Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

i Desert Hotline ~ = io 1-0 0,) ..0 I o .... u o m icrowave towers on top of th e hills. From check one on . the prop e r steer ing head selection would prove to be a Sea rs zig-zag sewing m ach ine att achm ent. The racers worke d th eir way in and out of th e giant size pucker bushes. Once the course reached the foothills, it picked up a jeep trail full olf rain ruts and things. Soon it smoothed out and started winding th e suspicious racers ever nearer to the top . The brilliant signs rea d begi nners ' left , amateurs and experts to the right. The init ia l reaction of a racer cresting th e top of the mou ntain an d looking way. way dow n on Fremont Valley is "W ow," th en he tu rns left , looks d own and says" # % ~ I .. The first racing pe rson to st art d own L eprechaun • Downhill, named because th e damn ,h t hing is so big and long , it mak es th e .q racers look like th e "wee ' folk ," was ' T erry Dav is with " Sp ri n t" " Wallingsford righ t behind him. Terry's legs d idn't want to rea ch the l ground du e to the suspension on his mono and down he wen t. Wallingsford was playin g observed trials and didn't like having two dabs ; on e on a rock and th e other on Terry 1 Da vis' gas tank. Wallingsford hooked his footpeg on T er ry's ca ble and when he fina lly got free and ro lling again he yelled to Da vis, "1 think you need a new T er ry Cable!" Da vis go t underway, the n came wonder ki d La rry Roeseler , Prior to the race some of the Shamrocks asked La rry when was the last time - he walked a bike down a hill . Well , the kid was not on ly running third fr om 36th starting pos ition , fou r m inu tes beh ind t he leader , bu t he zeroed the downhill not on e singl e dab . The crowd was kinda th ick at times on the downhill but the crowd at the bottom was th e worst , T he racers did one of three things : talked to themselves; talked to th e man up there for being down the re in on e piece or three and/ or ch ecked th eir shorts. The course picked up a fir e road for a short d istance th en turned left over a drop off sect ion th en on up a windy canyon wash . Wayn e Allen was keeping company with Paul Christensen and Dave Rogaczewski, Garry Conner was right behind looking for a way around. * .. (Top) Unofficial winner Larry Roeseler rides down the Leprechaun Downhill. (Above left) Terry Davis finishes tumbling. but not before (above right) Wallingsford gets tangled in his bike. (Below) Bulldogging it was the most common way down the hill. Roes el e r kisses the Blarney Stone and wins the Shamrocks HUH By Gary Laudig CALIFORNIA CI TY . CA, SEPT. 25 The first-ever D-37 "enduro style" hare and hound was put on by the Shamrocks M.e. Taking their positions on the startline, novice Rick Davis was next to senior Tom Zarp, then 10 the stalwart Terry Da vis , Mike Holbrook and novice Don Wheeler , 9:00 a .m . arrived and all five racers got under way with the cable man Davis quickly gaining the lead , By th e time the front row guys neared th e first of many road crossings, the Shamrocks turned the second bunch loose. Senior 0185 , amateur Howard Markham and novice Ray Guilbeau fishtailed off th e start and on their way. Every ride r on the sta rting line had on e th ing on his m ind - what is th e downhill going to be like? The course headed southeast towa rds th e familiar knob hill , the last check of t he Ma ywood race . To get th er e took five road crossings . Once in t he area th e course swept down a neat ravine and hooked right in the direction of Galileo Park. By this time row three was well underway; Garry Conner, Mike Butler , Jr. and Charlie Hermanson. The next wave of Carl Miller , Dennis Keaton and Bill Stewart got to see what it is like to be in Brent Wallingsford's dust. By the time the clock struck 9:02, 25 bikes were underway. Francis Christensen got to watch his son , radical Paul , since th ey bo th were on the same start. Terry Da vis slid into check one then headed back into the desert in th e d irec ti on of t he foothills a nd the As th e cou rse intercep ted th e base of the mountains heading towards home. Roesel er got by Brent for the lead. The course was a com bi na tion of rollers and smoot h whoop-de-doos. Making a road crossing, Jody Belknap had pesky James Vincent right behind him as the course made a gradual uphill rise heading for two small hills, the area infested with thick puckers all the wa y. Turning left through the small va lley, the course headed for home through a whoop/roller trail about five bikes wide. Larry pitted first, then a little later Wallingsford made his appearance followed by Davis . The second loop headed out over territory much the same as ~hat the racers came in on. Soon they found themselves in some really neat up and down canyons, Scott Child, Mike Cole and Steve Ekardt made their way through the giant up and down stuff heading out on to a barren ridge about 300 feet down. This was an uphill two years ago in the Shamrocks race. Bob "Banzai" Balentine with a 140-some start number, was closing fast on Ed Zarp, Larry Gillihen and Russ T aylor. Completing the downhill in fine fashion , Jim Owens, Russ Collins, Steve "Q ua rter" Lindsey, Mike and Bruce Lewellyn ran the rid ge portion , and into the first of many super neat

• Cover