Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

III would pay to sit in a stadium to watch these guys tear it up - trials riding rocks!" More For G ree r Hol y cra p! I' ve ba rely sc rat che d th e su rfa ce o f my latest Cycle News (I w ish it cam e sooner ), and I h ave to set it rig ht bac k down to co m m ent o n the letter from L. Greer in A rizona. Perhaps L.G . co uld in vite me over to his c av e so met ime to d iscuss h is "o pen -m inded" vi ew s on what consti . tutes a m ot orcy cl ing story . A ft er all , Cycle New s i s a pu b li ca tion a bo u t motorcycling , isn't it ? He seems to be say ing th at o n ly " rac ing" ha s a p l ac e in ou r f a ithf ul p ape r. Gee, wh at about enduro , trial s, dual sport, or those da m n ro ad bi k e stories? How c an we resp ect a paper that pr ints suc h rubbish? Wait . Is it ju st th e freestyle gu ys tha t freak you out, L.G. ? You seem to kno w them pretty well based on your di sta nt, ext em al view of them . There's a wo rd for that . Preju dice. A guy named Hitler once used that to good effec t . Oh , by the way, L.G., I'll bet m ost of those gu ys ca n ride circles around you . I person all y prefe r racing to freesty le, but any moron can recognize the sk ill possessed by these riders (m any o f whom have r ac ed pro fess ionally) . Oops. Maybe not any moron. And Cycle New s, y o u r response was beautiful: a sim ple picture of the pheno menally-talented, non-pierced or ta ttooed young freestyle champ ion and f utu re m o t o c r o ss champion, Tr a v i s Pastra na, w ho a t 16 i s und oubtedly smarter t han yo u, L.G., base d on y ou r rec ent letter. W ay to be pr o-mot o rc ycling . ~ve Farenell Saratoga Springs, NY Did We Blow It? No I do not underst and Cycle News ' lack of c o ve r age o f th e bi g g est ra c e in Ca li forn ia - t he thi rd ro u n d of t he AMA Distric t 3 7 B ig 6 GP Se rie s at 29 Pal m s. T h is ra c e is put on by the Hi llto p p er s MC a n d i t dr ew 120 0 ent ries for t wo da ys o f great racing yet there's no cove ra ge . Pete Brown Long Beach. CA Seepage 54; apology accep ted... Editor Stand Up I' m a m o t orc y cl e - rac in g en th u sias t who attends Supercro ss, flat track and road rac es. Recentl y , I went to m y first outdoo r trials co m petitio n in T em ecula ( th e T r ia l des E sp an a ) and I c a m e away so impressed with the sport. Guys like J ess Kempk es and Geoff Aaron m ak e c lim b ing 4 0- foo t ro cks look so easy . I th in k t ri al s r id in g i s de fini t ely un d errated in th e U. S. If pl aces lik e Q ualcomm Stad ium and Ed ison Fi eld c an hau l in a bunch of dirt for a Supercr oss, I don 't see wh y Eddie Lawson (1) leads Wayne Rainey (3) and Kevin Schwantz (34) at the Brazilian Grand Prix In 1989. th ey ca n' t bring in so me fa ke ro c k s and o bstacle s for some trials co m pe ti ti on . Mayb e someon e lik e Di sney or Universal Stud ios co ul d hel p o ut. I would pay to sit in a stadium to watch these g uys tear it up - tria ls ri d ing rock s! S. Oar/( AnaheIm CA The Retu rn of th e GPs Wow - 500cc Grand Prix ra cing is back! A nyone seei ng the last two GPs on Sp eed vision knows tha t the fre sh face of Garry McCoy has brought that rea l exciting slide back to Grand Prix raci ng . N o t t o take anything aw ay from Kenny Roberts J r. , but th is guy ca n rid e a 500c c GP bike. I h av e not fel t like th is as fa r as exci te me nt si nc e th e l ate ' 8 0 s a nd seeing th os e rid er s slide the bik es the wa y th ey used to. What a great start t o the 500cc GP season . Go , Kenn y Robert s J r. - this co uld be one of th e best seasons in a lo ng ti me. Andy Smith Longmont, CO Brotherly love I would like to t ake th is o p port u ni ty as Ryan Hugh es ' broth e r , J ere m y Hughes , to sa y a fe w th ings about wh at was said about him in th e A pril 12 issue (Issue # 14 ). How c an anyon e say the co m pet ition is not as stiff in Euro pe as it is he re? I b eli ev e the ri d er s o v e r in Euro pe are getting better an d fas ter ev ery year. Loo k at t he M oto c r o ss d es Nations. The U.S . ha sn 't wo n in what , fi ve or six ye ar s? Th e U .S . sends th e very best th ey h av e, and we can't beat the Eur opeans . Look at D avid Vui ll emin. He's righ t behi nd J er em y McGrath with a few round s l ef t. He ca m e from E u ro pe . T ake Greg Albertyn - he sm o ke d all th e Am er i can ri d er s la st y ea r a nd wo n t he AMA N at io nal t i tl e. W here d id he co me fr om? Europe. g uess I was a fan of Diana Leonard as well as the g reat J oe Leo nard. Cy cle New s had alre ady t old us about Ba r t Ma rke l and h is h ea l th issues, so thousa nds have been ma de up t o dat e o n Ba rt 's situation . Bu t I was not aware that Joe Leo nard ha d deal t w ith cance r h imsel f. N or h a s t he re b e e n any news a bo ut D ick Mann . So I'm asking y o u r h elp in taking up the challenge of research ing the life issue situa tions bo th J oe and Dic k are dealing wi th . N o on e wants to pry, and I've It seems th at all du rin g my br oth er ' s c a re er , peop le k eep t r yi n g t o kn oc k h im down . I c an tell yo u th is much ab out Ryn o: He's work ed fo r everyth ing he's got : and nobod y has handed hi m a thi ng . He's o ne of the h a r d e st t r ai ner s and r i der s in the sport, and he g ives 110 percent - no matter what - every tim e he 's on the bike. That's a lot more th an I can say for som e of the riders these days. Ryan is ov er in Europe, representing the Un it ed States to bring home the Wo rld Champ ionship . And he w ill bring that home. If the re is anybod y out there wh o th inks they can do bet ter, pa ck up yo ur famil y an d go try it - before yo u start k nocking Ryn o. If you w an t to sta rt t a lk in g abo ut people , m ayb e you shou ld st art talk ing abo ut Ezra Lus k, D am on Huff m an an d La r ry W a rd . What h av e t he y d on e? Not h ing . B ut t hey ' re g ett in g th eir big bu ck s over here, and th ey 'r e either hurt or j ust rid ing arou nd . Th e U.S. fo rce d Ryn o to Europe - and he will be a cham p io n. Ryn o , as yo u r broth er , I am very proud of you . And no matter w h at , you are a champion in m y ey es. noticed m o t orc y c le c h am pi o n s are loathe to whin e about their own prob lem s, but perh ap s all of us who are interested could learn th r o ugh yo u what's up and if hel p c an be offe red. I ca n d o o n e t h i n g th at Digg er m ention s. I'm a Euchar ist ic M in ist er at Sa int M a ry ' s Cath oli c C h u rc h in Los Gatos , Cali fo rnia . And once Lent is o ve r o n t his Su n d a y , o u r A ltar Prayer boo k w ill find th e na mes Jo e Leo nard , Di ck Mann and Bart Ma rke l adde d to th e na me of Kevin Atherton . So in certa in Masses. Pri ests and co ng r ega t ion unite i n pr a y e r for th e needs wr itten in th e prayer book . M. Oar/( VIa the Internet Jeremy Hughes EscondIdo, CA lawson, Not Rainey The leonards "What am I go ing to do with you? In you r Look i ng B a c k " d e partment ( Issue # 14 , A pril 12 ) , yo u incorrec tly T hanks for prin ting Digger Helm 's lette r (Issue # 16, April 26) . I had seen Diana Leo nard's obi tuary in our loc al San Jose p aper and so, of co urse, I k new about that sad passing. Sh e wa s an u nforgetta b le lady . I have neve r fo rg otten her after seei ng and hearing her for th e first time in th e pi ts at th e o ld Belm ont Speedway o n a Frida y night back in 1955 . J oe h ad won th e m ain ev ent th at nigh t a n d I o ve r he a r d Mr s . L eonard's rem ar k s to anothe r wo m an "d id yo u ever see suc h gr eat race s? " A nd then seeing her so m an y oth er t im es over th e years at bik e nati on als and all the wa y through Joe's Ind y ca r ca reer. I cue I say t ha t Wa yne Ra i ney was " t h e defend ing cham pi on ." Now , Mr. Law son m ay not be too p leased w ith th is error. I' m still try in g to fig ure out the app ro p riate punishment. Sean McQoln Yonkers, NY Sea n , y ou 'r e co rrect. La w son w as World Cha mpion in 1984, 1986, 1988 and 1989, w h ile Rain ey 's titles came in 1990, 1991 and 1992. A s for p unish m en t, any th i ng but a w eek en d wit h a sma rt-a ss, k no w -It -all, Ir ish man - or is that Ulsterman? .. Editor e n e _ S • MAY 3 , 2000 5

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