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
A birds eye view of road racing co n tin en t co uld dampen my sp irits. St even l\lcLaughlin on a talk show co uldn't h ave been happ ier ! Unfortunately, a delay for rep lace me nt o f our dying VW with a new Dodge van threw us off sched ule an d we arrived at th e Talladega In ternation al Raceway t oo late to get a co vered garage . Durin g p ractice th e bike seized twice be cau se of a faulty cran kshaft and the engine rebuilding th at day h ad to be don e un der th e b roil in g Alab am a sun. Final work was don e that even ing during a rain sho we r back at the motel. Lu ckil y , Holiday Inn s are very toleran t o f engine rebui ldin g ou tside (an d inside !) th eir rooms and co nsequen tly are very po p ular wit h riders. Nex t day my hero was do ing very well in his he at when the bike seized up again, taking with it an y h op e of even run ni ng in th e rac e, m uch less making any m oney . Dissapp ointment in th e ex treme. Later, wi th soothed spirits, we watched wha t was pro bably th e m ost exciti ng race I ha d even seen with Yvon performin g splendidly in his "super-frog" role . Afte r wa tch ing one race from a scorer's platform very cl ose to the track, I'm no t co n tent to watch fro m an yw here but the usually-rest ricted areas wher e all the real action is seen. That is where you see Yvon h oppin g arou nd totally in ' (?) con t ro l and Kenn y Rob er ts scrap ing h is kne e an d Marty Lun de passin g th ree rid ers at a time in one in fiel d comer. In fact , I wish [ could hop on behind a rider and see the tru e racin g picture from a rider's p oin t o f view. Th en, superb relax ation for two wee ks between races - cam pi ng on beach es and in forests, ski nny -dipp ing at nigh t in the te p id At lan tic, visit in g East-coast friends and rel at ives. It was a leisurely interl ude o f driving an d see in g th e Sou th as we felt moved to. We would sto p to watch a soccer game th at we happened up on , or play ten nis wh en we sp ot ted an empty co urt, or shoot p ool in a little bar in a st range town. It was very pe acef ul and we co uld rest and co llect o ur tho ughts. Ah , the road racin g circu it can be a delight ful trip . Now "a littl e work" on the machin e, a sh ort t rip to the next meetin g, and the exci te men t h as all returne d . It's lik e som eon e has j ust b reathe d new li fe and new ene rgy into us. T otal alertness and aware ness is rea wake ned. Nerves begin tensi ng for the ultim ate momen t of th e start of the race. I watch Al an d be com e vitallv invo lved with the moods and the ex act ing work an d th e tensi on . We 'work tog ethe r, yet I know h ow minimal the dema nds on me are in co m pa rison to his total involvem en t o f body an d mind . Bu t I think I'm j ust as nervous as he when I head for th e score r's boo th . I ha te bein g so far awa y an d leaving so far in advance of the actual race , espec ially whe n we have no o the r help. If last min u te changes are necessar y or pro blem s arise I wan t to be th er e - n ot five st ories above watch ing helpl essly and waiting. No matter how " my" rider does in th e rac e, I'm sat isfied if he doesn 't get hurt. And it helps if the bi ke is st ill okay , to o. But I'm most hap py if he feels satisfie d with his ride an d we can leave the trac k still in the glow of a rac in g hi gh. I am enc ha n ted as I watch th e beau tiful sym metry an d smooth n ow of those powerful machi nes st reaming past. To watch th e differ en ce between a n ovice rider and an expert, a p rofessional reminds one wh at a fin e art this road racing is. And I don't watch as a cu rious bystand er bu t rather in awe as I know how th ose beasts possess and control. T hey can be pushed only so far ; then their be auty can tu m to disas ter. I watch Allan and our frie n ds and othe rs meeting an d co ntrolling myri ad factors all for th e sake of greater speed, greater mastery of " the monster." Seeing a master o f the art in action is an exhilera ting ex pe rienc e and mus t be wh at overri des all th e misery to keep a fan like me spe llb ound . Yet th er e are times wh en I can't h elp but wonder if it 's all worth it. When engi ne rebuilding drags far into the ni ght and nerv es ge t so ed gy from continuous lack o f sleep th at I d on't care if I never ever see another mo tor bike and I am read y to scream at th e per son I love most - th en I can 't im agine anything stup ider than moto rcycle road racing. Or wh en we sit around all day .waitin g for a chance to tryout some change only to have rain pl ay h avoc with th e sche dule - th en , I begi n to wonder wh y. Why am I here ? What do I see in th is sport? You sacrifice little luxu ries to p ay for p arts an d spe n d most of y our leisure time tending to the bike an d some times to a broken rider too . You spe n d h ours an d h ours (or even days and day s) drivin g, watching fo r speed tra ps, h op ing yo u 'II find open gas sta tio ns through stretch es o f wilderness in th e middle of th e night. And h ow ab out th ose little inc onveniences like h aving to sneak in because n o wives are allowed in th e paddock on practice day , no toilets within a reason able distan ce , and nobody else to do the scori ng? Yet, whe n the tri p is over exce p t for th e many-hour dri ve h om e, you feel te rribly let down th at it is all over and y ou hav e to re turn t o " n ormal " life and y ou can't imagine n ot going along on the ne xt tri p ! In the between-race lull one mi ght think th er e would be a similar lull in the racer's single-minded concentratio n on th e world of racin g. Much to the contrary, even in a conversati on ab out a n on -racin g subj ect Al often interjects wh at has bee n going on in the back of his min d - "I wonde r if so-and-so would h ave that part I need," or "M aybe if Jerry built those new pip es with . .. " And then, too, m ost o f our friends are 26 /' inv olved in racing or motorcycles in one way or an other. When y ou put one r acer with ano th er y ou are bound to get motorc ycle conv ersati on. We eat, sleep , and drink rac ing. And Allan really d oes dreamab out it I' ve seen him all tuc ke d in, rac ing in his slee p ! T here hav e also been times when he could no t sleep be cause of racin g. ' Not just due to pre-race tension , but becaus e o f injuries and broken b on es th at we re not given tim e to he al p rop erl y. I som ethines wo nde r wh at he th ou ght abo ut on th ose lon g, sleep less nights. I alm ost feel th at I un der stand racin g an d racers, bu t I'll never understand that part o f it - and mayb e th ey d on 't either. When Al fell at On ta rio at 140 mph and th en lay in the h ospital with a b roken ba ck and sh oulder an d a h and so man gled th at it made th e doct or sic k, and tol d me he was quitting, th at h e would n ever race again , I had to smile through th e tears becau se the whole scene was a replay of a di ffer ent race and a differen t h ospital. I kn ew even th en th at it was just a m atter o f time un til he would be ou t on the track again, even th ough I secretly h op ed he wo uld fin ally sto p an d take up som ething safe and sane . Ad vice to an y girl thinking abo ut dating a road racer ? Just reme m ber th at thi s isn 't just any man - he's first of all a racer and racin g reall y does co me first. Bu t d on't worry abou t it. You'll eithe r find ou t very qui ckl y th at you h at e the wh ole scen e or, becau se you love the man wh ose life it is, you'll learn to love th e racin g life-style. In fac t I'm afraid I've begun an addic tio n because n ormal life doesn 't even seem normal an y mo re. I love th e racin g, as well as th e man wh o does it.