Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.~_._._._._._._._._._.- . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . _ . Western hotline This t r adition al y diffi cult St. Pa trick 's n a y (or nearest weekend) mee t . (wh ic h is a magnet for r id ers wh o sho u ld kn ow better). h as in the p a st set the stage fo r a se aso n's o ngoing ri val r y betw een M arl and Wh alev ( Hon ) a nd Be rnie Sc hreibe r ( Bu l), T h is yea r, Sch re ib er is in Europe ( r idi n g th e Fr en c h World Cha m pions hi p ro u nd o n t h e da y of the t ri al ). Whaley en joyed a low - pressure season t u ne u p , a nd the trial it self was set to favo r abil it y to take ph ysical pun ishment as mu ch as vir tu osit v under o bserva tio n. . At th e e nd of the firs t d a y, a g'ut sy. muscul ar Mark Egga r led th e Experts with a six po int sco re . T ypi cal of his da y was h is ride in ca nyo n -bo t to m Trap Two , where- the Honda 's cases c r u nc hed solidl y on a ro ck step, a nd a powerfu l heave by Egg'ar turned a sure " five " into a cliff -hanger "one. " Se cond . at seve n poi nts. was La Pla n te ; Wh aley was t hird with nine , J e ff Fis h had 10 , whi le Martin Be-lair ( Mon) a nd Mik e G riffins ( :\t o n ) h ad a 12· point ti e goi ng . Bar ry Ri chardson le d the Am ateu rs a t 22 points; Greg W e lh -ver ( Bu l) a nd Mike Bernb aum ( lion) had a 22 ' poi nt tie going in th,' N o vice class. Ron Bu sch led the Se n io rs. a nd would go on to win hi s cl a ss. In o r hcr cl a sses, t he tables wo ul d t urn on Sunda y, wi th a slig h t ly e asier loo p a n d m ore "So u t he r n Ca lifo r nis h" This Novice rider's g ot a de finite worried look in Sunday's cobby secon d t rap . Expert w inner laPlante one-dabbed Su nday 's final section on his extensively-prepared Kaw. Did " w eari n ' 0' the green" bring luck? Are you ready for a one-handed handstand? The second m iracle was. he stayed with the motorcycle and got through Sat u rday 's trap two with a scrambling three. v.o. T.E. Two Day Trial rewards survivors LaPlante upsets Eggar on tiebreaker count By Lane Campbell TEX AS CANYON, CA . MAR . 12 ·1 3 Gary LaPlante , riding his personally trickedout 325 cc Kawas aki, tu rned the tab les on Honda teamster Mark Egga r to win a n Expert contest so tight it h ad the clu b counting ones to break t he point tic . Bot h riders had d ropped 13 po int s and clea ne d 30 sec t io ns during two full d a ys of co m pe ti ti o n on a co urse t ha t was not for the faint of hea rt , Each day's 20 ·trap loop was ne arl y 50 (n iles l on ~ . la id o u t 0\'('( 50nH' o f Ca lifornia 's most rugged rideab le terrain , ranging from hot, dusty ca nyo n bott oms at 2. 0 0 0 f, 'et to c h il l 18 windswept m ount a in c rests a t 5. 000 f,·el. In between were cl im bs a nd drops so a b ru p t ears popped al ong the wa y, On e parti cul arl y m emorabh· downhill on Saturd a y's 1001' d ropped a bo u t 1,000 fee t down a kn ife ·edge r idg« . It sccrru-d 10 go o n Io rc ve r , a nd eac h time riders thought it co u ld n' t g('t an y stee pe r , th e t rail wou ld d rop o ff th e ('d g, ' of I he world . Picture a good N o vice trap , the kind th at those read y to transfer out of t he class ca n c lea n . hut whi ch will draw a dab here . a dab there from t he .lv("'rag (' Novice tria ler. Now imaginesu ch a section tha t gues on for f> O miles . Picture Vvbotr orm-d ca nyo ns barely engine ca se -wid e, with ro ck st e ps, dry waterfalls , a nd p owdery offca m be-r c lim bo u rs. (In pa st yea rs these c' llly o ns have had water in t hern , This )T ar of the drought. Ih e y were parched . )

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