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/125993
"Ve ry tough , b u t reaso na ble" was the m o st co m mon d escrip tion for the II O-mil e Salt Lake Mo to rcycl e Clu b co u rse , wh ich incl uded almost every kind of obstacle found in dese rt racin g. TI, e d ra m a began a t the sta rt lin e, whe re Utah's de sert ac e Pre st on Gerber had a m alfu n ction with h is 3f. 0 Bul ta co , borrowed a teamm ate 's b ike, an d su ddenl y fou nd h ims elf setting out in the 200 class to try to win the ra ce that has el ude d him o ver t he years in an in credibl e series of al most-wins. Streaking o u t o f th e dus t clo ud to th e lead at th e sm o ke bo m b were J ack Johnson and Mark Mason, of Las Ve gas , Nev ad a - th e rid ing t eam that won th e Mint 4 0 0 th is year fo r Yamah a. Gerber was t hird ov er Desert Mountain, foll owed by Mo n te Brown , Kris Mor gan, Mik e Watte rs, Ken Arch ib ald and Joel Quinn. Shortly thereafter came tha t mysterious pileup o f bikes on the hill, which oc curs every year - eve n though each rider individually co uld ride right over th e top. J o hn so n , Mason and Gerber held t heir positions to the finish line, riding most of the distance less t han five minutes apart. The desert took its toll of many others, but Brown held on-to fourth overall on an Open class Husqvama, Husky rider Cotton Guio claimed fifth , followed b y Tom Schm id, Richard Jackson, Ken Ar chibald, Lynn Benson (fi rst 250 Amateur), Joel Quinn (l u st 250 Expert ), Don Fuller and Jim East (fi rs t 125 ). Excep t as noted th e first dozen were Op en Experts, so it was a day for bi g bikes. Like a gho st from the past, AI Rodgers sh owed u p with a des ert sled 6 50 Tri u m p h li ke th e o ne he used to win th e ra ce in the 6 0s , mo re times than an yone has sin ce. He h ad a good t ime an d cam e in 6 1st o verall. Th e course its el f had three d isti nc t d ust, sand, an d p e rso nal iti es : m o un tains. The tra d it io nal sm o kebo rnb ru n leads over n ow-rutted tr ails to Desert Moun tain, seven m iles fro m th e start . Th en ca me a coarse downhill was h, fo llowed by end less , miles o f sage b ru sh smashi ng thro ugh the talcum po wder di rt th a t h u ng in the air. So me rid ers co m p laine d of the hazard wh ere co urse markers wer e placed alo ng barbed wire-fences. But in several sp o ts, th e advan tage we n t to rid ers wh o ignored "wron g way" markers and fo llowed ro ad s along fen ces. rather th an the course markers o n o pe n desert. There is growing sentimcnt that the firs t lo o p ought to be th e san d loop, so t ha t the riders can so rt themselves o ut wh ere speeds are rel atively low, and wh ere they can see each other. The second loop appro ached the sand gradually. For some pleasant m iles, 200·yard sections of flat desert were separated by sand hills, each ending with a ju m p. Then a straight shot across the Jericho Little Sahara Sand Dunes followed (the right way - down the steep sides). This led to too many miles of choppy sand, where it was difficul t to keep speed up and the bike pointed forward, especially as fatigue increased. Then came a third loop that was mostly as enjoyable a trail ride as you could ask for. T rue , the steep hills that give the race its character were demanding, but they could be ridden even with a small b ike, given the proper approach and gearing. Each exhausting obstacle was followed by easy riding, and , so me slow picking through the trees. A lot of riders climbed hills they didn 't have to , because they followed each other instead of the co urse. Some markers came down d urin g the course of the race, and riders toward the rear had p ro blems with beco ming momen t ari ly lost in the cedar trees. The club ave rted di saster o n course markings by di sco ve rin g the day befo re the race that so me one had tried to sabotage the eve nt b y t u rning arrows to p oi n t the wrong way at a turn o nto a road, and had even added a few bogus arrows to point the wrong way. But such a demanding human endeavor sometimes has its tragedies. Kelly Smith, a 19-year-old 250cc Amateu r who frequently races locally, re peat last week's performance, but as fate and RPM woul d have it, Denny go t by on t he infield and t o o k the win. Adam Sabedra too k th e 6 0 co m bin ed mini class wi n aft e r Chris Carr go t a li tt le ov er anxio us in leading and bailed. then co uld n 't get go in g in tim e . • Resu lts in Results Sectio n. Flo wins Mother's Day short track o By Don Wilson MARIPOSA, CALIF., MAY 11 Flo Hi s e r (Yam ) got down to b usin ess b y winn ing the 100 Junior class. With seven guys and one gal on the line, the flag was l/l « ~ o :r .... >u z « z Combined Expert moto heads out led by holeshot winner Rod (434) Ke n tne r. Wayne Huck.Desch utes Open Jr. w inne r. on the huge traveling trophy which bears names of no less than the likes of Mike Patrick, J .N . Roberts, Tom Brooks and Max Switzer. But trophy or not, any riderwho holds one of those finisher pins ca n wear it right underneath his Six-Days go ld medal.. ..Cherry t reek is th at kind o f race. • Resul ts in Results Section . Eide surprises By W.H. Spencer F RE MONT, CA L., MA Y 9 crashed in t he fi rst lo op, and was ta ken to Utah Vall ey Hos p ital with what was tho ugh t t o he a bro ken leg. He was treated and released t he sa me day . b ut he died in h is sleep th at n ight a t ho me. Bob Sp e ncer suffered a crushed vertebrae wh en he bo ugh t a wash whil e tr yi ng t o pass in the dust, a m e re 5 0 0 yards from th e finish lin e an d a seco nd pl ace 125 Ex pe rt trophy . A bro ken co llarbo ne was also reported. The race had 27 0 st arters , and 11 7 o f them earned the famous be n t-wh eel finisher's pin. The numbe r is a testimonial t o the competitiven ess o f today 's rider s; similar co urses a few years ago y ielde d less than 25 fin ishers, No woman has eve r finished Cherry Cre ek, but Leah Spencer (dist rict 26 secretary ), m ad e it the farthest o f any to date, by co mp let ing th e first tw o loops (7 0 miles ). J ack Johnson 's su ccess came after several tries on h is part, and it carved hi s name in to the history of motorcycling j e ff Eide returned fro m the dol dru ms o f win ter fatigue to cop his first feature win of the new year and take a standing in the 0 Black Plate poin t h u nt. Eide too k th e 250 Expert Main over Dave Burton on th e Burto n Cycl e Gringo that won th e first two sho ws while AI Wood rode a ne w Su zy to th ird. Ch ris Din ner won th e 25 0 Juni or Main , beat Phil Ho wa r d an d go t hi s ca rd turned Expe rt , all in o ne fell sw oop . Th e 125 Novice cl ass has been sp o rt in g in excess of 3 0 riders a ni ght an d with o nly th ree to t he Main and the re st lo ad up, the racing is grea t . Len Castro rode to th e vic tory with T o ny Adragna keeping ahea d o f Bobby Robich eau x. Crai g Ro gers turned a fe w heads in th e 650 Expert Main with a goo d win over veteran Rick Otto . Rogers got the start with Bob Masters and held the advan tage while Otto worked around Masters a lap from the en d . Whil e father Duane sat out tonight, son Dennis won the 5 0 0 Expert show on a Bul ta co. Dave Goodwin was out to dropped and no o ne was backing off. Six rid e rs went through turn one and two, elbow to elbow goin g down the back straight. Everyone was packed tight, go ing into turn three. Flo was th ird, with Terry Sanderson (Yam) first, Jody Bennett (Hon) second going low inside. Flo (Yam ) forgot to tum the t h ro t tl e off, went high and outside and ca me out number one, with Terry Sanderson going down. Flo pulled away from the boys for th e win. In th e mini bike and 100 Ex p ert class it was Mike Garrison (Yam ) sho w ing every body why he has th e number one b lue pl a te , winnin g with ease, following in h is bi g brother 's st eps. The 250 Expe rt class was w on by Wild Bill Form by (Yam) . Wild Bill st arted ab o u t third and in th e first lap began to pull away . Seco nd pl ace rider Bill Lenenback ( Bul) was not able t o kee p up the fie rce p ace. Th e Op en No vice race you would not believe. because there were tw o n ew 3 60 Buls, one sup er-trick Yamaha, o ne Cycle- Factory Ho nda. an d one o ld old 350 BSA. Th e flag w as d ro pped and th e tw o Bu ls began to run away w it h th e race for a co uple of lap s b ut th ey both had e ngi ne tro ub le and p ulled o ff. This le ft the Yamaha, Ho nda, and BSA. The Yamah a cras hed and t he race was on with Bo b Perkin s' BS A pulling it o ut of th e bag fo r the Win . • Resu lt s in Resu lt s Se ction. 0 o Phil (122) Howard moving up. c hased Ch riss Dinner [outta sigh t) to second 250 Jun ior. New power in the' desert? Jack Johnson is also Min t co-wi n ner. Wednesday night S.I.R. MX KENT, WASH., MAY 14 Auburn's Steve Nolen kept his win streak alive on Seat tle International Raceway's new motocross track, taking his second consecutive 125 Pro win. Ran dy Schweizer t ook his Can-Am to 25 0 Pro honors, while Mike Wood won his firs t Pro fessional title with a stro ng Open Pr o victory. 125 Pr o could have been the exclusive property of Gary Po tts, but the Puyallup rider couldn't quite ke ep his Suzuki together for either of the motes. In the first, Potts w~s leading comfortably when, just shy of the white flag, the bike broke, allowing Tacoma's Troy Luchini on to the win, Gary Racca 31