Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

V,.·.·.·.·.·,4!'.-.·.· ·N (A bove) New hotshoe Bad Brad Henson won t he " C" bike class . (Below) Mitch Payton leads Larry Roeseler, who raced w ith an injured thumb. (Oppo site page) Richard Goetz bambin ' across the desert. Prairie Dogs Hare Scrambles Bruce Ogilvie picks up another overall win By Gary Laudig LUCERNE VLY .• CA ,JULY 24 A 18 t 8:00 a.m. (which is a neat time to stan a desen race) , the dust billowed six miles away. Sound travels 1100 feet per second. so 30 seconds after the line exploded. the bomb spectators heard what sounded like the sound-track from Earth quake. Hauling the mail was 1147 . Bob Ru tt en m aking his old Anaheim Sport Cycle Husky go like the new ones. Larry Roeseler took his favorite line wide to the rig ht , then Bill Satlzman zoomed by with Morga n "The Pira te" Ma locco and Rich Jack son r ight behind him. Bob Bal entine was following Roeseler . Ias was Tom Kelly. Severa! more riders used the right side of the bomb making it impossible to tell who they were . Keit h Hart. running about seventh overall, showed no signs of his long layoff as he moved very fast across the desert . John Watkins and Dick Camp, who rides out of T&O Yamaha of Lomita , followed . (Do n' t know what T&O stands for but the way this guys runs the bomb it must stand for take-off). The next recognizable rider through was Tim Fitzpatrick . followed by first Amateur Ron Irby. A couple of miles past the bomb. Ru tten's birchen luck struck again he whiskered a spark plug. Roeseler immediately took the lead with Bruce Ogilvie in pursuit. J ust past R u tten , Keith Ha rt th oug ht to himself. "tough luck." No soon er had Hart said this than his bike quit - the spark pl ug cap popped off like , a cham pagne cork . Ha rt got going again only to seize later on . The cou rse cont inued on to the right , offering the racers a view of Mellville Dry Lake a bout a mile away. Three m ore miles of this and the course da nced along th e base of the foothills. Clearing this, th e course ".·.- ·.·.-"...-.·.·.·.?·,.·.· pi cked up a sort of fireroad . . . not reall y a road bu t no t really a trail either. Phil Cloward , 'Rick Jones and Pat McEvoy pla yed follow th e lead er when th e course made a sud de n jog to the left , sh oot ing throug h a sm a ll ca nyon then turning hard righ t. The cou rse was surrou nde d by mountains , and the on ly way ou t was stra ight ahead over a rough , sa ndy roa d sca ttered with rocks . Ken Miller, Rog o and Mark Cotter recogni zed the stee p sa ndy downhill to th e left . used in previous races. Runnin g thi rd and fourth H ea vyweigh t Am at eur. Bud Wheeler and Sid Ahuero blasted up th e 20·foot embankment lea d ing out of sand canyon on up th e ba rren ridge. Turning left . ra cers ye lle d " Geronim o" and sho t down a 120-yard downhill of deep sand and fun . Aft er Roeseler cleared th is point, the pain in his left thumb was so seve re , he could n't hold on to th e grip a t spee d . Roeseler slowing his pace didn't bother Bruce Ogilvie in th e least. Balentine wasn't too upset about it either , as th e KTM pilot moved his mount by t he ailing desert ace. The cou rse was head ing home now but th e fast race pace was ab out to be slowed up by nature's d esert version of Mammoth Mountain Moguls. Keep your fee t close to the cases, kn ees tucked int o the ta nk then visualize snow instead of sand a nd you ca n tune up for skiing this winter. Da ve Conner led Vern Heth up th e who o p-de pass t ha t worked its wa y a round t he mountain above Means Dry Lake. Dropping down int o th e valley Dean Meltzer gassed his trail bike throug h Prairie Dog Lane. This sect ion of smooth sand was lined with pe rfectly placed green sagebrush. From here on it was a straight shot to Bessemer Mine Road through the rollers adjacent the rock pile , Ru tt en was on the move again . By the time he hit the road crossing he had settled in between th e Wyoming Kid (Rich Jackson) and Bill Saltzman, at sixth overall, Tom Kelly and Cory Timms had to take care of business as thi s new District "C" bike ace Bad Brad Henson was just looking for a chance to better his position. Bria n Wright was in the chape rone slot holding off second " C" ace Mitch Pa yton. Most of the positions remained the same. The long, fast bomb run and the thick dust didn't afford mu ch passing luxury, Da rt ing around behind th e volcanic mountain Ogilvie gassed the Harley down the wide wash in to th e pits and home check , Oren Beck doesn't know how to act when he doesn't get to fill the first bike int o the pits. The racers filed through the pits , did their thing, put their bikes on cruise control , pointed to wa rds th e bomb and disappeared, The second loop didn't have as bad a dust problem as the first . so th e guys with ample huevos took advantage of the situation and passed some fellow racers . Malocco refused to give up fourth spot. Brian Wright got by Brad Henson; Cory Timms, Tom Kelly and Rich Jackson but he just could n't edge out Sal tzman for fifth spot. Monte Lee . sitting back at 16th overall, decided if he was going to win any thing he had better get a move on he sna pped u p four positions running behind the-red Maico of Gary Conner. Dick Cam p led Art Knap p throug h the pits bu t Art gained the lead back by Sand Canyon, "T ea m Lizza rd 's' Bob Massey was shakin' the rust off his bike, two slots behind Ron Irby at the downhill with the large rock to the right. Ken Earnest. Jim Payton and Wes Arita dropped over the edge glad - " JI•••-IJ1'f? •. ".,••• to be heading home. 1 just packed up my camera when I heard a bike scr eaming through the roll ers . It was Bruce Ogilvie. If ~nyone deserved an overall win today. Bruce did . He hit a roll er a little too hot and the front end was straight up in the air with Bruce's arms extend ed and his feet almost touching th e ground_ Just as he about had it under control. the back tire hit a sm a ll swell a t the bo ttom of the roll er , slamming the front end do wn cau sing Bruce to do an honest to God handstand on th e bars. Bruce fell off and th e bik e cartwheeled out of th e canyon. Before I could get to him he was up . had kicked the bike over and took off fo r the finish line . The guy has to be made out of silly putty. Soon Rutten sho t by, followed by Balent ine and Malocco . Second 250 Brian Wright. th ird Monte Lee . first "C" bike expert Brad Henson . Mitch Pa yton and Mike Matlock followed. Steve Webb . sporting new Mote-Sport shocks, took first Expert Trail second and third went to Doug Martin. fourth to Pete Andelman . First Amateur Ron Irby then Pat McEvoy and Keith Smith followed . 250 Am at eur winn ers were Ken Earnest , Wes Arit a and Don Brand, Jr. T rai l Amateur winners were Roland McFadden , Dea n Meltzer. Paul Krause a nd Mike H osch . The gi rls arrived in one bunch, led by Dawn Grant. Sever al bikes later came June Elias , Debbie Graziano. Kelly W iseman, Lisa Christensen and Lynette Zuber. Trudy Beck got first. Novice race Leading the racers to the bomb were 637 . 845 , P66 Ken Maw . Wa yne Poo re, 694 and P77 . Isn't that a fine lineup? - When you guys get tired of being just a number, maybe you will bug your heavyweight steward about getting the unearned number list to me . Next was the first "C" bike rider Greg Johnston and Ken Boyd. Where th e course turned into th e foothills, Bill Atcheson got by Ron Rich ey only to lose out again in the jog section leading into Sand Canyon . Phil Bayless was running first beginner but Trail Novice Mike Mimms p ushed Phil all arou nd the course. Bob Ishman bird-dogged Mimms in hopes of the first spot position himself. Neil Kitner, second Open Begi nner. was wishing the two Trial Novices would get lost so he could have a shot at Ba yless. 1827 , Dave Wooten . Jordan Chaney. Rick Da vis and 756x "Geonimoooood" as they coasted off the edge of the world down to th e valley basin. Senior Ed Pierce had Ron Cotterman and Mike Mimms moving up on him . Working their way towards home Kris Goolsby , 1854 and James Sanders bounced t heir way through the Moguls without an y problems. Mike Knight , Dave Koleck, O ren Beck and Jeff Moeller buzzed their bikes up the long upgrade winding around the mountain heading towards Prairie Dog Lane, Charlie Walters , Sen ior "C" bike rider. wasn 't too fond of th e deep whoops that theoretically d id n't belong in a drift sand section. Bob Scott , Lyle Anderson . Lance Power and Ch ris O'Do nne ll shot across the d irt road crossing a nd headed into th e rollers and the rock pile area . 1637 lost the lead to fast 250 rider Ron Richey. 639 and 845 had a hard time staying a head of eager "C" bike rider Mike Easley . Head ing in to the pits the beginners and Trail Novices peeled off for the finish and their Olympic size and

• Cover