Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

. of the Williamson Act at the lo cal level. This m eans over 45,0 00 acres of additional - open space, pri me iind IS now potenti ally availab le fo r future legal riding areas , and allows landowners an addi tional recre a tional land use along with their bi g tax dodge in th e name of open sp ac e preservation. This ch ange too k o ver a year of hard, persistent volunteer work, appearances at more than 10 public hearings, phone calls, personal co nst an t appo in tme n ts, and letter writing to co unty supervisors an d o th er public officials (most o f whom we re very sympathet ic but st ill u nable to m ake things happen a t a resp ec ta ble ra te of progress). Also, wh ile o nly five p eople carrie d o n the task fo r the m or e th an 50,000 motorcyclists in our co un ty , over 500 le tters from memb ers and frien ds of Knob Hill Ran ch and the o ther local clubs poured into th e co un ty o ffi ces to aid th e ca u se. Mu ch outside influential correspondence also o pened minds and aided our progress. It wa s done e n tirely without legal counsel or representation and without money . A special thanks should go to Chuck Gust and to Alan Bygdnes of the Redwood City chap ter o f th e P.I.T .s - both of whom will ju st no t give u p. This story is not nece ssarily a success fo rm ula for 0 th er grou p s in other co un t ies facing similar problems, nor is it the end o f our effort. It was th e only syst em we had, so we u sed it - but it's unsatisfactory . T oo much d epends on lu ck, timin g and polit ics. We were lucky to have a few responsib le politicians to wo r k wi th in the government and it still to o k a ye ar. Some o f t hose polit icians were the re su lt of San Mateo's Co unty 's proven examp le of organized moto rc yclist voting strengt h being su ccess fu l. This goe s back man y years t o when th e San Mateo County Mo torcy cle Association , engi neere d b y Alan Bygdnes an d Roger Selb y, was a m ajor facto r in t he election and defeat of ce r tai n can di dat es for public office. Sin ce our in d ust ry can n o t " bu y and sell" public officials, real voting strengt h is im po rtant. Our issu e was decided long before the policy was officially ch an ged at the final public hearing, and the word has b een coming from the top down all the while we were following th e mechanics of the system from the bottom up. The whole process and system is discouraging, so another solution must be developed. The answer is money - collective money. Land use is th e primary issue. With o ut land, we don't have a sport only another means of transportation. Land is disappearing fast and becoming more and more difficult to obtain in large tracts - even privately. We are nursing a dream thinking we have the time to succeed with political games, to fight ecologists and environmentalists, trying to save public lands so our motorcycles can "destroy" them. A change in direction, spending, and people is n eeded now. There is a simple, eas y to adminster solution which would yield im m ed iate results and provide a tangible incentive for motorcyclists and the industy to be spending their support dollars on. Buy land! Why spend $15 on a green sticker to ride on private land or to ride on state facilities like McGill Cycle Park? Motorcyclists can duplicate the green stic ker program by having a "tax" program of our own, co llect ing o ur own money to purchase and operate our own facilities. If motorcyclists had accumulated the m illions of d ollars which have gone into the green sticker program for ou r own us e, there would already be a giant network of di rt bike riding areas, privately owned, operated, and regulated by motorcyclists collec tively and organizationally. Our need is to buy and establish riding areas now without a dependence on incompetent govern men t tax programs and their administrators, or the scams of industry organizations which shadow government ineffiency. Our sport is in a deepening rut now, but we have the energy , numbers, and resouces t o bail ourselves out. The time :: - iiow, th e writin g- is on t he wall. I'm re ady , b u t can't d o it alo ne . Don Ivan Guest editorial • • • • • • • Toucan smell the tar bubbling The fo llowing are excerpts from th e November J6 " Checkered Flag" co lumn written by Owen Keams, Jr. of the Bak ersfield Calif ornian. In it, he tells the general, n on- riding p ublic a little bi t ab out us, and why we migh t have reason to tum m ilitant. It 's also a sign tha t ou r · side of things is finally, bit by bit , beginning to break out through th e media sm ok escreen . . . E ditor On e might expect m otorcyclists, busy " doi ng th eir thing," to be am on g the more apolitical ci tizen- on an d off-road . Virtually everybody rides , from dentist to lawyer to bric klayer to housewife to j unior high scho ol student, The politician wh o ignore s them is in fo r a very nast y surprise should t his sleep ing giant ever be awa ken ed. We suspect t h at aw akenin g is close at hand. The distrust of go vernm en t , and dissatisfaction wi t h bureaucratic meddling, seems universal. Small wo nder the bikers have caugh t the bug. Millio ns o f Am ericans have go als and aspi ra t io ns wh ich go vernmen t b y an elite seeks to thwart. Retribut ion, however, may be j ust aroun d th e co rner. When traditio nal ly ap olitical gro ups begi n seething with p olitical action, look out. "M e and m y friends would lik e to start a Phantom Duc k Fan Clu b . Doe s he real ly q uac k?" - Fan , Ontario, CA . . . . "By partici pating in the d uck's event we will p rovide our ene mies with more am m unition . Ins tead of spending all that ti me and mone y , write BL\1 and your elected officials. '76 is an election year and votes talk." - Desert Racer . . . " I think if all else fails we should ru n Ba rst o w-to -Vegas anyway. If we let the m t ake this one away fro m u s, t he desert is los t to us fo r good. We have to make th is st and n ow . Can Cy cle News give us any guidance?" - Walt Boles, !.A Habra, CA . . . . Guidance? We're full of guidance - and other brown mat eri al. I think everybody already has thei r m in d well set as to t he pros and co ns of the Duck Ride. Wh at's im porta nt is th at we have a choice, and can do as our mindse t dictates. The do ub le points run will help racers make up for t he lost Huntingt on Beac h race an d feed the legal defense fu nd. Th e trail rid e will (ho p efully) co me off as a peaceful protest and help prove th at desert closu re is as unenforceable as Pro hibi tio n , \\th at 's crucial is not which even t you go to but th at you go to one of th em and know exactly wh y yo u' re going. Regard less of whether your de sti nation is Cal City or Harvar d Road , know t hat you're headed in to the dese rt on Nove mber 29 because you care what happens to the sport . . . Editor. Owe n Keam s, J r. The Phantom Duck, pro & .con 1)', Unfortunately, for m otorcyclin g, th is frequen tly has been so. Th e evide nce suggests, howev er, th at the cy clists - the ir back to Is a protest trail ride in the dez right or wron g? e N's readers sound off on both sides: the wa ll - are turning militant. Th ey are go ing into th e political ar ena to protect freedo ms go vernment hasn't what alread y co nfiscated. Most of California's desert has been closed to ridi ng. The an nual Barstow-to-Las Vegas race was scru b bed by Bureau of Land Management decree several months ago at the beh est of co nservatio nists .. St at e an tinoise campaigns are driving so me cycles o ff the market , notably in Orego n. An t ipollution regulations m ay kill t he two-stroke b ik e. Big Bro ther fan cies laws wh ich force a m otorcycl ist to wear a cras h helmet and bum his headlight in the daytime. Chip , chip , chip but, compounded, it's an avalanche. A variety of lobby groups have sprung up , from the American Motorcycle Association to M.O .R, E. , which has campaigned in Washington and Sacramento against helmet laws. They arc no-nonsense organizations and hav e not been afraid to stand up to legislators and bureaucrats. On the grassroots level, judged by actions and letters to the editor, the fo lks are more than a little distressed. They have fire in their eyes and you almost can sm ell th e tar bubbling. Once, the fury could be dismissed. No more. Cycles have proliferated, both " I think you have a damn good idea, but you should try to organize this as you wo uld any other protest march. First, get a march (ride ) permit. Second, notify . the media and third, for safety's sake have Rescue Three just in case you need them," Dick J oh nsto n, Mojave. . . . . "The Sierra Club will be right there with ca meras rolling. What I' d like to see is for 5,000 to go o ut and lay a black wre ath o n the starting line to tell the wo rld they are killing a good American sport" - J ohn Martin , Azusa. : . . .. "You will never get away with it. You have a big mou th , backwash in yo ur beer, and p hu nny-Iooking p h riends like "B lack Monsoo n ", See yo u at Harv ard Road " - " TLS", Diam ond Bar. "Wow! I su re hope t he Uno fficial Bars to w-to-Vegas d oesn't co me o ff. Th e opponents will be screa mi ng for years. A bad scene would do irreparabl e d am age to t he sp ort. " Paul Hefferlin, Oceanside, CA . . . . "Stand up and be co unt ed. Almost every day there seems to be some sort of peaceful demonstration going on. It is n ot illegal . If the riders really care, th en I su ggest that they show their faces at the Phantom Duck run, hold a peaceful dem o nst ra ti o n and obey the desert rul es . By the way, who the hell au thorize d th e District lead ers to put on a double poin t race ?" - Yu p Y up Hooper, Hu n tin gton Beach, CA ... . HAPPENINGS ( Con tinued from page 11 ) 48 105, to resp ond to q ues tions th at moto rcycle m anufac t u re rs and others may have regardin g pro posed emission regulations. Agen da for t he meetin g will be developed from lists o f questions su bmi tted by manufacturers and other in t er ested parties . Qu es tions should be submitted to the Dire ctor, Emission Control Technology Division , U. S. Environmental Protection Agency , 2565 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105. Deadline December 3. Questions will also be accepted from the floor. BLM - CALIFORNIA BAKERSF IELD DISTR ICT MULTIP LE USE ADV ISORY BOARD Meeting December 11·12, Holiday Inn, 300 W. Palmdale, Palmdale, CA. The Dec. 12 meeting will be joint with the Riverside District to consider the El Paso-Red Mountain Un it Plan. Open to public. - Those wishing to make oral statement, notify Dist. Manager Louis A. Boll, 800 Thruxton Ave ., Rrn. 311, Bakersfield, CA 93301. Written statements may be submitted at the meeting or mailed to the above address. Further info, Paul W. Savercool, PAO (805) 861-4191. USFS - OREGON DESCHUTES NArL. FO REST ADV ISORY COMMITTE E 4, Forest Meetin g December Supervisor's Conference Rrn., 8 p.m. Open to public. BLM -NEVADA NEVADA STATE MULTIPLE USE ADVISORY BOARD .._----------------------_... "How did y ou like seeing 'JAWS '? o z o ~ .J ;) ~ Meeting December 10·11, Pioneer Inn, 221 S. Virginia St., Reno , Nevada at 8 a.rn, both days. Open to public. To make oral statement, contact Carl A. Gidlund, Chief Public Affairs Staff, BLM Nevada State Office, Rrn. 3008, Federal Bldg., 300 Booth se., Reno, NV 89502. Phone (702) 784·5459. Written statements may be filed at the meeting or at the above address. • . ~ 37

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