Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

d isagr eed wit h the time set by the orga nizers. From Badgers Wood th e ci rcu it of 19i O and for severa l vears later fol100\'ed th e lower slo pes o f the Pyrenees into the Basque regi on o f France an d to th e Spanish border via a timed cl im b. After L iza rieu , the down hi ll into Spa in led to faster mads and the ha lfwa y checkpoi nt in the Spanish port of Sa n Se bas tien . The ex it from Spain was up the timed clim b of th e Col j a izq u iebel. a success io n o f fast bends with sheer drops w ith no fencing, plus th e ha zard o f meeting a Spanish dri ver wh o had refused to o bey th e sto p sig na l o f th e police co n trol a t the top. j ai zquibel was closed to traffic fo r th e 80 m inutes be tween th e fir st a nd last men up th e hi ll a nd th is wa s ver y un popu la r wi th the nat ives. At th e top o f j a izq u i bel was a pi cnic a rea with its fin e view across th e Bay of Biscay, and this was a favorite S un day p lace for man y Spa nish fami lies. T he lon g line o f ca rs wa i ting at th e foot of th e hill stretche d back for a mil e, dem onstrat in g their impati en ce with blaring h o rn s. We saw th e en d of j aizquibel , L iza ri ett a and the ent ire Spa n ish part o f the Circu it in 19i4. N ot o n ly had th ere been growin g o p po si tio n to roa d closures, but cra sh es in Spa in had ca used a wkwa rd prob lems for th e riders involved. Mach ines were im pounded until paym ent had been made for medical a tte n tion, a n d if another vehicle wa s invol ved , th ere were legal co m p lications . On the Friday eveni n g before th e Sunda y race da y, th ere was th e tradi tional hospitality in th e ground o f th e Ro u ssel villa for a ll riders, o fficia ls, civic di gnitaries and th e press. It wa s mandatory for po lice competitors to wear uniform , a nd th e co lo rfu l light brown of th e Fr en ch made the dark blue of th e Englis h look dull. The even ing su n sho ne do wn ben eficent l o n the scene as the wa it resses tri ed unsuccessfu llv to reac h the tab les with g lasses o f cha m pa g ne before the clu tchi ng hands of th e co ps had remo ved th e la st one. T h e tal k was o f gravel o n th e So u lor clim b. o f the rock fall bel ween the tunn els of SO Illor and Aubi sque a nd o f th e road repair rope a fter th e th ird rig h t hairpin o n j aizq ui bel. Sa turda y, 2:00 p. m .. 100 mach in es began to arrive at the Pl ace Royal e in the cent er of the to wn for exa m ina tion by th e scru tinee rs. the blue No rIons o f th e Garde Republicaine, th e black BMW s o f th e Genda rm erie, th e white Triumphs from Eng la nd. a ll in line-ah ead formation a nd int ro duced to th e cro wd by th e public add ress co mme ntator. My Interpol rece ived a specia l ment ion a nd as I walked to th e bri efin g tra iler the com me nta tor as ked me wh at I th ought a bo u t th e circ u it a n d o ffere d me th e m icro ph one. " T re's blood y dangerouse!" I a ns we red . n ot knowing th e Fren ch for bloodv, and he was a m used. The formalili es' o ver. th e parade o f riders began throug h the traffic dosed streets of th e town . i thc crowds applauded as th e French alwa ys do . a nd a fte r return in g to th e Pl ace Ro yal e th ere was th e civic reception in th e town ha ll. T he mayor ga ve a speech o f welcome, th e En gl ish teams presented him with poli ce pl aques a nd many bottles o f th e loca l wine were soon' empt y. Outside in th e sell ing su n we looked across th e Pr omenade des Anglai s and sa w th e pe aks o f th e P yrenees reachin g cl earl y into th e sky. , a good wea th er o me n for th e morning. T he lirst rider left th e start line a t 5:30 a .m. foll owed at o ne -m in u te i nt erva ls by the rest of th e en try ; th e Interpol wearing number 81 accelerat ed down th e Avenue des Touristes at 6:52. I decided th at if I wa s pas sed The quirky reliability of English bikes paled in comparison to the excitement caused by gravel rockfalls and w ildlife on the Soulor climb. Author Sh ilton is third from left. by m ore th an five o f the French . pol ice riders be h ind me by th e time I reached th e co nt ro l at Lohitzun.rhree hours o u t. I would retire a t th e lillie resta urant th ere wh ere I had sto pped fo r co ffee cognac during practi ce. A much better id ea th an su fferi ng rhe i n dig ni ty o r bei ng passed by th e last num ber befo re th e halfway co ntrol a t Sa n Sebast ien. Su n day m orn ing da wned br ightl y, a n idea l day for m ot orcycl in g , but for a speed sched u le wh ich precl uded the ca refree p lea sures o f a normal ride. I checked in a t the Ferriers co nt ro l wit h IwOmi nu tes 10 spare. but on the seco nd ha ir p in o f the mountain clim b beyond Arbeost, I struck real troubl e , and ca me close to going back 10 the village th e q uick way. It wa s no p lace to have a throttle stic k o pen a t 2000 rpm. especia lly with no kill button to jab. With no help fro m th e motor for th e brak es, I ma de th e seco nd checkpoint a t C oureue ra ther mo re quick ly th an I had done in p racti ce but I worried abou t the bra kes last ing until the probable reti rem ent a t Lohitzun, They coo led o ff o n th e long road down to th e va lley, but su re were h eat ed up o n th e Ba gers Wood climb. H alf a n h our a head was chec kpoin t three in th e village of Barcus. a nd Loh it zun . wa s a sched u led 2i m inu tes furth er. . The weather wa s warm inthe va lley, th e chi ld ren waved from th e ga rde n walls in th e hamlets. I had been passed by onl y o ne rider and but for th e sticking th rottle I wo uld have enjoyed th e 250 miles which lay ahead to the fini shing fla g. H ow ever. I d id now have ge n u ine reason to retire. Gendarmeri e BMW, wearing num ber 84, ca me al ongsid e as I sto p pe d at th e Barcu s co n tro l, declutched and swi tche d off th e mot o r. This wa s a lso th e refuel ing poin t for Brit ish riders a nd I legged th e i'o: o n o n a few yards to th e line o f eig h t-ga llo n pet rol ca ns. Th e g u y in ch arge was th e reas on wh y I changed m y mind a bo ut giv ing up at L ohi tzun . H e had been a BSA factory road man for a ll the yea rs I had worked for Tri umph and our re la tio ns hi p cou ld n ot be described a s co rd ia l. H e had h eard th e la strevvin g mo tor as I sw itche d off a n d sugges ted th at refueling would be a wa ste o f pet rol. I im agined the story h e would tell ba ck in Eng la nd about the new In ter pol which lasted o n ly 90 mi les of th e co u rse . The tank wa s fill ed and I rode awav with th e crunc h of a fir st gear being' engaged a t 2000 rp m . .One m inute lat e a t Loh itzu n, o n time a t th e Espeleue co ntrol cl ose to th e Spanish border, a hecti c climb of Lizarrieta a nd o n time a t th e halfway turning point in San Seba sti en, whe re I spe nt the half-h our rest brea k loca tin g the thro ttle ca ble trouble bu t not cu ring it. After juizquiebel, whic h is so fast . tha t th e motor was never be lo w 5500. the mounta in s wer e len behind a nd th e return ha lf of the co urse was nOI too difficult . Six co n trol poi n ts befo re the de rric ks o f the EL F o il co m p lex loo med u p a head by the, last check a t La cq. the n a ha lf-h o ur ride , 10 th e fin ish flag a t Pa u . Looking a t m y September 1970 Feui lle de R ou te, I see tha t I finis hed at the sched u led time of 16:34 a fter n in e hours. T he Fr en ch G endarmes to ok th e to p awa rds a nd I was mo re th an halfway do wn th e results list ; but a t th e prize presentation in th e eve ni ng I wa s gi ve n th e Vet eran Trop hy. I would g la d ly hav e sh ed m y vears and sett led for th e novice award . By th e end of th e eveni ng I ha d changed m y m ind a bo ut n OI en teri ng agai n . Th e specia l kind o f ca rnara derie which th is event crea ted between the ride rs, th e wrar rn reunions eac h year, th e pe rso na l pride a t co m pe ting in a n international even t a nd th e magnetism o f the mountains a ll co m bined to m ak e th e a n n ua l journey to Pau a n irresistible pil grimage. In 19i I th e rou te o f th e co urse was uncha nged a nd so co nt inued to fav or th e 30- a nd 45-cu bic in ch mach in es o n th e manv fast ro ads beyond th e m ounta ins. 'It a lso meant ' tha l th e Eng lis h co mpeti tors co u ld ride to Pau and bac k a n d co u ntless Fr en ch drivers speed ing al o ng th e ro u tes na rio na le were sha ken whe n pa ssed by the Sco tla nd Yard team of T riu m p hs in perf ect echelo n format ion . That vear three rid ers went from th e Lo n ~Ion C i ty police for th e fir st tim e a nd three returned from Birm in gham for a seco nd visit. The Ge nda rmes aga in rook the top hon o rs with th eir mix t ure o f BMW s a nd Nortons but th eir Engl ish co lleagues were improving a nd m y Birm in gham friend Dennis H arper fin ished fourt h o n a 45-cu bicin ch T ri u m p h T ri de nt. The dat e of th e event was brought forward to the th ird week of june in 19i2 as th is wa s too ea rly fo r th e to urist coaches a nd ca rs which had ca used p roblems in Septem ber. T he 'd isa dvantage was th at th e mount ain roa ds were in a very dangerous co n dit io n a fte r winter damage with roc ks a nd washaways 'rou nd every co rner. On th e first day of p ractice, the pass o ver the Aubisq ue wa s sri ll b locked by snow a nd I waited wi th the Eng lis h police 'w h ilst a plow got throug h from G ourett e wh ere th e skiers were still enjoying themselves o n the slo pes. 'Ve spent tw o hou rs o n th e Bad gers Wood cl imb trying to equa l th e fastes t lime se t u p by th ree French po lice Norto ns th e previous yea r a nd Len Farmer. th e top Scotland Yard rider. got wi rh in Iou r seconds o f it , Len was bri lli a n t and we cou ld not understand how anyone cou ld be q uicker, so so me detect ive wo rk was don e whe n th e Ge ndarme tea m s p racticed th e hi ll two days la ter aft er closing' it to a nd bo ttom wi th pol ice ca rs. We foun d the a ns wer to th ose m issin g seco nds whe n th ey had gone. Pa int m ark in gs had appeared o n the road, a series o f crosses showed th e fas test lin e around eac h o f th e man y co rners. a red line ind icated the extreme bra king poi nt, the lett er A was the a ll clea r to acce lera te, a nd a bove it was th e figure g iving the num ber o f meters . to the next co rner. We had not iced th e markings th e previo us year but ass u med th ey were co n nec ted wi th o ne of th e man v Fr en ch bicvcle races. T hey were help ful , bu t lhe Ge ndarmes aga in filled top pl aces in th e res u lts sheet th oLigh even th ey lost tim e o n th e winter ravaged sections . The to p a wa rd winner , Pi erre Ge ne lle ti o f th e Poli ce Nari ona le, ri di ng a 30-cu bicin ch H onda four. wa s 94 seconds ad rift. so lost th at number o f marks. Th e best English cop wa s Dennis Harper o n a Triumph T r ident who lost 304 to finish 10th. The last man home was a Fren ch cl u b rider wh o lost 4451, and nearly half th e 94, sta rters did not mak e it to th e fin ish . By some com p lex formula . I was awa rded th e Bultaco trophy. • [Co nt in ued next w,.,.Jc) 19

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