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/128096
By 30 YEARS AGO•.. MARCH 30, 1971 Bruce Brown was caught for the cover of Issue .11 whUe ftIming for his film 'On Any Sunday," while Ron Bishop was also photographed after getting the holeshot ahead of Tom Muto in the Mint 400 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team of J.N_ Roberts and Max Switzer won the race... We reviewed the preview of 'On Any Sunday" and figured that the moto-flick may end up being just what the sport needed_ The movie was financially backed by Steve McQueen, and our reviewer pointed out that this movie may wash the sour taste of "The Wild One" from our mouths... Whitey Martino and Larry Pfutzenreuter drag.raced to a photo finish at the Luceme Hare Scrambles in Lucerne Valley, California. Martino was awarded the victory. 20 YEARS AGO..• MARCH 25, 19B1 Sidecar racers Larry Coleman and Mark Bevans streaked across the cover of Issue !Ill after winning the Sidecar race held as part of the Long Beach Grand Prix in Long Beach, California. The team of Reg Pridmore and Kenny Green fmished second ... Rounds six and seven of the AMA Supercross Series took place over a doubleheader weekend in the Houston Astrodome, and Mark Barnett (Suz) took the win on both nights, and recovered the points lead when series points leader Darrell Shultz (Suz) injured his knee during practice the Friday before the event. Broc Glover (Yam) and Kent Howerton (Suz) took second each night, respectively... Freddie Spencer (Hon) took the win at round two of the AMA Superbike Championship at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Eddie Lawson (Kaw) finished second, ahead of Wes Cooley (Suz) ... Dustin Evans (Itj) took victories in the Pee Wee Stock and Modified classes and took second to Richard Saxton in the Junior Cycle Novice (6·8) class as well at Saddleback Park in Orange, California. Ron Lechien (Yam) took the 125cc Modified Expert win. 10 YEARS AGO•.• MARCH 27, 1991 The start of the Tempe Supercross 250cc main event was shot for the cover of Issue II, with Jeff Stanton (Hon) getting the holeshol But it was Jean-Michel Bayle (Hon) who took the victory after falling on the first lap and charging from deep in the field to pass Stanton for the lead on the 16th of 20 laps. Stanton fmished second, while Jeff Ward (Kaw) flO' ished third... Scott Summers (Hon) took the victory at the first round of the AMA Grand National Cross Country Series... Kawasaki-mounted 15-year-old Damon Huffman took the 125 and 250cc Stock Intermediate victories, the 250cc Modified Intermediate victory, and the 250cc Openclass victory. and set the fastest lap time of the weekend along the way, at the GNC International MX Finals in Lake Whitney, Texas... Thirteen-year·old Steve Cox (Suz) won his debut race in the 125cc Beginner class with a dean two-moto sweep at Perris Raceway in California. Max Nelson (Yam) finished second overall. Jeremy McGrath (Hon) took advantage of the 200percent Pro payback by winning both the 125 and 250cc Pro classes with ease. '* T Final lVIoto CHRIS JONNUM his must be what real jobs are like. It's a beautiful, sunny, early-spring day (okay, late-winter, but I'm eager), and I know from the recent rainstorms that the trail soil out in the Southern California desert and hills is moist and loamy - just begging to be rearranged by the fresh Michelin knobby on the rear of that brand-new KTM 400E/XC long-term test bike that's sitting down in our garage. And yet here I sit, chained to my desk and looking out my office window at the chirping birds, budding blossoms and a group of shapely secretaries from next door on their smoking break. I thought the whole reason I put up with the long hours, low pay and minimal benefits that are so intrinsic to the motorcycle trade was to avoid situations like this. But no. As I drum my fingers impatiently on my desk's cheap Formica and check my computer's e-mail in-box every 30 seconds, every last one of my industry colleagues (with the exception of my CN cohort Blake Conner) are frolicking in the Florida sun, competing in the odd event and watching the country's best riders do battle. The reason I'm so avidly checking my in-box is that I'm expecting an important e-mail from P.e. (not Penelope Cruz, though that would explain my feverishness, but editor Paul Carruthers). "Pablo" and fellow staffers Kit Palmer and Scott Rousseau are joined in Daytona by a group of contributors comprising Henny Ray Abrams, Steve Bruhn, Matt Polito, Matt Benson, Dave Hoenig, Shan Moore and Mark Thompson. Together, they're covering the racing action and, as you'll be able to easily tell by simply hefting this issue, there's a lot of it. The aforementioned writers and shooters will be penning no less than 24 feature stories from Daytona Bike Week, filling over 40 editorial pages with their prose and photos from the happening's various competitions. Obviously, that's quite a feat, especially considering the time constraints and the fact that these guys are also posting regular updates on cyclenews.com throughout the week, but forgive me if I don't shower them with adulation at the moment. You see, someone has to field this steady bombardment of stories and pass them on to the art department, which is precisely why Blake and I have been left behind like vegans on a burger run. (Actually, I am a vegeterian...hmmm.) At a conservative estimate of 1000 words per page, that's 40,000 words' worth (no pun intended) of editing to be performed by Blake and me. Fortunately, all of our writers are veritable Wordsworths (pun intended), with fairly clean copy, so when my brain goes numb midway through yet another in a long series of Bithlo/Hot writing lame columns). In both situations, I wish I was out riding, which is why I periodically traipse down the stairs to the garage and jump up and down on my Katoom. I really shouldn't complain; things used to be worse. The very fact that I keep checking my e-mail in-box is evidence of the influence of the digital age. The week used to be pep'pered with triangle runs between the airport, the photo lab and the CN offices as we picked up film packages and delivered them for developing. Long-timer Kit tells me that back in the mid-'80s, not even the words could be sent via e-mail. The writers would type up their stories on actual paper, then send them out in an eir-freight package. Then the in-house editor (Kit used to play my role), would mark up the copy on paper and hand it off to a typesetter, who would type it all out again with the corrections. How did we ever used to get anything done in the old days? Now, most of our contributors use digital cameras, then e-mail their pictures to me. That makes things more efficient, but robs me of another opportunity to set foot outside the office. For obvious reasons, being an editor at Cycle News is normally a dream job. I like to think that I'm realistic, and I don't pretend that my position here came about through much more than being in the right place at the right time, but that doesn't stop me from trying to capitalize on the situation by squeezing out every possible last bit of fun. That means attending big races, hanging out with fun people and - most importantly weekday riding on a fairly regularly basis. This week, all three of those factors are non-options, and I won't even be able to take out the E/XC this weekend (I'll be fielding stories from the Daytona Supercross, GNC dirt track and road race). Please forgive the snivel-session, but I'm not accustomed to not liking my job. I realize that I'm normally in a fortunate position, but that just makes it harder to bear this current state of mediocrity. In fact, I'm seriously considering taking up smoking. Hey, it's not riding, but at least it would let me set foot outside this infemal office. eN Here I sit, chained to nty desk and loolclng out nty office MllndoMl••• Shoe/Vol usia/Florida Dirt Track Series/Pro-Am dirt track races, chances are there won't be any major errors to go unnoticed by my glazedover eyes. When it comes to choosing photos and writing captions, however, there's no one to check my comatose state. No one, that is, but copy editor Steve Cox, who must comb through all 40,OOO-plus words on his own - plus all of the stories in our regional-events section. But he does that every week, so he's obviously not human. If all of the stories arrived in a steady stream, there would be no problem, but the fact is that there are busy spurts followed by lengthy lags. That makes for a whiplash sensation from constantly alternating between wishing for less articles to edit (so that we wouldn't have to work so hard) and wishing for more stories to edit (so I wouldn't have to fill the time Coming up in Cycle News • Minneapolis Supercross • nile-Clinching Oakland Arenacross • Georgia GNCC • Snowboarders vs. Motoerossers cu ale n • _ S • MARCH 21,2001 119