Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Opinion here it's NOT at-in the desert By Terry Rezek HI V ISTA, CA L. , MA R. 13 160 very this high attempt between may ride on and which to avoid. The most obstinate of the residents refuse to annotate an y map showing the land they oc cupy , will not post any signs and will not allow volunteers to post donated signs . Sounds like the very definition of " Pighead ed. " We are also attempting to develop a list of those land owners who will be willing to give yo u written permission to , cro ss their land. This would be posted w ith th e map at t he store, Now co mes th e zinger. In many ways, we are as bad as th e stu bbo rn resident. Think ab o ut this ; ever be en campe d at a race or in so me area w ith other biker s had one hell o f a party Saturday n igh t the ro sy glow of a pure des ert dawn is just begin n ing to happen - and th e turkey in th e ne xt ca mp (ob vio u sly more resistant to th e effec ts of Demon Rum than yo u) fires up his 90 0cc sin gle involved people came to desert community In an to resolve the fric tion land owners and casual desert recreation ists, Abo ut 11 0 rep resen ted the users, .the rest wer e are a residents. The meeting was chaired by Sgt. Bob Wallace, Pu bli c Relat ions , Los Angel es County Offi ce , An tel o pe Valle y She riff's St ation. The problem co mes down to this: With th e exc ep tio n of one insignificant Stat e Par k, where yo u can 't ri de " anyway , all lan d in northern L. A. county is privately owned. Some lan d owners an d res idents are vio len tly opposed to any fo rms o f trespass, although t he y pro bably wouldn' t shoot if y ou wer e o n a ho rse and wearing a Stetson. A minority o f these residents have co mp lain ed to t he Sheriff's office abo u t tresp ass, th ef t, van da lism and a n noyance. Wh ether or not motorcyclist s are responsible , the residen 15 are co nv ince d of it and the " law enforcement" officials, be ing good troops, n ever qu estion the in te nt. morality or legal so un dness o f the law the y vi~'lantly enfo rce . Calle d upon t he scene Hi-Vista is 23 m iles fr om th e St ation by an ir ate resident , the y arrive armed with an " op inio n " by their co unt y co u nsel th at the w ritte n permission part of th e co un ty tresp ass ordinance is firm and en fo rce ab le. Since th e cu rre nt p ublished po licy of the lo cal LASO Station co m ma nde r is " If we set it, we 'll cite it. " . they then proceed to bust any O RYer within reach . Russ Sanford of :'.I.O.R.E. was there and m ost d iplomat ica lly co rrec ted Sgt. Wallace several t im es on points of law and the sergeant's mista ken impression that L.A. co unty does no t get an y Green Sti ckle money. (As we are pain fu lly awa re , th ey do indeed tap our veins to fi ance the black and white n bi kes that ran yo u do wn th at las t lon$ wee ken d . Hap py Bicentennial, su ckers t) Kathy Hayes of the Natio nal Outdoor Coalition was th ere , having ducked o u t o f a C.O.R. Y.A. co nve n tio n in Anaheim and driven here to stay informed. Bob Hayes , our moto rcy cling politician. was also presen t. (Ho pe yo u re member that co me ele ction tim e. Bob needs canvassers and precinct wo r kers fo r his campaign. ) Of co u rse, man y clubs were there. T he Los t Angels, Con ejo T rail Riders, Dirt Diggers , Vie w fin de rs , and the Los Coyotes j ust to n ame a few. Spe akin g o f friends, an ORY r enthusiast co uldn ' t fin d a better o ne than Penny Bough, th e little lad y who ru ns Hi-Vista store. Ask any biker who 's been there, this pl ace feel s like home. Too bad he r neighbors are trying to drive her ou t of business. Since t he harassment campaign start ed , her business has dro pped 35% in February alone. At th at rate , she 'll be ou t of business in two months; ano th er victory for bigotry. If yo u tr y to avo id th e Hi-Vista hassle by driving through to the BL.\1 lands around Shadow Mountain in San Bernardino County (1 0 mile s east ), sto p at Penny's p lace for a howd y and a beer. Just don't un load yo ur b ikes. Not until this curren t con flic t is cle are d up . "Ther e are some possibilities. Ru ss Sanford will have so mething soon about wha t to do if y o u get cited under th e L.A. coun ty trespass ordinan ce. I will be wo r king wi th th e Sh eri ff's office (talk abou t walking in to the lion 's den l) an d "a few level-h eade d re sidents to devel op a map showing which priva te parcels you cylinder Whatever and flies through your camp like an Fl04 in heat. Remember that the next time you pass someone 's ho use earl y- Sunday morning. Even if yo u and every bo dy y o u know rides responsibly, has a silenced bike, avoids -private property , and p acks ou t the trash, some S.O .B.s out there are not that wa y . No amount of righteous indignation will can cel th e fact that we , the visible, are blamed for it. If you ha ve the courage to work for something better, here 's two sug gestio ns from ' t he meeting at Hi-Vista, Many of us have CBs in our vehicles. If yo u see anybody. whether on a bike or not, doing anything destructive, ge t on Nin e and call REACT or anyo ne yo u ca n get to call the sheriff. No fin kin g invo lved, yo u're protectin g yo ur butt and your fri ends. Here 's ano t he r ' idea so me o f u s have kick ed ar o und for years. How abou t a volunteer patrol fo rce, m ay be allied with the sheriff's office, or if tha t's too dis tasteful , worked out t hro ugh District 37 . You still get yo ur riding in, and help kee p yo ur desert straight, too. If yo u're in terested, co ntact th e LASO , AY • Stat io n , At tn: Sgt. Bob Wallace. - Initiative to down the double-nickel By t he end of March the p etition t o pu t the '5 5 mph . speed lim it Issue on the November ballot In California sh ould be in circulation. . o f ev ide n ce : th at th e lim it ing of sp eed saves fuel or tha t it saves lives. Restri ct in g sp ee d does lim it th e number of mi les o ne ca n d rive in a given t im e. TIle co nges t io n cau sed by t he for me r ly faste r ca rs bei ng u na b le t o get ou t of th e wa y . le aving th e h igh wa y open to the res t of the tr affic. ca uses all ca rs o n t he high wa y to do m o re brak in g: th us was t ing more fuel. Even th e few cars whi ch sho w be tter fu el m ileage at th e lower sp eeds eith er fa ll vic t im to t h is phenomen on or co n tribut e t o the ge ne ra l co n gestion ca us ing th e ve hi cle s be h ind th em to b u m eve n m ore fue l th an th e y normall y would h ave used. Usin g th e figures we h ave be en given, As th is is wr i t t en th e ap pl ica t ion is in th e o ff ice o f th e Att o rnev G eneral. It must clear yet ano th e'r state ag ency . The Att orney Gene ral m u st writ e the Su m mary and Ti tle o f th e pe tit io n and it will. as p rese ntly pro po se d. be a vo te b y th e pu b lic o n wh et her to keep th e present speed limi t law or repeal it . rev e rti ng to the law as it wa s prior to De cembe r 3 1. 19 i 3. Everyo ne who has writ t en t o the co m m itt e e volun te e rin g to co llec t signa tures for th is pe titi on wi ll beco n tac te d. Anyo ne wh o wi she s to h elp is ce rt ain ly welcome. It "vi11 he a siza b le job eve n t h o u gh th e co m mi ttee 'has received well o ve r 1.0 0 0 lett ers from intere st ed p erso ns . In add ition to passing t h e petiti on th ere will be a requ iremen t fo r workers t o co u n t the sign atures and co m pa re the m wit h the ro lls of regi stered vo te rs. T he Sta te requi re s th at this b e d o ne me t icul ou sly wi th re gard to ce rta in rules. While this pe titi on effort will a ffec t Ca lifo rn ian s o nly in a direct w ay. it will h ave signi fica nc e for tax p ayers in the 49 othe r st ates. When we h ave defeated the 55 limi t in California we will have sent a s tro ng message to politici an s in th e o ther states. We 'lI b e te llin g t he m tha t they canno t arb it ra rily' restrict taxp aying m oto rist s in th e use of th e road facilities fo r which th e y ha ve pa id th ei r ta x m on e y : that th ere is a sector o f th e publi c which will not accept their p ho n y claims th a t a lowe red speed limit saves ei ther fue l or lives. It is in teresting tha t th ere really is no proof which would st a nd u p in a co urt of law, subject to th e est abl ishe d ru les (if we choo se to accep t them ) the re duc tio n o f ve h icles on average sp ee d for all h as be en freeway s approximately 18%. This means tha; the ove rall miles d riven by everyone on the free ways is a lso down by 18%. TIl ere bein g the sam e nu mber o f hours in a day now as in p revi ou s yea rs , th is is sim p le a rit h me t ic. Wh at is th e de cl ine in tra ffi c fatalities claim e d by the pro po nents o f th e sp ee d lim it ? Eigh tec n percent ! _ The numb cr of mi les per fatalit y is aQp are ntly th e same as it was , O n ly the miles dri ven ha s been c h an ge d . Big Brot her doesn't wan t' you to know th is. It do esn ' t fit wh at t he bure au cr a cy wants you to be lieve . L. Taylor Smith ~ Th e "co mm itt ee" Mr. Smi th refers to is th e Committee fo r Com m o n Sens e Speed La w, P.O. Box 938, Camar illo, CA 9 3010. If y ou wish to help ge t th e in it iative on th e ballot . conta ct th em ASP • . . Edit or Th e Gr ipsters host at Asco t. Yep, tha t's right. T here will be a Distri ct 3 7 and 36 scrambles at Ascot Park, Sunday, Mar ch 28th . Now for mon th s I' ve been hearin g yo u riders bi tch and moan that yo u're ti red o f rid ing all the pain t ru ns at Elsinore or you're tir ed of Pe rr is o r things ain't w ha t t hey used to be or there 's no tracks le ft for the big bikes et c. So if yo u don't tu rn o ut for t he Gripster s I don 't wan t to he ar another word out of you . Here 's a chan ce to ride Ascot, which outside of ou r much lamented Prado Park is the best TT tr ack around. You 're not going to get many chances to ride it unless you tu rn pro . I'm loo kin g at it as the best shot in the arm scramb les have had for a very long ti me. Thanks go t o the Gripsters fo r taking the chance to throw a poin t ru n there , for there 's been a hell of a lo t of ha rd wo rk and nego tl at ing going on to do th is. Don't let o ne of t he fines t clubs in the District do wn . Reme mber ho w they gave you the Elsinore Gr an d Prix ! If yo u are readin g th is and you are an o ut o f District rider , Gripste r Fra ncis Pe tt y wh o clued me in on all 't his news say s. that all District cards will be hon ored so i f you guys fr om up north want to com e down and give us a go at home at Asco t, we 'd love to see yo u. If you don 't have a District car d co me o n o ver an yway and ride . So wh at if the y put yo u in as a pi e plate exp er t, . yo u 11 be scra mbling at Ascot. Again , it's Mar ch 28 th wit h pract ice starti ng at nine and the fir st race at te n. We 'll b e the re and hope to see yo u . Let's have a run fo r a ch ange that we ca n be nch ra c e about in years to co me ; " Rem ember the tim e the Gripster s h ad th at poin t run at Ascot and ... ?" Yeah. Maur een Lee ,, • I"_' -

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