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/126256
Schreiber spectacular in World Trials By Lane Camp bell made the difference I 18 n past years, Ameri ca n tria ls ride rs h a ve 1{onc to Europe , rid den a co up le of W orld C ha m pio nsh ip rounds . a ~ d returned with a finis h anvwhe re between 20t h a nd 60 l h , thinking , " W e ll , at least I learned som e th ing ." Bern ie Sch reiber was different. Turned loose on th e FIM C ha m pionsh ip c ircu it for th e fir st ti me since becomi ng o f age for a n FIM lice nse , Sch re ib er ro de 10 a fifrh in Belgium , a third in Spain , another fift h in France (after lea d ing the tr ia l unt il his Bul ta co inhaled a goh of m ud) , and a second in "Vest Cerma n y. I n on e s hort m onth , the upst art America n had , aft er mi ssin g' the first two rounds . vaulted from now here to fift h in ti ll' W orld C h a mp io nsh ip sta n dings . Wh at m a d e Bern ie Sc h r e i ber di fferent ? Part o f it was attit ude . Sitting drinking lea in th e Schreibe r famil y kit ch en , Bernie mUSl'S a bou t h is "fe llo w Am er icans ," " Ma ybe Ih ey d on't ha ve th e a ui ru d e they're going 10 win ," he sa ys. " T hey gel t he mselves psyched into nOI go ing all out," M ik e G riffitt s was talking about his 1974 t rip to t h e Span ish t rials roun d : "A lot of Eu ropean rid ers t ried to psych m e out . They 'd rid e u p ,by a sh eer ve rtical ro ck wall a n d say, That lo ok s lik e a go od se ct i o n fo r Spain . , " 1 thought , 'God , I'm going to g et killed over t he re, ,,, "It wa s weird ," Be rn ie is sayi ng , " Befo re I left I told p eople I hoped [ 0 finish in th e top five . I alwa ys tried for first , a nd e n d ed u p never worse th an fift h . " W h e n I go t 10 Belg iu m , J practi ced five d a ys before th e tria l in t he mud , T he firs t day out , I cou ld n 't even r ide . BUI by the e nd o f t he wee k I h ad it wired . " Belg iu m was the co ldest o f the tri al s, W I' w.ere riding o n ice in t he morning. The co ld re a lly gOI 10 you , In t he mnrning there re a lly was no lime 10 wa rm up , Yo u h a ve 10 hav e yo u r bik e ins pect ed before you ' re du e o u t , and th e first rider leaves at 8 :0 0 a .rn . It rook me about six sec tions 10 warm up properly , " It was probabl y t he worst ro u n d I rode , maybe a lilli e too d iffi cult - I ha d 130 poi nts for th ree la ps, 18 sec tio ns, A 10 1 of t he sec t io ns were th e sa me , and gal into a ' m u d groove' , T he who le tr ial s was mu d , It was like Sadd leba ck after a rainstorm : vou a lmost h ad 10 push \0 move on l~vel ground ," . After Be lg ium was Spain , a nd Be rn ie was pu mped , The le mperalure wa s in the 70s, "S p a in was the best r o u n d of a ll. Vest i wo n t h a t one , , , Buls were 1-2 -3 , The sections we re all di fferent - o ne mu d , th e n ext water a nd rocks, the n m a ybe a n off, ca m ber. T here were two loops, 25 mil es , 25 sec tio ns , W e were on a tight sc hed u le - o n t he second loop we h ardl y h a d lime 10 look at th e sect io ns , It was perfec t , though , I h ad a 101 o f cleans , no t m any fives - it wasn ' t a ll th rees a nd fives like Belg ium ," S addleba ck . 1t wa s m y firs t assignment {or Cvcle N ews, to sho ot th r [irst -ever Am erican trials round , January 5, 197 4. l n no rm ally dry So uth ern Ca lifornia , it rain ed so mu ch