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/141009
!Xl N SRA GHOST TOWN ENDURO.-- . " C> Q. By Ron Schneiders Photos by Ellen Schneiders Larry Groves, and Al Duke CALICO GHOST TOWN, CAL., Feb. 111 20 , 1972 - If you had to name th e S world's big gest participant motorcycle ~ cont est , which of these famous events w would yo u choose? <3 r. The Elsinore Grand Prix? 2. The Barstow to Vegas Hare and Hound? 3 . The Calico Gh ost Run? Number 3 is, of course, the winner, and if you never heard of it, b e ashamed, for at least 10 min utes. Actually this was the first time it was run so it attracted o nly 2100 entrants or so. Wait till people find out about it. You'll have to know somebody to get an entry on the first day. Most clubs figure that 500 entries are more than enough to be handled efficiently, and they try to hold their t WID $ 150 W O R TH - C O N T E S T CNW7 entry to th at ap p ro ximat e siz e. Sometimes they simply limit th e entry , some ti me s th ey get a reputati on for sadism th at limits the entry fo r th em . The Sportsman R acing Associatio n had no particular reputati on in endures and they ce rt ain ly d idn't try to limit entries. 20 % trophies, fin ishing p ins , something for the family to do wh ile Pop is racing. A Buddy Class. A husband and wife class . An over-35 class and Lord kn ows what else . Maestro Ron Vin celette didn't miss a tric k. He had some thing fo r everybody. Actually he d id miss one class. He should have offered a trophy fo r the most unlikely entrant, but that mi ght have been a h ard one to decide. The first man went off at 7:01. He was in before the last man left at four minutes before noon. Most minutes had seven riders and a few had even more. There was every type of rider Hard to say h ow h e got into this. IN A ENTRY BLANK TO O L BOX! 10 5 0 WO RTH OF PR OT O T OOLS SELECTED ES P£C IAL. L v 1 F O R MOTO RCYC LE WO R K . SET INCLUDE S SUCH ITE MS AS SOC K £ TS. SC RE WDRI VER S. FEELER G AUGES. ET <:, ALSO IN C L U O£ D : P A O T O T O OL 8 0 X W IT ... LIFT OUT T RAV . (C H O IC E OF STANDARD OR METR IC T OOLS.) N O P!JA C .......S E NECESSAR Y . O AA VlftNO M AY 2 7'", ' . 12 . "" OD J;lE: S S ST AT£ C ITY TY PE CVC~E O W NE O ZOP cc-s GET A HEAD START ON SUMMER Win a set of tools · SEND $ 1 FOR au R 7 2 CA TALOG t he latest in Comoetition Parts and Accessories. THE CYCLE HOUSE RECOMMENDS MAVR ICK SHOCKS COMPLETE WITH A 90 DAY GUARANTEE it ! YAMAHA 250/360 MOT OCROSS MODEL e 12 " CENTER·TO-CENTER LENGTH SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR YAMAHA . e lf," SHAFT , 78 LB . SPRINGS e GUA R AN T E ED 90 DA Y S ' REG . $30.95 SPECIAL $24.95 KAWASAK I , SUZUK I , HONDA 12"''' MOTOCROSS MODEL e FITS ALL BI KES W/12 ¥. " LENGTH e lf, " SHAFT , 78 LB . SPRINGS e E Y E -T O · E YE OR EYE·TO·CLEVIS e GUA RA NTEED 90D A Y S ' R EG . $30.95 SPECIA L $24.95 DEL UX E DESERT MODEL e 1 3 " E YE-T O ·E YE L EN G TH e 6 0· 9 0 PROG. WOUND SPRINGS . F I T S ANY BIKE W/1 2 31." TO 131f " 2 SH OCK LENGTH e E YE ·TO-E YE OR E YE· TO·CLE V IS e G U A R A N T E E D 90 DA YS ' REG . $35 . 0 0 SPECIAL $24.95 NOT E: SPEC I FY E XACT YEAR AND MO D E L M /C . ALSO . W H E TH ER E YE·TO E YE O R EYE-TO· CL EVIS T Y PE UJ o UJ J J o CUS TOME R PA YS F REIG HT A T DELI · VER Y . C ALIFORNI A RES IDEN TS ADD 5 % SALES TAX. S EN 0 C H E C K O R M O N EY ORDER TO ADDRES S BELOW. U UJ I- or I- OIl Dept . CNW7 P. O . BollC 10 0 59 . S an t a Anol . Ca li f. 9 27 11 imaginable . A cou p le of kids about nine or so started on Ya maha Mini enduros and at least o ne finish ed. T here were lo ts of p ot-bellied papas on aging Ducatis and suc h herd ing their l fi-year-olds around the co urse, most of who were usually on 400 Suzukis. Husband and wife teams rode everything im aginable including at least one team that was seen riding a Sportster! And a t the o th er end of sp ectr um, there was one joker who showed on an Ossa with a flight control panel built on the handlebars . He had enough instruments and gadgets to navigate blin d all the way to Czec hoslovakia , and he might have wound u p there too (ab o ut September) ex cept that he did an endo and destro yed the whole works. With su ch a gigantic conglomeration of people and mach in es there was enormous potential for a fla ming catas tro ph e on the one hand an d the distinct possibi lity of a co losally boring day o n the o ther. Neither ha p pe ned. With judgment th at bordered on the supernatural, Ron Vincellette and his crew laid out what can only be described as a superb run considering, its stated o bjec t ives. Starting right next to the Calico ghost town, the cou rse went through a couple of t unnels an d then up an old mi ning road that had been partially paved at one time . The pot-holed , rocky road snaked its way th rough cliffs and piles of colo rful rock, goi ng past a dozen mineshafts, those black ho les going half a mi le or more into the mountain . Th e schedule see med slow, only 12 mph, but ap par en tl y it was just right for the maj o rit y of t he riders . One hour after the stan came the first check. We had gone 12.6 m iles and it was now time for the morning coffee break. Free coffee and d o nu ts were served at a 15-m in ut e layover ! Most