Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

I II - ~ hillclimb. Big Bill Harrison and on time . The guy ne x t to him was trying to back up because he was earl y. His words were something to the effec t of "nice warning." The lo vely fire road had to end because as you left check tw o, the sign read 15 mph average. Sure enough . 200 yards down the pike, it was d ownhill through the bushes with ab out 3 4 and three-quarter inches o f clearance and :\·IX bars just didn't make it. Things loo ked a little tougher with a couple of nice little puddles to cross and two ra ther interesting uphills. Both developed in to sli ght bottlenecks ' toward th e end o f t he numbers. The first par t h ad a nice lit tle j ump abo ut hal fway up. Three rid ers charged the h ill at o nce. The first missed a gear, cau sing the second to run into him, and the third to stop, in order not to use the first two fo r traction. In the m idst of untangling th e me ss, another group came alo ng. One m ade it , ano t her highsided ove r the jump, an d a third, w or kin g the clu tc h o n h er Honda very hard, ran into an unseen lo g. Then, another lovely young thing co mes prancing up the hill and m akes it five o n the ground. Coming into check number three was easy enough but the mil eage was off, enough so that it was thro wn out with some disgruntlement. Those that zeroed it of course thought it should be left in while the maj ority o f "A" riders who th ought it was off j ust tol d those other riders that they were early. From check three to camp was a two fold run. The las t m ile was the worst ....rith a loose, steep double humped uphill. ~ter making the crest riders would have given a cool million for a cold Oly and few hundred yards later the trail ended at camp. The Richmond Ramblers had bunches of beer for finishers , alo n g with a patch . Who could argue about a tough course with a cold o ne in your dusty, ho t tired hand. The back half of the course had a a former wrist wrestling cha mp io n , was all smiles despite hav ing a ba d time with the hill. Enough riders h ad made the hill to show that the game was ra cing. Th e first round of exhibition started and the de cision of wh ich line to sel ec t and what psychology to use was intense. Ron True had won th e 750 Expert class with a 9: 739. In his first ex ib iti o n on the Sam Arena H·D, brother Jim bettered th at mark to 9:004 and set the pace fo r the overall. Jim is still the No. One hillclimber in 0-36 and was out to show one and all how it was do ne . Old man Dick Bertolucci h ad other ideas on his very trick Triumph. In a super run t hat had all the pathos of an Oscar winning movie, Dick sort of smo othed out the ro ugh stuff and glided over the big b u mp half-way up . He turned in a fan tastic 8:9 14, all t his o n a 600 foot hill t ha t goes up ab out 4 0% and th en ge ts stee p. It was lik e poetry in mo tion . Bert olucci re tu rned to th e cheers and sm iles, and a fter so me discussion, Dick let J im have a go at the hill and h is o wn ti me . Jim True stu dies his lines very well and had a flawless ride, It wasn't good enough to beat his o wn tim e , but for a first ti me on the bike, very good. Enough so that he did it one more time. Results in Results Section • Barefoot in the dirt By W. H. Spencer EL DORADO NATIONAL FOREST, CAL., OCT. 4 Five hundred riders assembled just outside of Georgetown, California for the Bare fo ot Enduro, which should have been called the Dust City Enduro. After the first rider took off downhill, things got to be very IFR. The first mile consisted of a series of downhill water mar k jumps, a wooden bridge crossing, rocky slopes that bit back, and so me very nice terrain. The event was marred o nly by the excessive d us t. Gen eral lay out of the course was once aga in excelle nt. J eff Ham mo nd and Frank Diaz handled the marking and trailing. Bo ttlenecks were few and markings were great , but somebody knocked o ver a forest service pole ab o ut 10 m iles fr om the noon check. It didn't do too much damage, but anyone caugh t tearing down sign s gets hung by the short hairs. One o f th e n icer sections on the fi st r half to ok the trail up Baldy Mountain . At ab out 4,0 00 fee t looking so u t hwe st, the vie w was lo vel y an d sp ec tacular. The serious rid ers probab ly never noticed the section, ju st be fo re some fast fireroad , but so me o f us stopped to admire the scenery and befo re lo ng it was like a co nventio n. A Pento n rider with a flat de cided to sto p and ask questio ns ab o ut the trail ahead. He decided that the flat wo uldn 't ge t him anywh ere. so he too k o ff back down the trail against t h e wi sh es of th e assembled that included sp eedway racer Kir k Tardiff an d short track nu mber o ne hunter Mike Faria. One secti on was very fast with cr oss traffic areas and o ther b odies to wo rry about, but everybody ke pt to the right as marked. This section w as really tricky, with a 24 m ph average an d an intere sting chec k station. Any go od running 25 0 up could handle 60 mph plus an d o f co urse there are guys li ke Don Link wh o talk o f 80 plus. Cruising along this p artly p aved fir e? road, around a slight bend, 2 5 feet, an d it's check city . An acc o mplished road racer, with fro nt and rear discs, could make the stop with ease. One' rider came aro u nd t he bend, locked up the binders , and slid a neat low side right into the middle o f the check. Some nasty wo rds ensued, but he was up an d off quickly trestle crossing and a tunnel. Overall winner, Bob Keys doesn't remember all the finer picturesque parts. He rode most of the distance with his eyes on th e front wheel of h is Ch amp ion Honda 350 XL. Second overall and second Open "A" J im Conway pac ked up and left early because he was 22 minutes late at the finish , not knowing that it was thrown o u t because of mileage co verage. Te ammate and 250 "A" winner Jack Stec k hung around for his trophy. The Sonny Ke nyon Team One would have had an easy wi n if Emil Muhlebach hadn 't dropped out at the noo n check with electrical difficulties. The whole Bultaco team had it wired, at least until it came unwired. Keys' very low t hree came after a cigarette break, which o nly figures for the 45 year ol d. Co nway is second rate at 43 with a fou r, wh ile J o hn Noor , Car l Adam s, Tony McDowell an d Ben Bowers all mad e five . The rest o f the top J 0 we re at six points do wn with Harv ey Abel o ver Bob Mullarkey, Chuck Morgan and 0 -3 6 Number On e Endu ro man Ge orge Hendr ix trying to keep a hold on sixth fo r this year. • Results in Results Section. Doing "The Bump" at Pioneer By Ann Carr OAK D AL E , CA L., OCT. 19 Warm temperatures and little breeze left the knobby Pioneer Arena bumpy but .rideable as 240 serious scramblers displayed their talents. Fifty-four riders breezed off with brass or m oney for their efforts. The difficult track made going rough for less experienced competitors. . In the mini ranks Doug Chandler walked off with both the 8 0 and Op en Expert wi ns. Chandler out-distanced Tony Holdsclaw and Kurt Strait in th e 80 race by a backstretch lead. He in heri ted the Open first when the firs t two places collided in the spectator tum and took each other off co urse . Se cond spot went to Rick Gaarder as Yamaha swept the class. The Open Junior event featured so me fierce co mpetition as rough track aces Jody Gaines and Scott Baker sandwiched around Tracy Hays. Gaines captured the first while Hays, known more for his smooth track talent, adapted well to his new Yamaha and took a hard earned second in his first ride in this class. The charge of the day came from 100 Novice Randy Taylor. He fell while leading his heat , got back ab oard, j amm ed to a n ear third after the getoff, an d then chased Eric Wat ts in the m ain for a determined second pl ace fini sh . Maxi Expert races provided few new winners as Te d Davids on, "J org y" Jorgensen , and Mitch Davi dso n topped th e field. Teddy h ad lit tle competitio n in the 125 Main after MX 'er Don Cantal oupi dumpe d his J o rgy Can- Am mid wa y thro ugh the main eve nt while running second. Kim Jorgensen stayed off the pack for a needed second as he gained valuable points on Number One. Brother Alex motored away in the 250 Main and heat for his second straight vic tory. Teddy Davids on took the lion 's share of the semi-pro purse by ru nning a fading second after his 125 win. To complete the brother act, Mitch Davidson borrowed a 400 Yamaha and walked away with the largest Exp ert points and purse in a fine Open Expert win. Dennis Spence charged hard for the sec o nd over Roy Winters. Dennis seems to b e getting the hang of bumpy courses and should move up on the plate list as • he co ntinues to improve. Resu lts in Results Section. t 10 r--- 0') ~ ~ ~ s-. IlJ ..0 S IlJ ;;> 0 Z s: A bunch of Mini Open Juniors try to squeeze into the pit t urn at Pioneer Arena. I- a: Z Z III o 27

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