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/127927
easiest part of my da y (well, acquiring it, not wearing it) because school just happened to be in session at the Maely Ranch in Corona, Ca liforni a, where the proprietor is none othe r than Ken Maely - Mr. Steel Shoe . This guy has mad e more steel shoes than I've had hot m eals, and he was more than happy to w hip one out for m e. I was also fortunate enou gh to get the full Ken Maely-Ied tour of the ranch - property th at is part museum, part vegetable farm, but it's mostly about motorcycles. A stroll through Maely' s place gives you an ind ication of his lofty sta tus in d irt track and spee d way mo torcycle history, and a look at his race track sho ws you that he is definitely still a hu ge fan of the motorcycle. The spee dway tr ack was g room ed and watered to perfectio n for our day of riding, some thing Maely had m ade sure of with a pred awn w heel-packin g in one of his old trucks. I wa s the first to arrive, wi th Hamill showing u p next. Then cam e my fath er, Rousseau, Briggs a n d sons Gary an d Tony, and Han cock. We'd later be joined by Californ ia Sta te C ha m pion Charlie 'The Edge" Venegas, w ho had probably h eard th roug h th e grapevi ne th at th e Co me dy Club had come so uth. Maiers se t precedent by showing up last. In this case, last meant first beca use Dad an d I had alrea dy d ecid ed who was goi ng to be firs t on th e track - "Leisure Suit" Larry Ma iers. Hamill and Ha ncock gave us lessons as our loaner bike was being meticulously prepped in the backgro u nd (well, the ba tteries for the ignitio n "ho t box" were being cha rged). Th en Hamill wen t ou t and sho w ed us w ha t speedway is supposed to look like . He was followed by Lev i-clad La rry, w ho in t h is ca s e appeared to be the anti-Hamill. Ma iers w as nervous, and for good reason : He was afraid of getti ng hurt. I was nervous as we ll, though m y fe ar was m ore o f looking stu pid tha n of ge tting hurt. Dad What service! Hamill instructs on the fine art of putti ng on a steel shoe. (Right) The biggest lau gh of the day was provided by Hancock, who rode under an unexpecting Maiers ยท s caring the living daylight s out of him. (Below) Watching the beg inners learn to ride provided plenty of chuckles. Kel Carruthers and Barry Briggs are obvious ly enjoying the action. (Below) Speedway's best , and worst , all in one photo. (Top row, left to right) Barry Briggs, Billy Hamill's mechanic, Craig Cummings, Larry Maiers " Kel Carruthers, Paul Carruthers and Charlie Venegas. (Botto m row - left to right) Tony Briggs, Greg Hancock, Billy Hamill and Sco tt Rousseau. probably wasn ' t nervou s a t all - he'd been u p th is kin d of roa d before a nd was n' t lookin g for style points. Lar ry was careful in his approach, and it showed. Still, he succeeded in getting a r o u n d a speedwa y track on a speed way bike. And he did n't hurt himself. He quickly removed. his motocross boots and w ent back to his day job of putting together the television show. The Carruther s fam ily happened to be sharing both he lmet, boots and steel shoe, and the World Champion in th e family wa s talked into going firs t. This w as a tactical ma neuv er on my part that could easily have backfired. Bu t his tory w as in my favor, and I knew my father wo u ld n' t d ? any thing silly, so I still had a cha nce of comi ng out of this one looking really good. Then Kel we nt ou t and put on a show, slid ing the bike sideways and getting a pplause fro m even Barry Briggs . N ow I was in tr oubl e. I' d ha d v is io ns of him keeping th e w heels in line, m eaning th at I'd only ha ve to go so m ew hat sidew ays in o rder to shine. Now I w ould ha ve to go out and really slid e the thing... All o f my fears w ent a wa y ea rly . Wh ile I a ntici pa ted th e bik e would be ungodly to rid e, it actually wasn't. After all, speedway motorcycles are, by nature, designed to slide, and th ey do so wi thout much effort. I concentra ted on going in to th e corn er s slo w ly, ge tti ng o n the gas mid corne r and sliding the bike to the exit (no t a lot in th e w ay of ou trig ht spe ed, but a wa y to keep the style points racking up). On e thing I notic ed right away is that all th ou ghts of the front end can be dismissed . Wh en yo u try to slide most motorcycl es, yo u' re usually more w orried abou t losin g the front than you are wi th the rear . O n a speedway bike, this is n' t the ca se. Sliding the rear is yo ur only con cern, and it sp ins up wi th just a bit of ca reful throttle control. Th e fro nt just stays plant ed - at leas t at a beginner's pace. Ok ay, so there aren't an y br akes - but you don't need them until it's tim e to go back to the pits anyway. I d id as many laps as my legs could stand (one was getting used to carrying a steel shoe, the other was tired fro m stan ding and pushing on the outsi de footpeg), a nd pulled it in . Hamill and Hancock were all smiles and full of complimen ts, and Briggs wa s sim ply stunned. Maiers interviewed me for TV an d even see med proud of my ride - thou gh I could hear him mumbling something abo u t racquetball. My dad was also smiling, yet a bit quick to rip off my boots so he could have anothe r go . Thi s time he wa s u p by the wall, carrying road racing-like cornering speed and scaring the hell out of me and everybody else ', to hell wi th style poi nts! I rode m ore throughout the day; getting mo re co mfo rta ble with every la p . Bo th Hamill and Ha nc oc k were topnotch in structors, and they end ed up daz zling us when they decided to ride in formation aro und Maely' s track . By the end of the da y I cou ldn't recall eve r having more fun, and there' s a good chance I'll end up need ing a pla stic surgeo n to remove the smile from my face. I never d id en d up getting a nickname, but I have until the spring to come u p with one. That's when the sea so n starts a t Costa Mesa Speedway . A nd tha t's when everyone in Division III be tter watch their backs. rx . .. ~ ~ t:::: 29