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/126030
The pro cedure o f loosen ing th e so il, then waterin g down the tra c k an d agai n go ing back over the course with the harrow to ro ugh up and wipe o ut any slick spots at th e end of each set o f motos is beautiful. Congratulatio ns to Esca pe Country 's management and especially to the tr ack man ager. He is a human dynamo of energy . Motocross can be a re asonably safe but ex citing sport if th e proper effo rt is m ade. INSIDE Upshot MX Winter-Series 5 6 Florida falls to Tony D an d Young Hannah Western Hotline 8 Desert Defense ' Duro and Go ld Rush ride Plastic fantastic GLENN OG DEN Escondido, Calif_ 16 Can -Am Grand Prix rasher Northern Dateline Ask "Dr." Wealey 18 My gran dso n - 16 ye ars old - just got his Pro fessional number - 78Q has raced for the past ye ar or so. He has fo ur cycles and ra ces Indoor Short Trac k, Fla t Track and Motocross. He h as bro ken his leg once and jus t recen tly b ro ke his ankle - mak ing twice fo r same ankle. Therefore, my q uestion to you is - which boot is co nsidered more protection fo r the ankle and leg? He now wears a regular MX boot but I'm won dering i f that Heckel wo uld be better. Or - 1 notice a lot of riders in the m agazines wearing lace -up boots. Help .. . J EANN E C. LEW IS Edmonds, Wash . Paci fic Coast sliding an d slogging Central pipel ine 22 jody Fo ust flashes Mosier Cafe Single Suzook Ring ding 24 dang Opinion 25 Grandstand or bar stool MX Cat 26 Mini madness Nationa l Motocross Teams 30 Wein ert, Staten and Stackable switch Calendar Want Ads 32 35 WHEELrE L.eSSONs ON THE COV ER : Hap py Valen tines to the et ernal love affair of m an and machine. Deliciously fu lfilling pho to session by jody Weisel . Class C dirt tracke rs have tradition ally wo rn the lace-up boot. which has the controlled flexibility to protect against bending stresses on the ankle, but offers litt le proof against a crushing inju ry . The Heckel boot is practica lly crush-proof and nearly bullet-proof around th e ankle. also. How ever, due to its super-rigidity, it has been suspected in a f ew fr eaky situations - such as the heel hooked under a [o otpeg and rotated savagely to cause knee injury. The con ventional bu ckle-up MX boot is still ano ther compro mise at protecting against several different kinds of injury. You pays your bread and you takes you r cho ice. Bef ore risking tha t ankle a th ird time, get togeth er with that grandson and have a heart-to-heart talk with an understanding o rtho pedic surgeon . . . Editor GUARAN~~ Shar on Cla yton. Pu blishe r Ro bert L Nor V ('Il~ . Cen era l xtan agcr Edn a Mew ton. Sec re tary to Pu b lish er Blow-ups Advertising I would like to know if it is still possib le to get poster size pict ures p rin ted fro m photos th at have been in Cycle News . . . E DDY PATE Dallas , Tex. Linda Cla rk , Ad ver tisin g Man ager Chris Ko lbe r, Advertising Assistant Editorial . Lan e Ca mpbe ll, Senior Edi to r , Judy Weisel , Ed itor, Bolli Scutt, Ed itor . Art and Production Ca the r ine Lampr on . Art Dir ec to r : Barbar a l\lizun o, Ad ver ti sin g Ar t Direct or: De n ni s Co x, Lab Tec hni cian: Mar io n I latash ita, T ypog rap he r , Circul at ion Rhebu Sm ith , Man ager : Pam G reen and Callie Smi t h. Assistants. Accounting Ga ylene Zaionz , Manager : Jud y Fou ts. Mike Klin ger , j ea nne Hammo nd . Assis tants; Tom Hu n ter , Rho nda Van Doren , Credn Depa rt men t. . Serv ice< & Support Bill Run yan. Tom Luehm ann , Ju.mita Blanton, re ceptio nis t. West P.O . Box 498 . Long Beach , CA 9 080 I. ( ~ 13) 4 27-7433 : L.A. Lin e 6 36 ·8 844. (T elex 656-330 ) East What about us hackers? Bein g an avid reader of Cy cle News, o ne th ing I m iss is co verage on the many di ffe ren t races in which sidecars co mpete .. . ROCKY POLITO , SHA North Holl ywood , CA . .. Fro m wh at I unders tand, yo u don ' r.ever ha ve much o n sidehac ks. We an: trying to get more pcup ~ in ~~rested in th e sport . . . CHRIS J ACKSON North Holl yw ood , Calif. P.o. Box 805. Tucker. GA 30 08 4. G .\ 3008 4. (4 0 4) 5 42 ·777) 934-78 50. (Telex Sub scription O ne ye ar, second class mail S 12 .50 : 2 year s, second class mail, $2 2.5 0 : 3 years, seco nd class m ail. $30.0 0 : Single copy p rice, 50 cen ts. . Copy righ . Cy cle News . Inc . 197 6 . Trade mark registered U.S. Patent Of fice. All righ ts rese rved . Published wee kly excep t the: First an d las t week o f th e cale n da r yea r lly Cycle News , Inc.• P.O . Box 4 9 H, Lo ng Beach. Califo rnia. Second class po sta ge paid at Lon g Bea ch, CA . 90H O I . Edi to ria l stories, ca rto o ns. pho tos, et c . are welco me. Ad dr esse d. st amped envelope assu res return of un p ur chased edito rial m a t ter. Rep rinting in whol e o r p .e -t o nl y by permission o f th e p ublishers. . Ad"'erlis ing rate s and ci rculation info rmation will be sent up o n request. Sec S.R .O.S. 4 . . . I am a co ncern ed sideha ck passenger writing to find o ut why in hell there isn't more writing on sidehack racers . . . DO N SCHUMANN Canyo n Count ry , CA Did you guys hav e a dub write-in, or som eth ing ? A ll it takes is a willing correspondent who is stoked enough on his spo rt to write abou t it. That 's h ow road racers, trialers, des ert riders and even an occasional p ouid er-puf f e r du it . . . Edit or B-to-V progress report The San Gabriel Val ley Mo to rcycle Club "Barstow to Vegas " Legal Defense .Fund Co mm itt ee would like to th ank those p eople who have donated money, and wo uld like to extend o ur apologies for th e delay in the de cals and finis her pins. We will be co n ta ct ing yo u by direct mail as soon as possible. A .$2 do nation brings a decal and new s-letter ; an indi vidual $ 25 do nation, a decal , 197 5 finis he r pi n , news-letter, and a o ne -half credit for th e 19 76 "Barstow to Vegas " ra ce . As a general progress report, San Gab riel Valley M/ C is filing' fo r, and presently workin g on , the 1976 race on th e Thanksgivin g Weekend. We are coordinating our efforts wi th the District 37 Legal Task Force. Those fu nds not used for our litigation will be transferr ed to the Distri ct 37 Leila! -u nu, r . ~ - All co rrespo nd ence should be directed to : San Gabriel Valley Motorcy cle Club Legal Defense Fund Post Office Box 189 5 Pomona, CA 91769 JOHN SLAGOR fund chairman Pomona . Calif . Testimonial I ha ve attended man y local motocross races in Southern Califo rn ia an d o bse rved the safety of the trac k, t he care ta ken in prep arin g th e tr ac k and keeping i t in good racing co ndition through out th e day . I must say t hat Escape Co untry Motocross tr ack wins hands d o wnl While some trac ks ar e prepared good at the start of th e day 's racing, the y sto p at th at poin t - th e tr ac k gets hard-packed. dry an d dusty by mid-day , Occasionally th ey will water it for d us t. No t ractio n fo r th e bikes o n t he hard, dry packed track or slippery o ne makes for oor.. dan erous ra cm . Cycle News ' lab is not geared to do poster reproduc tio ns. Yo ur best bet, if th e ph o to of interest was taken by a free-lancer, contact that corresponden t, wh o will still have th e negative and do a deal with him/h er . . . Edit or Relief for brakeless Rickman 1 have a 1974 Rickman SD that I would like to improve on. The brakes and re ar suspension are the worst offenders. Do you kno w anyo ne wh o makes brake shoes that will imorove the Rickman's i tupping pcwer? :iuw do i weld on the ch ro me-m oly frame ? T OM DAY Cen tral Cit y , NB Moto cross Brake Service, 7545 In dustrial Wy., Stanton, CA 9068 0 and Lakewood Cy cle, 7425 Fulto n Ave., N. Holl ywood. CA 91 60 5 bo th sell replacem ent brak e liners f or most mak es. Chrome-moly allo y can be heli-arc weld ed wi th prop er 4130·based rod, or braz ed with a sp ecial nick el-bronze rod, wh ich is what the Rick mans the mselves use. Either way, yo u 're best off taking y our welding need s to a qualified pro . . . Editor