Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Fast dinosaurs prevail in OTHG (North) finale \\.c;. \A\~\c~ClE RACING ASSOCIAT. PRESENTS a "CHRISTMAS SPECIAL" By J ello Joe Phillips "WIN CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR YOUR PARENTS · SUNDAY, DECEMBER ll1h• AT ELSINORE RACEWAY SANTA MARIA , CA , NOV . 20 .In cold clear weather, with pit fires and lots of steaming coffee , a group of creaking dinosaurs othe~ known as the Over The Hill Gang (N orth) , who among other defi ciencies refuse to give up ra cing motorcycles , gathered for the last race ofthe yea r in the final run for the 1978 numbers. In moto one Kaptin Kirk (Am) beat the experts to the hard left corner and led half the race until Maniac Mike (Ex) blitzed by, with Cheap Chuck and Phil thy Phi l , who combine heavy throttle hands with the cojones of mastodons , engaged in their usual race-long , lead-changing, bar banging run, decided a hundred yards from the checkered by the lines they took around a novice , who had cut off Cheap Chuck in a turn . Intermediate Come-on Chu ck had shotgunned his Maico into the lead in the second wave until he got out of shape twice to drop behind Amorous Al and Dung Dennis , but managed 10 ca tch Dung on th e last lap , Am or ou s taking the win . In the Novices , Bu lt a co -rn ou n t ed Buffalo Bill (a buffalo riding a bu11?) took numerous excursions over berms whil e leading and spun a nut off his clu tch to DNF, moving J ello Joe into the lead , follow ed closely by big J owls J im who passed on the sixth lap for the win. Tired Ted parted company with h is Ya m a ha as usual aft er a good start, but hung on for th ird. After interminable accounts of the difficulties of the reversed track , th e gang lined up for the-last moto of the year. Amateur Dorky Dave , down to h is last try for the Number Four plate, carefully slipped his weapon in to gear, but when the surgical tu bi ng almost took C heap Chuck's helmet off as he tried a no -no on the start , Dorky watched his coveted number disappear with the mob around the corner. He had very ca refully selected th ird gear to startl Maniac Mik e , bits of wet fritos still dryin g in his beard , cruised to the Expert win and th e overall, with Phil thy Phil taking the checkered only two bike lengths behind. Cheap Chuck, gun ·sh y about a turnaround start, had cooled it off the line and finished third. Jumbo J im , third in the first moto , held off Kaptin Kirk for the Amateur win , but Kaptin took the overall , with Dorky Dave ne ver recovering from his bummer start. In the second wave, Come-on Chuck got his usual holeshot ov er t he Intermediates , but Amorous Al passed him in midair over the jump at the end of the finish line straight, just before the deep-sand, dead -right turn, thus setting up the day's heaviest action, which would bring the ambulance flying over berms , siren wailing. Com e-on had repassed on the next lap and, figuring Amorous would be going to the well twice , held it on longer approaching the same j u mp . Su re enough , Am oro us really wicked it but to uched down so fast he cou ld n't m ake the turn, hitting a n ast y rut a nd cartwheeling into th e b oo n ies. Fortuna tely, he got off with only a bad ' cu t over his left eye . Come-on took the win and the overall , with Dung Dennis gett ing his Number Four for '78 by t a ki ng second fo r t he m oto a nd overall. Rocket Rodney ~~ ~hird _ . ; _ ION ONE TIME ONLY ! RIDING NUMBERS WIL L BE ISSUED TO U.S.M.R.A. MEMBERS BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE DECEMBER 11,1 77,' CHRIST MAS SPECIAL·. IN CASE OF A TI E , THE LOWER NUMBER WIL L 9 BE ISSUED TO THE RIDER WHOSE MEMBERSHIP APPLICATI ON AND ENT RY FORM WAS RECEIV ED FIRS T . THE NUMBER ONE ( II PL AT E FOR EACH AGE GROUP ( 6- 8 , 9- 11,12 -1 5 AND THRU 18 I WILL BE RESERVE D FOR THE RIDER WHO ACCUM ULAT ES THE GREATEST NUMBER OF POINTS DURING THE MONTHS OF JANU ARY AND FEBRUARY 1978. THE NUMBER ONE ( II PLATE WIL L BE AWARDED MARCH I , 1 8 . 97 TO CORONA CENTRAL AVE.( HWY 741 . U.S.M.R.A, A NEW "MINICYCLE MOTOCROSS ASSOCIATION. IS ESTABLISHING RIDING NUMBERS FOR THE 1978 INAUGURAL COMPETITION YEAR. It's nice t o have water crossing s back in NorCal enduros. PRO PAYBACK' T hru 1 6 T hru Ie CORONA FRWY. ( HWY. 7 11 ~ ELS INORE RA CEWAY ' L _......_ AILROAD CANYON RD. 0 - B3 cc 1 0 ee 0 Th, .18 1 5 ee 2 TO SAN DIEGO ·U.S M.R.A. IS DEDICATED TO THE RIDERS AND THEIR FAMILIES · 300 P...,ona Mall .... t · P...,GfIG · Ca . 9 176 6 · 71 4 :" 62 2- 0773 Meanwhile in the Novices , Jowls Jim, riding on the edge and absolutely de~ermined to win d up the yea r by not being lapped by the experts, had a big lead over Tired Ted and Jello Joe. Buns Bob , his four -stroke Yamaha eating up the sweepers, passed jello for third just as Tired Ted , who abhors prosperity, dropped it on th e nasty camelback jump in th e esses. Delighted with th e fun Tired was ha ving , Buns dropped: his thumper in the sa me place a lap later , with Jello al m ost losing it wh ile cracking up over a ll th e mi sfortune. Jowls finally stayed unlapped by the experts , taking the win and th e over a ll, with J ello Joe second . Buns Bob got t he loudest gang ch eer for the day for h is fourth pla ce trophy, with an unbelieving Tired T ed taking third overa ll. Next race for OTHG (N ort h) is J a n ua ry 8th at Spillway. New members welc omed I • au Ion Jr. MXers loose on the streets The Winter Enduro ends in survival drama By Mike Kinsella TWAIN HARTE , CA , NOV . 20 A big four way tie was broken up by seconds and R ay Sanlorenzo (Husky) to ok first place. Bill Greene (Yam) , J ack Ped ersen I (Kaw) and John Troutt (Yam ) took second, third and fourth . All fou r A riders zeroed th e course and all rode Open class machines to their overall positions. The Sonora Pass M .C . put on th eir usual fine enduro which consisted of long stretches of fire ro ad interspersed with one-to three-mile sect ions of rough terrain - a la yout whi ch many of the 400 riders appreciated after a season of rugged , fast -paced runs. The 94 -mile event featured some super good uphills and downhills on the seco nd loo p . Sp eeds averaged in the 20 to 24 mph range throughout the course . For the 497 riders wh o m ade their way 10 the sta rt ing line th is Sunday mornin g the prospect of a long r ide was n ot ve ry e nticing. Frigid tempera tu res affected fork oi l an d transmission flu id to the point where they functi on ed like m ush; finge rs and faces were numb after a few m inutes o_n the ~ike! , a n d ~he grey . ~1?!1~ • • • • .Ian mateo • • • • • I • • • YAMAHA • • • • • • • .' • • Parts & Accessories Sa le. & Se rvice 521 E 5th Ave . Sa n Mateo, CA 94403 Pressure Balanced Fork Seals Ken "New Teflon Coated" • LifeTime 11.1"111"INUCDiu.;llbli;~NN XILlliilollllllllllllllllllll - Guarantv . &XL350 (8 oz. rotor) 15% Horsepower increase throughout range Lakewood Honda 11747 E. Carson St. .Lak ewood, CA 90715 Di st rib ut o r - ~ A~ ~~~~~ :~TrialS -0 ~ ~, ~ lo.._ ...... " ' " " ~ ~ . -... ~. ... 1 Dec. 11 4 De Espana : Saddleback Park 4 --~ f c c cD. •• . .. d 714-638-7173 ~ ! . . ~c. . 12811 Main St, Garden Grove, CA 92640 213-860-1~",",?I~~~~I~,:?I~,~,~J . . .. Ro In Ss 1 4 .... rs , 1I Cycle News Want Ads do it I

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