Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Among the people Lars wants to thank ar e Carl _and Nancy Cranke, "They always help me out when I ca ll in the midd le of the nigh t asking stupid questions about my bike. Also the Penton kids .. they always help me out, hauling m y bike cross country, fixing me up at the gas stops, etc. If it wasn't for these guys, I'd be totally last." Whe n we asked if there was an y reason that he migh t not make it to Austria, the answer, ty pically Lar s, was , "No, I am ready. Two years ago little Lars-Erik was born when I was sup posed to leave fo r Italy , but th is year I've been a go od b o y ." If Lars so und s like a co mical guy, it's because he is , but d on 't mistake hi s jokes for lac k of sin ce ri ty. He puts 100 percent eff o rt into Six Day s be cause , "I believe it h as to do with p ersonal recognit io n , w hatever y o u d o . Also , I think the most honorable th in g for any sportsman m ust be to be pi cked t o represent your country ." He 's scored fo ur Golds in seven attempts. This y ear will probably make it five for eig h t. He 'll join ISD T veterans David Hulse an d Ron Lamastus on the Yankee/Ossa man uf acturer's team with the knowledge abl e guidance of team manager Charlie Vincent. Earl Law -- Chepachet, R.I. , Helping pit for Oss a 's U. S. Silver Vase team in the 1975 ISDT gave eigh t een year old Earl Law a close, up -front view of what Six Days is all abo ut . This y ear, now th at he 's o ld enough, Earl qualified with six Gold and one Bronze Medals in the Two -Day series and wiII try to put some o f th at knowledge to personal us e. Working at the family saw mill no do ubt he lps the young rider in shape fo r woods riding. He started racing in 1972 in Marcia Mac Donald's J unior Enduro plan in New England, a background that pu t him in the to p te n in class at every qualifier . Kevin Lovo ie :- Chepachet, R.I. "There's j ust so methi ng abo u t th e ISDT that grabs yo u an d d oesn 't let go -- o nce yo u've d one it , yo u ca n't sto p . I d id it th e firs t tim e b ecause it w as a challenge : I wan te d to see if I co uld do it. Now I'm h a 0 k ed !" n i'nete en year o ld Kevin Lavoi e was trying to put it all into words , the mystique of rid ing Six Days. "A m edal in doll ar s and cen ts isn 't worth very much, but to a person who 's earned o ne it's worth eve rything." Don Cutler has b een of tremendo us assistance to Ke vin, offering the wisdo m o f his experience in bike p re paration and, as Lavoie puts it . "making up tri ck little things th at ad d up t o a better Six Da ys bike." (Don , in hi s questionnaire . lis ted his hobby as "making gadgets that don't w ork very well." a p o in t that Kevin obviously doesn't agree with .) Penton Im p o rts, and their always - on the - b all support . crew, also get a big thank y ou from Kevin. "Without all of those people, none o f us would even be going over (t o Austria)." Kevin , who works tending b ar an d doing-odds an d ends around h is p ar en ts' restaurant in Chepachet, ad ded, "1 also appreciate m y mom an d d ad bearing with this whole thing an d givi ng m e all the time off I need to d o th is Six Days thing, which p ro b ab ly adds up to pre t ty close to six months out of th e year." , • Price Now S1995! .. New Features for 1977 fA: New frOlf forks-re(. If I! sounds i1ke a winner, you're rig ht. See your Husky Dealer soon for lhe experience Ihorll make you a believer. (9),Husqvarna-towin! Husqvarna Motorcy cle Co.. Inc. 933 Rich ards Road . Antioc h, Tennessee 37013 . .. Dane Leimbach "" Verm ilion, Oh . "I'm ,tired of hearing abou t th e Big Three as being the Cz echs, the West Germans and the East German s. I wan t the U .S . to be a recognized an d genuine threat in world class trials," Pento n Imports' twenty-four year old R& D man Dane Leim bach summarized h is views towards Six Days co m petition. "I've earned five Six Day s m ed als , an d I can appreciate every o ne . Bu t my goals are p ast t he individual med al. I w ant to assist th e team in winning the Sil ver Va se trophy , and of co urse , I wo uld lik e . to win my class most of all." Dan e describes hims elf as a "farm boy at heart." He has t wo brothers (both ride). an d his parents farm fo r a living an d substitute teach in th e winter. His mo th er writes , an d has co m posed tw o b ook. viewing life through th e eye. of an educated farm wife. Da ne expressed his than ks to all th e prom o ters of the Two-Day Q ualifying S e ri es and "to P en t o n Im p orts (esp ecially! !!!)." D u ring the q u alify ing series, he e xp e r i en c e d only t w o no t ab le down fall s, one in New Jersey where "after an inactive winter, I burned a check by a min ute; en de d up th iriJ in class." Th e o ther, in Michigan, was more serio us . "\ crashed twenty-eigh t miles from th e end, losing a class win an d a Go ld Medal," Dane described it, then added almost as an afterthough t , " Got nine stitches in my face." Is there anything that mi ght ke ep him fr om m aking it to Austria? "Hell or high water," answered the hol de r of four Gold an d one Bronz e ISDT Medals. Ken Maahs - McMinnville, Or . A victim of las t ye ar 's " Crazy Monday " on th e Isle of Man, Husk y rider Ken Maahs was take n ou t o f contention in a Day On e crash. T he fall rebroke a previou sly injured ankle end ing Maahs' bid fo r a medal in h is th ird ISD T. His Six D ays record shows one Bronze an d two D N Fs. Ken 's riding in heavy company this year, sharing a three man Highland Cy cle Rider. club team wi th Malcolm • Smi th' an d Dick Burleson. -

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