Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

1c:.• • - • • - - - .- . By 1\1ice Rhea ' - - • - - - - - - - - - •• - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - & LUCERNE VALLEY , CAL. , April 23 , ,f 1972 - Cactu s Cats M.C. C ACT US CATS DO IT RIGHT had an ~ '::;~~~5 s~~~u~d6p:nf~~vi~;s ~:~~~ N > i ~ w Z W ..J o >o . the Trail .'ovices moved up to th e starting line. When the dust h ad se t tled Trail Novices took off. They loved it . There was no d ust fro m th e b ig bikes, th ey were riding only with their own class so they ha d a p retty good idea of where they sto od , and since they just rod e the first loop of the Hare an d Hound, they d id n ' t have to worry about bei ng lapped. That isn't to say it was an easy course. As Squeak y Sawyer (Har ley ) said when she crossed the fini sh line, "That was my first rac e - and my last." Kevin Hamblin (H od ) was a litt le more enthusias tic about th e course, but y ou just about have to like it when y o u are first, don 't you , Kevin ? Both Kevin an d Frank Keepers (Ric), wh o was second Trail Novi ce today, should be ab ou t to transfer to Am ateur. Third, fo u rth an d fifth Trail No vices were Dean Bird (Hod), Mike Thill (Ric) and Chris Weber (R ic). First girl Trail Novice was Patricia Warsden (H o n) . Both Patricia and Squeaky d eserve a pat o n th e back for finishing this one. Even those big husky men on their powerful ma chin es were groaning ab out ~ow rough th e co urse was . Jack Kn ebel (C Z) won another o ne today, mu ch to the deligh t o f hi s fan club - Jack's whole famil y, mom, dad , grandma, etc. cam e out to che er him on. It is really super that Jack cou ld get it together and then have all those happy people to co ngra tu la te h im . Whitey Martino (Hus) was leading it at the bomb, b ut coming in to th e home check , J ac k had taken the lead and held it all the way . Art Kn app (Hus) also came up fro m b ehind to n ail d own sec o nd ove rall. Bill Frian t (Puc) has been fast for a lon g tim e, bu t u sed to have a 10t of troub le ge tt ing h is bi kes to stay toge ther lon g e nough to fin ish . Bill is now letting his sponsor do the wo rk o n hi s b ike an d it is really p ay ing off. Bill was first 175 and th ird overall today for about the ninth ti me. Tom Sm ith (Yam ) was fourth overall, followed by Larry Burquist (Bul). Larry was first 250, and fifth overall. We h ave so me p ret ty fast A mateurs ou t her e this year. One of th em is Gary Beichenback (C Z) who was first Am a teur, first 250 Am ateur an d 12th overall. First Trailbike was Wayne C ook (Baj a). The starting area was really fast fifth gear for those wh o had th at man y - then in to a sand wash th at was as smoo th as a deep-pile carpet except fo r a few buried rocks. Every one wh o h ad th e guts an d th e torque had it flat ou t through th ere. The sandwash ended ab ou t five miles past the b omb and for the next hour-and-a-hal f the rac ers picked their wa y through th e roc ks. The rest o f th e fir st loop was slow and hard. At th e start of th e san d was h going into th e secon d loop the Cactus Cats h ad ere cted a sign, "Congratula tions! We didn 't expect you to get this far !" The second loop was full o f sand dunes, washes and fast ch opp y d esert. Cactus Cats had thoughtfully removed all of th e ro ck s from this sec tion - and disposed o f th em in the firs t lo op . Another fast Amateu r o u t her e is Mark Widick , who was first trail Amateur today . It h asn ' t b een too lo ng since Mar k was a fast Trail Novice. Nice going, Mar k . F irst Novice was No . 1222c, b ut his sign -up card can't be found. Now don't p an ic. T hese results are just about as unofficial as th ey can get and Cactus Cats are going to sp en d a co nsi derable amount of tim e lo o kin g for your card . Those Division II Ligh tweigh t Novices were really hot-footing it ac ross th e d esert today . Second N ovice to cross th e line was Ken Mark os (Yam). Ben ny Padilla, o n a 25 0 Husky was th ird No vice, followed by J oh n Porno (Hus). A 100's M.C.'er, m o un ted on a 400 Su zu ki No. 1418, reall y ran a beautiful race. He finished 97th overall, second 500 Novice. Sure wish I kn ew h is nam e. Here is my relative again. My favori te No vice, Dale Rh ea, N o. 1326 (Yam) was 3 rd 500 No vice today . As he crossed th e fin ish lin e he quipped, " Well, I fin ally beat all th e Desert Daisies." Speaking of Daisies, Sh ar on Rosenauer (Suz ) was first girl again today . I almost didn't recognize h er sin ce sh e has moved up to a 125 Su zuki fu rni she d by Sweet Du ck and her new number is 13 I 3(:. Sharon has re ally been Just w hen there"s no one in front of you there always earns to be someone comi ng up behind you . do in g so me serious rid ing fo r the last year. Oh , b umme r. Wh ile Sled Riders M.C. members were off racing, pit-crewing and spectating some animal loo ted their camp , m ak ing o ff with mo ney an d cokes. Ch rist, it ma kes me fu rious to hav e to nail down every th ing I ow n to kee p so me creep fro m b aggin g it . A w o rd to the th eives.. .I f you have any ide a wh at a b ack -sid e full o f buck sh o t fee ls lik e y o u will stay in th e h og-trough wh ere you bel o ng an d kee p ou t o f th e de sert! Cactus Ca ts really are a thorough club. A ft er ma rk in g th e cou rse th ey sen t one each Expert, Amateur and Novice .. . o ut to ride it and mark an y sp o ts whi ch were questionable. The resul t was a super -well marked course. I heard a lo t of moan ing and groaning about how rou gh the co urse was , bu t th e guys who finis hed rea lly felt good abou t it. Like, any body can fin ish whe n the course is easy, Mike Brooks, C actu s Cats' racing cha irman , d oubled as P. R. man an d d id a good j ob. T h ere were p lenty o f flagme n, good markings on the co urse , e tc. A ll in all a terrific race for th ose wh o finished. Thanks for all th e help wit h th e resul ts (unofficial) go to Pat Spraggin s and•.of course , t o Mike. Another example of the though t tha t went in to th is run are th e tr ophies. They will be wh it e m otocro ss-type shirts with th e guy 's name and position on it - h ow ab ou t 'th at fo r a n ovel idea? T he re w ere so me sidehacks out today . Ca ctus Ca ts started th em o n the second loop a t the same time the T railb ik es left o n the first loop. Winner was J ohn Monohan and his pal Blystead, Nex t was Larry an d Wayne Pre sc ott and th e Steve F ishe r/ Pe te Dern etrulius te am. The final entry, Don Davis and Fred Acevedo, DNF'd but they get credit for fourth an yway . ,- . The desert dusties. I - -----.---------- ----------------- (Re su lts on p age 36)

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