Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Not satisfied with just topping the hill. Clarks Branch climbers go for distance standing on t he seat! ·Sonora Pass Winter Enduro: more than just fun. By Mike Kinsella DEER CREEK , CAL. , N OV 21 All the toughie endu ros were run , all the ou t-of-sta te super riders had go ne ba ck home, it had rained and the d ust was Everybody gives the 1037-foot Clarks Branch hill a go. even the m ini-set t hrow ing the bike for distance. going for t he 400-foot mark. Clark's Branch Hillclimb enters second season By Lynne Diltz January 23 , 1977 will mark the opening of the second year of climbs at the Cla rk's Branch Hillclimb , south of Rosebu rg , 30 Oregon. The South Umpqua JayCees have a bigger schedule than last season from a Kid's Mini class, to an Open Pro class to a Powder Puff, to the latest addition , a Trials Bike Class . According to spokes man Tim Lieb , this will be a class for trails bikes only equipped with trials tires and a sto ck pipe with no extensions. There's a clas s for kids 12 years of age and under, and riding no bigger than 80cc machines, a 100cc Kids Class which limits the age to 15 and under , then 125 , 200 , 250 , 400 , 500, Open Sportsman and an Open Pro class (with 100 % payback). plus the Powder Puff. For all classes , RUBBER ONLY. no chains. Because of the added classes to an already full schedule, sign-up has been moved to 8 a .rn ., practice is from 9 to 10:45 a .rn, and climbs start at 11 a.m. SHARP. There are quite a few records to be broken this season. Present holders of those records are all local area climbers. David Schmid of Roseburg has the Kids Mini Class record at 400 feet even. Myrtle Creek climber Larry Shields has a whopping 580 feet in the 100 Kids Class a nd that one won 't be broken for quite awhi le, The 125 Class climb is a lso 580 feet and that's credited to Da rrel Hahn . Bob Ba tem a n and wife Kay hold reco rds Ka y has the Powder puff footage a t 560 feet and Bob 's 844 foot climb is in the 250 class . J ayCee Phi l Aguilar of Myrtle Creek has powered h is way to 620 feet on a 200cc bike a nd 400cc rider Gary Bowman , another Grants Pass man , holds the 400 class rec ord at 940 feet . 'Ch ris Hill on a 500cc went over the top of the rugged climb in 30 :08 seconds and the present "over-the-top" fastest time is firmly in the clutches of Dick Chambers, at 25.5 seconds. The hill itself is hard for me to describe, being unfamilar with this particular form of biking. 1 attended the first event last season and thoro ughly enjoyed it. But the only way I'd ever get to the top of that hill is in a helicopter! The start is straight and fairly steep. then there's a jog in the track at about the 400 foot mark. Past that , th e going is a bit eas ier , but steep. At th e 800 foot mark there's a ro ck outcropping that does have a path through it but throws both bike a nd rider off ba lance. If a rider can get past the '900 foot marker, and has the strength and th e power left , chances are good he will go on over the top , the distance of which I believe is 1037 feet. When the timed climbs are all done riders put five bucks in a hat and see who can get up the hill th e farthest , standing up on their bikes. That part absolutely freaked me out. . . I don't see how they can make it sitting down , let alone standing up. Besides the January 23rd date , other climbs are scheduled for February 20 , March 6 and 20 , April 3 and 24 , Ma y 8, and the Championship is Ma y 22 . Be sure to , a tt end these climbs; they are worth seeing. And any JayCee with his club vest on , gets free spectator admission. For more information , call (503) 863 ·3276 or (503)863 ·4054 . D-36 Monterey Short Track By Burt Dinner MO NTEREY , CAL. , NOV. 20 Wha t happens to old motorcycle racers? T hey keep trying, and that is wh a t Fred Berinett did in the 250 Expert event. Bennett led from the start , in the scheduled 15 lap Main. Actually they ran 16 laps. It seems that one of the lap checkers got a little excited and gave them an extra lap . Her name Mrs . Fred Bennett (Terrie). David Hufford (Yam) made his first Sportsman start a winning one , taking home the 100 Novice trophy. Terry Tocol carried home two trophies , winning in the 200 Novice and finishing second behind Wayne Busb y (Bul) in the 250 class . Coming off the cheaters line , Rich ard Matuszek (Suz), nailed Ron Mayfield (Yam ) at the finish line for a victory in the 125 Novice. Another elder statesman, Benny King, (Yam) , had things his way in Winning the 360 Expert Event. The race for second was between Matt Rohr (Yam) and his brother-in -law. Lee Seidel (Bul). Rohr made his move on the next to last turn and it was a good one. • Results in Results Section. Grants Pass IndoorST By Lynne Diltz Grants Pass , Or., Nov. 12 " Flyin' Br ia n " Pete rson was back on the track after suffering an injury during one of the first indoor races of the season. He made up for lost time with a second in the 250 A Main behind pro Jeff Campbell, then got revenge by soundly beating Campbell in the Money R ace . . All this of course, at the J oseph ine Cou nty Fairgrounds co vered ' arena . There were 102 riders crowded into the tiny', pi t area wh ich is located at one end of the rather cramped buildi ng and a ll th ree sides of the spect at or area were fu ll. Rem arkable considering that football -orie n ted town was having a play-off with a Sale m sc hool. S t a rt e r ' Howar d Campbell m igh t have thought he was fooli ng people with his fa ncy full coverage ear p lugs . It was a radio and he was liste ning to the football game! settled. Everyone was set for a good ole District 36 fun run, the usu alWin ter End uro fire road tour'. Even those battered riders we hadn't seen sin ce the gas check on the Cowbell suddenly reappeared. ready again to throw themselves into the voracious mouth of the three headed monster called time/speed/distance . All but a few that tiny minority of radical A riders who take everything seriously - were ready to relax . The night filled up the forest around the camp clearing like a black wind and kind of edged up against the big bonfires which burst up everywhere among the people . And the people lea ned close to those fires, drank good brandy and wine and beer , ta lked, la ug hed and p layed with their chi ldren . The m usic that ca me from the eight track stereos ,was soft and fine; and a damp , leafy autumn smell came from the moist ground. Overhead a billion hard, ice-tipped stars stretched across the night sky like bright riders run ning their course. O ur ride wou ld come with the sun , but tonight it was a celebration and a ritual of an almost complete cycle. Around m idnight some drunken fool fired off a few rounds of .44 magnum . and most everyone went to bed. The next morning some 500 riders sprang out onto the 95 mile course. The sun was warming the woods . the ground was solid and the traction was good on the trails. From the start to the first check the course was generally tight, rough trail interspersed with fire roads at a speed average of 20 mph and 30 mph . After a free five minute gas check and refreshment stop it was trials time as the red arrows led on through a short , slick surfaced rocky section. Most riders were so hyped up from the high speeds of the first loop th at they charged into this place like fig h ter pilo ts but exi ted like staid old captains of lumbering Zeppelins. The n umber of d abs m atched t he foot fa lls which m ight be made by a very la rge her d of centi pedes crossi ng th e co untry from coast to coast on crutches . T he terrain go t pretty to ugh a nd the speeds remained in the 20 to 30 mph range. One had to smoke to keep on time. Grad u ally people began to injure themselves and/ or their mo tor- ' cycles. Strangely enough many of

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