Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

._--- - _.- -'--- - . --- - scram6llin' around' By Maureen Le e Dick Koun s, the Ultra a n d Lightweight steward, rep orts th at more and more of th e riders who held mo to cross cards last y ear are now sign ing up fo r scrambles numbers. Easy to see wh y. The number of District motocrosses has re all v fallen off. In fa ct, I 'd like to say right now th at District motocross is in worse sh ap e th an the scrambles scene was last year and that was pretty bad. The reason? WeU, it's a lit tle b it of a d ifferent story for both cases. Scrambles were in trouble because so many of the scrambles clubs fo ld ed due to internal upheavals, and then that old bugaboo, track rental, reared its head and the clu bs just couldn 't afford to throw scrambles. This year the Lightweights have bounced onto the scene and ar e going great guns but we still hear complaints from riders that th ey wish the scrambles clubs just wouldn't use 395 Cycle Park all the time. Truth is, kiddies , most clubs can't afford the other tracks and that's the truth. The other t racks are making enough br ead from their own races the ones we o nce called "outlaw" in the old days - and they don't need the District runs. AU the riders would just love to run at Perris at least one Sunday in the month and some get hysterical at tbe thought of Saddleback's scrambles track (I mean the up-hill-and-down-dale one, not the TT track w hich is too short for the big bangers). But once again, should a club have a poor turnout, t hey've really lost it because of the high rental fee they've p aid . 395 is the only one most clu bs will take a chance on. In the motocross scene, from what look~ awful at the very begin ning of th e year now has some bright sp o ts. The Boosters Cycle Assn. which , o r iginally started life as the Bay Mare A ssn., is going full blast. They're resp onsib le for the new rule ch ange of h avin g the th ree classes (rem em b er , th at was wh at I wished w e had in th e District when th e recount of las t year's points came u p ending in theNumber One plate go ing t o ano ther man.] WeU, it was T ex Myers who presented it to th e Compet it io n Commi tt ee an d th at 's how we got it, first a few words in print to get p eople thinking if th ey weren't already, and then requesting properly th rough the correct channels. The Booster Cycle As sn . is purely a mo tocross club and everyone is more or less a specialist at something or other ; a top rider, organizer, one who isn 't a frai d to work for motocross even if it's just knowing how to handle flags and sign-up properly. Some are contro vers ial figures and I've noticed that the clubs who get into controversial situations are usually the ones who get the most done. So take your bows, Boosters. You have a rule change already this year and isn't t he tr o phy from the District as Numb er One motocross club beautiful? Another bright spot is that there 's another motocross club being formed an d they want to p ick up some of the open dates. But of course, the mo tocro ss clubs have run into the same situation the scramblers did. Track rent. If you want to have a coronary on the sp ot call some of the tracks up and ask what they'd rent you th e course for. Two figures recently quoted to me from clubs who wanted to throw a mo tocross wer e S2,OOO and SI,700! Can you imagin e coughing up SI ,700 and getting o nly a 200·rider turn-out at S5 a head if th ey were all post en try? Simple ari thmetic will sh o w yo u th e problem right quick ! But, there's a ge n t leman who h as b een inv olved in so me of th e other racing who is sic k to have seen th e District h urt, and wh en we get this all cleared b y h im we 'll tell who he is and if t he p lans go thro ugh he'll p ersonally get a b o ttle o f champagne fro m me ! He has lan d that is still b ein g developed and wa nts to run Distri ct mo t o cro sses t here at a very fair price for the clubs . He is a member of a D istri c t cl u b himself . Not o nly t hat, he recently found o u t he has clay o n his prop ert y and you know wh at th at m eans! A TT tra ck, kiddies! T hi s is still in t he win d. but plans could work out that we would h ave District mo tocross and scrambles running in th e same park o n th e same da y and th is chap says h e can ge t alo ng with so many District runs per month along with hi s own events. He probably won't be as rich as the guys who ar e taking all the cr eam for themselves but h e' s not taking advantage of th e work put into the sport by the: District eith er. I 'm going to add, in no wa y do I lump the CMC or the ACA in with the "outlaws" . In fact, a lot co uld be learned from both these organizations if you really want to get down to it . During the recent uproar over professionalism by some of the sk iers at the Olympic games, I'd like to bring out a very small soap box just eno ugh to pop me up high enough for the youngsters to hear. Are any of you who ride the professional motocrosses and are still in school gung-ho for the athletic program? Thought so , b ecause anyone who is athletic usually signs up for swimming, gymnastics, track or If yo u have r ead the Presidential Proclamation which · ap peared in the February 22 issue o f Cycle News (and w h a t s e lf-resp ec t ing motorcy clist hasn't?), yo u are undoubtedly aware o f the tr emendo us challenge now facing motorcy clis ts , no t o nl y in Cali fo rnia , b ut across the entire country. My desk has b ee n flooded w ith mail these past two weeks, aski ng " Wha t do we do?" There is only one thing w hich we can do, and that is t o stand up for our righ ts ! No, we are not going to demonstrate . We m u st co ntin ue to u se "the system " , Bu t , to us e "the system" t we must first understand how it works. THE SYSTEM Government occurs at the federal level, the state level, the county level, the city level, and at varied lower levels. It is extremely im portant that a person understands the level of government at which a rule or regulation originates. It does absolutely no good at all to complain about (or support) a federal law to a City Councilman or a County Supervisor. Likewise, it does little good to present your opinion of a county ordinance to a UiS, Congressman. When you have an opnion, present it to the right representative at the right level of government. Otherwise, your efforts are wasted. SEPARATE BRANC HES Generally , there are three branches of government at each level : - T h e Exe cutive Branch i s responsible for executing (o r enforcing) law s. - T h e Leg islative Branch is responsible for making laws and setting penalties. - T h e Judicial Branch is responsible for determining when laws have been broken and the extent of penalty involved. NO SET PATTER N The rules often d iffer by locality on whi ch posit io ns a r e fi lled by appointm ent or through election. At the federal level, th e Ch ief Executive, o r th e Presid ent , is ele ct ed. He, in t urn, ap points his Cabin et Members , who are known by the it tle of Secretary, such as the Secretary of Agricult ure, the Secretary of the Interior, th e Secretary o f the Treasury, etc . Ea ch of the Se cret aries has vario us functions rep o rting di rectly to him. Fo r exam ple : th e U.S . Forest Service re ports to t he Se cretary of Agriculture, the Bureau o f Land Man agement, th e Bureau o f Reclamat ion, and the Bureau of Out d oo r R ecreation all report t o th e Secretary o n the Inte rior. By Russ Sanford that you don't vote for a "hanging judge" if the opportunity to vote is presented. EXECUTIV E POWERS Some of you may be asking, "Where d id the Presid en t o b tain the authority to issue the Proclam atio n that appeared in Cycle Ne ws on February 22, if it is the function of the Legislative Branch to make laws?" In answer. the Legislative Branch often grants broad powers to the Chief Executive, who in tum issues Executive Orders to the agencies and departments within the Executive Branch. The President exercised these broad powers in directing the agencies to survey the lan ds under their j u risd ic tio n and impose anti.QRV controls and regulations. It is not likely that the Legislative Branch will withdraw any of those broad powers in this particular instance. However, the Legislative Branch may be induced through "pressure" from voters in their Districts to pers uade th e President that he sh o uld reconsider, or at least tread so ft ly . OUR ROLE EXPLAIN E D 1£ we don't want to see our form o f sport and recreat ion killed, th en each of us must exp ress o u r feelings about th e Presidential Proclamation t o : T h e President Our U.S . Senat ors The UcS. Representative from our District. These are sample let ters: WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMA· TION At the St ate level, at least in Cal ifornia , the composition of the Executive Branch is very c omparable to the fed eral structure. T he Governor h eads the Executive Branch and appoints the D irec to rs of the various age ncies reporting to him. Within those Agencies are the Departments, such as the Department of Parks and Recreation which reports to the State Resources Agency. My purpose in explaining the composition of the Executive Branch is to impress u pon you the importance of electing the pro p er person to head it up . Becase all 0 f the public lands are administered and controlled by the various age ncies and divisions of the Executive Branch and because the persons who head these vari ous agencies and divisions are appointed b y th e Chief Executive, we stand to lose a great d eal if the person who is elected Governor o r President is not compatible to o ur cause. LEGI SLATIV E BRA NCH The members of the State Legislature or Federal Congress ar e elected b y the persons who reside in their respective Districts. In California, the st at e is divided into 80 Assembly Districts and 40 Senate Districts. At election time, each voter is allowed to vote for his choice of one Assemblyman and one Senator who will represent the members of the District in which the voter resides. There are also 38 U.S. Congressional Districts in Cal ifornia and each has an ele cted representat ive from that Congression al Di str i ct in Washington, D.C. as a member o f the House o f Representatives. Also, th e voters in California elect two U.S . Sen ators, both of w ho m re p resen t all of th e st at e 's residents at th e fed eral level. Th e members of the Leg islative Branch of go vernment, whether at the sta t e or fed eral level , are resp o nsibl e fo r making the laws which the Executive Branch carries o ut and enforces. Here agai n, you can recognize the im portance of electing persons who are not adverse: to our fo nn o f sport and recreat io n. JUD ICIAL BRANCH There is little t o b e said regar di ng the Judicial Bran ch because so me of o ur judges are elec ted an d so me are ap pointed. About all we can suggest is The Honorable Richard M. Nixo n President of the Un ited States White House Washington. D.C. 20515 Dear Mr. President : I have just read a copy of our Executive Ord er dated February 8. 1972. rela tive to the regulation of off -road veh icl es o n public lands. I feel tha t you sh ould kn ow t hat I d isagree with your posit io n for these reaso ns: 1. (Sta te y o ur reasons in your own words.) 2. 3. et c. It is my sincere request . as a registered voter, that you consi der y our proclamat ion an d pr ovide for, rather than prohibit , o ur form of recreati on . Respectfully. John Doe 1234 Main Street Podu nk.CA ( l'/ca .\j · t u rn 10 JJII,C" I ,j J ------ - foothall to help keep ms l>.:'d in better shape for riding. O .K. If y o u are serio usly co nsid ering entering ama t eur ath let ics through your sch o o l program, in h igh sch ool and o nt o college, suc h as in tr ack and swimming, th e AA U events, don 't ride the pro fess ional moto cr osses, or if yo u do, d o n 't ge t caught. T he AA U w ill rec o gnize you as a professional in a sporting event. Rem emb er the: J im Thorpe case? T h e AAU and Ol ympic Co m mittee d idn't find o ut abou t J im 's ball p lay in g for a couple of bucks until after he had p ro gr essed up th rough th e ranks an d wo n his Olym p ic m edals and cu ps. T h ey prom ptly too k t he m away fro m him. So , if you are a serious swimmer an d have t ho ughts, say, of swi m ming o ne day fo r UCLA o r St an ford , don't tum p rofessional. I know right now there's one r ider who answered his school co ac h truthfull y on this and lost his p lac e o n the team. T here 's anoth er that , if h is co ver is blown, will be chucked o u t . So th ink abou t yo ur priorities in life as related to making a few bucks when yo u're y o ung. You've plenty of time to tum pro an d I'd hate to see us los e some gold medals because you d idn't realize that a $1 0 bill yo u earned tin a motocross rendered you ineligib le t o com p et e! fWtitin' -SlIIiiIg lite Siemr Qlb it front ofeverybody -Where was your favorite magazine? By Charles Clayton Last week I appeared on a Los Angeles TV show called "Youth and Issues. " I was not invited because of my youth . I was the issue, rather. off-road motorcycling was. The yo ut hs on the panel were three members of the S ierra Club. It was the rust opportunity I. d had to discuss off-road motorcycle recreation with anyone in the Sierra Club and we groped toward understanding there in the glare of the TV lights and later, after the show. They were somewhat surprised to learn that we motorcyclists respect nature much the same as they do, that we are voluntarily quieting our machines out of consideration for others and enlightened self-interest, an d th at w e are willing to pay for acq uiring and maintaining more pu blic land that all can en joy. I asked the hikers if they paid any license or fee to hike the public lands. They looked at each other; silence. In subsequent discussions we learned that motorcyclists and the Sierra Club have more in t erests in common than anyone thought. It o ccurred to us simultaneously th at we had perhaps been "used " by public land "developers" to cancel each other out, so that the pavers and bulldozers could exploit the land whil e we quarrelled. What result ed fro m these talks may be the beginning o f co-operation b etween th e Sierra Club and motorcycle recreators, I co uld never see the sen se of sp inning o u r w heels over, say, Pt. Mugu when we d on't wan t to ride there any way . Conta ct your local Sierra Club Ch ap ter fo r further developme nts. * * *. A few days la t er, I found m yself in Washington, D.C . as o ne of only two motorcycle j o u rnalists attend ing the annual meetin g o f th e Motorcycle Industry Coun cil. Larry Hester, publisher o f Dealer News, was the other one. II seems incredible to me that an event of such im portance to the very live lihood o f the 4 0·some publications devoted to mo t orcyclin g sh o uld go so th oroughly ign o red b y 95% o f the m o tor c ycl e press. MIC is d oing her culean labors on a dick y-b ird budget t o save this industry and sp ort for everyo ne . They need th e active and fin ancial par t icipat io n of mo re of th e co mpanies w ho seem too b usy min ing dollars out of motorcycling to put any more money o r ti me b ack in to th e game. T he free-loaders who pay neither dues nor attention to MIC sho uld be ashamed. In my op inion, t hey are ch ea t ing themselves. This was th e a nn ual meeting that begin s motorcycling's mo st challenging year fo r survival. Where was your favo ri te magaiU OlllK1.

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