Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

u" J .. ., J I cha llenge by British champion Rob Shepherd a nd Marland Whaley all but fizzled ou t. Shepherd lost a colossal 35 m?'rks as th e new facto ry machi ne showed its excess of mu scle. Whaley's tem pera me ntal machine just petered oUI on hi m twice in sec tion s a t Kilrnoniva ig a nd Switchback . He stripped t he ca rb u retor aga in . but fou nd nothing . Day Three The ha lf way po int of th e tr ial saw a n w leader in Rob Edw a rd s · a nd th e popul ari ty ra ting of th e highl y resp ec ted Montesa ace soared as the watching multitudes came to realize th e golden oppo rt u ni ty now in his gras p. Edward s. co nsiste ntly steady rather th an sensa tiona l, eme rged with a one mark advantage as Andrews po inted ro. overgea ring of th e Ossa as th e reason for his fall from power , At the su perb new Ba Hou se sections on the return loop from Bridge of O rc hy, Ossa 's sta nda rd bearer threw a-ray ma rks almost as rapidly as th e fi ~t rain of the week whi ch showered down from angry clouds. champion Marland Whaley reached the end of th e line with th e temperamental stop·go Honda . His cred ita b le ob served performan ces were ca nce lled ou t by a colossal 56 ex tr a marks for lateness. caused by mor e ca rbu re to r stri pp ing and a seizure near Cal lart. Unwilling to prolong th e agony, he op ted to pull out of t he com petition. p .S. Day Four ,W ith the bit now firmly between his teeth , Mart in Lampkin and hi s seemi ngly unburstable Bu ltaco soared into the lead. The style in which he storm ed effortlessly to clean the hills of Ca m p , Glenuig and Rubharuadh was all the evide nce that was needed. Beauliful, gneruetic, romantic · , Debbie'S the IOPSI m By Mick Woollett " By 'eck, she don't arf go - I have to work hard to keep up with her between sections," said Yorkshire's Mick Wilson, one of th~ hard men of the Scottish Six Days Trial , after Wednesday's run. He was talking about Debbie Evans , the litt le American girl who made her debut in the Scottish last ~ek . and immediately won the ap plau se of the spectators and ad miration of fellow com pe tito rs for th e way she handl ed her stock l7 5cc Yamaha. 'For three days Mick had ridden in' clbse co m pany with Debb ie a nd desp ite th e extra power of his 250c c ssa and h is lon g experie nce of th e Scottish he was p re pa red to ad mi t th at Debbie had led him much of t he time . - - - - -- - -- - -- -- - - - -- -- -- - -- --- -- - -- -- ------ - --- - •• • Nothing, but nothing, cou ld stop him from pulling off the hat -trick . The Yorkshirernan's forage of the banks of snow capped Ben Nevis , towe ring 4,406 feet into th e clouds, brought on e early upset when the Bultaco dropped into a hole and sta lled . It was Lampkin's only real mistake , and from that point on he was back to th e confident , m asterl y form that had set him in a clas s of his own 12 months ea rlier . Now it was th e turn of Rob Edwards to be th e pathfinder, bUI amid th e presence of Montesa 's bi/-( work s 350s, Edwards and his 310cc mount perform ed creditably. with a non-stop run on this , the longest day of the trial. Day Five The blank and bew ild ered expressions of a t lea st half a dozen of th e lead erboard men told the story of the penultimat e da y. Lampkin , desp ite losing the d ay to Karlsson by one mark, ha d dealt hi s riv al s a demoral izing blow , by stretc h ing his lead to 15 marks. But it was mor e than that. The stra nge departure from th e traditiona l marking out of th e hills in favor of nadgery. one-d ay type sect ion s. had th e aces in th e pack baffled , Card posit ion ing at Callart Fall s was even tighter than it had bee n on the first d ay, a nd ga ve co ntenders a lmos t no choice of ridi ng lines. And at Ben Mevis. th e ro uting away fro m th e natura l pa th of th e stream to ta ke in a loo p aroun d a. tr ee . upset Andrews . T ho rpe. Birk ett Hem ingwa y a nd Rob Sh ep herd . and only La m pkin and Karl sson were ab le to avoid having at least one ma ximum. " It's only a matter ·of tim e now be fore t hey start taping sections" ob serve d Hem ingwa y. who was one of " It's lovely sitt ing ba ck there watch ing her go. I've even work ed ou t what the letters BERM on th e b ack of her suit means. Beautiful, ene rge tic. roman tic, magn ificent ," sm iled Mick . Benn Specialit ies is th e Hull -based firm wh ich imports trials and mot o cross goodi es fro m th e States, a nd it was Berm boss Bill Emmison who was largely instrumental in Debbi e ridinR in th e Scottish thi s year, " It' s always ben a kind of dream to ride ·in the Scottish - but I never t houg ht I'd reall y m ake it ," sa id Deb bie. who weighs 7st 12 lb . and claim s defiantly to th e 5 ft. 4 in . - th ou gh ad m its this is " st retching it a b it." Then she heard that Berm would like to part -spon sor her in Scotland . " I j ust cou ldn' t resist it. Yamaha in th e Sta tes came up with some money to hel p a nd th en Cy cle N ews appealed for ern husiasts to hel p . They got a good response and all the cas h put together has pre tty well paid for the tr ip ." Deb bie first applied for an interna tiona l license last yea r. soon after winning he r Expert's license in th e Stat es. "T hey stalled me. I guess they d id n't wa nt some sq u id of a gi rl riding in th e Worl d Ch am pionships." So Deb bie rod e a II th e na tion a I trials in th e Sta tes and finished in t he to p 50 ou t of over 150 co m pe tito rs. " I ca n' t remember now wh ether I wa s 45th or 49th .bu t it was good eno ug h to persuade the AMA to gi ve me m y in ternat ional license this vea r." Mot or cycling runs in th~ famil y. They live in Lakewood , Californi a , a nd her father Dave (h e's th e one who does the in cr edible continuous wheeli e in "On an y Sunday" ) sta rted ' in trials but now rid es ma inl y endures - and her siste r Donna rid es too . Debb ie arrived in Engla nd in mi d Ap ril a nd afte r sigh t-seei ng in Lon do n went up to Hull a nd prepared t he Yama ha provided by Gordon Fa rley. " I p refer the 175 because it's lighter - 7 --~ - ---1' many to wrong-side a card after for gett ing which way the sect ion was su pposed to go. Day Six J ust three hours awa y from on ly th e third hat-trick in Scottish hist ory. Martin Lampkin was on th e rafte rs. He had sta rted th e day defen d in g a 15 mark lead , but on the jagg ed , movin g roc ks of Cn oc a Linn he, th e Bultaco had run out of steam , and th er e was a n ea rly five. Now , sta nd ing o n Pipelin e , his faced sho wed all th e tension s of th e most grueling week of his life . T he re had bee n a handful of ea rly cleans, from J ohn Reynolds, Dave T horpe a nd Mike Skinner, th e first three men up , and then Mick Andrews, but now the section was cu tt ing up. Mom ents later, the Yorkshireman made his atta ck . Changing d own from th ird to seco nd , he briefly lost rnorn en tum , and ou t went a foot. The dab became a two , and the two became a three. That was n ine altogether so far , and th er e wer e still 22 sect ions to rid e , Would Lampkin crack at the eleventh hour? The next sections were crucia l, but th e man was equa l to the task , German Camp disappeared behind him for a prod , th ere was anot her at Mamore , and then another failure on th e th ird su b of the snaki ng traps of Ca illich. But it was enough. W ith Rob Edwa rd s dropping six himself at Cnoc a Linnhe and seven on Cai llich , and Ulf Karlsson . the only o t he r r ider in st ri ki n g dist ance th rowin g away II in his a ttempt on Cn oc a Linnhe, Lampkin was home a nd d ry with onl y the th ird hat -trick in Scottish histo ry. " I was panicking t here ," adm itted the winner, as he bit his way into a chocola te bar back at the fin ish . and I'm used to it. But on the one I use at home we've done vario us mod s. For example the rear sh ocks are moved forward , which keeps the front do wn · wh ich wou ld h ave helped here on the rocks. But th e standa rd one is p rett y good. " How did she enjoy th e Scott ish ? " It's great. A diffe re nt e x pe rie nce to anythi ng I've rid de n in before . At hom e we never hav e a ny ro ad work in ou r tr ials a nd we do n' t hav e any moors . and ou r rocks aren 't slippery like th e Scottish ones!" Because of her endu ro exp eri enc e th e betw een section scratching held no terro rs for th e littl e Ca lifornian. " I like to go fast. Bill Emmison told me th at if I cou ld keep up with Mick Wilkinson who sta rted just in front o f me I'd be okay · so that's what I did ." In a tria l t hat had co m pe tito rs gas pi ng and ma ny losing ma rks on time , De bb ie fi nis hed ea ch day looking fit and spry. Did she do a ny specia l tr a ining ? " I keep fit. I usuall y run two m iles a d ay . but tri als is not a full lime job for me - 1 earn m y money do ing stu nts for film s a nd tele vision ." ;. r . I . , . , . "Some secnons were really hard." Rob Edwards too had done enough to keep his second place. Smiling as ever , he was among the first to congratulate the man who had pipped him by 14 marks, but the real hero of the final day was John Reynolds. He couldn't have picked a better day to go early, and both Cnoc a Linnhe and Pipeline were in prime condition for the young SW M rider. The day had begun with Andrews and Karlsson vying for third . place, but it was Reynolds , swooping in for the kill with a meager haul of five who beat them both to it , aided by the onl y clean of Cnoc a Linnhe. Elsewhere it was a day of high drama . Andrews punctured before reaching Pipeline and changed a tube , but up against tim e now a nd with a stead ily worsening hamst rin g injury in curred as earl y as Tuesd ay, the Ossa pilot rode Pipeline clea n - with out look ing. • Results Overall : t . Martin Lamp ki n 99 IBull; 2. Rob Edward s 113 IMon); 3. John Reynolds 116 ISWMI;4. M ick A ndrews 118 lOss); 5. Uif Karlsson 119 IMon); 6: Rob Shepherd 133 (Hon); 7. Ja ime Sub ira 146 (M on); 8. Norman Shepherd 141 (Bull; 9. Jo hn M et calfe 153 (8ul ); 10. Malcolm Aathmell159 ISuz). Day One: 1. M . Andr ews lSI; 2. C. Sunon 11 31; 3. R. Edwards 1 141; 4 . U. Karlsson 1 ; 5. R.Shepherd I171 6. 161 ; M . Lamp kin 1 ; 7. J . Reynold s 1 ; 7. J . Subir a 1 ;' 201 231 231 9. J . Metcalfe (24); 9. B. Higgins (241 . Dav Two : t . M . Andrews 1 ; 2. A. Edw ards 131); 3. 281 U. Karlsso n £34 ; 4. J . Metcalf e (36); 5. J . Reyno lds 1 : 1 421 6. C. Sun on 1 43); 7. M . Rath mel11451 7. B. Higg ins 1 ; ; 451 9. M . Lampkin 1 ; 9. A . Lampkin 1 . 461 461 Dav Ttv ee : 1. A. Edw ards (SS); 2. M. Andrews (56); 3. M . Lamp kin 1 591; 4. U. Karlsson 1 ; 5. J . M etealfe 1 ; 641 651 6. J . Reynol ds 1711; 7. N. Shepherd 17 ; B. A . Lampk,n 61 m l; 9 . C . Sun on 1 ; 10. R. Shepherd 1 791 801. Day Four: 1. M . Lampkin 1701; 2. R. Edw ..ds 173 1;2. 31 891 M . And rews 17 ; 4. U. Karlsson 1 ; 5. J . Reynolds 1901; 6 . J M etcalf e 1961 7. R. Sheph..d 1 ; B. G. : 991 Chandl", 11 081 9 . N. Shepherd 1 ; 1141 10. N . Bi' ken ; (115). Dav Five: 1. M . Lampk in (821 2. R. Edwards 1911 3 ; ; U . Karlsson 11001 4. M . Andrews 11011 5. J . Reynolds ; ; 1 114); 6 . R. Shepheed 11201 7. J . Subira 11291 B. N. ; ; Shepherd 11 231: 9. G. Chandlet' 11 421 10. J . M etcalf e ; 11 421. This stu nt ing sta rted with motorcycle seq u..nces , leaping ravines , ridi ng th rough fire, a nd so on , Now it's expanding. " Tve got to know them at the studios and thev ca ll me in to doub le for the stars. Recent ly I lea pt off a building and I'm working on my ho rse ridi ng so that I can do uh le in ridi ng sce nes . I' m m y own manage r and agent. " However . afte r rhe Scottish she was offered a 250cc Beamish Suz u ki for the Am eri can Champion shi p a nd if all . goes well she'Il cha lk up a first by bein g th e first girl to com pete in a World Ch am pi on sh ip tri a ls rou nd when she rides in th e Am erican ro und next mont h. Will she be back nex t wa r for a seco nd crac k at th e Sco ttish ? "T here's no doubt abou t t hat. I' ve got the bug · th e Scott ish is the grea test. Bu t I a m co mi ng ba ck to Europe thi s yea r. The organ izers of the Bol d 'Or han' invited me over to give t ria ls riding and balanci ng exhi biti ons d u ring the Bol d' Or in September and I hope to ride in a few trials in France wh ile I'm o ve r. • 9

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