Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

TURN Donn Maeda FOUR By y now, most h ard-core Cycle News reader s will have noticed that this is the first issue to h it the sta nds in a few weeks. Followi ng our mo ns trous year-end iss ue #50, th e editorial staff looks forward to a well-deserved tw o weeks of leisure. While some of us take vacation days, most of us have already used up our allotted time off by this time of year and th usly, the 10 working d ays between our year-end issue and the first book of the new year are usually spent in many creative ways. The solitaire p rogr am in our com puters used to be the pastime of choice, but last year one of us discove red a p rogram hidden d eep wi thi n th e file man ager in w hic h two gorillas toss exploding bananas at each other. Office tournaments resulted . By the third or fou rth d ay, however, we tradition ally grow tired of such silliness and begin to find innovative ways to get out of the office. New handlebar grips, goggle lenses and nu mber-plate b a ck g r ound s need to b e t ested for u p coming prod uc t evaluations. Yeah, that's it. In the past, we' ve us ua lly been able to pull off severa l of these days before the higher-ups catch on . Then it's back into th e offi ce an d time for that cl ean - u p -the -edi torial-d ep a rtm en t memo to come around. Believe it or not, the last three or four days are hell. Boredom is an editor's wor st enemy. In 1995, however , th ings would be different for this ed itor. With the mem ories of last year's December lull fresh in my mind, I held back and saved almost every one of my ye arl y vacati on days. While m y cohorts tw iddled thei r thumbs and dusted the cracks between the key s of their com pu ter keyboards, I would be free of the Long Beach penitenti ary. Shortly after w e laid issu e #50 to bed, though the entire edito rial staff decided to begin our annu al 250cc MX shootout. Rid ing th is e a r ly i n th e d owntime ? Eager to spend so me track tim e wi th my fellow ed itors, I d ecided to d el ay m y long-awaited vacati on by a d ay or two. After all, ther e are few expe rien ces more satisfying than filling the face of a nonmotocross ed itor with fresh roost. Needless to say, things didn't go as planned. Only a few laps into the day, I lost control in a muddy whoop sec tio n and went over the bars. Looking back, I now B know why I was sp it off the bike. No, it wasn' t impro per riding position or poor suspensio n setup - it was the freshly painted, not-yet-available Arai V-Cross helmet on my head . Several years ago, I read an article i n which multi-time Supercross and Motocross Champion Jeff Ward said that he always scr atched a new helm et before he wore it. A silly superstition, yes, but it was one that I picked up and h a d adhered to ever since. Until now . Back to th e crash. After landing on my head - and yes, scratching the new paint - I tumb le d onto my side and good 01' St . Nick. This worked great until the nurse's eyes rolled in to the back of her head and she d rop ped like a fly, hitting her head on a table on th e way down. Two emotions ran through my mind - first, I had to fight the urge to laugh. Who's ever heard of a nurse fainting at the sight of blood? A few seconds lat er, th ough, I began to wonder just how gruesome my side had to look in order to make a trained health-care provider lose consciousness. Little by little, panic began to set in. My dread reached full speed, however, when one of the nurses approached Vacation the hard way awa ited th e imp act of t he flip pi ng KX250. I had ne ver been h it by a bike before, but I had an eerie p remonition in the s plit second b efo re im pact . A s I raised my arm to protect my he ad I was st ruc k sq u a rely in the arm p it by the "bike's rear wheel. Ouch. Seven broken rib s and a punctured left lung was th e res ult, and as I lay on th e track awaiting the p a ramedi cs I knew some thing was wro n g insi de . Thankfully, m y co-worker s d id a good job of making light of th e situa tion and keeping m y spirits h igh. As m y head was b ein g taped to th e b ackboard, I heard one of my fellow ed ito rs say to th e EMT, "Hey, if all that h air ge ts in th e w a y o f th e neck b ra ce, just cu t it off." Later, in the eme rge ncy roo m, I was informed that a hole would be cu t in my sid e an d a tube would b e inserted to help drain the fluid from my chest and in turn reinfl ate my collapsed lu ng. Su rprisingly, I was pretty calm abo u t th e whole ordeal and tri ed to focus in on somethin g to ignor e the imminent pain. Sever al nurses were assisting the doctor, and one of th em w or e a pair of Santa Cl aus earrings. I d ecided to foc us on my tabl e wi th what looked like a len gth of fuel line in her hand . A catheter ? No sir, not for me! And besid es, the tube w as surely of th e "Troja n Magnu m " class. "Wait, don't you have an oriental size?" I asked in vain. Yes, it hu r t. Worse th an th e chest tu be, as a matter of fact. Late r in th e recovery room, m y coworke rs co n ti nued to .keep m y spi ri ts hi gh. As true journalists, of course one of them h ad brought a camera into th e h osp ital. And in spite of my objections and th reat s, one o f th em managed to snap a few photos while an overe ager m al e nu rse cond uc te d a recta l exam . "Hey nurse, weren't you w e arin g a watch?" he asked. It hurt to laugh, but I could n' t help it. The six days that followed were pure hell. Because of the unfortuna te locati on of the track that I crashed at, I was taken to a county hospital. Even though I was fully insured , I spe nt my first evening in a room wit h five other patients, two of whom had 24-hou r armed gu ards. On e guy h ad HIV and paraded around th e room wi th his privates flapping freely in the breeze crea ted by hi s flattering hospital gown, which he had on backwards, Anothe r guy walked over and stole my [ell-O when he thought I was asleep. Luckily, I was heavily d rugged at the time and could care less about anything that was going on . Day two saw me transferred to a semiprivate room, one which I shared with a 40o-pound man who had jus t suffered his fourth stroke; my visiting coworkers dubbed him "Tiny." He looked, snored and smelled like a brown bear. After two sleepless nights, I complained and was transferred to another semi-private room. Tho ugh my roommate was young and hip, his affliction was quite unnerving. The flesh-ea ting virus was something tha t I had only heard about on the news, but now I was getting a first-ha nd look. I didn't eat much after that. Pneumo nia se t in on the third d ay, and m y fever hovered near th e 103 degree mark for two days. Delirium and paranoia set in, an d I swore to myself that if I mad e it out alive, I would never ride a dirt bike again. "Who needs those da m n th in gs, any w ay ?" I thought. "They' re go nna h ave t o get someone new to write those bi ke tests!" (Don' t worry - it was a phase.) . By the fifth day, my feve r wa s controlled and I was ready to go home. No s uc h lu ck. The d octors gave me th eir us ual song and d ance, and dangled day six in fron t of m y nose lik e a ca rro t. Wh en day six arrived, I got dressed and p ack ed, but was informed th a t three more d ays wo uld be necessary. I won 't get into ho w I actually got released later that day, bu t I will admit that I was jus t about ready to throw the bed shee ts out the window a n d shi m my m y way to freedom. I m ade it h om e two d a y s b efore Christmas, and my regular doctor w as amazed at how quickl y I see me d to heal. Asi de from lingerin g pain while sneezing, my life has more or less returned to normal and I went to th e office on the first workday of the new year. Because . it was d eadline day for issue #1, I was welco med ba ck w ith a las t- minu te assignment - to fill this back p age wi th a Turn Four column. I objec te d at firs t, that is - until I heard the last-page-filling op tion. Remember th e phot os th at I talked abo ut? The proof sheet is a dandy... It's good to be b ack. a LOOKING BACK... 25 YEARS AGO... JANUARY 20,1971 t was Jim Rice all th e w ay in the Ex pe r t class main eve nt at the California Half Mile Cha mpionshi p a t Ascot Pa r k . Gene Romero, Ilh 1971 's num- Ht' ber-one pla te '~ _ holder, held o n to the runner-ti p p o si ti on fro m start to finish . Kenny Roberts took top novice-class h on or s... John DeSoto go t his year off to a good start at the Indian Dunes Classic in Valen cia, California. A ft e r b e s t in g a fie ld of talente d mot ocross pros in his first h eat, he established a siza ble lea d in the second before Mike Ru nyard zi p ped by fo r th e win. DeSoto's fuel valve h ad come loose, and every time h e went sideways over a I jump his leg would sh u t off the gas. The "Fly in g Hawaii an" ca me back with a fresh ly tigh ten ed p etcock in th e th ird heat to take the ove rall win... The American Mo to rcycle Association raised its annual dues to $7, p ut together a new membership ben e fit p ackage, and hired f!:nil~rJT·~!i -'~-:J~!m ... JL i · '<-;; ~ . . r~33~ Mike Vancil for a _~ ) new job headi ng :.~~·~:;.:.-...~U.. am ateur activities . -~::::o-~~",,:-•.: :Jlj ----- 15 Y S"AG ... EAR O JANUAR 1981 Y14, lon k in g to victory at th e P lo uffe Stadium Trials in La _ Cresce n t a, Ca li-~!!"DDiii fornia, Bu lt aco -m ounted Scott Head overcame tee ter-tott ers, gigantic tires an d pa rked vehicles as pictured on the cover. "This is fan tastic," th e 1980 ATA champion said. "It's the future of tria ls." Dale Eppard claim ed second on P I a Montesa ... D a rrell Shultz was the Pro-cIass win at rou nd one of the Flori500cc Pro-class winner in ro und one of d a Wi nter AMA series at Gainesville. Damon Bradshaw h ad taken the firstthe Golden Sta te Mo tocross Series, conmoto win, but DNFed the secon d moto tested in Oran ge, California. "To beat all these guys on th eir home track just lets with ignition probl ems. Tichenor also me know I' m ready thi s ye ar," Schu ltz took second in the 125cc division, finishing behind Ryan Hughes... Willie Sursaid. Broc Glover took top 250cc h onors, and George Ho lland was the 125cc-c1ass ratt h ad th e go ld en to u ch at the CMC leader... Team Husqvarna's Scot HardGolden State Nationals in San Bernardien dominated the Camel Ch ase for 103 no, California, cleaning u p in the 250 miles, from Searchlight to Nipand 500cc Pro events. Steve Lamson ton, Nevada. In addition to the .,. I . _ . claimed some gold for himself in ' 1-1 ~;7i ': 'J ~~.:::Jj the 125cc Pro class. Mik e . expected yuccas and cacti, riders were treated to a rare ._~ ~ , Young was runner-up in the desert snowstorm and tern- . -~ 125 an d 250cc, edging out p e r a tu r e s in the 30s. N o 1lle1991 M ike Young, also 250cc Pro camels were ha rmed in th e ~ ru n ner- u p .. : J e ff Ward was course of this e v e n t . : : " rew arded with $5000 for winni ng th e GFI 250cc Pro $10,000 In vit ati on al Sup er cross at Per ris 5Y SA O EAR G ... Rac ew ay . " It was li ke p r acticing," Wa rd sai d after the even t. JANUARY 16, 1991 "I w as going to go ridi ng today, a vi n g been disa p a nyway." Jeremy McGrath fin pointed wi th his 1990 ished second, 'follow ed by Rick resu lts, Ronni e Tichenor was happy to claim the 250cc Johnson. I:'i H 47

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