Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Northern California·Northern Nevada-Oregon-Washington-ldaho-Utah-Ala sk.Cen NORTHERN DATELINE Express Yourself • • HI-Mountain Enduro awash in controversy By T. J . Rafferty POZO , CA, MAR . 28 At start ti me , i t was j us t a drizzle. T he n it was a shower. followed bv brief cleari n g. T hen it became serious rain, a rea l with a Cycle News banner ....... ..... lo-o 0.. ~ 3 Banners for $1 .00 Cycle News stickie not included I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I --------------------------Cycle News Products P.O . Box 498 Long Beach, CA 90801-0498 Name Address _ Citv State Zip _ . . Credit card limit m inimum $5,00 Please fi ll in your complete account number and expiration date Card expires - -- -- - -- -- - - - - - - - - - - Signature ! Item Quantity Amou nt i The Best go West .50¢ i i You'll see it first Total .50¢ I I I I i i I ii We don't care how ,50¢ Rainbow sticker . $1.00 ...._ .. I I =-:::.... .·"':::0 ':::= . u..c.didefttif.... _...... . . . .. wttaorlNd to ..... the _ ~ _ TOTAl ..- ,.. . . ~ ~i Calif. residents edd 6% ..Ies te x. I . . .. I promlM lID per weh ~ L~ ~ ~ 44 1 .....0.....-,--,-, the_ Grand Total I ~ , ~ blue-lip, colla r-dri p p ing, boot-fill ing, g love-sop per. Then it go t worse;. By mid-morning a lin e of successively colder sq ua lls march ed in spi lli ng hail ston es. T he Hi-Mounta in Enduro has beco me trem endously popular , given th e La Panza Mountains' choice variety of tra ils an d terrain ,. a n d th eir accessi bility from both Sides of th e Cent ra l Vall ey. Mod eratel y cha lle ngin g for th e better A ri ders, th e H iMo untain ca n give the Bs a good wor ko u t an d th e C rid ers so me strenuo us lessons. If th e weather be good. This year, the wea ther be no good, a nd Ma Nature was least kin d to the B rider s. wh o caught the very worst of it. The Criders didn 't even get to sta n. As th e A riders ca me in from th e rela tively easy so u thern l0t?p, reports from the B route were gelling worse. With th e A cla ss sla ted to ride the B loop next . a t a higher speed sched u le, the decision was postponed. As the morning soaked on, word arrived th at nearl y 100 riders were lo ng over' due at the last check on the Bloop . The remainder of the event was scru bbed , and rescue efforts begun. Ma ny A rid ers were visibly mood y about bei ng scra tched , but more tha n several B ri ders - a th ousand feet higher, 20 degr ees co lder a nd 10 feet o f visibi li ty - wou ld have g ladly swappe d pl aces. We're not talkin~ the minor discomforts of a soggy tra il ride. We're talking experienced riders wh o kn ow th e trails, doubling up to carry o u t riders wh o had a ban dl;>ned th eir bik es. Even vetera n swee p rid ers wer e comin g in with h ypoth er~i a , dismounting slowi ng an d walkl.ng 50 feet in a kn ee-l ocked cro uch. h ke G roucho Marx in slo w moti on. We're talki ng damn near froze, T he H i-M ounta in was si m ply capsized by sto rms th at ar rived earl ier a nd wit h gr ea ter for ce tha n expec ted, T he good news is th at no body was serious ly injured o r stra nded on the course at n ight fal l. Credit for th at sho u ld go 10 the Ca l Pol y Pen guins, the Centra l Coast Motor cycle Associa tio n, the sheriff's rescue sq uad, ham radio crews, 4-WD clubs and everyo ne who worked their butts orr under miserabl e co nd itions . Dispu tes natura lly arose. Those wh o had traveled far were, o f co urse, d isappointed. especia lly. the Criders . Th e Penguins are sendin g letters to a ll ent rant s explaining th e situa tio n. T he C ent ries wi ll receive applications for a ref und. At th is writ ing (th ree da ys la ter . sti ll ra inin g), the A and B scoring is still bein g ta bulat ed. So me n ot es o n fin an cial co mplaints: The cos t o f staging th e event was not reduced by its abbreviation. T he rai n worked to nob od y's benefit. Th e terrain dam age di rect ly a ttributed to th e com bi ned effects o f wat er a nd rnot orcvcles will have to be repa ired , a n expe nse necessar ily bon~e by th e Cal Po ly Pen guins, So me private land o wners may be heard fro m, a nd the Sierra Cl ub . T ha n ks to Yam aha, Pennzo il a n d Husqvarna for th e Saturday n ight · movies. And to whoever broug ht th e weather. no thanks. Personette doubles at OMC Gallegos MX By Marty Gregory BOISE. 10, MAR. 28 Derr ick Personette, riding out of Boise's H igh Country Suzuki, won both motos in two classes at the Ow yhee Motorcycle Club's Kenny Ga llegos Day motocross. Personeu e sim ply dom in ated the co mpetition in th e 125 a nd 250cc Exper t events. Geo~ge Colli~gham (Yam) celebrat ed h is 21st birthday wit h a n overall win in Open Expert. The race wa s in honor of injured racer Kenn y Ga llegos, a real tiger o n th e mo tocross track who' s o u t wit h an inj ured kn ee a nd leg. Like last wee kend's race in honor of Loren Shockey, th e Ga llegos event didn 't involve any money (for Kenny). T he Shockev MX was reponed as a benefit. It was no t. I sta nd corrected . O ver 80 Beg in ner a nd In ter med ia te racers showed for a n early morning blast orr a t the Owy hee Clu b's h istoric Peaceful Cover trac k. T he race brought old Pros Bruce H arr is a~d Bill H an man out of th e proverbia l woodwork to do bau le in the O pen B class. H arr is show ed flas hes of h is old self by run ni ng a seventh and a seco nd to a fourth overall. In the Mi ni Expert races , Ritch Th urston (T yner Distr ibutin.g to.ok h is Ka wa saki 10 the ove ra ll Will with a 2-1 effort. T h urston was serious ly cha lle nged, h owever , by Cor ey Barton (Yam ) whose record was 1-2 for the da y. An d then. th ere was Person eue. Derr ick hun g beh in d ea r ly 125cc leader Tom Fitzgerald (Ya m), then behind mid-race lead er Mark Hall, o n ly 10 swoop into th e lead a n d the win for th e first mot o. In the seco nd 125cc go 'round. it was Fitzgerald again gell ing th e h ol es h o~ on ly to b~ passed by Personell e'sp Y.llIg Suzuki on th e infam ous OM C Lillie Downhill Secti on," In th e 250cc Ex pert race, Mark Ol berd in g (Suz) esta blis hed an ea ~ly lead a nd held off a ll ch alle n gers (in cl uding Person eue) until th e last lap. Derrick go t hi m befo re the chec kers. Ol berding. wh o raced the n ight before a t th e indoor sho n trac k. blew a ba se gasket a nd could n' t contes t the sec~n d moto which Personeue won go mg away. A coup le o f interesting notes on the 250cc clas s: G arl an d " Bo " McCutch eon (Suz) came " o u t of retir ement" with a 1979 machine a nd " two da ys' pract ice" 10 wi~d up a stron g th ird overa ll. Yo u might get o u t of shape. but yo u don 't for get how to twist a throttle. Another guy it was ni ce 10 see on a bik e aga in was Larrv Buffin g to n, pas t President of the O MC a nd a hellacio us mot ocroser. Burr showed so me style (and some sta mi na! ) by fini sh in g a respecta ble fourth overa ll. In the Open Ex pert c1.ass, Ge?rge Co ll ing ha m celebra ted .hls 21st birthday with th e overa ll Win based o n a 2- 1 showi ng . T he first Open ~x pen clash was p robab ly the best racin g o f th e day as a high-speed d ~el of the bi g-bores pitted Geor ge agains t Steve Henry (Hon). Collingh.am and Henry wer e h illin g th e uphill left-bander WFO in th e lauer laps of that race. But Geo rge bogged hi s en gi ne a t th e top of th e sa n d h ill jus t a lap or two

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