Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ ~ 00 O'l ~ ~ <.0 $-< V ..0 S v ;> 0 z , - -- - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - --, z co u ld take ad va n tage of on th e old V .K.lV .S.A . lend-l eas e program ! Buch anans co u ld la ce su i ta ble ri ms . and Ra cecrafter s had the hot .set-u p o n tires. My oid mate, a n d ex-Bri tis h z w ..., cham p , Martin Carney, said he'd co me a nd cre w for me - a nd , son-of-a >co bitch, I had a pair of leathers that u: -' o .... would still fit ! Ed uardo a p pea red Su n day m orno. I in g , and a pl ea sant day 'wa s had by 0.. all , pool side. We h eard th e incr edible stori es o f months a n d m onths o f organizati on, governmental a nd tourist board politicking. Stringent police and sa fe ty rul es to be accom m odated . A tal e unfolded o f great co m m it me nt and det ermination to make "a visio n " happen - for th e sp o rt o f it all ! T he organizers, with th eir o ffice a nd homes in ru in s, were d etermined th e race would go o nl T here was no d oubt in o ur minds now , we would be th ere! We'd fill a ca m per with all our buddies , a nd th eir buck s, a nd be o n o u r wa y to help o u r Mexican friends - co me hell or hi gh water. Eduardo (a nd as it turned o u t later , a ll o f his committee) reveal ed himself as a man o f unbridled ent h us ias m, g rea t warmth with a n hon est Mexi can smi le that wouldn 't qu it! T hey, th e o rga n izers, surel y had - last-minute panics going on, but we'd d o thi s o ne for th e promoter. Never mind th e purse. I cou ldn 't wait to get to th e freed o m of Baja. I had feelings o f eager a ntici pa tio n I hadn 't experi en ced since ge tt ing my entry accepted for m y fir st cl u b race at Oulton Park in 1961. As had a lways been the case, getti ng o rga n ized ex pan de d to fill the A fter rac ing 1 4 5 miles on pavement from San Felipe to Ensenada. St ev e time a vaila ble, My KL600racer ,lUned , Ballmer won the motorcycle class by one minute and 30 seconds. ti red a n d stre et-ch ecked , was ready, co m e n oon o n Thursday, O ctober 3. We wer e due to leav e a t 1:00 p .m .! Lo yal's sponsored mount had a lastm inu te fork -tunin g job th e sa m e m ornin g . In fin e T ruesda le fashion , h e had lo aned a new c us to mer hi s BMW in return for the g uy 's Asco t. Lo yal had to ld Mr. X h e wanted a pocke t racer to d o a " li ttle h igh speed ca n yo n cru ising ." All 's fair in lov e and racin g - Mr. X g ot th e H onda back wi th hi s la st street crash straig h tened o u t, a n d a new SuperTrapp exha ust. An d th e bi ke g o t to ha ve fu n in Mexi co . Lo ya l got a rent-a-racer. We co llected o ur U- Ha u l ca m per a nd trai ler , h eedin g th e wa rning not By Cliff Carr to cross th e bo rd er when we wer e Cliff Carr wa s a professional road racer bef ore h is retirem ent in 1976; h e came " di rt r idi ng in Arizona " - in su ra nce fro m h is nat ive England to th e U.S . to rid e Kaw asak is (tu ned by Kevin Cameron) a nd rescu e cre ws d on ' t go so u th o f th e for A rlingto n M otor Sports in 197/ -1973, and led man y na tionals o n ly to DNF; bo rder, yo u kn ow. U'- Ha u l se t th e Ca rr landed a w orks Kaw asak i ride w ith team m ates Gar y Nix on , Art Bauman n m ood for a n exci ti ng tr ip. Th e trailer and Yvon DuHa mel in 1973. In 1974, Carr join ed N ix on and Pau l Sma rt riding hit ch ca me lo ose o n th e Ventura Freewo rks S uzukis; in 1975-1976 he rod e Formu la 750 in Europe for th e Harriswa y a nd provided a trailer tango Ever to n R acin g T eam , an d his last race w as at R iverside Int ern at io nal R aceuiav show a t 55 mph for a ll to see - a n d in Riuerside, Califo mia in 1976. That is , his last race u n til La Carr era , an try to a vo id ! H ell , if it hadn't been for OIl-t he-r oad race across Baja Calijo rnin, held Octobrr 5. This is Carr's a{'count of racer reacti ons a nd quick wits ge tt ing th e race . . . Editor. thro ugh th ree lanes o f traffi c to th e s h o u lde r, th o se V - Ha u l p eo p l e co u ld ' ve been Ll-H a u led o ff to lawsuit ci ty. Hi ghwa y 101 would h av e had thei r 5x8-foo t .tra iler billbo ard a m o ngst a pi le of crash ed co m m u ter ca rs . I relieved m yself o f a ny g u i lt I had o f tak in g their rig o ver th e bo rd er righ t there a nd th en a t the Mobil statio n as I c ha ng ed m y shorts , a nd the so u n d ed excit ing en o ug h to m e ! I and deciding we needed some V- H a u l crew put o n a hi tch they boo ked vaca tion d a ys at th e office new ra ci n g sto ries. T he girls promised would stay p u t for our little just in case! hol ida y! . were real tired of o u r daring It loo ked li ke i t wa s sti ll goi ng to So th e two holida y racer s ro unded feats of da ys ago , the Montjuich happen . Lo ya l ha d just hea rd fro m up the cre w o f "cien par cie nto a m iPa rk 24-hour m adness, cars in the Ed ua rdo Leo n (the p ro m o ter ); h e was gas " to em ba rk upon th e co ast-to oc ea n a t Da yto na were o ld hat, a nd o n h is wa y to Los Angel es, Ca liforn ia coas t o ne -way trophy da sh. the n th e H ailwood la p o f th e Isle o f th e wee kend before th e race to rees" N uge" (C h ris N ugent o f Ve tt er Man ta pe was worn o ut. We were ta bli sh co ntact wit h th e Gringos. His a nd H onda o f H oll ywo od fame) was ready for so m e new stuff! p ho ne a nd bu ildin g in Mexi co Ci ty read y. H e wa s between positions a nd Lo yal had entered " La Carrera" had been p u t o u t o f co m m issio n by had so m e time a vai la ble for a tr ip. m onths ago . It wa s time for a mini th e ea rt h q ua ke! Rem ember?! T his littl e ja u nt would test h is rece nt adve nture. La Ca rrera a p pea led da il y. Su re so u nded like a real roa d ra ce vo ws of m oder at ion to th e m ax. H owWhat bett er than a closed- road, po i nt m igh t be an ! Com e Friday m orn ing I ever, it would g ive him th e a p port un to -po i nt Mexi can " r u n what ya wa s pum p ed, a nd sta rt ed o n the first it y to wea r hi s white Miami Vice brung " ra ce across 145 miles o f bl ack race! Dial-A-B ik e. f had to see if I lo ok -alike kit for senori tas i n a forco u ld ge t so me eq u ip men t! A sponsor! top from San Felipe to En sen ada? eig n clime. Nuge wa s ready. By Frida y ni ght, Mel Moore at Thumpers up to 608cc ac ro ss th e n at Walt Ri chey popped u p th e h ill to lands a n d mount ains o f Baj a Kaw asak i said he had a stock KL600 I -- Out ofretirement and into La Ca r rer a south o f the b o rder! I decided weeks ago, I needed to race somehow, somewhere. Cycles were in my blood - and not in my life. It all started while sitting around at Loyal Truesdale 's house, 20 g ~I Loyal's in a h eartbeat. H e was a lways up for telling a story, h earing a sto ry , o r m ak ing o ne. Walt re me m be red th e first time h e'd been talked into goin g to the races with L o yal , wh il e visiting from New j er sey. L.T. " Wa n na go to a 12-h our race th is weekend?" W.R. " So u ndTi ke fu n , I need a r ide o n m y R69 S." L. T. " R 69S?! Wanna enter a race th is weekend?! W.R . "So u nds lik e fun. " Well , his BMW had a cylinde r surg ica lly removed, and Walt was an in stant so u thern Cal ifornia resident. It was fun. La Carrera would be fun , too. H onda TLI 25 , Sp ringstee n ta pes a nd o ur pit too ls in hand - Walt was rea dv. j oe put everyth in g o n hold for a few d a ys and " le t out. " H e hadn't been to the road ra ces in a while. One o f L o yal' s parties was to o good to miss. H e'd risk th e water, ra ce th e damper a n d d o R&D fo r the big four - relative to h ow they co u ld put factory teams with su per sta rs o n sin g les, into this race in yea rs to co m e. j oe , rea dy as ever to ge t to th e races. " Ca n we win ?" " Alwa ys - here's the wa y todo it. " L auri e was the la st co nscrip t. Sh e was full of fun , a nd would o bserve a slice o f li fe n ew to h er. H av ing a "works tomato " along would a t least remind us to clean o ur teeth and take sh ow er s. Sh e was su re this adventure a rti cle would g et her published in Cosm o. She wa s ready . Cam and I hadn't been o n a tr ip since we both got a n entry a t m y wedding - three yea rs ago. We both DN F that o ne. We wer e looking for ward to a ya rn or tw o a bou t Brands, the Island , th e Continental Circ us a n d every seize sto ry in th e book ! Well , her e we were; from th e M-I Mo torwa y Cafe - o n th e wa y to Mallory; to th e border o f Sa n Ysid ro o n the wa y to Sa n Feli pe. Racin g fo r the sp o rt - a few g iggles, a few jars a nd m a yb e a d oll y or tw o. And, o f co u rse, we m us t win fo r th e Queen a nd co u n try ! " T h e Cam " was read y! So , we though t we'd go to Husso ng 's in Ensenada " j ust for o ne" o n T h ursday nig ht. Drive th e circui t in revers e the nex t morn ing. Secret strategy, this wa y we co u ld co m m it a ll the co rners to m e m ory - just lik e Mike H a il wo od , o r so mebo dy, used to do it. Drea m on, right? I rea lized q u ickl y as we sta rted o u t o n "the circ u i t" - eve ry mph wo u ld co u nt hea vil yl We wer e talkin g a 100mi le d rag str ip her e, a ttache d to 30 mil es o f cu rves a n d 15 miles o f kinks. I wonder ed if our thumper s wer e built for th is stu ff. T im e to see wh a t th e bikes went like, we pulled th e m oun ts o u t o f th e tr a il er a nd rode th e la st 30 miles i nto San Fel ipe, a wo n derfu l littl e oa sis a nd gateway to th e Sea o f Cort ez. After o ur short time th er e, Ca m a n d I d eterm ined to go back so o n wi th j e t Skis, d in bi kes, a nd a co u p le 01 birds lor a proper vacatio n . A rea l n ice p lace ! T h e to wn was bu sy wi th ra cers , th e a tmosp here was wonder ful. We m et up wit h Ed uardo again a nd co ngrat u la ted him a nd h is cre w o n a great j o b o f m erch a n d isin g a nd h osp it ality. Ban ners, welcom es, t-sh irts a nd mem en tos were every w here. ' Ve sa t, gazed o ut to sea , sa n k a co u p le o f C u ba Lib res a nd LOo k p hotos for th e a rc h ives o f the p ioneers present. All da y Friday, th e field wa s ro iling into to w n , a nd six o f th e o bvious co nt end ers fo r th e first La Ca rrera a ll had a story to tell. First m an o n the ro ad Saturda y m orning a t 9:00 a .m. (we would sta rt a t o ne -m in u te int er val s) would be G eorge Egl off a n d his Honda. You m ight ca ll G eorge a real long-di stance racer. Fresh from his vict ory in the 11 ,000 mil e (yes, 11 .000)

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