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/128319
~ HappEnings 'n Motocey"'ng Good Grade§ Lead To Good Fun After a successful debut in 2003 , the Syndicate Scholarship program is back for 2004 in expa nded form . The scho larship program is designed to encourage inner-city students to achieve academic exce llence while at the same time giving them an insider 's view of the sport of motocross. By design, most of the students impacted by the program are kids who most likely wou ldn't otherwise be introduced to the sport of motocross. The schools and teachers work with the Syndicate to create an academic goal for each participating class with the end of the school year set as the deadline . Most recently, two kindergarten classes at Fremont School in Fresno, California, have enrolled in the program. Syndicate riders Eddie Graveline and Craig "Rapo" Ranells visited Fremont to meet the classes and explain the challenge. One of the team's race bikes was taken into the classroom to give the kids an up-close look, while a promotional video was shown to demonstrate just how exciting the sport of motocross is. The two racers discussed the importance of literacy and fielded a flurry of motocross-related questions. The response was one of pure excitement. To the dismay of several little boys, the bike was not started and ridden on the playground . Allof the children in both classes are eligible to participate. Their challenge is to reach DRA (District Reading Assessment) Level 6 and be able to spell and write 25 basic "sight" words. In addition to graduating kindergarten far above grade level. those who rise to the challenge will receive four tickets to the 2004 CMA California Supercross at Grizzlies Stadium in Fresno and a gift package from the Syndicate and its sponsors. Additional classes and grade levels will be visited in the coming weeks. Each group gets a challenge that is specific to the ir grade and will take them beyond the minimum requ irements for advancement. Syndicate team members compete aboard Clawson Motorsports machines . The Syndicate would also like to acknowledge the following sponsors, Moto One Speed Shop , Re nthal, Works Connection, Dunlop tire s. Pro Circuit, Spy Optics. Madman Apparel , EVS, and Motullubricants. []utback, []n A Scooter? Innovative Italian filmmaker Emerson Gattafoni has once again gone in search of his dreams, documenting Australia's West from Perth to Darwin, together with his soulmate, Valeria Cagnoni, riding on an pair of Aprilia Scarabeo 500cc scooters. The 5030km (31 IB mile) trip was an amazing achievement not only for Gattafoni and Cagnoni but for the Aprilia Scarabeos, as well. Over the course of the entire journey, they didn't get a single flat tire and never even had to change a spark plug. It was only two years ago that the couple completed a 32-day, I I,OOOkm (6820 mile) odyssey around the East Coast and through central Australia. Gattafoni has produced several landmark documentaries in his home country on organized crime and has even traveled to Columbia to interview convicted drug lord Pablo Escobar. He has ridden the roads of Tibet, meeting with the Dalai Lama, and ridden across North America coast to coast from Vancouver to Miami. However. he said that this was the most amazing emersion into nature that he has undertaken thus far. 110 APRIL 14, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversary