Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Cycle News 1976 07 13

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/126054

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 47 of 47

• • , • i The nilroad runs through Iisinore By Lane Campbe ll . E LSIN O RE, CAL. , J UNE 28 Rawhide Cycl e Park came to a sorry end this evenmg, as th e Elsin ore City Council revo ked its conditi on al use perm it on co mplain ts initi ated by moto rcycle-hat ers whose residen ce of record is not Elsin ore , but Perris. Th is was ju st one of th e bitte r lind ironi c twist s in events leadin g to th e park 's closure. Rawhid e has bee n with ou t a ten an t since Sp ring, but th e owne r, Ben Fleming, had found a p ro specti ve operator, who was at th e meetin g ' acco mpanied by Mike Capalite. Fleming had b rou ght • alo ng hi s bro t her, a lawyer fro m Bra wle y , a nd together t he y hoped to be ab le to rebut the charges, or at least arrange to mitigate the allege d permit viol ations. T he -viol ations stemmed from co ndit io ns of th e use permit th at were no t adhe re d to , acco rd ing t o a lette r sign ed by the apparent lead er s of th e closure m ovemen t , a Fred and Sallee Herm es, o f 20 170 Riversid e St ., Per ris . Yes, Perris . T he permit co ntained p rov isio ns li ke " all t wo whee led vehicles shall be restricted to o ne rider, " and "trails must he m arked with 12 x 9 inc h wooden signs every 20 0 feet." Accord ing t o Mike Capalite, a permit co ntaini ng such restri cti ons shou ld ne ve,r have been agreed to, in th e firs t place. Now it had risen u p to haun t t he m . . What we re th e Herm es ' m o tivati on s? It's har d to say. Mike Capalite tried t o talk to th em , to co nciliate o r learn t he reasons for their co m plai n t. T he m an , a henpecked-l o o kin g bearded gent, mi gh t have talked. bu t t he wo man, brim m ing with bitterness and hatred, told Mike to go bac k where he came fro m and wo u ld have sworn at him but bit back her words . Mike di d learn th at the y had m oved o n to th eir lan d aft er th e park had been in existe nce. Lat er , it ca m e ou t th at the woman had be e n an em ployee o f th e park at one time. Curio user and cu rio user. When th e counci l ca me to t he matter, t hey rejected lawye r j . W. Fleming' s p lea to re-open testimon y so his bro ther co u ld , for the fir st tim e , rebut t he sp ecific charges. No way , sa id the co uncil, af te r consu lt ing wi th the city attorney. They would m ov e directly to decide t he park's fa te, ba sed solely o n tes timony heard at a fo rmal hea ring june 14 - a hearin g wh ich h ad been p u blicized in Elsinore proper, b ut wh ich had not been kn own to Fle mi ng (or t o Cy cle News) in time to a tte nd. In th e back of the roo m, the Hermes female awoke into bitter cursing that the counc il wou ld eve n thin k o f giving Flemin g a chance to speak. So, wi t h fu rther testimony closed, the co uncil proceeded in sequence to vo te yes o r n o o n whether th e violatio ns ha d occu rred, and th en to revoke the co n di tio na l u se p ermit. The Hermes co uple stalked out with a sn eer ; an d an o ld wo ma n, bare ly ab le to ho bble , q uietly as ked , " Why did they do that? Now th ey 'll b e rid ing motorcycles all over everywhere , illegall y , and who "Il do any thi ng abo u t it?" Ben Fle ming now has 900 ac res of useless la nd . d rawin g tax es a nd ea rn ing no th in g, unless h e chooses t o se ll it fo r a nothe r tacky ho usin g tract . T he re has been some in terest expressed via tele ph on e that State Par ks and Rec reation might scree n the site for a possible Gree n Sticky Park. Fleming is about b u mmed enough to sell it to t he m . Fo r t he bitter , venomous motorcycle-haters who ca n m ove in afte r a cycle par k opens and get it shu t down, it wo uld be poet ic justice if it ca me to that. . I .. " Doing it in t edi " 1976 I.S.D.T. QUALIFYING SERIES Dave H ulse - 6 even ts 5 C;o ld Medals - 1 Silver Medal Ron Lamastus - 7 events 7 Gold Medals Charlie Vincen t - 5 even ts 4 Gold Medals 1 Silver Medal Earl Law - 7 events 6 Gold Medals - 1 Bronze Medal NEW DESERT PHANTOMS available now with Long T ravel Suspension an d GP Ko ni Shocks at no extra charge. 48

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's - Cycle News 1976 07 13