Ted
ondale
The vicepresident's
son , ,
(
•
;
is a racer"
By Gary Van Voorhi s
t was the third day of a week long
Gary Bailey motocross school. In the
swirling dust and the heat of the afternoon sun, the "Professor" was explaining how to choose the fastest line . 20
students of assorted ages , sizes and abilities
listened attentatively while resting, before
apJ?lying the lesson . There was nothing to
I
16
dlstmguisn that the student resti ng on bik e #507 was
anything other than another student who came to
learn how to be a better motocrosser ,
He was. Bu t there was also something speci al about
rider #507 .
It d id n't have to do with his ability . He was a quick
learner and a rider with some style .
It wasn 't his equipment or ridi ng gear. The bik e, a
Yamaha YZl25 , showed th e rigors of racing and his
riding gear had seen enough action to be class ed as
thoroughly broken in .
It wasn 't his actions. T eddy , as the riders ca lled
him , helped at .hreakfast by serving as an impromptu
mess sergeant. H e stood in lin e after th e day was over
with the rest of th e stud ent s to get a shower (ho pefu lly)
before the hot wa ter ra n out. He took care of his bik es .
It really wasn 't anyth in g you co uld pin down . T eddy
enthusiastica lly gave 100% in the morning warm ·up
touch footb all /rugby game d evised by Ga ry Bail ey as
on e of exercises to ge t the blood flowing before breakfast. An d at night he slept 10 feet off the ground in a
tree house that was locat ed near where he and his
friends had selec ted th eir pit area .
It wasn 't his name. To the students T ed Mondale
was just another on e of th em.
To th e rest of us Ted Mondale would also be j ust
another name were it not for the fact that Ted's father
happens to be the vice -president of the United States.
That fact makes him speci a l.
If Ted thought he was spe cial , it didn't show . In fact
on e cou ld sa y he was so uri-special that there weren't
any Secret Service agents in eviden ce - unl ess they were (
disguised as tr ees.
In a co nversa tion after th e schoo ling was over for
th e day Ted pointed out th at the Mondale vice- ,
presidential famil y is p rob ably the first to m ove abou t
freely with ou t hav ing a round the clock Sec ret Service
protection . Of co u rse th er e are times when the protec tion is necessary but th ose are few.
The con versation con tinu ed . " I don't know wh at I'd
