Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Have you seen the results sheet from the Calico Ghost Run Enduro? Of course you have. Most of you rode it. There were 2200 entries or thereabouts, and 150 2 fmish ers ! Un less my mental computer is badly misadjusted, that's more finishers in that one event than District 37 had total in all their enduros last y ear. App ar en tly the k ey w o rd s ar e " easy" and " fun" . One of these d ays the Sierra Club will sponsor an " easy, fu n " enduro and ge t rid of all the motorcycles in Southern California at o ne time. The third ch eck wiII be ,at the bottom of a 500-foot mine shaft. It would serve us right, if for no other reason than the unspeakable violence with which we have assaulted the English language. An "easy, fun" test of endurance. How about sky d iving as an uplifting experience? Or Today's Army Wants To Join You. When we stop thinking about what words mean, we stop thinking. At an y rate, it appears that everyone loves an easy, fun enduro so here's another one. This one, however, is different in one important respect. The money that 's made from it will go to serve a very important purpose. Last November a fellow b y the name of Larry McClellan was badly hurt while practicing fo r the Barstow-to-Vegas rac e . Larry , a member of the Stumpjumpers and th e Sidehack Ass 'n. was riding his sidehack at Escape Country. The h ack flipped an d landed on Larry's h ead, smashing his helmet and his skull. Larry 's tough. He spent nine w eeks in the in te nsive care unit of t h e Mission V iejo Hospital but h e survived. Wh ether or no t h is su rvival means an ything o r n ot depends on y o u. Ma ny o f Larry's critical facilities were damaged by the acc id ent. Mu ch o f hi s memory , much of his skill is gone. He is sti1l in the hospital. He needs thousands of dollar worth of medical care and physical therapy before he can r esume his normal life. There isn 't any money righ t now. We, (which means me , the Stumpjumpers, the Sidehack Ass'n., Larry's wife Elaine and his two kids) are all hoping that enough of you wi1I sign up for this enduro to pay for the help Larry needs. First prize in this enduro isn't going to be another brass trophy. Most of you have more than enough of them already (h al) . First prize is a brand spanking new Yamaba DT-2. Now you've got to admit, that's worth riding for, right? For other prizes there is right now over $1 ,000 worth' of merchandise and the list is still growing. Helmets, leathers, tools, accessories , you name it and somebody donated it or something like it. Maybe some of you other business types could donate something, too. There's n o thing like a b it of charity, especially if it's nice, positive, tax-deductible advertising, right? It would be nice if there was a prize for everybody who rode. Now you're probably figuring that a nice new Yamaha is a great first prize but what chance have 1 got to win it ? Well we figure that everybody has a pretty good chance b ecause th at 's the way it's rigged. If it was run like a normal enduro, we could figure on Bob Steffan or Dave Ekins or Dave Evans winning, and that wouldn't be any fun at all so this is going to be a leetl e b eet different. One of them might still win it, but they 're going to have to work a little b it harder and have a b it of luck bes ides. At this poin t let me reassu re you a little b it . This really is a nice, eas y, fu n run , I'm .n o t go ing to call it an end uro, 'cause it isn 't. It requires ab out t he same level o f skill as th e Calico ru n , w h ich is to say you have to b e ab solu tely p ositive about which handle is t he brake and which is the clutch. If there's even the tiniest doubt in your mind , do n't ride this one. Send in an entry cause we need the money but d evelo p a viru s o r some th ing on race day . The run is 70 miles long (two 35-mile loops) an d th ere 's not much dirt ro ad . It's cross-cou ntry trails so yo u'll have a go od rid e an d maybe be a mi ght tired at th e end, but if yo u ean rid e 70 miles of t rail at all you ea n finish . Every once in a while I get th e feel ing th at people th ink I write sort of to ngue -in-c heek, T his co mes across mo st strongly wh en somebody ' in a Dist rict 3 7 me eting t um beet red and holl ers at th e top of h is lungs "Schneiders.ryou're '0 ' Next, it wo uld be very nice if someone do nated some finis h ing pin s. Lots o f riders can't m ak e t he mselves believe t h at th ey ro d e a race unless they have a finishing p in to p rove it . They wo n't rid e u nless finishing pins are offered . Buying the pins is out of the quest ion beca use all the m o ne y rais ed is goi ng in to th e fu nd fo r Larry. But if so mebody could donate th em , lots o f love wo u ld b e generated, especially fro m those for whom yo u have provided some tan gib le proof o f their existence and w h erea bouts on that particular day. 1 do n 't think anyone would even objec t if you wanted to engrave the b ack o f eac h p in wit h "Donated b y Webfoot" or "Flounder" o r something. But better figure on a lo t of them if you offer. N ex t we wo uld li k e so me en d orsements by nic e b ig-n am e ra cing star s to use in ad vertisin g the event so 1 hereby make an offe r. T here are going to be three classes in the run, A B 8c C , c o r r e s p o nd ing roughly to expert, amateur, and novice. The rules are arranged so that the experts h ave to ride a lot faster than the novices in order to win th e grand prize. But I'm ins tituting a new class for Super Experts and I'm going to award one sm all but elegant trophy in t h is class. This is a class fo r super exp erts. It's the ego class , for those who are really go od or thin k they are. The rules in t h is class will be tough and y o u don't have to worry about nit-picking things like watches and speedometers. To make sure the Super Experts don't use any family types for traction, we 'll start them off first, (T hat's inducement number 1; no fu ll of pucky !" or some equally off en sive and imp robably substance. So 1 wo u ld lik e to re assure every body t h at 1 am definit ely n o t writing in wh at 1 like t o refer to as my " whimsic al" mod e. The Stumpjumpers laid out th e c ours e fo r t h is run and 1 rode it. The first lo o p is very easy . T h e second lo o p is moderately easy . , There is nothing d angerous o n either loop. And to make doubly su re that n o one has a bad experience , y o u'll rid e the very easy loop fi st, If y o u h ave trouble w ith t hat r one, just quit and drink beer the rest o f the day and you'll still enjoy y ours elf. We h ave arranged it so that the b ett er riders wiII have a challenge becau se we want everybody to ride and I'll tell y o u all about that ne xt we ek. Right now 1 want to do some promoting. The Stumpjumpers are not an enduro club and to say they 're a bit short of enduro talent wo uld be unders tating the case eonsiderably. So I would take it as a personal favor if some Class A end uro rider with a very accurate speedometer would volunteer to check the mileages for t h e m . This would n at urally disqualify y o u as an entrant , but on th e other hand it would sa ve you th e embarrassment of thinking up ex cuses for not winning that Yamaha. dust.) The trophy 1 w iII award will be e ngrav ed "Super E xpert---" and und er n e a th will b e a fa m o us personaliz ed Schneiders cynical remark. For ins tance, if so me body named Rich wins it, it migh t be engraved " Ron sa ys a 4 00 Suzuki is th e ultimate enduro bike. " If a gu y named Ge ne won it, " R o n says , If y o u d on't like Huskies, t he n ext time yo u h ave a race call a Badge r." Or if a gu y n am ed Jeff won it, "So's your o ld man!" If it went to a guy named - Ron S. (n ot mel] "It couldn't have go ne to a nicer fell o w !" Get the idea? All Super Experts must send their en tries in righ t away, so the club can use them for advertising. Am o ngst all this B.S . don't forget the real reaso n fo r all this. Larry McC lellan and his family need some help. We're in a dangerous sport. Any of us could need the same h elp so m e day. Send your entry in , even if you know y o u can't ride that d ay . Next week we'll tell you all about the enduro and give you some hints about h ow to win. Send any standard entry form to Stumpjumper's Enduro, 11 33 Sierra Ave., Santa Ana, CA 92707. Info, call (714) 557-{)754. Don't forget to include your $5 entry fee and your class. If y o u want to be in the Super Expert class, just write a 'su itab ly egotistical remark , like " I want Sch ne iders ' t r o p h y! " or "Tell Schneiders to just mail his trophy to Hawaii." or something of the sort. We'll take it fro m there. The date of the run is April 2. PACIRCAMA PROFESSIONAL MOTOCROSS SERIES SAD19 TH LEBACK PARK MARCH .. ,.. ~. ~ . J .;' .":., ... . ';~~.~/ ' :~~:.)tt~ .... 52,000 PURSE .. QUALIFYING EVENT FOR THE 17 RACE INTERNATIONAL TRANS AMA PROFESSIONAL MOTOCROSS SERIES IN THE FALL, 1972 AMA LICENSED P ROFES~IONAL R IDER S O N L Y CLASSES: 250 & 500 PROFESSIONAL See America' s F inest Professiona l R iders In The Series That Will Q ua lify T he Very Best T o Ru n Agai nst T he Europe- ns At a Sad d leb aek Par k, December 3 rt!. Th is Will Be The F ina l Event In The Se ries To Be Run In Sou th ern Califo rn ia Pr ior T o T he Nat io nal Ch am p ionsh ip At Saddleb ae k Pa rk , May 21st. :: Entry b lanks at Sad d le back Park or Cycle World Magazine. $2 0 0 0 Purse goe s to 250cc an d 5 00cc Pr ofessiona l AMA Classes onl y ( per rnoto ) • S up port Class es, 50% T rophi es (no li cense req ui r ed ). r: S u p p o rt Clas se s: 1-1 2 5 cc; 126-2 50 : 251-0 pen . .1' I'~ N o p enalty for Po st Entr y th e 19th . $5 Support Cl ass. s • SPONSORED BY CYCLE WORLD MAGAZINE SADDLEBACK PAR K IRV INE, CA L IFOR. N IA , PHO NE 71 4 -6 3 9 -5 8 3 2 . . _ ~ .~. FO ~ .F ULL DET.. A_._ ! 'l ILS .". ' • _ . • • Ol '" " '" '" ".... '" Ol ~ ::;; '" ~ w Z W ..J o >o .

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