Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

••••••••••••••••••••••••• Several week s ago I wr ote a column about what could be don e to improve the Distric t 37 AMA scr ambles scene . The resp ons e was qu ite goo d. So thank yo u riders who took time to write. Th at was reall y neat! The co nsensus is th at most every bo dy is unh app y with District scrambles fo r one reason or another. 'There were the usual grumps abo u t bad star te rs who allow certain friends to do bad th ings on th e line bu t don't do a n y t hi ng to th em a nd the rules enforcement (or lack of). Some gripes. I think, are caused by plain frustration, of seeing IT scr ambles on the District level just dying awa y . To many , those District p oints 'and ratin g are everything. I think the AMA did a dis-service to the District by not req uiring an ymore th at a rider be a top-rat ed Sp ortsman rider before he co uld tum pro. It cer tai nly didn 't help th e clubs keep rider turnou t hi gh so they co uld p ay the ir bills . No t everyone has th e in ten ti on of being a pro, but ride rs like th at A.\IA prestige. A rider who can say he is a Di str ict 37 or an y AMA distric t 's num ber one, y o u immediately know his qualificat ions. An other rider can say he's number one at the Hog Holler Raceway, bu t unless you know that Hog Holler is a co mpe ti tive scene, th at ra t ing could mean nothin g. We need more clubs to throw race s, th at 's for su re. Some riders wh o moan abo u t th e lack of races don't belong to, or want to bel ong to , a clu b. Only a few years ago a gro up of yo ung riders go t togethe r and formed the Lightweights M.C. Many of them were not even in their teens, but they used to throw some keen scrambles. So wh at 's to stop riders from doing it again? Th e changin g tim es, I think, has done th e old system in. Onc e th e doors were opened to professi onal prornotors, it was all o ver . I never thought I would ever write th ese words, but scrambling in Dist ri ct 37 is in its de ath throes. People aren 't club-oriented an ymore. In th ese day s of ch an ged fre edoms and mores it seems a bit silly to put on club co lo rs an d do the secre t socie ty bit. Most riders co mp lain o f e ternally h av in g to race Elsinore . Well, the Gripsters, bless 'em , held on e run at Perris and o ne at Elsin o re . If it wasn 't for San dak , who always go to Elsin ore , you w o uld have so few scrambl es it wouldn 't be worth ap p ly ing fo r a card. I though t the Hilltopp ers run at Val ley Cycle was neat . . . a bi tch in tr ac k. But yo u kn ow wh at ? Th e park ploughed the tr ac k up for la ck of use! So if some of ' y ou who are tired of Elsinore belonged to a club and p atronized Valle y Cycle . . . ge t th e point? An oth er compl a int was abo u t professional novices still being ran ke d as sportsman novices. Yeah! Well, they finally moved Gordie Kidd up to junior and Gordie, if you d idn't know, is the qui ck little cat who won the Stockton mile in his novice class! It certa inly isn 't Go rdie 's fault about that classification and he's neat people, but the problem could be th at his stewar d is a desert rider. In past years st ewards were usually people who c o mpe ted in the branch of racing they were steward of. Racers are racers, bu t th ere 's a d ifference be tween the pu ckerbush pounders and the skid shoe ar tist. It wo u ld be a lot better to el ect a p erson to stew ardship for a spe cifi c division , on e th at he 's familiar with . . Unfortunatel y , a place on the Competition Committee has often been merely "a big popularity co n test " and th ose are the words of a current District o fficer, not j ust my though ts. With desert o u t weighin g every th in g in the Distri ct, an d desert ri de rs having s tr ong tr ib al drives and nee ds , it's in evitabl e that desert riders are going to be ele ct ed. O ver t he years th ere have been several attempts to change the ru le to th e effect a steward be ch osen for a specific class ificatio n but it 's alw ay s been shot do wn . That big m ajorit y of desert cl ubs run the Distri ct an d they want thei r gu ys on the Competition Committee. Sho uld a scrambler run , he ' has n't much chance in th at p opularity co ntest. T p M aureen Lee WRITI~ AROUND Latest innovation o f the whiteline set is "Protest Runs." The o bjec t is to ride bikes and have a goo d time, as well as score a point for freedom by demonstrating mass opposition to compulsory helmet laws and other discriminatory dic tates. Connecticut set th e p ace for the states which have lost their freedom . There, secret-destination Protest Runs lead thousands of bikers through small Conne cti cut towns , sans helmets, gathering more protesters as they go along. Police are led on a merry chase because , unlike other runs, they are not notified of the route or destination. Each time police locate the bikers and mass their forces to arrest them, there are more bikers ; thereby requiring more police. By the time reinforcemen ts are called up, the bikers are lost again. When the Protesters finally arrive at their secret destination (a public be ach) , it is too late - y o u can 't arrest bikers for not wearing helmets when they are partying on the beach. California 's version of the Protest Run omits the civil disobedience ploythe police are kept fully informed and their coo pe ratio n has been "out of sigh t," literally as well as figuratively, accordin g to Modified Motorcycle Association lobbyist Ron Roloff. MMA, with the help of biker clubs, staged ord erly demonstrations in fro n t of Federal office buildings in Los Angeles and San Francisco o n th e same Sunda y before the California penalty hearings in Wash ington last wee k. Over a thousand bikes filled the streets of San Francisco. Tel evision news co vered the event, which is the main purpose of a Protest Run . Some may deplore the ne cessity of bikers blocking traffic to make political points, but it seems to be working. People who have never given a thought ' to the biker's plight are now saying the go vern m en t should "let those who ride decide. " Besides , Protest Runs are a lot of fun. I've never seen so m an y bikers gathered for something that didn't charge any entry fee . So me of us don't know how to write letters, or testify before government committees, b ut we can "vote wi th our wheels." when we go on a Protest Run . Choppers, dressers, c a fes, clubs, and loners are final ly ge tt ing it together to defeat a common en emy- an d having a good time doing it. (Fo r more information" see BIKER, another publi cation of Cycle News , Inc.] Charles Clay ton 20-LAP NAnONAL HALF MILE ASCOT PARK.GARDENA.CA SATURDAY NIGtrtSEpt27 ~ - . THE BIG BIKES ARE COMINGI And alo ng with the Ameri can Motorcycle Association 's high speed two wheelers-the circu it's top ,, ' and toughest rid ers. The reco rd breakers. The big boys . See 'em eat up the track wh ile they com~S~~ pete for cyc ling 's heavy pr ize mone y. You 'll want to catch all the act ion from the first flag on. So come on out-early! ~ ~. - . M EL TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets may be purchased from Ascot Park, 18300 S. Vermo nt Av e., Gard ena , CA 90247 and all Ticketron Outlets. Phone No . for ticket information: 213-321-1610 or 323-97 1O. Also come out and see the Go lden State TT (Experts) and the Golden West Invitational Half Mile (Junio rs and Novices) on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. Combination ti ckets are available, Warning : The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette SmokingIs Dangerous to Your Health. 19 mg, "la,·. 1.3 mg. niC1ltine ... per cigarene. FTC R epon MAR. 75 13

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