Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Letters to the edit or ":.it is still as grand, imposing a nd hallowed as any bronze statue or ma rble monument in the world." shou ld be sent to Voic es. Cycl e News. P.O . Box 5084. Costa Mesa. CA 92628 5084. faxed to 714 /75 1-6685 or e-mailed to editor@ cyclenews.com. 24 Hours of Fun ft er finis h ing t h e Gl en H el en 24 our race and the ac companying 12 ou rs of sleep, I sit ba ck and t h ink bout how w ell orga nized the r ac e as . It ha d a sa fe , yet c h a ll en g in g c urse , w as we ll wat ered and f ea red eno ug h v ariety for any rider. Rid ing with th e Pro s was no pro b m as yo u w e re rewa rde d w it h a thanks" when you wou ld pu llover in he tig ht stuff so th ey coul d pass . here was eno ug h t rack for ev ery one . Ri di n g th e spo rts man c l ass on a ther-a nd -so n te am , we had a great ime wi t h the su pport of fa m il y and iends bo th on the co urse and in the it s. Befo re t he st art of t he race, ou r ell ow rac er s and th ei r fr ien d s were ug hin g at us for ou r cho ice of bik e. et as the cl ock ran , so did our ri de . oo n t he y w e re l a u g h i n g w ith u s. aving fin ished 24 hou rs of rac ing o n n e m otorc y c l e w i th o n l y one at tire and one electric al m alncti on (d ue to t he o nly non . E .M . H o n d a part in the ngine ), it co st us two lap s and shot at the class win . T o all racers and wa nna be's , eekend warrio rs and t he ir famies, I recomm end th is race . It is he m ost fun you ca n hav e for 4 hours on t wo wh eel s. I would like to t hank my w ife, hris si, for the use o f h er ' 83 R200, a nd Roger a nd Ma ry shby and C ha rl ie W ag ner fo r e awesome pit work and st ats as p rofess iona l as any o n p it ow! T o ou r o ther f amil y m em ers , friends and team riders, yo u are II t err ific . A nd a last thanks to Baj a esig ns ; the y saved o ur night vis io n o we co uld con ti nue in our q uest for e 24th hour. Don Ross dcjar1@prodlgy.net M otocross des Nations o ngratu lations to Ric k y Carmichael , y an Hughes and Tra v is Pastrana on f a n t a s t ic sho w i ng at t he Y2K otocross des Nation s in F ra nce. Hu ghes gets m y vote for th e rider i t h t he bigge st hea r t i n a l l o f o tocros s. From th e day I watch ed im push his bro k en b ik e uph ill to t he in ish line, throu gh th e t rag ic los s of is father a few yea rs ago . to all hi s ece nt troubles w it h injuries, he's k ept is head he ld hig h. Ricky 's had hi s slu mps and inj ury idd led periods , taken so me beatings it h footpegs and such , but lik e the ha mpio n he is h e st ayed foc used nd rec ov ered . Let 's not forg et Trav is' pound ing on th e fa c e of the j ump that almost ended h is ca ree r early, but he , li ke hi s teammates , neve r gave up . I n th e age of c ryba by spor ts su perstars , we who l o v e b ikes an d di rt bike rac ing have got g uys like this to look up t o and c heer on . We love ' e m e ve n w he n t h ey c om e hom e b eat en , but w he n they co me h ome victo rio us we t rul y ha ve r ea son t o ce lebrate . Lik e th e A ussies say , "Good o n ' y a!" Lou KeIster, Jr. Ufflerock" CA The Old Husky Dur i n g a M oj a v e B e a c h Clu b po k e r r un i n th e l a t e 1980s, we s t u m b led ac ross a 1 97 8 39 0 C R Hu sq v a rn a a ncho re d in co ncre te a b o u t 20 m iles so uthe as t o f Red M o u nt a i n . A n e a rb y br as s p la q ue ce me nted to a granite bould er said Sim ply: "J . Erickson , 19 4 1- 19 8 7 ."· Set in stone: A monumental Husky. In 1996, an othe r gra n it e bo ulder bea r ing a b rass pl aque appe ared near t h e bike , in honor of Ja ime Lama r (1948 -1996); th en ea rly th is y e a r t w o more deceased r i d e r s jo ined t he gro up: Do uglas A n t ho ny Clark ( 1 9 8 1 - 1 9 9 9 ) an d " Ra p i d Robe rt " ( 19 2 3- 19 9 9 ) . Th is site is in o ne of my favo rite r i d i n g ar e a s . It i s parad is e - th e world as it p leased God to m ak e it . Over the years th e ol d Husk y (wh ich w as in pretty good shape wh en I first saw it) has t aken a beating fr om th e ele men ts an d in sens itive gun to t ers , but t o m e it is stil l as grand , im p osing an d ha llowed as an y bro nze sta t u e o r marb le mo n ume nt 'i n th e wo r ld. WInston Be aumont Agua Dulce, CA The Fa ulds W e wo uld lik e t o express our sin ce re appreciation for all t he ex pre ssio ns of sy m pathy in the form of flow ers , p ho ne c all s, money, p ra yers , and most of all being by ou r side d uring ou r t ragic loss of our beloved Dusty F aul ds, #2 3 K . Du st y lost his life on J une 3 at the D es Moines, Iowa, Fa irgro und 's halfmi le t rack. He will li ve on as lo ng as the che ckered flag waves . Wi thout a ll of yo u we cou ld no t co ntinue o n , l o v in g t his spo rt an d making new fri ends along the wa y . W e can see Du st y o n th e starting lin e o n t h e b ig track ab ove , bes i de Rick y Gr ah am , D avey Camlin, Toby Jorgen sen and Ro d n ey F ee and all th e oth er great rider s who have bee n ca lled up above . Gods pe ed to all of t hem - we all m iss you. The Faulds famIly SIoux Falls, SD Pub lished letters do not necessarily reflect th e position of Cycle News. Inc. Letters shoul d not exceed 200 words and all are sub ject to editing. Anonymo us letters wi ll not be considere d for publicati on . All letters should conta in the writer 's name. address and dayt ime phone number. . . Editor . Zach Scuri k illing another ri der is of no co nc ern t o th em ? F li p 'em t he b ird ; co m p lai n to th e FIM.. . Hell , go t o th ei r p its and t ell 'em what you think . Better y et, sho w so me self -control! It seems to me the G r an d Prix grids are sm all e no u g h alread y . I ca nnot be lie ve th e numbero ne plate is worth m anslaught er. Has th e FI M taken ac t io n or ar e they too busy trying to bu st riders for taking m edications commonl y found in co ld m edi c ine? Wh at 's w ro ng w ith th is pict ure? In a recent edi tion of Cycle News, you printed the news of the p assing of Zac h Scu ri at Gl en He len. Unfortu na tely , I was n' t awa re of thi s tr ag edy t ha t took p lace o n my birthday until I read th e article . I d idn ' t get t o pay my last respects to o ne o f th e fin est y o ung men I have eve r me t , so I hope to do ~ so with this letter. At Ha h m Motorsports, o ne of m y sponsors, Zac h was my go -to m an . I wa s a b it disap po int ed w he n he went f r om parts to sales because I lost m y m an . Zach to ok ca re of tha t b y sti ll doing both for m e. No matter how busy he was , he always found tim e for m e . No matter wha t t h e proble m was, he _ always fo und a sol ut io n . W hen I read of th is t rag ed y , t ears ro ll ed down m y fac e. I th oug ht wh at a loss it was for all th e people wh o se life he ha d touche d. Th en real it y sunk in as I rea lized th e dang er of th e sport w e live for. A s I have a fam il y wi th a baby on t he w ay , I tho ug ht abou t gi v ing u p my ra c in g. T he n I r ea l iz ed tha t Z a ch w o u l d n ' t ha v e wa nted \hat. If it' s in y our he art, he 'd wa n t y o u to cha se it. If it's in y our rea ch, he'd wa nt you to gra b it. Z a ch d i ed do ing something h e lo v ed . I' ve d ec id ed to d edi c at e m y season to hirn. I will wear h is number on m y helm et in hi s me mory . If y ou had t o de sc rib e Zach in t w o words th ey wo u ld be: He ca red. I' m g onn a m iss you bud . MIke Ba nclfleld AlIso VIej o, CA MIke Rush VIa the Internet Vernon Good we nt t o t he D irt Tra ck National at Vern o n Do wn s, and I was tr eated to o ne of th e bes t c ushi on rac etra c ks I' ve eve r see n . I do n 't kn ow how the ride rs liked it , but to watch th e ra ci ng was a real t reat. I b rough t my ne w gir lfr i end a nd h e r n ine -yea r-old da ughter, and b oth were amazed at w hat they were watching (it was t he ir first motorcycle race) . Th e fa c il ity , t he r a c i n g a n d the atmosphere fa r ex cee ded m y expec tations. Ju st for pe rspective, I hav e see n m an y ra ces (as well as many ra in o u t s) at the Syra cuse Mil e, and Vern on Downs beat s it hands down . I hope t he rac e was a success fina n cia lly bec ause I' ll be back ( with m y g ir lfriend and her daught er and all my friends) . J ust o ne q ue sti on , thoug h ; what' s t he size o f th e tra ck ? It' s ei t her th e longest da m n ed hal f -m il e I've ever seen , o r a sho rt fat Mile. I' m not buy ing t hat 7 /8- m ile crap - ca ll it one o r t he othe r. A nyhow, it wa s p ure fla t track raci ng at it's best. John Ja ckson VIa the Internet Knockdown In yo u r September 13 issue ( #3 6) , I r ead a bo u t both K enn y Roberts Jr. and Ma x Biaggi 's attempts at k nock i ng ot her rid er s off the t r a ck . Are t he ir egos so big tha t inj u r i ng o r c ycle n < o _. n CD en Th ey ca ll it a mile, bu t it's actua ll y 71Bths of a mile... Editor e _ S • S EPTEM BER 27 .2000 5

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