jersey with th e name on back, S. Hu nky, h uh fu nny name. Things are quieting down now, and p ic k ups are arriving with lo ads of dust y, battered bikes. Talkin g with J e rry Brandon, a 250 Exp ert, who has finished third overall, "It wasn 't a real tough ride all together. Th e worst was in the first five miles. 1 passed most of the 125 Experts in there on th e start . " "Is th at Husky GP th at m uch faster in the rough ?" ] as k. UNo, no t so m u ch that. it was them falli ng down - the washo uts and holes we re marked wi th b umbling bikes and riders. I'd he catch ing one, an d he'd go tu mbling off, I' d slow down, m ake it, catch another, he'd fly o ff. Was eas y. " Drifti ng th rough the pits I find Rich ar d, d usty, smili ng. " Fin ish ?" "Yep." I I Fall do wn. see an y crashe s?" "Nope, n o, h ad a go o d time. Bitchin ' rid e. I liked the firs t lap best, p assed a lot of people. Nex t two lap s th e tra ffi c an d dust had thin ne d o ut, wasn 't too bad at all. " Bob Ru ttan on a Hodaka led from st ar t to finish . A real surprise as th e loop was basi cal ly fast - open bike country for sure. Subtly tr yin g to gain some insigh t to this o d d t um of eve nts, "Bob how did y o u win o n a 125 ?" " 'VeIl, I jus t got o ut front and stayed there. " Resu!ts Pending. _