I98I Cycle News/West
Rider of the Year
~~~~!iiiiiiiiii!LouisMcKey ,~~~~!!!i!iiiii
Phantom Duck of the Desert
Incroyablel For the fourth year in a row, Fontana, California's Louis McKey has won the Cycle News/West
Rider of the Year Contest, and again by a hefty margin!
The Phantom Duck of the Desert, the mighty mallard
who conducts a never-ending battle against those who
would lock up public land and keep it from the publ£e
forever, is obviously a figure well insen·bed in the eonsciousness of Cycle News readers.
They admire him for the way he takes it to the opposition ("He's got more guts than any ofus, and he's doing
more than riding, " said one). They feel strongly about
his self-sacrifice (''He has done more for motorcycling
than all of the others put together, " wrote one reader,
while another said, "He's given so much of himself that
others haven't'J.
Out ofall the comments, two stand out. One reader,
in concluding his praise, came up with the perfect
customized license plate for the 50-year-old electrician:
B2 V4FR. Another wrote simply, "He's the Phantom
Duck. Need I say more?"
1981 did see the strongest challenge yet to the Duck's
RoY supremacy. U.S. and World Speedway Champion
Bruce Penhall finished second, amassing more votes
than any-runner up finisher in recent memory. Eddie
Lawson and Broc Glover also proved very popular
among Cycle News/West readers.
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