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/126259
be doing if I had the Secret Servin :"pecking over m y shou lder all th e tim e. T hey have th e power to tell you what to do a nd wh at not to do. If th ey sa id I cou ld n't ride motocross th en that would be it. " I really don't think about th em. T he re was on e in cid ent , however, a month or so ago tha t made me rea lize how vul nera b le you can be. It was j ust after those mass kidnappings had happen ed in W ashington ." T ed went on to relate how Secret Service agents whisked him from the bus stop to th e guard sh a ck at th e ent ran ce to th e vice- p residenti a l residence and th en how another group of agents had moved h im from th er e to th e hou se . "T he pl ace was su rrounded with men carrying sub-machine guns . It very quick ly brought home the point th at m y fa t her is a pretty irn portant m an ." Motorcycle s a ren't new to Ted. He bo ught his first one with savings from a p aper ro ute when he was 12. In th ose da ys his father used to ride . He d oesn't a nymore. The dema nds on his tim e hav e precluded th a t. Alt ho ugh t he re is no longer any tim e for riding , Ted does keep his fa the r at least somewhat in to uc h with mot or cycling . Ted turned to h is fat her when he heard abou t President Ca rt er's proposed Execu tive Order on ORV use of fed er al lands. " I asked him what t he EO was a ll about and he d id n't know. He then talk ed to the Sec re tary of the Int erior (Cecil Andrus) who assured hi m th at it was n' t anything like I had heard . I guess we'll just have to wai t beca use you really never kn ow. " I do kno w th at th e Dep artment of Int erior a nd th e W h ite House received a large response , both mail and phone , on the proposal. That's a good thing . It 's the on ly way you ' re go ing to be heard . I think it'll be hard for t hem to sh u t us do wn altogether." Imagine, if you will , th at you arc on a m ilita ry in stalla tion . It is the Na val Observ atory located clo se to Washin gt on , D .C . In one a rea th ere is a hous e su rro u nded by a fen ce with a guarded gat e th at is oc cupied by th e vice -president of th e Un ited Stat es. Imagine also t ha t you a re wit h a tour grou p th at is visiting th e fa cility. Across the lawn of th e house with th e ga te drifts an unfamilia r noise-vbrrrrp , brrrrrp , brrrrrp. In the d istance a nd getting close r is a rider on a motorc ycle. As he ·ge ts closer , he notices that you and other people are wa tching. He lofts his front wheel. He sm iles. He flashes th e peace sign. He wheelies off·brrrrrp, brrrrrp , brrrrrp- -into the distance. It is no t you r im agi na tion. " I' ve done a few peac e sign wh eel ies on the lawn ," says Ted with ob vious glee, "for th e folks waiting for the tours to begin and maybe an Admiral's wife or two. It was all in fun ," Now you would think all sorts of thi ngs have changed in Ted's life since h is fa ther got a new j ob. You are p robably right , but you would never guess wh at cha nge Ted likes most. It 's th e fa ct t ha t he now has huge lawn . The significa nce of th a t will probably be lost on everyo ne but those who ha ve lived in a ne igh bo rhood where ha ving a m ot orcycle was th e same as having a con tagi ou s d isease. If you r bike was a motocross bik e and you liked to occasiona lly get it ready for the ra ces, well that was a n even worse disease. "W hen m y fa t he r was a sena to r I would hav e to set m y bike u p by running it u p an d down the st ree t a co uple of times · qu ick like - before th e police came to see who was making a ll the no ise. No w at our new hou se I ca n race it back an d fort h ac ross the la wn as mu ch as I wa nt a nd no body really bothers me. O f co u rse the fence and th e guards at the ga te might ha ve som eth ing to do with it, I guess. " Ted. at th e age of 19 . has no vision s of setting t he world on fir e as a motocross racer . He is present ly ra nked as a B class ride r by the AMA and has two anti a hal f years of competitive ra cin g under his bel t. Last yea r's p resid ential ca m paign (" O ne of the best a nd mo st interes ting th ings I' ve ever do ne .") cut short Ted's ret urn ' to raci ng from an almost year long working and skiing "vacation" in Vail, Color ad o a fter h igh schoo l gradua tion . T he year before tha t it was' ra ce , race, race a nd th at is wha t Ted is looking forward to every week end from no w on : O n any Sunday you can bet that some whe re in th e Virginia -MarylandD .C , a rea Ted ca n be fou nd racin g to advance himself to t he A class. Oh yea h ; one othe r item. Ted wor ks at a full time jo b. Wher e? In a mo to rcycle sho p ( Bla lock Cycle in Wheaton , Md.) . Ca n you beat tha t? • ORV issue: Second wave of response needed W EST ERVILLE, OH . , APR. 25 The ' American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) today urged that the nation's off-road riders not be lulled into a false sense of security by th e recent sh ift of the political spotlight to energy conservation. "While th e focus of attention in Washington is on conserv ing fuel ," "sai d AMA Associate Legisl ative Director Rob Rasor," "an d motorcycling as a whole could benefit fr om ' that . we cannot overlook the fact that th e pr oposed executive order concer ning federal land use policies is still very much al ive within th e Council on Environmental Quality. (CEQ). " In mid-March, theAMA and the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) learned of a proposed executive ord er substantially modifying federal la nd use policies affecting off-road motorcyclists. Both organizations launched major efforts to ' mobilize motorcycling's response to th e White House , and th at response resulted in a delay of th e proposal. . "The original target date for issuance of th e order was April 1," Ra sor said , "However, motorcycli sts. flooded Washington with their opposition to th e proposed ch a nges and as a resu lt suc ceeded in postponing any action until after the President's energy message was delivered ." T he effec tiveness of th e m ot orcyclist wr ite-in ca m paign a nd th e cu rre nt status of the proposed exec utive order were out line d in a letter to Ras or from U .S. Con gr essm an St even D. Syrnms (R. , Ida ho), a member of th e House committees on agriculture and the in te rior. Symms said , "It is now m y un(alt hough th e Adderstandin g ministra tion is making a concerted ef fort to keep th e lid on th e exact p roposal ), that the CEQ has re -drafted the proposal a s a result of tremendous citizen pressure. No on e seems to know exac tly what the new draft says, but it is generally thought that the changes have been watered-down considera bly," However, Syrnms went on to warn that motorcyclists must continue to voice th eir views to the President. - "T he latest ~ord from Washington is that th e off-road vehicle ch anges will be p art of th e President's message on the environment and that message will be d elivered some tim e in Ma y. possibl y as ea rly as May 2 ," Rasor said . "Essentially that speech will do on e of four things, at lea st two of wh ich could be bad for off-road riders . T here may be an executive order proposing dra stic changes, a n execu tive order proposing m in imal changes, recom mendations short of an execu tive order to change th e po licy or no recommen dation or order at all . . "The final draft of the President 's speech is being written right no w," Rasor conclud ed . "T he initial flood of mail and telegrams postponed th e executive order. Now we need a second wave of response that will put this issue to rest." All motorcyclists are urged to write President J immy Carter, The White House , Washington, D.C. , 20036 , or call (202) 456-1414 , and voice their opposition to proposed changes in federal land use policies which would further restrict legitima te .use of off· roa d veh icles . • 17