Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·- FINALChris Jonnum MOTO'. - .:.. By am a Penguin . Actually, that 's not true. I w as fo r merly a Pengu in . Presently, I am but a mere JASPER. Perhap s an explanation is in order... When I gr aduated from high school in 1986, I wa s forced to dea l wi th a tou gh decision, one tha t faces ma ny you ng m otorcycl e en thusiasts ev ery Jun e. Should I pack my bags and shuffle off to college, or stay home and contin ue racing dir t bikes? Un for tu na tely, the money and time each option demanded ruled out the idea of doing both, at least with any degree of success. True to my natu re, I procrastinated, attending junior college for a year and a half while con tinuing to wo rk part-time and race. : Finally, however, the time came to make a choice, and faced with the harsh reality that I was not the next Terry Cunningham (and never would be), I decided to put racing on hold and hi t th e books. The only thing left was choosing a college (assuming one would accept me ; racing hadn't exactly done wonders for my GPA). For tun ately, my dad ch ose tha t moment to offer his assis tance: "Wh at abo ut Cal Poly?" he su gges ted . "They've got a great campus in San Luis Obispo, right next to the ocean. And it's not very expens ive!" " Yeah, but their bas ketball team sucks," I coun tered. I suspected that his final point was probably the primary motive be h in d hi s ent husias m. If I couldn't race mo torcycl es, I at least wanted to watch some good hoop. "They have a motorcycle club on campus." "When do classes start?" As far as I know , the Cal Poly Penguins are the only motorcycle club made u p en tire ly of students, and tog eth er they do all of th e work in volve d in putting on the Hi Mou ntain Enduro in I the Pozo riding area. (At least they used to ; our belo ved U .S. Fo res t Ser v ice brought the 40-yea r-o ld eve n t to a scree ching ha lt in 1991. The club now pu ts on a d ual sport rid e in the sam e area), The only ou tside assistance comes from a couple of club advisors (teachers who ride) and - on the day of the event onl y - JASPER s (Just Another Stupid Penguin Enduro Rid er - the mon iker given Penguins who make the trans ition from college into the real wo rld) . The Penguins got their title back in the early days of the club, when members wore black leath er jackets and white T-shirts. Actually, I had heard of the Penguins before my dad spoke up, and had even ridden their enduro; I just figured they were a normal motorcycle club that was nice enough to run the event as a charity for the schoo l. When I heard different, I sen t in m y a pplica tion, and even stopped to visit the campus on my way up to the Quicksilver National Enduro. I also stopped by the local bike shop , SLO City Cycles. They put me in 'touch with a coup le of Penguins, who immediately hit me with a well-rehearsed sales pitch (they were Business majors). "Wha t other college has an on-campus ga rage whe re you can store your bike?" (Sure, but the shack has no lights, or even electricity for that matter. Later, when I broke the tranny on my YZ250, I yanked the motor and toted it up to my dorm room, where to the dismay of my non-riding roommate; I sp read the parts ou t on plastic. trash bags and replaced the broken cog). " Wha t o th er coll ege let s you race your motorcycle on campus?" (The club period icall y coerces the tractor class yes, they actuall y teach yo u ho w to dr ive tractors in college - into building a motocross track, complete with doubles a n d trip les. It still a mazes m e tha t they're able to get away with this in the sue-happy Golden State). "What ot he r co llege le ts yo u rid e your MX bike on the campus streets?" (Every spring, the Penguins weasel their way into th e Poly Royal parade. Inevitably, the d istance quic kly grows betw een the parade entries that precede and follow the Penguins, as club members rid e ba ck and fo rth on th e rea r wheel, gaining high er an d h ig he r speeds. Whe n security fina lly fo rces the m to slo w d own, they start do ing nose-w heelies, abou t half of wh ich end wit h scra tch ed -Up rid e r a n d b ike sprawled on the asphalt). I bought the pitch - hook, line and sinker - and upon receiving my letter of acceptance (fortu nately, Cal Poly's Eng- . lish progra m isn' t as difficult to get into as their stellar engineering and agricu ltural schools), I headed off to cam pus. I barely paid attentio n to my firs t few classes, eagerly awaiting the first club m eeting . From the pitch of th e two "sales men, " I as sumed tha t the club would be hug e, and more importantly professional. "Heck, they've even put on a few Nationals," I thoug ht. Imagine my surp rise when the big day arrived, and the president called the meeting to order with no more th an seven members presen t. And the first order of business was not handi ng out brand -new sets of official club riding gear, but the ceremonial "presenting of the bell." In this sacred ritual, club members tattle on each other about who had the funniest crash on the last ride . Those nominated must come up with a credible defense (" I wasn' t swapp ing on tha t downhill- just using my legs to wipe the dust off my b ike." ) Th e cl ub fin a lly ' votes, and the "winn er" must wear the cowbell on th e next ou ting - to wa rn innocent riders of his or her approa ch. The club m embers w e re ama ze d tha t I had actually ridde n an enduro before, and were ecstatic to hear that I had been a member of a "real" d ub - the Checkpoints M.C.. Most new members have to be taught by the "veterans," and in the Penguins, you're a vet if you've been a member for over a year. (No one is a member for over four years, unless they fall behind in their classes; enduro stewards ofte n take five or six years to graduate). At my first Hi Mountain Enduro, my education as a Penguin continued . In the Checkp oints, the night before our end uro had been spent rehearsing check assignments, and getting plenty of rest for the big event. The Penguins, on the other hand, designate a driver to the Pozo Saloon, whe re they party into the wee hours. Afterwards, JASPERs challenge Penguin s to drunken wrestling matches in the dirt, the winner being the one who can remove his opponent's shoes and toss them into the darkness. As you might expect, the grapplers are no t typically in the best of form the next morning, and race day is usually a matter of choosing which problem (from a long list of options ) requires the most urgent attention. One year, near the end of the en d uro, a minute-One ri de r pass ed a club member who was frantically marking the course. While the Penguins may not be the pe rfect model of an enduro club, they taught me a lot (not all good) . And while th e two "salesmen" may have exaggera ted a bit, they helped finalize my decision to attend college, a choice I' m still happy [ made. After all , my. ed u cation helped la nd me a job as a Cy cle News editor, and isn ' t that the nex t- bes t thin g to being Na tiona l End uro Champion? eN IN.THE.WIND · Continued frompage ~ AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At Wagoner Cycle Works in Atlanta, Geo rg ia , on February 25 from 6:00-8:00 p .m. Team Suzuki's Phil Lawrence, Jimmy Button, Brian Swink and Dam on Huffman are schedule to appear. BORN: Cam eron Robert Roos, to former road racer Cam Roos and his wife Suzanne, on January 5 in Roswell, Georgia. Roos is a for mer 13- tim e AMA/CCS and WERA National Champion and is currently the assistant pa rts ma nager at Roswell Fun Mach ines in Roswell. APPOINTED: P.c. Racing in Wrightwood , Californ ia, as the exclusive agen t for Dut ch-built Bakker racing fram es. For more information contact P.c. Racing at 619/249-5572. MOVED: Xtreme, to 2590 Jason Court. . Oceanside, CA 92056. The new phone numbers are as follow s: 619/630-6370 and 619/630-3431 (fax). AUTOGRAPH SIGN ING: At Escondido Cycle Center in Escond ido, California, on Febru ary 4 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Team Suz u ki, Te a m Kawa saki and Team Spitfire/ Pro-Circuit/ Hot-Wheels are sc he d ul ed to app ear. For more information call 619/745-1615. FORMED: The Arizon a Cl a ss ic Motocross Ass ociation by Ted Mink. Fo r mor e info rmation on the vintage motorcycle association, contac t Mink at 602/437-576 7. APPOI NTED : MotoTech Internationa l, as the North Ame rican rep resentative for Shinko Tire USA Mot or cycle Tire Division. AUTO GR AP H SI GN IN G : At Cycle Springs in Palm Harbor, Florida, February 11. Team Yamaha motocrossers Jeff Em ig and Mike Craig are scheduled to appe ar from 5:00 p .m. to 7:00 p.m .. For mo re informatio n call 813/934-4692. eN I::: lOOKING .BAC~ ...:I 25 YEARS AGO FEBRUARY 18, 1969... ~=-,,*I ' ' w o N ovice d If t . • r: ':'lJ!,~:r j tracker s ru nning. off a..,:-'~~.• / track an d hea d in g " ,~ . in to the lak e a t Ascot .'- ;;,. '" Park were fea tu red on the cover of Issue #5 of Cycle News in 1969. Th e Expert ma in event was won by Skip Van Leeuwen o n a Triumph. Van Leeuwen b eat D usty Coppage and Pau l Bostru m . In the Amateur main even t, Keith Mas hu rn top pe d Do n Ca s tro and Don Dudek ... The Los An g el es Po li ce epa rtment ordered 10 Moto-Guzzi v ; tw ins after th e m otorcycles prov ed ui table for police work in a series of ests...Speedway ace Rick Woods won he A main event at the Pacoima , Caliornia, speed way races . Woods was T beaten by young Steve Bast in the trophy d a sh ... An edi titoria l wi th th e headline "Is AMA Good For Motorcycling" was feat u red. The autho r? Ed You ngblood ...A four-bedroom house in Randsburg, Califo rn ia, • w as se lling in th e Want l/;-,f!.!f.1.!J .Ads section - for $1600... !J-~ J . 1 5YEARSAGO FEBRUAR Y14,19 79... ~ 5". ' , ·i•• t~ 'j·:f!:~~ he AMA Winston Pro ..~. Series opener in th e Houston Astrodome was the cover story for Issue #5 in 1979. Honda-mounted Mickey Fay won the TT, beating John Genna i and Ran d y Goss. The shor t track, held the following day, was won by Ted Boo d y . Seco n d p lac e went to Steve Eklund with Goss finishing third to lead the champ ionship after the fir st tw o T rounds...A Bel-Ray oil ad featu red MXer J i m m y Wei n er t and - h is tu ne r Roy Tu m er...Kenny Roberts did n't race in the Houston TT after promoters failed to pa y his request for $10,000 in appearance money. Roberts, however, lent his Yam ah a' s fra me to Skip Aksland and Ak sl and fi ni shed fif th in the Na tional...Tony DiStefano won the 250cc Pro class at the Satu rday Saddleback MX in southern California...A 1977 Rickman Hond a 750cc was se lli ng in the Wan t Ads section for $3100... 5Y SA O EAR G FEBRUARY 8 89... ,19 e a rl y 70,000 fan s watche d Ric k Johnson win the openi ng round of the AMA Cam el Supercross Seri es in Ana hei m, Cal ifor- N ni a . Johnson beat J eff Stanton an d Gu y Cooper. We test rod e the Cagiva V588 Grand Prix bike ridden during the 1988 season by Randy Ma mola. Mamo la ha d given Cagiva its first rostr um finis h in the wet Belg ian GP at Spa-Francorchamps ...GP co rresp ond ent Michael Scott wrote an article abo u t fue l-i njection, calling it "The Nex t GP Revolu tion ."...Scotl Brown , M ichae l Craig a n d Mike Fi s h e r sewed up championships in the CMC Gol den Sta te Nationals in Carlsbad, California ...Mike LaRocco and Fred Andrews wrapped up Florida Wint er AMA titl es in Cocoa , Florida...Chuck Miller won the opening round of the National Hare & Hound Series, beating Larry Roesele r and Te d Hunnicutl...Dan In gram sewed up the AMA Invitational Pro Ice Race title in Erie, Pennsylvania... CN

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