Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Cycle News 1994 09 21

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127685

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"FChris JonnunrO.-O: INALM -T, .By : I 'm a woods-riding fan trapped in the body of a desert rat. Asa punk kid growing up in the Mojave Desert, one day I rode m y treasured XR200 down the dirt road to our mailbox, pulled out the new issue of Dirt Bike magazine and stuffed it under my shirt, eager to get home and perform my monthly ritu al of cutting out any and all photo s of my hero, Bob Hann ah - a ritual I also performe d on a weekly basis w ith my dad's Cycle News. (I doubt if H annah ever had a bigger fan. In fact, a few years earlie r I had actually named my pet rabbit after him, and I broke into tears wh en "the Hurricane" lost the famed Superbowl of M oto cr o ss .) It w as a light H a n n a h month for Dirt Bike as it turned out, so I apathetically d ecided to check out the cove rage of the 1983 Welsh International Six Days Enduro. That's wh en I saw the photo that changed my life - a full-page color shot of Mike Melton roosting out of a grass-track comer in a beautiful pasture in Wales . . I had been to enduros to watch my dad ride, but they were all in District 37 - and nothing at all like this . Everything about the photo screamed to me that this was what riding a motorcycle was all about. The white plastic of Melton's Husky set against the deep' green backdrop of the lush Welsh grass sent chills down my spine. The special test track wa s loamy and black, and on the hillsides in the background w ere rustic farmhouses and centuries-old rock fences. Topping it all off was Melton's sano blue-and-white skunk-striped helmet. "This," I thought, "is what it's really all about:' From that moment on, I devoted myself full time to absorbing anything and everything there was to know about the Six Days and Eastern enduro riding. Poor old Bob started to take a back seat to my new-found heroes - Melton, Dick Burleson, Larry Roeseler, Ma rk Hyde and Terry Cunningham. I w rote fan letters to several off-readers, and even got responses from a few of them. Cunningha m and Johnny Martin both sent me au tographed posters, and transplanted Australian Geoff Ballard even wrote a Mike Melton personal letter and included a packet of cool " G o the Ra t" s ti ckers . Hannah hadn't ever done that, even after I wr ote a him five-page letter when he broke his leg in a water-skiing accident. I became wha t I suspect was the only Californian to s witch his Cycle News West su bscr ip tion for Cycle News East, and pored over all the magazines, analyzing the photos of my heroes' bikes, scrutinizing every detail. After noticing that the trick Huskys all had handguards and droop-down re ar fend er s with taillights, I saved my money to pop for a set of plastic brush deflectors and a trick Preston Petty fender, replacing the stubby motocross unit that came stock on the XR. I drooled over the dark woods and murky stream crossings of Europe and the Eastern U.S., and yearned to ride in similar terrain. Faced onl y with the scorched-dry SoCal dez, I satiated my hunger in the wash behind my parents' house, constantly riding up and down the rocky creek that carried away the melting snow of the San Bernardino Mou n tai ns every Sp ring. Still not satisfied , I explored my personal riding area with a fine-toothed comb, se arching for a trail that would come a nyw he r e near to ev en r esemb ling woods riding. The clo sest I coul d get was a narrow, man-made cana l tha t carried water to a nearby golf course. Covered by a tunnel of reeds and cat-tails, and feed ing a steady flow of water to the links, the can al was what I imagined real woods riding to be like. It doesn't often rain around Palmdal e, but when it did, I could be found ou t riding my XR in th e hills, playing Kevin Hines, an d I milked the last flake out of every winter sn owfall. Our family trail ri d es usually took p la ce in the desert around Mojave, bu t I would beg my dad to take me to the mountains of Gonnan - or better yet , Kennedy Meadows. One Kennedy Meadows trip featured drenching rain and freezing temperatures, but w e ro de all day long, nonetheless. Was I mise rable? Not even! The m oun tai n ous te r r ain, co mbined w ith the muddy con d itions, w er e th e u ltim a te in my limited woods-riding experience.. For my next birthday I talked my dad into letting me rid e in my first enduro. He cho se the 1984 Not-So-Tuff-E-Nuff, which turned out to be just the ticket. Though it was a District 37 enduro, the event was held in the local mountains, sta r ting in So led ad and e n din g in Pasadena . No, the trails weren't an ywhere near as tough as a typical Eastern Nati onal - not even in the same league but hey, at least there were trees. My dad rode on my minute but made me keep time, having g iven me a la stminute rollchart cram session before the start. After zeroing the first check, I was hooked. lsold my beloved XR and saved and scrimped for a trick new 1985 XR350R. Th e bike was a cla ss ic - still is - and compared to myoid 200, it was'the ultimate enduro weapon. My next event was a Checkpoint M.e. famil y end uro in Big Bea r, where I got my first trophy. Conv inced I was the next Drew Smith, I scanned Cycle News for another enduro wort h y of m y boundless ta lents, and settled on the infamous 1985 Checkpoint Bad Mountain Enduro. It was he ld in Gorm an just after a snow storm, and any of the entrants will not-so -fondly recall it as one of the m ost slip pery, gnarly, cold, and jus t plain brutal events in District 37 his tory. I barely finished the en d u ro witho ut houring o u t, and while my recently inflated head sh r u n k back down to its previous siz e, I couldn't wa it for the ne xt enduro. I d ecided to ride the entire District 37 series in 1986, which unfortunately consisted primarily of desert endur os. The highlight was the California Enduro Association National in Red Mountain , whe re I got to meet Cunningham, Roeseler, Dave Bertra m, Jeff Russell, Randy Haw kins and several other heroes. Getting my driver's license helped matters , and I began making occasional trips north for District 36 Nationals. I started college, and talked a bu ddy into teaming up to drive to Colorado Nationals, Oregon 's Trask Qualifier and other su ch events. I treasured such su mmer vacation roa d trips, especially when I began to realize I'd nev er have the necessary talents to ride the National circuit or the ISDE. By a fluke I scored a oneyear in te rnship at Acerbis Italy, and while my rid ing was for the most part limited to the non-competition variety, I got to travel to several World Enduro rounds and the Swedish Six Days. I also met the riders I currently consider to be my heroes - the European enduro aces. Home beckoned, however, despite its lack of woods riding and woods-riding heroes, and I returned to Southern California to worship my passion from afar. Landing my current dream job at Cycle News has helped, as I am now occasionally assigned to ride in such woodsy locales as Costa Rica and Massachusetts (I recently took part in a week-long Moose Racing-sponsored ride in Colorado, riding with long-time heroes like Fritz Kadlec) . Still, I now have less time for riding than ever, and though I fly back east every few weeks, it's usually to cover a Supercross or National MX my primary beat. It's better than being the person who picked up my trash cans this morning, but I still have to learn ab out th e woods-riding go ings-on the same way you do - by reading it in Cycle. News (I read while I edit). Oh, well, I guess th in gs could be worse. I could have been a Baja en thusiast from Wales. Of I LOOKING BACK...·.. j 25 YEARS AGO... · A September 30, 1969 photo of Keith Mashburn a n d Dave Aldana horsi n g around on ; j Mashburn Honda mini ! bike pri? r to the Tulare · !,""", ...::....::'!..~ .:J Half Mile was on the W it! _ -- . cover 25 yea r s ag o . . I . -.,,_~I Lloyd Houchins won .. , the Expert main, while Mashburn top ped the Amateu r feature at the half mile race held at the Tulare Fairgrounds in California.. . Cycle News ran its coverage of the Gennan ISDT, where the East Gennan team took home the World Trophy title, while West Germ any won the Silver Vase competition. Two American ride rs wo n Gold Med als that yea r - Mal- . colm Smith and Bill Uhl. Nine Americans took home Silver Med als, including Pres ton Petty, John Penton, Leroy Winters, AI Baker and Dave Mungenast.. . Cycle News tested the new H usqv arna 400cc Cross : "The 400 is not a trail bike... It's a full-fledged, 100% supe r-powerful competition bike: ' Thelist price for the H usky was $1249 ...The Belgian team r" :' . ......... mad e up o f Joel Robert, Roger DeCoster, J. Teuwissen, Jaak Van Veltoven and Sylvan Geboers w on the Motocross des Nations, which was held in Great Britain. Five rid ers from each country competed in a two-m ot e form at , where the top three riders fro m each team counted to w ards th e final po ints tally. Swed en was the runner-up team followed by Great Britain. The U.S. d id not field a team. Bengt Aberg and John Banks wer e the moto wi nners... Jo hn Penton wo n the Jack Pine Enduro in Houghton, Michigan... Earl Roeseler a n d Do n Emle r w o n their resp ective classes a t th e Hi-J inx FMC motocross in Riverside, Ca lifornia. 1 5YEARS AGO... September 26,1979 ea m Ya m a h a' s Kenny Roberts '__'_ _'_ " w as sh own on - .•.....- •._.....• the cove r wheeling to his second consecu tive 500cc Worl d Cha mpionship Road Race crown a t the final GP round in France, where he finished third to Barry T Sheene and Randy Mamola... Terry Poovey w on the Me ad owlands Ha lf Mile GNC in Pennsylvania over Steve Morehead and Jay Sp ringsteen... Cycle News featured an interv ie w w ith dirt tracker Randy Gos s... Belgium topped Grea t Britain and West Gennany to win the Motocross d es Nati ons that was held in Finland. Once again, the U.S. did not field a tea m... Mike Bast wo n the 12th Annua l Cal if o rnia Sta te Speedway Championship in San Bernardino, California... "Trials tip for trail rider" was a thr ee-page "how-to" piece put together by author Len Weed and former Trials World Champion Bernie Schreib er. It featured tips from bod y control to wheel awareness. 5Y SAGO... EAR September20, 1989 h es ter fie ld / KTM' s Trampa s Parker w as fea tu red on the front page five years ago after he clinched the Wor ld Cha mp ionship 12Sec MX title in France; C Ita lian Alessandro Puzar won the event... Jay Springsteen won the rainedout Syracuse Mile. Six laps into the featu re, the race was called and the purse money was handed out in the order of how the y qualified. Springsteen was the fast est quali fie r, so he took home the lion 's sha re of the $42,500 purse. The Junior race was held, however, where Larry Pegram scored the win but Mike Ha le took th e cha mp ionship... Cycle News featured a preview of the upcoming ISDE to be held in West Gennan y; the Ll.S Worl d Trophy team was made , up of Jeff Fredette, Da ve Bertram, Larry Ro ese ler, T e rry Cu n n in gham, Kurt Hough and Jeff Ru sse l l... Su zuki d eb ut ed the new 1989 RM125 an d 250 productio n MXers.. . Scott Guthri e turned a top speed of 194.912 mp h to set an APS-AF-750 class record on a Yamaha TZ700 at the Bonneville Spee d Week in Utah ... Kurt Hough won the Caney Creek N at ion a l End u r o o ve r D ave Bertram an d Randy Hawkins ... Tallon and Tyson Voh land topped the TransCal MX Series opener in Sacramento... Led by H ans Nie lsen the Dan ish.. wo n the Wo rld Champions hip Sp eedwa y Final in Munich. Of 67

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