Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

- By Tom Kolnowski You could hardly call it an invasion. After all, it was only a single Australian. How much damage could one man do? Geoff Ballard, however, caused many heads to turn after he came to the U.S. and showed up on the start line at enduros, hare scrambles and International Six Days Enduro 20 (ISDE) qualifiers - and often left many of the hotshoes "down under" his name in the final results. And he finally even quieted even the most adamant skeptics by scoring the overall win at the Michigan Three-day ISDE Qualifier. Ballard, 25, was no stranger to the off-road scene when he and girlfriend Jenny Scott came to the shores of the U.S. early this year. He had already competed in and finished five ISDEs under the banner of the Australian team, with one gold and four silver medals to his credit, and he was the Australian Enduro Champion in 1982. Ballard grew up in the Blue Mountains of Australia, near the port city of Sydney - a place he still calls home. "There were a lot of great trail areas not far from where I lived," Ballard said. "I started out riding motocross and short circuit, which is a lot like IT. I had a little Suzuki stepthrough, and spent most of my time on the short circuits - we had to run trials tires and the course had to have at least one right hand tum. Otherwise it was like a speedway track. 1 got tired of having to work on the motor to get it faster and faster, so I switched entirely to motocross at the •• ••• 1 ' . t. dub level. "I later picked up a Suzuki 370 and rooe it in motocross we called open meetings, which were National-level events. I started in the C grade, then after a year 1 bought a Maico. 1 quickly went through the B grade and into the A grade. 1 got sick of motocross after another year - 1 felt the crowds were too cutthroat. "Then 1read an American magazine which was about the Six Days in 1977. It sounded like a fantastic sort of event. It just so happened that was the first year Australia sent an official team to Six Days, and I went over with the team to Czechoslovakia as a member of the support team. "At that stage, my father was a pilot for an international airline, and I was able to get rebated or reduced air fares to just about anywhere. I was still basically in school at that time, going to technical college to learn the upholstery trade. After that, 1 got into enduros and Six Day riding. 1 began to do pretty well in enduros at home in 1978, and 1 wanted to ride the Swedish ISDE. I had enough money to get there and back, but I didn't have enough money to ride it. So I was on the support crew again. "I finally got to ride the German ISDE in 1979. J started out well, but dropped to silver after a nat in a tight section headin~ back into the finish ... .. early on, and finiShed on silver." In the French ISDE in 1980, the world got to see just how fast the Aussie could go. "I was doing very well in the special tests - I won a few of them outright. Then I woit the final MX test. On day three, I lost seven spokes in my rear wheel and had to ride conservatively on the trail. I replaced them the next morning and went on to win 'a silver medal. "I have always enjoyed riding in Czechoslovakia. In the ISDE there in 1982, I caught a nail in my tire on the first day, along with a lot of other riders like Kevin Hines and Jeff Smith. I cleared all of the trail times through the next five days, which 1 was pretty happy to do since the going was so tough. But the nail on the first day caused me to get three Dats, so 1 lost time on the trail that day. Then 1 won the final speed test. 1 was only a few seconds away from winning the event overall if you take away the time I lost on the first day. 1 finished on silver." Ballard's stellar performances in the ISDE are no nuke. He's spent much of his life in Europe - working, riding, racing and just plain traveling. "I went to Germany a few months before the Six Days there in 1979, and worked in the Maico factory. I also got used to riding some of the European-type events, like the Oneday International Qualifiers. "After the Six Days, I traveled around Europe with some friends, one of whom was Jon Davis (coowner of Cycle Nuts & Bolts, a motorcycle accessory store in Clarkston, Georgia). He invited me to come over to the States, and I did. I borrowed $100 from Jon when I got here, then went to wQr.k for aq uphol~terer for a I •. .. . . . . . I time. I ended up staying for five months, rode some of the Florida Winter AMA MX Series events, and one enduro. " Ballard continued his nomadic existence in 1980, when he spent most of the year in Europe. "I really wanted to do well in the Six Days, so I felt it would be good experience to ride a lot of the MX tracks over there. I wanted to make enough money to at least survive on. 1 went over there and threw myself into the deep end as 1 think- about it now. I had no experience in what 1 was doing really, but things actually went well. "I rode International class MX, which is at a level under the GPs. Basically, 1 landed on my feet and made enough money to stay in Europe through the French ISDE." Ballard stayed in Australia in 1981, then went back to Europe in 1982 with girlfriend Jenny Scott. "At one of the first races 1 went to, 1 met an Australian who had ridden MX in Europe for a while. He told me about a motor show where 1 could make some money by jumping cars on motorcycles. Both Jenny and I resisted for a while - I certainly didn't want to jump cars, but it would be a way to make some money since they would pay you $100 for the weekend as well as house and feed you. "The more 1 got to know this guy, I finally figured out he was the biggest chicken of the bunch; if he was up to jumping cars, then I could certainly do it. We decided to give it a try. It turned out to be a really lowkey stunt show, and they went around to a lot of small villages through Europe. We did what they call speed jumping - we would start out with two cars, then work up to three, four, five and then six. There was no ramp on the other side, but it wasn't needed. 1 had taken lots of jumps bigger than that when 1was riding MX in Europe. "We'd also jump through hoops set on fire. Jenny, too, had a part in the show. They would have two girls standing on a motorcycle above the rider, and Jenny would be the third person in a human ladder, standing atop the other two girls. Then they would put on a show for the crowd. The neat little towns we would go to was the best part of it all; 1 never knew most of those places even existed." Ballard admits he and Jenny had a lot of fun that year in Europe, but he was actually there for a more serious reason. "I rode the European TwoDay Qualifiers, which I think of as the best experience I've ever had for the ISDE. That year they were r~lly tough. I'll put it this way - if they were to stack three of those back to back to make an ISDE nobody wOiJld finish. You wouldn't be able to handle it. But that's why they make them harder - to make it good training for the ISDE. And they are run under stricter rules and the time schedules are tight. It rained for two of the events, which made it even tougher. Much of the trail was rocky. You had to work hard every minute of the day." _ For the most part, Ballard seems to enjoy every moment of his travels. "In some ways 1 look at it as how much longer 1 can keep doing it - 1 simply love traveling and seeing the world as much as I can. And this is about the only way 1 can afford to do it. I've usually been able to break even by doing work along the way and racing. I've never really made money racing, but I've always made enough to pay the bills." When he is back home. living with Jenny in the small house in the mountains near Sydney they rent from Ballard's father, Ballard keeps busy with a variety of activities some of which bring in money. Balr'r)

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