Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

=: . . . ..,....,.,.-.-.-.-...:\,,,.,.,.,. . ,...-.-...- -.-.,.-"..-.-.'.'.'.---.'.'.'.-...'.-....,.'.....-.-..,.'.'..,..",.-,.-.'.'..,.-",.-.. .'.'.'.'._.:'.'.'.'-1.....'.'.',•.•.•'.'.-.-.-".,•.•.•',...... ..... "tIItIW E Desert Hotline ~ E (Above) ATC riders have their endurance tested, (Below) CRC had pretty ladies 8t the start lJolee Jensen) and the finish lCam Andrews), Husky rider Dennis Stevens goes for it, Ma/occo masters CRC one-da, trial By Terry Rezek RED MOUNTAIN, CA, AUG, 26 One hot and dusty day in the Mojave Desert, a gaggle of otherwise reasonably sane people gathered together to contest with 22 the land, the heat and each other on mechanized versions of the horse. This proved to be so much fun, they began doing it ~ ~ days as a ritual. After some time, the more rigid among th~ people added a new element to the ritual, the clock, and a new belief was formed; "it's not how fast you go, it's whether you get there at the exact time that matters." Well, you know that a bunch of rowdy, undisciplined d~n rats wouldn't let something like that go unchallenged. Enter the "One-Day TriaIsI" Based on a combination of desert racing and enduro-style events, the California Racing Club took some rider suggestions, added a few imaginative touches of their own and came up with an event that was confusing for some and exciting for all. The idea seemed simple enough. Take three loops of approximately the same length but of greatly varying difficulty, add specified speed averages, spice with special tests and everyone should enjoy. Of course, there were a few interesting modifiers. For example, as the speed. ~ent up, the course got tougher; and although you were not penalized for being early, you were for being late; and every second you took on the special tests was added to your score; and you had to carry a score card and get it properly scored; and - there was a lot of thinking to do, not just racing. More than some could handle, apparently. The bottom line, however, was a race within a race. Go as fast as you could to get ahead of time and, when you get to the special tests, go faster! _ The fun began even before the race staned. Following the reliability trails analogy,' CRC mandated a one· hour impound for all machines. This was to / insure a "cold-engine" stan. After 10 a.m" the August sun made sure the riders were hot even if the engines weren't. Even here, some people found a way to bend the rules in their favor. One well-known rider was observed slowly kicking his engine over for quite a long time before his start number came up, "just to keep it primed." For those who played it straight, the penalty time to start and ride Y.o mile was one minute, a chancy affair with an overly tuned race bike. One of CRC's best racers, Kenny Upp, go~ hit by the balky bike blues and started the race one minute and 50 penalty points behind. In his push to catch up, he went down only a mile off the start, the first of a series of catch·up crack·ups. By the time he was through counting stars, he found himself racing with his buddy, Ken Heil, who had started two minutes later. Push though he might, he was never able to make back the time and, being one of the few to ge: penalty points, was out of serious contention. Watching this race was like watch· ing a political convention, I was never sure who was doing what to whom and the winner came as an expected surprise - two days later. It was impossible to get an accurate idea of who was even in contention at the race itself. For one thing, the riders were started two per minute, which stretched the start over more than two hours. The nature of the event added four and. a half hours to that, if you didn't lose any time. Just to give you an idea of what the scorers were up against; Ed Segler, who started on number one with Roger Heath of Arizona, rode hard and came in second at the finish. As of Tuesday's preliminary scoring, he was not in the top lOt That same early scoring points to Morgan Malocco as the overall winner with an on-time ride, no penalty points and a total of 180!! seconds (points) on the special tests. Since all the Experts started first, this is probably official, but don't count your trophies until the official results are in your own blistered hands. This was designed to be a tough event. The time schedules were high enough to keep the less skilled riders well stressed and the latter portions of the course were rough enough to test the abilities (and the patience) of the bener riders. There were a few complaints about the roughness of the course, even from some with winning scores. This was a new event and some bugs were found and should be eliminated before the next time. The first loop, which was designed to be very easy and fun from a desen biker's point of view, proved to be extremely hard on the ATCs and Odysseys which ran on that loop. Those that finished at all were stretched out over an enormous span and most had horror stories of incredible diversity. I mean, how many ways can you say you got a flat tire? Greasewood branches and sagebrush love to munch on thinwalled balloon tires. The per· severance award goes to 18 ATC, who got his assigned flat, hitchhiked on a passing bike back to the pits. picked up a spare, hitched a ride back to his machine, changed the tire and finished the race - hours late but finishedl CRC tells me that the ATCs and Oddysseys will be included in more desert events in the future but they will be on separate courses, hopefully with few tire eaters. The next CRC desert race will be in Barstow, Sept. 9. Note: This is a change from earlier schedules. Be sure to check this issue's ads and Calendar listing for details. • Results OPEN EX: 1, Morgan MoIocco IYamll803; 2. Wryne Momn lHuolI825; 3. Bruce J...- IYamllB79; 4. BiN Soltzmon (HuaII889; 5. Milte Mulcone

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