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/126008
Whoever was behind the action had done their homework well. With the racecourse map in hand, they had painstakingly researched County recor ds ' to determine the identity and whereabo uts of all the landowners whose property the race crossed (one of them lives in Hong Kong). They then wired, phoned, wrote, whatever was necessary, un til they found one who had not given permission and got that fact documented. They then waited until it was too late for the club to react o r change the course, and dropped their bomb. What is especially bitter and ironic is that had the club been more knowledgeable, had District 3 7 had in being a legal defense fund and a cadre of people who knew how to use it, the th reatened court action, win or lose , could have worked to the advantage of off-road riders everywhere. . First, the actual money penalty involved, had the BLM cited the club for run n in g the race, was on the order •of $150. Second, whoever brough t suit o ver the race, to p rove their case , would have h ad to pay to survey every piece of land the cl ub crossed. It would h ave cOSt so me b ucks, eneugh to make the pl aintiffs, even if they won the suit, thi nk twice about doing it again . As it was, they got themselves a cheap victory, and effectively shut down the Cud d ebac k area for future competition. Further, the BLM will be inclined to approve only those races held on totally p ublic land, effectively moving al l desert rac ing further away from the Los Angeles area again. In the bitter talk after the fact, calls were heard for the desert racers t h emse lve s to start generating a high -h o rs e p o w e r fund, through increased race entries, m onthly assessmen ts, whatever it takes to figh t the environmen talists on their own terms . It's known that the SoCaI chapter of the Sierra Club and other organizations have had to pull back on their budgets. So although the desert racers are a da y late and a dollar short this time, it's still not too late for all time. Only the racers themselves can decide which way they want to go. BarslDW·IO·VegaS cancelled-or is it? By Lane Campbell During the same week as the Huntington Beach Me action, the Bureau of Land Management denied the San Gabriel Valley MC 's application to hold the Barstowto'Vegas race. Among reasons ci ted by the Bureau: - Dam age from last year's race was greater than expected. - A new Environmental Impact Analysis w ould be needed, and neither time nor money was available to do it . - Site approval by San Bernardino Co un ty would be required, with additional complication and red tape. -The B LM, 10 handle the Barstow-to-Vegas problem , m igh t have to pull people from other tasks. One of the consequences would be a moratorium on issuing new race pe rmits. Much of the foregoing can be viewed as a backhanded attempt by the Bureau to obtain more funding and hire more people to stack their own little pyramid a bit higher. Beyond th at , however, lies more intense pressure being applied by anti-ORV forces. That story isn 't in , yet. Neither is it clear ' at this writing whether the SGVMC will figh t t he rul ing , appeal, cave in , or what. There are ru m o rs that the race will be run "outlaw," that there will be some sort of demonstration, or th at the whole thing is dead and buried. None are con firm ed. The future of the Barstow-to-Vegas ra ce is still a very open, emoti~n-c~arg~~ qu~s~o~ .. ,. , IS THIS A 250WR GRAND PRIX WOODS BI'KE? 5 SPEED HARE SCRA MBLER , ENDURO, IS DT, HA RE & HOUND, DESER T OR J UST PLA IN COW TRA ILER. FOR ANY OFF ·ROAD NEED / MAICO HAS TH E MACHIN E All MAICOS use the proven 'GP chassis Grab the th rott le on t he new WR and find ou t ! 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