Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

scram . By Ma ureen Lee First, so me important th ings to ge t ove r and d o ne with before w e start o ur " observer at large" co mme nts abo ut th ings in general. Ple ase don 't forge t t he Larry McCl ellan Benefit Enduro . If you can't make it o ut there th at Sunday, at least p ut a little lov e in yo ur h eart an d so me mo n ey in an env elo pe and send it t o t he Stumpj ump ers for Larr y. Every little bi t help s. Those h osp ital bills can b e stagger ing, esp ec ially in in tensive care. I know! If you wa nt to rid e, they guarantee a t horo ugh ly en joyab le d ay. If you did n 't read Ro n Sch neid er 's Ga mbi t co lumn last we ek , d o so . It's got all th e info in it and Ron promi ses it 's easy . If it isn 't , let me k now an d I'll smack him o ne! But even if you d on't fin d it like th e Sant a Ana Freeway, please ride and help Larry . He's o ne of us and h is fin ancial sit u ation is serious. It would really give him a boost to k now t hat so me o f h is worries are taken off his shoulders. Ne xt serious thing is a request for help . from Larry Haley . Now breth ren , wh et h er you like it or not o ur j o lly Master class is close becoming a po ssib i lity . H a l ey will be . th e competition man in charge of it. If yo u h ave any ideas at all, contact h im eit h er by pho ne , a card o r let t er o r grab him out on the desert . He is the Lightweight De s ert Steward. H e wa nts some sugg est ions and d o esn 't want to happen what happened when we passed some rules governing endure s. Everyone screamed for changes, ch anges were made but then the riders got all bent and said that wasn 't what they wanted so the rules had to be re-done all over. This way you get' the chance to get things righ t before yo u get things handed to you. The District is st ill a democratic organization you know, and your opinions count just as well as the next guy 's. Caught the TEAM motocross at Escape Country Sunday and what a groovy little course it is! The spectators h ave a fabulous view and for a change the pit folks get as good as the paying customers. Only problem I can see is that it is to o narrow in sections, but unlike o th er moto cross co urses around it truly follows the natural terrain. However, it definitely favors th e sm all bike class , (I can just see wh at J oel would d o o n it , wh ee! ). Comparing it to a Eu ro pean circ u it I'd say it co mpares fav orably to a good Junior co urse fo r the 25 0 cl ass. Over th ere they have co urses fo r th e bi g b o ys and o nes for the guys o n t he way u p and o f co urse, no 125 class, a t hing I'd like to see h ap p en here . Mo to cross in in te rnatio nal co mpet it io n exists only fo r 25 0 and 50 0 ...so get b ig eno ugh t o han d le a 25 0 and start motocros sing, otherwise stay in the d esert , scrambles or mayb e someo ne will th row motocro ss for t he smalle r boys. It's just a wish ful th ought on my part to co nform mo re and more w i th in t ernat ional sta ndard s, but so me times my lit tl e wild chickens com e hom e to roo st. As fo r th e racing its elf, it was grea t. J im Wilson looked like th e ol d J im, now th at th e brand chan ge no longer seems strange a nd that leg has h ealed up. Don't let anyo ne fo ol y o u , th at leg was a nast y but Jim wouldn't ad mi t it much. The AMA didn't get so me o f the licenses through and I had some giggles watching the Pro class and all the "no following the rule book" that took place there. But after all , if a race is a professional one, professional rules should be followed, right? And speaking of licenses, I am now still waiting for my membership card t o come back. Renewed it two weeks before it was up, and now three weeks after exp iratio n, I still don't have it back. Would I be unhappy if I was competing again and having to pay $7 for an AMA application every time I rode because I didn't have a valid car d , they 'd probably owe me $21 b y now. Can't figure out what makes it all t ake so bloody long when every t hi n g is co mputerized. Whil e trying to w at ch the mo to cro ss we were also keeping an ear bent to wh at was tr anspiring at Daytona and wa sn't it a bl ast ! We 'r e sorry th at the big facto ries didn't fare so well ... had m y hop es o n No rton bu t they we re lu rk in g in th e wi ngs all th e t im e. My tip of t h e helmet to Do n Emde. It was o ne heck of a race and proves you don't h ave to. be dinosaur-mo unted to w in . It was also a break fo r the . the h ouse o n T exas and can' t find it so I wonder what the locat ion is. Still , I'm sure t he Euro peans wi ll be d isapp ointed at n ot seeing Las Vegas and h avin g so m e fun wh ile n o t co mpet ing. C'est L view. a Well, much of the D istrict m ust be saddened now t hey know Fort Hood is the site of the ' 73 IS DT . Call it in tuit ion, but so me how I had the feeli ng t h ey w ouldn 't buy th e desert even with a few bits of m ud thrown in . I had suspicions th ey 'd choose a part of Ne w England or the No rth west. I've lo ok ed for Fort Ho od in all th e books I have in Last w ee k I mentio ned a new track co ming alo ng, well , it 's no t exactly new , just clo sed d own for a w h ile b ut no w Ro ugh Rid er is ready to go again. Th ere's a TT track there as well as a mo to cro ss circuit. Jo hn R . laid o ut th e TT so you know it should be a good one. If it ain't, b lame him. Anyway, the park says th ey can hand le back-to-hack motocross and scramb les. Not only t hat, their re ntal fees are mo d est compared to so me of the bilge we've been q uoted. Now t here's another track, Rawhide, and their deal is ju st about the fairest that any cl ub can ask for. In fact, I nearl y p assed o ut wh en George Joh nson cal led and quo ted w hat h e ch arges fo r th e tr ack . O n b ehalf of th e District I want to th ank Mr. J ohnso n, we need more p ro moters lik e you, sir! Call him at (213) 333-8 2 72 . m.o:.r.e':.1 fr'o)m By R uss San ford WHERE TO RIDE Our o ffice is contin ua lly receiving inquiries ask ing, "W h ere can I rid e my trail-bike without being h assled ? " Bein g a lazy so rt of a cuss , I decided to write th is article. T hen , in the future, when p eople ask th e ques t ion, I can merely reproduce a copy of t his colu mn and mail it to them. Neat, huh? Bes ides, it gets o u r publisher, Ch uck Clayto n , o ff my b ack fo r another week. Th ere are many millions of acres of public land in Cali fo rnia . T wo agencies o f the federal gov ernment, th e Bureau o f Land Management a nd the U.S. Forest Service , have j urisdiction over 4 4 million acres o f public land in this state. There are als o millions of acr es of public land under the j u risd ict io n of o th er fed eral agen cies, suc h as th e Nati o nal Park Service, Department o f Defense, Bureau o f Indian A ffairs, et c . In addition, the Stat e o f California has j U risd ic~i o n~ o ver a larg e amo u nt of By R on Schneiders La st ' week in this co lu m n we told yo u about an easy fun enduro t hat was to be ru n to help Larr y McC lellan and his fam ily. If yo u missed last week 's p ap er , Larry McClellan, was very badly hurt racin g his sidehack so th e Stumpjump er s are putting o n an en d uro to help raise eno ug h mo ney t o ge t h im th e m ed ical ca re h e needs. First prize in th e enduro is a DT -2 Yamaha. This week we promised we'd te ll you a b it more abou t it and give yo u some h ints o n h ow to win. Here's h ow it 's goi ng to work : The Stumpjump ers laid out a co urse and ask ed me to rid e it. T hey ti m ed me goi ng from ch ec k to check. My times are go ing t o be the times fo r the " B" rid ers. If a " B" rider tak es lo nger th an I did, he'll lose o ne poin t p er minu te. If h e goes to o fast, h e 'll lose 2 points for each minute ear ly . Yo u won't know wh at the average is in any part icular section, but at each check yo u'll b e told the key time for your class so you'll know whether you're running earl y o r late. "A" riders and "C" riders will do the same except that the speed average will be jacked up 25 % fo r "A" riders an d reduced 25 % for "C" riders. That way everyone should be riding within th e limits of his ab ility . It migh t occur to some to awa rd themselves the benefit o f the d oubt and rid e a class or two lo wer th an they reall y d eserve. We d on't really care because y ou'll just ' sp oil your rid e with out increasin g your cha nces o f winnin g ap p reciably. T h is enduro is just no t sci ent ific enough to lend itself r ead ily to cheat ing . T he ru n is going to be scored righ t on . th e spot. Each rider wi ll carry a card wit h hi m wit h colum ns o n it fo r eac h of th e ch ecks . Ea ch ch ec ke r will m ar k the co ntest ant's arrival t im e right on the card. Wh en th e rid er finis hes, h e'll go o ver to th e h eadquarter 's tru ck an d there he will find charts, four of them, co rresponding to Classes "A. ", uB" , "C" and Sup er Ex pert . On the charts will be C'l < n The Can -Am c h allen ge races are rco ming up and from what w e hear o u r Canadian group will be a sigh t to beho ld de cked o u t in their nat ional colors. If you 've never seen these bods ride, you 're in for a tr eat. T hey flat haul, and wh ile they 're down here, let's make them all feel a t h ome. If y o u eve r go up there, th ey su re t hrow o ut the welcom e ma t for you. Have you ever reall y co unte d th e n umber o f races, sanctio ned and unsanctioned, that run every weekend and felt like you were getting swallowed up into where to go? It could get to the point where only o ne or two Ex pert s will show up at each event . T here are so many, ho w can a newspaper co ver all of 'em? Co m p et it io n riding is almo st strangling itself , so please AMA, k eep yo ur rid ers in check so you ke ep th e cream.. .and yes , I re ally wro te that an d not u nd er du ress either. I m ay fight wit h t he AMA b ut I st ill lov e 'e m. .mow wh ere 's my new card! 1~I1~e, ,c ;a. ~·i =t o l' p u blic land s in th e fo rm of Stat e Fo rests , St at e Par ks, State Beaches, and State Re creat ional S it es . Li kewise, ci ty an d co unty governments also contro l many a cr es 0 f p u b lic lands, as do reclamatio n d istricts, a nd oth er lower fo rms of governmen t. T here. exists a basic premise (o r co nst it u t io nal righ t, if you will ) th at members of t he public ar e ent it led t o h ave acc ess to public lands. Ho wever , law s have been en act ed w hich declare that in the b est in terest of the t otal public, some uses of public .land will not be accep tab le or must be regulated. Fo r exam p le, no one expects t o b e allo we d to co me and go at his o wn will on a military instatllation. Nor would we tolera te a private party constructing a co m m ercial airport within a Na t io nal Park. Reco gn izing th at some regulation of use is necessary, th e land -use agenci es (at all levels of go vernm ent ) have ad "pted rul es wh ich , in their o p in io n , th e k ey t im es fo r his class fo r each check. T he rider will write down th e key times on his card , ad d his sta rti ng number to th e ke y t ime fo r the check , and co m p ar e th at t ime with th e time he actually arrived. It so u nds co mp licat ed ' b ut it's actually quite easy. When h e gets fi n ish ed , h e'll have th e number of poin ts that h e lost at eac h ch eck . He can th en add th em up and h e'll have hi s sco re. O ne check wi ll b e sco red in seco nd s and th at will be th e t ie breaker. O ne check er at eac h ch ec k w ill ke ep a running list of riders as th ey arrive and th e wi nners o f the motorcycle and th e merch and ise will hav e th eir scores checked agai nst th e list. A ll th e rest will get the sco re th ey co m p et e along with all err o rs, in t en tio na l a nd o t h erw ise . This is basically t he U-ch eck system as used in North ern end uro s and it w orks quite w ell. You'1 1 get a det ailed instruction sheet at the start , if this isn't clear , and club members will be ar ound t o help. Tum your car ds in just as soon af t er you fin ish as possible, and we'll know who won the Yamaha DT-2 before dark. Now here so me hints that m ight help y ou to win. If y o u 're a "8" rider you're go ing t o have to guess my speed as yo u go along and match it. This is straight. T w o Stumpjumpers led m e around th e co urse and when we go t to spots where check s we re going to b e, th ey no ted th e ti m e an d those are the ti mes that will be used . We d idn't co unt time that was i r relevant. O nce o ne of t he Stumpju m p ers got lost and we had t o wait fo r h im and th ree t imes I loa de d u p o ne o f the b ikes. These t imes weren't co unted. You should kn ow th at I'm 36, ma rried and have a fa m ily, all o f which tend s t o i ncre ase your cau tio n so mew hat. O n t he o ther h and I'm egotis tical enough no t to want t o p ost very slow t imes . Both the CER A and District 3 7 class me as a "B" rider , b ut I'm close to p ro mo t io n in both organizations. I've b een rid in g b ikes for [ Plrus ct urn t o Jmgt' 17) will d o th e most good fo r th e largest segm ent o f th e public . - T h e U.S . Fo rest Service, fo r example, h as estab lish ed Vehicular Control Areas in some of the Natio nal Forest s wherein cross-country travel w ill r e s u l t in so il -erosio n and oth er ecological damage. The m ajor portions o f t he Nati onal Forests remain open t o off -ro ad vehicular use, but, unless you know th e are as which ar e truly open , co ntact th e USF S District R anger or Forest Headquarters. They will supply yo u w ith maps d en oting ' clo sed areas ', if t here are an y . - T h e Bureau o f Land Management has only closed one area under its jurisdiction, at th is time, although Vehicular Control Areas are being considered for several lo cations wherein vehicular traffic will create ecological damage. The one area of BLM land which is totally clo sed is th e Panoche Hills and Mercey Hot Springs area west of Los Bano s. -The off-road u se of vehicles is prohibited in b oth State and N ational Parks, as w ell as Stat e Primitive Areas an d N ational Wildern ess A reas. Off-road veh icles ar e p ermitted to operate o nly in th e sand washes of Anzo Berrega Stat e Par k. - O ff-ro ad vehicles ar e permitted to o perate in St at e Recreatio nal A reas, such as the Pismo Beach Dunes , when suc h us e is properl y d esignated. -Off-road veh icles are p ermitted to' operate in bo th city and co unt y sites t hat h ave b een d esignated for suc h use . - A lth o u gh so me cities and co un ti es have provid ed off-ro ad veh icle facilities, o t he r s h a ve enac ted ord inanc es pro h ib iting such use o n b oth public and p rivat e lands. So, yo u can see ·t h at it is extremely diffic u lt , if not impossible to tell so meone whe re to ride. The situat io n change s from day-to-day with each agen cy. T he b est we can d o is to offer these gui delines: -If you ar e n ew to d irt riding, check the Club Guid e periodicall y published in Cycle N ew s a nd sel ect severa l clubs from your area. Contact these clubs and take a ride o r t wo w ith them. You will not o nly find a club to yo ur lik ing, but through its members you will learn 'o f areas in which y o u m ay legall y ride. - If y ou are an old h and at dirt-riding and are just looking for new and d ifferent riding a reas , perhaps for a vacation, you can save a lot of time, trouble, and possibly expense, by contacting the District Office of the U.S. Forest Service or th e Bureau of -Land Management in advan e-:- If the c area you have in mind is not under their jurisdiction, contact the County Sheriff's Office or the City Police Station and as k if there is any prohibition again st yo ur use of the public lands in th e ar ea. ONE LAST REMINDER By California state la w , yo u are gu ilt y o f tr espass and subjec t. to im priso nme nt and /or fin e if yo u en t er lan d which is fen ced, p o st ed, under cu lt ivatio n, o r kn o wn to b e p rivate land, witho ut the e xp ress co nsen t o f the owner o r his age nt. So me c it ies and counties require wr itten permission of th e o wn er. Better ch eck it o u t firs t ! Please address all co mme nts and / o r inquiries to Russ Sanford, c/o M.O .R.E., P.O. Bo x 2606 2, Sacramento , CA 95826 . m Z ~ OS '~ ~ !il .... .., '" -e i '01

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