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/126067
- -_ . . , , , . - " ; HOOK N'LADDER ENDURO t 10 l-< IU - ..0 o ~ u o Check po int greet ing, trail pickin' and rock sittin- three fairly tranquil view of the Hook and Ladder. By Ron Schneiders _CAL CITY, CALIF . , SEPT. 2 :"'26 The Hook and Ladder is called an enduro, but that's like calling the Olympics a track meet. The purpose of the shindig is simple: Raise a who le lot of money for Dr. Zawick i's Los Angeles Cou nt y/USC Burn Ward. This is a real meetin g of opposites. The 10 enduro and it s associated activities are nothing but fun, but th e Bum Ward is stric tly serious. Th e Bum Ward is w he re people who are so b adly burned th at they ca n 't even lie down are tak en to be tre ated. The equipment n eeded to keep th em alive, com fort ab le, and fre e of infection (very .difficult in bum ca ses) is soph isticated and expensive. In past ye ars the Pasadena Fire Department and its Ladies Auxiliary have purchased much of the equipment, including two $12,000 vital-function monitoring units which have been used 24 ho urs a day since they were purchased. This year they' are hoping to raise enough m oney ' to buy an au dio-visual system that will allow a nurse to watch all the critical p atients con.tinu ou sly . The Bum Ward, of course, has a special meaning to fire men, not only because they are first to see man y of the victims, bu t also because there is always the chance that they might become residen ts of the wa rd themselves. T he Pasad en a Fire Dep artm en t hosts th e event, but fire me n from the en tire ar ea support it en thusiastically. I saw h alf a doz en dep ar tm en ts riding as " clubs" , including th ose fro m L.A. and Lo ng Beach . Th e hard est thing a fireman do es all year is wan gle a day off on th e wee ken d of th e Ho ok and Ladder . The program began Saturday. sho r tly after noon, wi th a mini enduro for the toddler set. This consisted of a slow race and a sort of English trials section abou t 1/ 8 mile long. The man who was supposed to run the event unfortunately became ill at th e last momen t, so the Californ ia Enduro Association took over and went on with the show. To my ' astonishment, they proved th at it is possible fo r the C.E .A. to layout co urse that does not incl ude a killer downhill. The m in i enduro drew 3 00 entrants, ages 6-12 years, which is m ore than - a normal D-37 enduro. There might be a lesson t he re. The C.E .A. did a great job and the kids loved it . Next on the program was the parachute jump of the California Aerial Circus. This event, too, came close to becoming a n on-even t, because o f poor weather conditions in Los Angel.., a