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/126010
Up the west coast road racing circuit cont'd
l'$.<
V
..0
o
...
u
o
Portland along the Columbia River.
But the law does allow camping on
roadsides in Washington.
We passed through a lot of rugged
little coast towns along 101, which we
followed to Aberdeen. Productive
enterprise is centered around seafood
- primarily oysters - and lumber. The
highways were covered with wood
chips from the big logging rigs.
From Aberdeen we headed for
Olympia and Tumwater, home of
Olympia beer. We were hoping to tour
the brewery but got there after closing
on Friday. The brewery is open for
tours from 8 a.rn, to 4:30 seven days a
week.
Seattle In ternational Raceway, or
Kent - the name most everyone seems
"Gee, Beth, mine looks
just like yours!"
to use - is located off Interstate 5
between Tacoma and Seattle. Take the
Auburn turn-off (U.S. 18) and drive
about six miles past the town of
Auburn and it will take you righ t to
the front gate.
'Alth o ugh the meetings are normally
one -day events , this particular
weekend included Grand Prix "racin g
on Saturday with a 5-hour marathon
for pr oduction bikes on Sunday.
Production rules are strictly adhered
to. "Production" means just as the '
bike comes off the showroom (no
rear-sets, milled heads, cut pistons,
etc.).
.
Typical of the openness we found
among people of the Northwest despite the fact that camping at the
track was only scheduled for Saturday
nigh t - the security guard was kind
enough to unlock the gate and allow
us to spend the forenight there and
even take a few laps around the trac k
in the van.
The track is run counter-clockwise.
It is 2 1 miles around with nine or so
04
turns -and a ~mile long straight. Taller
gearing than at Ontario is necessary; it
is in fact almost Daytona gearing. The
track surface is in perfect condition
and the surroundings are absolutely
beautiful.
En try fee (including complete
insurance coverage) is $8 and no
license or association membership is
necessary. One of the best things
about the racing-is the amount of
track time you get for your eigh t
bucks. We had three eight-lap heats
with each heat scored separately.
At Kent it rains and there is no way
to predict when. Race day was brigh t
and sunny, save two short cloud-bursts
which lasted only . a few minutes.
Unfortunately those few minutes
caused Rocky (who had never before
raced in the rain) to throw his bike
down the road once each cloud-burst.
The second time nearly destroyed
24
himself and the bike. Slick tires, which
Rocky was using, only aggravate the
problem . No one runs slicks up north.
We were surprised at the scarcity of
road racers and the relatively small
number of entries, but the riders are
en thusiastic and the organizers seem to
have an ideal program. After every
race at Kent there is free kegged beer
an d a real feeling of comradship
among the competitors. Trophies are
awarded through sixth place and the
top scorer in each class gets an
. engraved mug. There were numerous
contingency awards from dealers,
items like oil and plugs.
We all agreed that Kent was the
most fun we have had at a club race in
a long time.
If you're frugal, thrifty : or the
average road racer, you can save a few
bucks by using the state campgrounds
to shower, shave, and whatever, then
camp and cook your meals along some ·
deserted road.
Mt, Rainier National Park is a
back-packers' nirvana, with over 300
miles of trails. We decided to take a
short, two-hour hike along a trail to
Carter Falls. The trail was steep and
paralleled a rushing stream cascading
from one of the glaciers a few
thousand feet above. As if someone
h ad purposely placed it there to
challenge the foolhardy, there was a
narrow log spanning the falls at the
point where its 100-foot verticle drop
began. Rising to the challenge (or
admitting to the foolhardiness) 1 make
it across the log one way, but on the
return trip 1 slipped while trying to
leap to the "safety" of a boulder near
the bank. There was a split second of
horror when 1 was sure I was on my
way over the falls . (It was similar to
that milli-second of terror about a year
ago when I came adrift of my T-Zed
going red-line in 6th into tum one a t
Ontario.] I came out of the water
well-chilled but in otherwise sound
shape. (I should have been so lu cky at
Ontario.]
We left Mt, Rainier for Seattle late
Monday. Whenver we had a particular
destination in mind, most of the
passing scenery was just a blur with
Beth having the smallest but heaviest
foot. We encountered zero opposition
from state or local authorities
anywhere except on Interstate 5
coming in to Seattle from the south.
There was a regular pogrom going on
Ferry from Port Angeles to
Victoria. 'The Pacific Northwesta !Jikers and backpackers
nzrvana.
with a couple of ~ell-hidden radar
traps and at least a dozen chase' cars
within a ten-mile stretch. Vans with
mags and fancy paint don't get it
anymore: C. B:s and super-snoopers
are where it's at. Outwitting "Smokie"
has become a sport and, just like
' racing, it takes money to play.
Seattle is laced wi th lakes, rivers,
and canals. We drove aboard the ferry
"Look; Rocky, I don't think
anything is wrong with your
bik e or my stopwatch!"
"Spokane" in downtown Seattle about
midnigh t, having spen t only a short
time in Seattle because the mono-rail
is a rip-off (even at 20 cents) and the
space needle is a bigger rip-off at $1.25
per person. I did win a green du Hamel
frog for Beth at the amusement park
(the o nly thing I won during the whole
trip!)
The thirty -minute ferry across
Puget Sound to Winslow cost $2.20
plus 85 cents per passenger. We headed
up State Highway 305 across Agate
Pass Bridge to State 104 and Port
Gamble, which is a restored ghost
town,
We spent most of a day in historic
and picturesque Port Townsend. Their
Chamber of Commerce calls it the
"Key City of the Pacific Northwest."
The town is a veritable Victorian
museum. Some 200 homes throughout
the city have signs with the date of
building and the name of the original
owner. Wally Exum is a noted artist
and author who runs the "Old
Quarantine Station" on the main drag.
We purchased a few of his pen-and-ink
drawing. for a fraction of what they
sell for in L.A.
The transport ferry "M. V. Coho"
leaves Port Angeles, Washington four
· times daily for Victoria. During the
peak traffic of the summer months it
· is a good idea to show up at the
loading dock at least two hours before
sailing time. After paying the $15.75
fare for the van and three passengers,
we sat out the 2-hour wait playing
pool in one of the local pubs and
cooking dinner on the pier.
I slept through the 90-minute
voyage. Beth wrote post cards.
Victoria, the capital of the Canadian
province of British Columbia, is a
veritable light show at night, with
colored flood lights, buildings outlined
in tiny white lights, and street lights
i ll u m i n a ting intriguing shops and
restaurants. It has an Olde English
a tmosphere with numerous
British-goods stores, tea shops, the
buildings of Parliament and a vast
num ber of English cars.
After spending the night outside
Victoria we drove the 14 miles up
Route 17 to Sidney to catch another
ferry, this time bound for the San
Juan Islands. Lying in the uppermost
part of Puget Sound and considered
one of the ten most desirable placed in
· North America to live, the nearly 120
islands still have a combined
population of only a few thousand.
Rocky and I both had a lot of work
to do on the bikes before race day at
Westwood. We found a spot atop
Constitution Mountain in Moran State
Par k on Orcas Island, which
overlooked all the surrounding islands
for miles. We even got within ten feet
of a rare Appaloosa deer, one of a
dozen deer we spotted on the trip.
After spending most of the day
cleaning Washington topsoil out of
Rocky's engine and trying to get the
gremlins out of mine, we passed the
evening drinking beer and eating pizza
and subsequently missed the last ferry
leaving the island that night. We
caught the six o'clock ferry the next
morning and drove straight to
Vancouver from Anacortes up
Interstate 5 to Canada IIighway 99.
There is an excellent tourist
information center just after you cross
the border.
Vancouver is a first-class city, .
with all the attractions of any large
city in the U.S . It is also an open city,
. having double the crime rate per capita
of any city in the States. Everything
seemed a .trifle over-priced but we
found out that local wages are
correspondingly high. We spent about
three days in the Vancouver area as
guests of Canadian racers we met at
Kent, but really didn't get a feeling
one way or the other about the city as
far as being a desirable place to live.
We drove out Highway 7 to Port
Coquitlam where Westwood Raceway
is located. We had a couple days to
waste and we were getting pretty tired
of the rapid pace we had been keeping,
so we decided to kick back and take a
leisurely canoe trip up the Pitt River
near Coquitlam. We had some trouble
navigating the rapid parts of the river
and ended up spending a. good deal of
the time wading in the frigid water,
pulling the canoe by rope until we
surrendered to the greater force and
enjoyed a rapid trip back down to
calmer waters.
Orcas Island on top of
Constitution Ridge.
We spent a day at Paul Billings'
paren t s ' home in Coquitlam just
minutes from the track. Paul is a local
racer who had the misfortune of
coming off his G.P. bike and breaking
his leg just a few days before he was to
leave for the National at Laguna Seca,
We were treated like family by the
Billingses, much as we were by
everyone we met in Canada. Canadian
riders for the most part are not the
suspicious, ego