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/126065
Frank Gallo -- Lisbon, Oh, "Ther e's no th ing like it in all th e world - not money , or an ything else can co mpare with th e thrill of w in ni ng a Gold Medal," Fr ank Gall o sum me d it up . "I t's a th rill to look bac k aft er all the work an d swea t when yo u've com e out a winner. " The nineteen year old form er Husk y rider started ridi ng a 400 Pen ton in Ja n u a ry af ter I' re ce ivin g no enco u r agemen t " from Husqvama. Support fro m th e Penton crew h elped Frank ma ke it through th e Two -Day ser ies, and he p articularly thanks John Penton and General Manager Larry Maie rs for letting him travel with th e team . Stocky Frank (" Bein g a J;lh ysi call y big bo y , I've always raced 1D the Open . class. ") cu ts a m ean swath through th e easte rn woodlands using technique th at he seems to have learned in high school football . Sp orts, including football , basketball, baseball and track, are his main non-cycling activities. Frank has won Gold Medals in th e Two-Day Trial Championship Se ries ; now he 's after the big on e - an ISDT Bill Geier •• Metuchen, N.Y. " T he only re ason I'm spending all this time and money on riding ISDT is because I re ally enjoy it. If I wasn' t spending my time on motorcy cle s, I'd probably be wa t ching TV. I j ust lik e th e motorcy cle atmosp here. How m uch is a me dal wo rth ? I' ll let you know as soon as I win it in Austria. " W ord s s poken wit h a r in g o f co nfi de nce ca me fro m eighte en y ear o ld Billy Geier as he lo oked fo rward to his fi rst ISDT. The T wo Day series hadn ' t tr eated him b adly , except for one b ad day at Bad Rock. "First , my sh ifter came off and ruined the splines," Billy explained . "It took me ten minutes to get goi ng, then I hit a rock and wrapped the ch a in aroun d the countershaft sp rocke t. I didn' t t hink J co uld fi x it, but managed to (so meho w) . Then ' to top it all off, I fe ll o ff a small cl iff ! It took th ree spe ct ators and me to drag the bike b ack up the cl iff. And I came in to th e ch eck ex a c tl y on m y m inute ! I was as t o nished! " Helping the unemployed, sin gle (" I'm not married. I' m not even cl ose!") r ider thro ugh th e seri es was hi s fath er Bill who " rid es for fun, but he d oesn ' t usuall y make it to the second day in a qu alifie r . " Geor ge He r s t e k also accompanies Billy to help h im and another friend su pport-wise . Jeff Gerber -- Amherst , Oh, "A G old Medal this year is ex tre mely im p ortan t to me. I must mak e up for last year o n th e Isle of :'o la n," Pento n Im p or ts' nine teen yea r o ld Assi st ant Serv ic e M an a ge r J eff Gerb er said e xpressing hi s determi na tion t o d o well in Austria . Hi s firs t a tte mp t a t IS DT co m pe t it io n e nd ed on the first day when , ridi ng o n a na rrow p aved ro ad . a car stopped in front of hi m. J ef f go t side ways avo id ing th e collisio n but hi s b ike went in to the o the r lan e and an o n co m ing cem en t lorry dragged i t d o wn th e r o adw a y . He wasn't seriousl y inj ure d , b ut th e b ik e was totalled o ut. J eff' s m ain su pporters in the T w o-Day series , " both fi nancially and mo rally ." we re hi s par en ts. He tr avelled w ith th e Penton e nt ourage an d received th eir p it crew 's much welco m ed assista nce, When not w ood s ridi ng h is Penton , " Goobe r" enjoys swimm ing. Why d oes he do it ? " Because I want t o ." What rewar ds w ill it bring? "None." How m uch is a m edal wo rth? " A lo t . " Mike Hanno n offers no ex planations or excuses fo r d o ing what he believes in - he just d oes it - and o d ds are th at his straightforward ness will cam h im, and the U.S. World Trophy T eam , a top p lacing in Au stria. Harry Heilemann -. East Quoqu e Mike Hannon - Silverado, Ca. Six Days suc cess depends t o a gre at ex tent on a rider's absolute refusal to qu it under sometimes incredibly di ff i cult co n d iti o ns. Mike Hannon demonstrated hi s ability t o succeed under suc h condit ions in th e T wo Days in A laba ma q ua lifier when he co m p lete d the run , riding with a broken fooi, an d still sco re d second in th e 25 0cc class. T he twe n ty -nine yea r o ld Tech nical Promotion Representat ive fo r Bultaco Intern at ion al is m arri ed to a pre tty lad y nam ed T he resa who " has helped me a great deal a t all the eve nts." She's active in sp orts and is a pre-med st uden t. Th o se wh o have helped make it possible for Mike to ride in this year 's ISDT incl ude Kurt Kieff er (Bel-Ray Oil ), Frank Love ll (In ter-Am bike sup p lies) Knobb y Sh op In t. , Prest on Petty Products, Geo rge and Doug at G&D'S erv ices and , last but certain ly not leas t, a ll th e peopl e at Bultaco Internati on al. As third alterna te in the original team selec tion list, eighteen ye ar old Harry Heilem an u 's ch ances o f going to Austria ap p eared slim a t best. Then things sta r ted h appening. The A ~ IA ap p lied f or, an d wa s g ra n ted. two m ore positions on the team, and Do n Cutle r wa s inj ured and d ropped off the team . "All this j ust happened too fas t. I learned Saturda y th a t th e two ex tra slo ts h ad be en gra nted, the n lat er o n in th e d ay I heard abo ut De n' s m isfortune . I'm really sorry abo u t Dan ' s acci dent. Sun d ay I raced in Rh od e Island, th en came home to Lo ng Island . On Monday , the phone st art ed ri ngin g, and o n T uesday at 4 :3 0 a .m . I was o n m y way to Lorain, Ohi o. I'd been to ld th at I onl y had until Thursd ay to set up the b ike , b u t fortunat ely go t a few m ore day s -- all I d id was p lay m echanic for five days at 15 -16 hours a d ay until the bi ke wa s done." " As fo r th e p eople I'd like to thank, I can ' t begin to name them all for fe ar th at I'll miss one .. there have been so m an y who have helped o u t in so many ways . I can on ly say th anks to everyone who has hel ped me thi s year." " All th e t ime and m o ne y I'v e spen t has b een to ful fill a goal in life of earning a G old Medal in Six Day s," he co nc lu ded . Since 1968 the American/OSSA team has symbolized the best in spirit and competition. Again this year, the OSSA dealers and riders extend their best wishes and salute the riders who carry the American/OSSA colors in the 1976 I.S.D.T. * Earl Law * Dave Hulse * Ron LeMastus 23