Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DAY SIX" ; By Kit Palm~ , . .. aving ridden motorcycles for as long as I can remember, I gained respect for my rid ing env ironent at an early age. I was fortuna te nough to grow up near a rath er large nd beautiful canyon that contain ed umerou s tw o-trac k d irt ro ads, and orne of the coolest single-track tr ails 've ev er over-he a te d my rear b ra ke ads on . Riding was only ha lf th e fu n. Th e ther half came from being surrounded y magnificent scenery - the hills, the ense, green shrubbery, the trees, the irds, the cliffs... Disappearing in to th e hills on my otorcycle was the perfect escape from ea li ty. No m atter how crazy thi ngs eemed to get at schoo l, or how lousy I id at the p rev io us weekend's otocross races, I always knew that I ould go trail riding once or twice durng the wee k to get awa y from it all. For he a ll -too -b ri ef ti me spe n t on the o torcycle, all of my p roblems wo uld issipate, rep laced by absolute joy. I couldn' t wait to hop off the school us, sprint home, cha nge into my riding ea r and vanish into the hills: The first nd la st fe w miles of th e r ide were lw ays a little risky, though, beca use I ad to rid e a few blocks on the paveen t. I got pulled over by the police a ew tim es, but I was never ticketed . I uess the y thought there were worse hings a teenager could be d oing w ith . spa re time. Out in the hills, I had laid ou t wha t I thought was the ulti mate loop. I stuck o this same ba sic 40-mile loop on very ride, varying it slightly at times to ake each ou ting a littl e different. There were a few sections, tho ug h; that would never omi t, like the zig-zagging rail through one patch of eucalyp tus trees tha t were so dense you co uld hardly see the sk y - simply awesom e. Then there was the narrow trail that ran along a sm all , picturesque strea m , a row of trees lining its banks - too good to pass up. Then the re was the mountain peak. I'd climb to the top an d on a clear day (unfortunately , rare), I could see at least 50 miles in alm ost any direction . It wasn't unusu al to cross pa ths with other motorcyclis ts during my we ekly rides. Usually, we'd wave to each othe r an d continue on o u r way. Aft er all, the re was n o sense wasting va lua ble riding time wi th chit-chat. Beside s, the sun was setting qu ickly and mom's evil eye wo uld be waiting if I got in after dark. . Unfor t unately, I h ad some other encoun ters that weren't so casual or pleasant. Every once in a while I'd come across a h iker or, more often, a horseback rider, enjoying the very same trails an d scener y as m e. Ou t of courtesy, whenever I saw a horse and rider up ah ead, I made a hab it of pulling off to the side of th e trail, killing the engine and removing my helmet (horses tend to blow a fuse when they see h umans wit h th ese st ra nge-loo king d evices on their heads). At this point I could expect eithe r one of two comments from the ho rseback riders. One would go som ething like this: " H owd y. Th anks for stoppi ng . Great day, isn't it? Have a good rid e." Thanks. The oth er w ent like th is : "You s houl d n' t be r idi ng th ose thi ngs out here ... they tear up the hills," and wi thout fail, they'd conclude w ith, " ...this is priva te prop ert y, I ow n th is land and you'd better get the hell out of he re or I'm gonna call the cops ." Usually, I heard the latter. This lectu re al way s infu riated me ! First off all, the trails he/she was blaming me for "tearing up " were the exact same trails he/she was using; secondly, if every person who claimed to own the land actually di d, th en so m ebo dy ou t there made a killing by selling the same patch of real estate to 10 different people; thirdly, I don't like being threatened tI never ha d to worry about it, though, there weren't ma ny phone booth s ou t there and cellula r p ho nes weren ' t around back then); last, but not least, I don't like selfish people. I ha d just as much right to be out here as anyo ne else and if I was trespassing on somebody's property, then so was he/she. I guess what bugged me most was the comment "tearing up the hills ." I value the ground I ride on as much, if not more, than any of those horseb ack riders who gave me a hard time. It just so happens that I like to experience the great ou td oors on two wheels rather than on fou r legs , or two feet, or four wheels for that matter. In my op inion, riding on two wheels provides the most efficient and enjoyable way to see the sights. Motor cycles can cover m ore ground in less time, they're versatile and, perhaps best of all, they don't have roofs . Not long ago, I returned to that same canyon and enthusiastically headed out for the same hills that I had supposedly " tom up" many years ago . To my disbelief (well, not really), more than half of all the trails were gone. They had either bee n bulldozed or blocked off by ba rbed-wire fences. The patch of euca lyp tus trees is now off limits, caged in by a fence, with a house built rig ht next to it. Obviously, someone enjoyed this area as much as I d id - but they wanted it all to them- selve s . The small s tream I en joyed so much had been paved over and turned into a drivewa y that l ea ds to the top of the moun tain I used to climb. The top of the mountain has been lev eled off, and a house now enjoys the view that thrill ed me years ago . I guess if I want to enjoy the same view now that I di d as a kid , I had better become friends with this family. Maybe they'll invite me over some day an d we can sit out on their patio. There are fences everywhere. Every hill has been thoroughly destroyed by bulldozers and heavy equipment. Hey, I guess if you have the money, yo u can have anything you want - even if what you want involves leveling 50 fee t off the top of a mountain and ripping out creeks and shrubbery with a bulldozer. I can't help but think back and lau gh abo ut all the times I was accused of tearing up th e land; all those lectures that off-road users have no respect for the environment. What a joke. Who's really tearing up the lan d here? Definitely not some teenager on a dirt bike. All that verbal abuse I got back then was just a waste of bad breath. Anyway, the bottom line is sim ple my favorite riding spot is no longer there. 1 ca n r ejoi ce, though, in the knowledge th at its destruction had nothing to do wi th my bike's 4.00 x 18inch knobby back tire. I've come to accept the fact tha t socalled progress has run me out of my "backyard," b u t all is not lost. Even tho ugh places to ride are getting harder and harder to find, there are still many great ones out there to enjoy. It's just tou gh to say goodbye to the one that started it all. l:l'i .:··.· :,·: < H IN , ,INT E.W D; '. '., " ::' ndrew Stroud, who will ride a factorypeck Yamaha ridden by Terry Rymer . the 1993 World Superbike Series. Upnd-coming Phil Bourley will ride a imilar Yamaha, and Alan Carter will .de a Ducati. In addition, Roger Benett and Lee Pullan will ride a Kawasaki and Yamaha; respectively, in the 200. eam MCN will also sport a European . fla vo r with German Martin Wimmer and Frenchman Michel Simeon joining the group. Nigel Bosworth, on e of the top 250cc GP riders in England, will also ride for Team MCN. OPEN HOUSE: At West Coast British / West Coast British Racing in Liver mo re, Ca lifornia, on Ma rch 20. West Coast British will be joined in th e open hous e by HK C ycles a nd Va lley Ma ch in e . For more information call 510/606-8301. ENGAGED: Dirt track racer Chris Schmulbach to girlfriend Stephanie Johnson. The couple plans to wed in September of '94, in Springfield, Illinois . BORN: Jessica Rose Knox, to Dou g Continued from page 3. ' . Knox, presiden t o f the Desert Vipers Motorcycle Club, an d his wife Kristy, on February 17, in Westrninister, California. nard and Ryan Hughes are scheduled to app ea r . For more information ca ll 904/732-8531. MO VED: IRC USA Inc., to 2851-B Whip ple Road, Union City; CA 94587, 510/441 -01 26 (p hone), 510/441-0129 (fax). IRC Tire is a division of Inoac, AUTOGRAPH SIGNING: At H onda Kawasaki of Bloomington in Bloomington, Ind iana, on Friday, March 18 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Team Honda's Jeff Stanton, Jeremy McGrath, Steve Lamson an d Do u g H enry a long w ith Team Kawasak i ' s Mike Kiedrowski , Mike La Roc co, Robb ie Rey nard and Ryan Hughes are scheduled to appear. For more information call 812/339-0199. l:l'i AUTOG RAPH SIGNING: At H onda Su zu ki Kawasa ki Sea-Doo in Ocala , Florida, on Ma rch 9 from 7:00 p .m . to 8:30 p. m. Team .Ka was ak i ' s Mike Kiedrowski, Mike Lakocco, Robbie Rey- 1·:·,: ·.L:06kING\B.AC~:·· ~:·'~ ,:1 25 YEARS AGO March 18, 1969... k i p Van Leeuwen won th e 100-lap Ascot TT on his Triumph for the third year in a row, beating Dusty Coppage, Eddie Mul- fW der, Mert Lawwill and U.. Gene Romero. Fo u r..•.'-:!:. teen of the 19 finishers were ridin g Triumphs...Greeves introduced tw o new models aimed at the United States market - the 250 and 380cc Griffons...1969 al so saw the intr o d u ctio n of the Kawasaki Mach III, a SOOcc three-cylinder, two-stroke street bike.:.Sears Point International Raceway held a p ress conference in San Francisco, California, out- S lin in g it s pl ans for the ne w racetrack...Bill Bartels won th e Expert 250cc class at the Adelan to TT in sout hern Californi a... 15 YEARS AGO March 14,1979... oa d racer S teve McLaughlin and his Racecrafters Kawasaki sup e r bike w as feat ured on the cover of iss u e #9 in 1979 .. .Bo b Hannah w on the Atlanta rou nd of the AMA /Toyota Supercross Series, held in A tlanta Stadium durin g a rai ns torm: Hannah beat Daryl Schu ltz and Rick Burgett...Rob Sh epherd and Malcolm Rathmell won the opening two rounds R of the World Champio ns h ip Tria ls Series in Ireland and England, res pectively...Steve Mclaughlin was featu red in an interview which focuse d mainly on the rise of superbike racing: "O f course we couldn't be ranked on Kenny Roberts' level, but I'd certainly like tosee a munchkin on a superbike. It's a big motorcyclefor big people - for men, when it gets righ t down to the bottom line. I'm not saying Kenny Rober ts isn't a man, but let's put him on a superbike." 5YEARS AGO M arch8,19 89... oug Polen graced the cover of Issue #9 in '1989 as Cycle Ne ws p reviewed the upcomin g D a ytona D 200..,J e ff Sta n t o n _" en ded Ri ck John - :J1 ! son ' s five-r ace win ;;;;,;-. streak in the AMAI 1101 (1 Came l Su p er cr oss ~. Series with a victory .. over his teamma te in Atl an ta's Fulton County Stad iu m . The 125cc race in Atlanta was won by Damon Bradshaw, who beat Ty Da vis and Mike Kiedrowski.. .Th e opening 'r ou nd of the AMA Nationa l Endur o Series was won by Ra ndy Hawkins with Kevin Hines finishing second and Larry Roeseler ending up third...Scott Russell w on all three races he ent ered at Ta lladeg a G ra n d Prix Ra ce wa y in Alabam a... l:l'i

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