Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Li embach . " T o m Penton . Mik e Rosso . not her g uy a nd I carried our bik es cro ss th e sam e river cr ossing twice . he wat er was up to our tits. 100 yards own the tra il a fte r crossi ng the fir st ime, we were ro ute d back to cross the iver aga in ." " R ick Grant fo u n d out that his Iercules floats!" laughed teamm ate ,Dwight Rudd er . But o t he r riders -e ren ' t as lucky. Som e had ridden bli ndly .in to the river s thinking t hey were passabl e and were swe pt awa y by t he swift curre nt . Lu ckily, in spite of eavy ridi ng gea r an d t o ol ba gs st rapped to th ei r wa ists, no rid ers Browned . Som e riders spe nt th e entire day trying to locate their lost bikes m ewhere downstrea m of whe re they tried to cross. Ma lcolm Smith wisely de cided not to try when , " I saw one rider 's head go bobbi n' do wn th e river past me. " :-:,:. Not be lievi ng th e Ft. H ood Dirt Rid er s would ro ute him through a n im passa b le river , P enton's J eff Hill found what he thought was a fairly sha llow crossi ng when , " I found my self sitti ng on the bike going sideways downstream , I tra veled 100 ya rds before I wa s able to get off the bike and pull it up on a bank." When he came up on the first river cro ssing, Jack Penton saw some of the ea rl ie r riders being washed down strea m. "Nearby was a sign that said . '23 people have drowned at Ft. Hood , will you be number 24?' and I said to m yself - no wa y baby!" jackdidn't try to cross , but teammate Carl Cranke d id . Carl go t his bike to the other side , dried out the water and got his bike running aga in , but sand and d irt quickl y destroyed th e bearings, forcing the ISDT sta r to ret ir e his b ra nd new bike . " W it h more a n d m ore ride rs re turni ng to th e start with stories of wh at was happenin g out o n the trail , the Am erican Mo torcycl ist Asso ciat ion 's ( A M A) Al Eames decided to cancel the run . The lucky riders were th e ones with numbers of or high.er who ~adn 't left the start yet. Scouting parties were set o u t to check o u t th e co u rse and inform as m a ny ri de rs as po ssible to return to the ~m po u n d a re a. It was d etermined that the only ndable part of the course was last 27 rfiiles, wh ich co nta ine d m a inl y tank trails and two cross-count ry special terrain tests . The new plan wa s for the t~i al s to res ta rt at I :00 p .rn . > The rain had let u p by then , and riders wer e g iven 15 minutes in the work area to try and repair their bikes ~e fore they fo llowed 15 mil es o f paved a n d dirt roads out to the us abl e po rtion of the co u rse . F in is h ing th e ru n o n 'Sa t u r d a y afte rnoo n wer e 86 ri de rs . half of whic h fa iled to zero the checks and lost their gold m ed al s . The m ost difficult ? l obstacle proved to be a steep h ill , slick wi t h mud , th at turn ed in to a bottl en eck wh en ever one or two riders stalled in the lin e. For th e riders wh o did zero th e ru n . times in th e two terrain tests would dete rm ine their scores . T he terrain tests would not be used o n Sunday because it was th ought they would b ecom e to o impassable a nd da ngerous . with the mud a nd rocks . so Sa turd ay's test times bec ame do u bly important . U nfo rtu na tel y. the terrain test s co uldn't be considered a fair fa ctor in determ ining sco res . T he first tes t in particular, located 200 yards from t he fir st check , saw groups of as many as five riders - all on the same number - arriving at the start at the sa me lime. Rat her then space t he riders out , t h e tim ers sent a ll the riders int o the r est as fast as t hey cou ld co py do wn t hei r n u mbers and times . O nto grou p of five riders was sent into th e test o n ly t h ree seconds apa rt. T h ings were 100 co nfused to be accura te a t th e sta rt o r fin ish of th e test. On the specia l test's tight tra ils it was di fficult to pass . Rid er s who yo u'd ex pect to set th e fas tes t limes . like J ack Penton . were be aten by as much as 60 seconds by unknown rider s who never even ca me close to sho wing up at t he checks o n time . Not to take an ything a way from his o u ts t a nd i ng performan ce thou gh . T eam A rm y's Bob Messer post ed fas tes t times in the two speci a l tests with his 400 Mai co to take th e lea d in trial s a t the end of Saturday's ride . With the specia l te st not bein g used on Sunday. a ll Messer had to do was zero the checks. bu t eve n th at proved ha rder th e n it sou nds . Among the top ride rs who didn't finish Sat urda y were T ed Lie rnbach . who bea t - brot her Dane in th e special tests. but houred o ut nea r the end of t he ru n when he had to re pl a ce a stuck throttle cab le t hen lat er gOI suc ked up in a mud hol e . H ond a 's R ick M un yon was runn ing on li me whe n he houred -out in a mu d hole . j ust a m ile fro m th e finish . Fra nk Ga llo lost th e ign ition in his Team Penton b ike . Sunday mo rn ing da wne d , clo udy . a nd even th ough it would turn su nny lat er in th e d a y, it was d ifficult to j udge th e wea t her for th e 8 :00 a .m . start . so it was d ecided to run th e sa me 27 mil e sect io n as used o n Sa turda y, o nlv ba ck wards . Som e riders decided notto start th e sec ond day. AI Ea m es justified his decision fo r running th e sho rtene d co u rse agai n o n Sunda y. " If we wer e just dea ling wit h 'Six Days' rider s we might ha ve used t he who le co u rse . Thev woul dn 't m ind the d iffi cult l err~i n a n d th e pu nishment o n the ir b ikes . BUI in favor of a reasonab le contest. without put ting undo hards hip on the pr ivateers who have 10 bu y th eir own (A bov e, leftl Yo nk ins t ackl es a mudhole on an easy section of t he course. over the i m pound area on the f irst day. (A bov e) Ominous clouds Th ese guys don't know w hat they 're in for ye t , bikes and pa rts , il was shortened ." Messer zeroed Sunda y's rid e easily, and wi t h his fas tes t specia l test lim es from Sa turday, posted th e best sco re of t he wee ke n d 10 win the trial s overa ll a nd th e Open class. " It was so rt of a bumm er to d o well her e a t Ft. H ood ," sa id Messer later. " be ca use people will think I che ate d . I've nev er see n m ost of the co u rse th ough . I knew I had 10 do well in th e spec ia l tests yesterd ay, When I sta rte d this m orning and kn ew ( was lead ing , I got so ten se ( go t stuc k in th e first wa te rho lel" So me of th e o the r to p ISDT riders we re ho pi ng fo r a not he r sho t a t Messer on Sunday. Among th em was Kevin La Vo ie , who fin ished second in the Open class be hi nd the Tea m Armv rider and fo unh overall . " ( wante;1 th em to run t he special te sts again ," sa id La Voie. " I wa nted a second cha nce a t Messer. " The on ly lOp rider 10 go OUI on the second day was J eff Gerber on his Team H ercules b ike . Ge rbe r was second in 200cc class be hi nd Pent on 's Da ne Liemb ach afte r Sat urda y, but his bike look o n wat e r Sunda y and wou ldn't resta rt. Baja racer AI Bak er had done well o n Saturd ay with his Team Yam ah a b ik e , but w a s pe nalized Sund a y m orn in g o n a tech nical ity. Aft er leaving th e sta rt he . di d n't know he had to travel to th e 22ya rd m arker before he co u ld sto p to put o n his gloves. W ith Tedd y Liernba ch 's DNF , a nd the o the r top' Penton rid er s split up int o A and B teams, th e top factory team fo r th e weekend proved to be Mai co with th eir rider s Barry Higgins, Lars La rson a nd Bill y U h l. Th e wi n n ing c lu b tea m incl u d ed Ed Schmid t , Da ve Mungen ast a nd Stan R u bo tt om fro m St. Lou is Ho nd a . Si nce the Army spo nso red the Ft. Hood . Two Day Tria ls, and it was won ove ra ll b y a n A rmy rid er , it IS a ppropria te to m enti on a few things about th e te a m . The three team riders a re J oe Paradis, Na te Pillsbury and Bo b Messer. Ft. Hood win ne r Messer sa id he wrot e the officer in ch arge of t he U ,S. Army m otorcycle racing team to promote his riding abilit y and make sure there would be a pla ce on th e team for him befor e he ever even joine d th e 'A rm y. The team's main job is public relations and th ey spend mu ch of the yea r tr avel in g a ro u nd th e co u n ty p u tti ng o n thin g s lik e m ot orcycle rid ing a nd sa fety clini cs at hig h schools. Ma ico fu rn ishes the bik es to th e riders, wit h th e Arm y pa ying for pans and travel ing expenses. It sounds like a grea t job. T hey m ig ht even be looking fo r a few m ore goo d men . Apprecia tion goes ou t to Genera ls Patterson a nd Shoemaker who m ade everyt hing at Ft. Hood possib le , t he 1st Calvery Di vision who spo nso red th e event, Maj o r Colston , wh o co m ma nd ed it . a nd th e Ft. Hood Di n Rid er s wh o put it a ll together. Results d·' 00cc: 1. Glen Allison IGI Pen; 2. Deo n Drow n lBI Hod, 101·125cc : 1. Mike Rosso IGI Her; 2. [)w;ght Rudder IGI Her; 3. Tom Penton tGI Pen: 4 . Bob Pearce lSI C·A: 5. J im J enk ins (8) Yam . 126-2OOc<:: 1, Dane Liembech IGI Pen; 2. Donald Cich oki lG) Pen; 3. Rod Bush IGI Pen; 4. Jeff Sm ith IGI C-A ; 5. Andr ew Sm ith (G) Her; 6. Harry Heilemann IS} Pen; 7. M ike Deyo IS) Yam ; 8 . Vern Str eet lSI Pen; 9. David Rose (BI Pen. 201·25Occ: 1, J ack Pent on IGI Pen: 2. Eric J ensen IGI Pen; 3. Ma x Markowitz IG) Pen; 4 . J im Fog le (G) Pen; 5. Ron Bohn IGl Hus: 6. Frank Piasecki IGl Pen; 7. Stan Rubott o m IGt Hu s; 8. Bilt Uhl (S) M ai: 9. Mark Deya (S) Yam: , O. Jack Parker (SI Pen; 11. Kevin Piasecki IS) Pen . 25 1-350cc : 1. Gary Yo nki ns IGI Pen; 2. M ike Hannon fGl Bul; 3. Ed Schmidt tBI Hus; 4. Ove Mungenast IBI Hus; 5. Jef f Ham mon d IBI Yam . 351-0PEN : 1. Bob M esser (G) Mai ; 2. Kevin laVoie fGI Pen; 3. Tom Reese fGl Pen; 4. Denny B eese IG) Pen; 5. Bob Popiel IGI Hus; 6. Barry Higgi ns IGl Mai ; 7. Lars Larson IS) Mai; 8. Nathan Pillsbury lSI Mai; 9. Randy Mastin (S) Hus; 10. J eff Hill iS) Pen . 1st FACTORY TEAM : Maico A; Billy Uhl, Barry Higgins. lars Larson. 1st CLUB TEAM : St . Louis Honda; Stan Rubott om. Ed SChmidt . Dave M ungenast. 7

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