Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

i Desert Hotline :I m inor Injuries and mostly from play riding. I did hear of one pit racer, who I guess didn't want a bite in the bu tt , cut and run. He was last seen heading for Trona , WFO. The little patrol jeep never had a chance. . To sum it all up, good weather, a good ride, super people, lots of fun , lots of prizes and most of all a big bunch of money to the bum ward. t t' t' (j') ~ Balentine dusts Dusters D-37 HElH By Gary LaudigRED MOUNTAIN , CA , SEPT . 18 Taking heed of the warning about the washout area past the Dusters' bomb , Bob Bal e ntin e (KTM) maintained the lead p ast the (A bo ve) Curtain clim ber class gets off at Hook & Ladd er enduro. Lots of f atherly advice. (Left) There was this one slippe ry h,m. ... 2,500 riders: The Hook and Ladder does it again By Donald E. L. Betsworth CALIFORN IA CITY, CA, SEPT. 17·18 O 18 ver 2500 riders, a super weekend for all that attended , an army of prize winners. That was the fourth annual Hook and Ladder family enduro. Dick Payne and his dedicated enduro crew had a dream that came true, not once but four times . This dream did not come by just wishing. It takes many days and thousands of hours of super hard work to make ' the biggest enduro the best and most fun-filled of all . The planning and preparation for the Hook and Ladder is approximately a 10 month undertaking. After the event and the trophy presentation , Payne rests for two .mo nths and then back to the drawing board to plan for the next one. The Pasadena Fire Dep a r t m en t Women's Auxiliary used to make money for their favorite charity by having bake, rummage, and garage sales . At another enduro Payne got the idea - make a lot of money for their charity and put on a real family enduro. Thus the Hook and Ladder was born. All proceeds go to the Los An geles Coun ty-USC Bu rn W a rd wh ich is administe r ed b y Doctor Zawick i. Pa yne says the Hook and Ladder has exceeded his wildest dreams, and has donated to the bum ward approximately $55 ,000 in four years. Around 12:30 p.m . Saturday, the mini enduro got underway with approximately 150 entrants. All of th e entrants for this run received a Frizbee and a super poster. Greg Broadwell took first in the under five class . At 4:00 p.m. the California Aerial Circus Parachute Team headed by Pat Moorehead (a Vernon fireman) put on a super jump show . Moorehead landed with shroud lines in a bad way . He had repaired them, but some of the knots didn't hold . He said,- "1 could have bought it ." They were falling at 120 mph. At" 6:30 p.m. Payne mounted the stage. It was really the tailgate of a truck so loaded with goodies they almost hired a Brinks guard. The two big prizes of the evening were wheeled out - a Yamaha 125 Enduro and a Suzuki PE250 . The Yamaha was won by a gentleman who moved so fast that a name and picture were impossible . Bu t the PE was claimed by a very nice lad named Jay Hissem of El Monte. After the bikes came fenders , helmets, goggles, tires , jackets, many kinds of oil, and a ton of other good stuff. At the pit site all entrants picked up a bag of goodies. Pennz-Guard from Gumout, a can from Champion Choice, and a sample of Armor All . Also included was a ream of stickers and flyers. Drop all th e contributors a line and give them a big thank you . O n Su nd ay loop one started off 25 minutes late. They added a new class this year. The Golden Masters is for the Geritol set , 50 or over . The three- mile check was a little . confusing to some as it was within sight of the start and right in the middle of Park C bowl. T he next 10 mi les were marked with tons of ribbon and you cou ld even see the "coke" stop from a mile out. At the break it looked like a fire department reunion . After noticing all t he firemen riders, a friend of mi ne asked me "Who the hell minds the store when this thing is run?" Most firemen like me use a vacation day to attend and then usually have to get a fellow fireman to Hook & Ladd er had so m e of the f oxiest checkers in desertdom. gu arantee to work for you . Right after the break (a bo ut 14 m iles) th er e was one gully that may have given som e mo th ers an d kids a sligh t problem. The rest of the loop was easy. It was laid out for th e kids , the no vice , and maybe even for som e " laug h-in type riders ." I was told that Debbie Evans and her dad Dave , along with Larry "Zero the Course" Langley had entries. After a 45·minute water and gas stop, loop two got going. The course started west, then bore south and passed the Borax Bill Park. Soon the first good hill was encountered and a few riders had a tad of trouble - it was a little slick in places. My photographer rode his number then went back ou t a nd rerode most of the loop . The hill seemed a choice spot for photos . After a few miles the loop reversed course and all riders got in some roa d . riding. O n a few stretches of good dirt or pavement "the bears" could have handed out lots of "green stamps" (CH P and tickets to the non CB 'er). Up 'til now the route was pretty good, then came five or six miles of "Dick Pa yne'sCemen t Dust Factory. " Row 15 was bad but th e poor devils on 315 may need a week of showers to get clean. After the dust came some very soft sandwashes , Many riders really "sm oked it" trying to make up "bad hill " or "d ust" time. , I've ridden three Hook and Ladders and without a doubt they acquire the foxiest check po int gals of an y enduro , At the end of the loop, all the riders on early numbers were smiling as they neared the end and smiled even more when they recei ved the su per finisher pin from a very foxy lady, The loop was fairly short with only a couple of speed changes. With the loop run at 18 and 24 miles per hour, it was over in approximately one hour and eight minutes , When I finished I went back to the start of loop one and watched the last riders go out. T he last row left a t 12:35 p, m, It boggles the m ind , just thin k, eight a row for five hours and 15 minutes. All of this yea r's loops were run on Cal Ci ty la nd and did not touch BLM rocks and sand. This was an adde d savings a nd more for the burn ward as BLM would have gotten a buck a rider. Again this yea r a beefed up Pit Patrol did a fantastic job. Only a few . bomb , past flashflood gulch on into the foothills through a wash last used by J .N. I think. Following were : Bruce Ogilvi e (H · D) , Brent Wallingsford , Tony Greav es, Ed Zarp , and Cory T imms, P7 dumped it in the tum but got go ing befo re .Steve Eka rdt an d Gregg T homas , first amateur and first C bike , shot by. Mitch Payton got by Thomas for first C, Dan Thordarson was hot on his heels. Heading out on loop two , Balentine lost about a minute trying to find his way out of th e pits . When he got going, Ogilvie was right on his buns~ Zarp lost some time in the pits tightening his re a r brake - but to no avail. .IG . , Racers found the gomg pretty smooth, then the course hooked right down a road that hadn't been used since the Model T . Paying attention to the washout warnings, the road led to a flat out area , through a crotch . similar to the pipe line railroaii crossing then more flat land area. AS the course turned right headi ng ou t of the wash towards home, the racers Iiad to reall y concentrate as th e rocks were not in a consistent p attern . On ~ throug h here, the racers picked up " In tersta te 37" whic h took them to T rona road crossing. ..~ Sta rt ing back towards Ch arlies,: the racers entered a soft u phill grade , one that tends to harvest a sailor's vocabulary in the small bore ranks. Payton moved up five positions behind Zarp , Rich J ackson 'got by 10 persons, setting his sights on Payton's JT fender stickie, Bill Saltzman and Jeff Kap lan (second 250 ) were giving their all ; Saltzman at the disadvantage due to a lO-mile Saturday night hike, T om Mattox (first Heavy Amateur), Jim Payton and Ed Rod ine (second "C") stayed together throughout the entire event , while James Vincent (third "C") worked up 12 spots before the las! check. Paul Christensen (third 250) got a chance to see the "W yom ing Kid" Jackson practice summersaults in the rocks. Paul worked up 31 places by the time he reached the pinnacles, a nd things. As the first racer appeared in the distance, the speculation started, The jersey with the KTM on it cleared the spec ul at ion , Ba lentine cruised in wit h a big grin, W hen asked how he liked the course, he sai d "su per, just super, marked better than a ORA course, " which brought big grins of pride from the Dusters present. Chu ck Ca rtledge took first Trail Expert , . The novice/beginner race Up the wash , George Gibson had about a l Il-second lead over Eric McCracken , Wayne Poore, Wayne

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