Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

i Desert Hotline s t 00 t"- O') Ron Bebo being chased by a Greaves - Tony, not the motorcycle, Gary Charters first " C" Expert - The first two numbers on his plate are his age. Roeseler wins Desert Donkeys D·37 finale By Gary Laudig 'W ' STODDARD·WELLS . CA , DEC . II . 1 2 hether it was nostalgia , guilt, greed , or the last chance to be with their club-members this year , the largest start line of the year assembled to take on the Desert Donkeys Hare Scrambles. The bomb was lit , a B·gg BSA motorcycle, and the race was on. . As the dust trails neared the wash past the bomb, new Heavyweight number one Larry R oesel er richocheted up the whoop-strewn 'c a nyon followed by Steve Eckardt, then a resident of Ridgecr est , Kern Park on an OR Husky like Larry's, The wash wormed its way up the canyon emptying out into the flat section used in lots of car races . Tom "Roadrunner" Schell , at fourth overall was the first 250 into this section with Bruce Ogilvie, Brad Henson and "Hawkeye" Charters right behind. The racers made the trek through the nasty section then started down into the valley and the sandwash . Bob Gilbert was just ahead of Bob Rutten , P7 , Ed Whiteside but back in the dust was Bill Tarling, moving closer to 'the front as the course headed towards the freeway and Harvey 's Restaurant. Dan Thordarson , John Watkins , Jr . . P26 , Dave Rogaczewski and Dick Evans raced up • the canyon toward the microwave tower. Past the tower the course shot down a narrow canyon then across the valley on a cobby road. Trying to get by L.R . Watkins were Scott Child . Larry Galliker, Tony Greaves and Rod Busse . Crossing the basin , jumping into the wash and back out again, the course headed towards the mountains . Entering the range through a sandwash that got narrower and tighter, Jim Pa yton , Jr. , and Mike Powers exited the wash for a short d ista nce crossi ng some flat small rock sections then back in the wash again . Roeseler crested the rise then started down into the last section of wash before check two . Kern Park was . running second , Brad Henson third. Jim Owens who was just going to putt with Dennis Rosenberg, got a good start , got stoked and wound up at check two 10th overall. The check gave the racers a big view of camp as the course crossed St od d a rd Wells Road less than a mile from home check. T he ri bbon led the racers back into the hills through a wash exactly like the one they just left. Trudy Beck, Dave ' Woolmore, Karl Miller, Dick Steffan, Du a ne Bergman and Keith Soesbe crossed the road and disappeared up the canyon, . By this time the leaders had cleared the mountains, the WFO section that ran about two miles , successfully jumped the five -foot bank into the wide sandwash and were busy contending with the sometimes deep roller sections that seemed to crop u p just when the)' had the bikes wound out. The hot setup was the far left side. Just past the small community, the home of the "Slash X" bar, the racers picked up some more of the car -cou rse . The texture resembled a cupped ou t car tire. Two guys making u p lost time were Joh n "Team -Port" Pr a te r and Terry Davis . O g ilvie , running with two flats ' got off in the wash and decided to call it quits. You can bet th at if the points were close, he woul d have finished regardless. . The course headed into the Stoddard Ridge Mountains, big bleak and rugged. WlEding up a semi- rocky wash , the trail came to a rocky uphill . the kind that are simple without other riders . NateSciaqua moved up. behind Jim O wens , "Roadrunner" Schell had to remove his body from some cactus, setting him back to eighth. R oes eler , the new second place, Henson and Park mounted the uphill with ease then it was up and down fun stuff with a few rock crossings to keep the 'shoes alert. When Mike Lewellyn reached this area , he was first "C" bike Amateur with Mike Butler and James Vincent on his fender. The next guy was Harold King first Senior, first O pen and first Amateur all at the same time. . Coming up the wide, nasty uphill ; the racers got another view of camp. "Downhill" Alexander of "Team Port" thought he was heading for the pits. Gassin it 'd own the hill he intercepted a slow rock , crashed and, once underway, got check four, not gas. Rich Schumaker, Monte Lee and Ray Alexander followed Warren Goodman back into Stoddard Ridge through some more up and down fun stu ff. At the apex of the trail , check five was waiting for those who chose to follow ribbon inst ead of dust : Roeseler and the gang had cleared the second road crossing by the deserted block· house and cleared the rough section to pit row. When Pat Cain's gas cap was . screwed on, Roes eler , Henson and Hallman were heading down the ~ash towards Harvey's Cafe . Eckardt , Lockhart and Bob Young were the next gu ys to leave the pits; head Buzzard Jack Froelich had fellow Buzzard Ernie Mnoian right behind him throughout the race. Trudy Beck had a 20 ·bike lead on Dawn Grant but not the lead in the points category, Lynnette Zuber was running a tired third. The second loop took its toll on . bikes, tires and bodies. Da rren Kelsey couldn't close the gap on Lockhart , Trail Amateur Mark Davidson, Doug Martin and Steve Webb were in the same boat. Ru tt en blew a tire, ca me back to the. pi ts and changed it. Max Ed'd y d id the same bu t all his spokes were loose .'. Anoth er rider p unched a hole in his case. He too k ou t his ohewing gum, stu ffed it in the hol e and finis hed well . O ff in th e distance .a fast streak of dust could be seen then the checkered flag fell for the last time this year on La rry Roeseler and his b la ck tank H usky. Brad Henson, very h appy at that cruised in for second overall. the best overall finish this year for a 175cc bike. Kern Pa rk . with another black tank Husky, took third. l'!0vice/Beginner race A Novice rode up to my motorhome and said he liked the Maywood story. but 1 spelled his name wrong: Fve-l-ke-r. He said "I thought I'd tell ya cause I'm going to be first again." I'm glad my wife copied the name right because the first bike and rider to the bomb was Bru ce F ve-l-k-e -r followed by Eric . McCracken , pie plater A 15, first 250 Larry Beatty, Bob Miller and Brian Ch art ers. Surviving the nasty car section, the racers headed for the wash . Wayne Poore and Chris Nelson were next , then a guy who partied a ll week in New O rleans and got to the Dez a t 1l :00 last night, Lou O rta li. Heading down the wash behind Ch arlie W att ers was T railbike Novice Pa t Fa rris, Ed Walters, J im Rother and Don Boese . H ea d ing for the microwave tower, the big bikes had the advantage. Doug Johns p ulled out a fair lead on the first ! C biker rider Craig Baker . . Diving down the canyon by the tower, first Begi n ner Jim Short, a real ' a gg ressive dude , was working on getting by Leo Zamacona and Bob ' Cronkite. The next Begi nners were 12 positions back: Dan Ashcraft and Matt Bishop. Heading back towards the mountains Jeff Moller, Cliff Thomas, Lars Bergm a n and Kenny Guyett , all Trailbikers were doing their best passing in the fast stuff. Mike Cla rk had Lee Midgley right on his knobby all the way up the wash beforecheck two . Lee nonnally doesn't race desert but his second place last week got him pumped. Crossing the road and heading back into the mountains, Terry Sh ulze, J an Morrison, R ick Martin were . being pursued by Mike Al derson dow n the wash to the WFO flatlands and p lenty of roo m for those brave of hea rt and la rg e on counter -shaft sprocket. Diving into the wide ro lling sa ndwash, Larry Kunkel , Ma rtin Polla rd . Da ve Ol en and fast moving Dave Eccles cleared the embankment, turned right and blasted up the wide rolling. sandwash, Ron Blake was moving up in the Beginner ranks, two pie platers Alex Whitaker and Ron Ku p ke were

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