Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

·y . . G l · S FIRS C YO JU P .. - By Ke n Dunlap Photos by Harrie and Ken Dunlap WAGGAMA N , LA. , April 16, 1972 All morning long people would walk up to the edge of the canal, lo o k in, and walk away shaking their head s. It was 120 feet to the other side ; even the best rno to cr o sse rs don't go anywhere near that far . By mid af tem oo n the crowd had exceeded th e m ost optimistic expecta tio ns and was vi rtually un co n tr o llab le. Co n servative estim a tes p u t the spectator count at 5 ,000, mo st of wh om came fo r the jump, not th e mo to cross. Bob G ill's con tract ca lled for a dollar a head , wh ich was a far cry fro m the early d ay s wh en he would cautiously ask for $ 750 for two perfo nna nces. G ill an d h is hel per, Frank Boyd , who computes the speed and angle of the ram ps for Bob's jumps, spent almost the entire morning selling up. This one had to be right. Boyd explained, 'We actually have about four or five basic jumps. This is a continuation of one of them.' Determining the right speed was no problem; what was a problem was the fact the re wasn't enough ro om t o be absolutely sure h e co u ld get up to speed - abou t 80 mph. 'What is scary , th ou gh,' sa id Boyd , ' is he has to be righ t o n the fir st t ime . li e ca n ' t pull o ff t o th e side lik e wh en he' s jumping cars. Bob wa s a lit tle up tight in the morning, alth ough he b egan to rel ax as th e time for him t o go o n app ro ac hed. The reaso n was th at this was the first ju m p where his wi fe, Em ma , hadn 't I been p resen t. Everyone agre ed it was a good thing Em ma h adn 't seen the canyon ; it 's n ot a good id ea to fri gh ten an ex pec tan t mother. A ft er the second set of mo t os th e crowd b egan t o lin e up m o re o r less o n the opposit e ban k. The cro wd , wh ich had been recalcitrant an d unmovin g now became ten se an d before ex pectan t. G ill rode to th e to p of hi s ramp, su rveyed th e landing area, back ed down and made his app roac h. As usu al it was a perfec t jump. It b lew the cr ow d ' o u t of the ir sku lls. Gil h ad flown 15 0 feet over an h on est -t o-God ca nyo n to a perfect landing ; it lo o ked easy in fac t, lie was mobbed with au to gra ph seekers ('Sign my Cycl e News pl ease ' ) , champ agne fr om DiffBrake, and cans of beer. Souven ir hunters tried to get everything from his sun h at to parts o f his bike, One you ngs ter co n ten ted him self with a beer can Bob had just drained in the h o t Louisiana sun . Gill pops cork on a bottle of champagne, cou rt esy D if fB rake, w hile fans hand him things to sign. the 'car hop' has one-upped you know who ... . • • .... • .. on N " '" '" 0- N .... ~ oj > ::; '" (J) ;: W Z W ...J U >o That's the takeoff ramp 'way over there . T here is no landing ramp . The Olympia Brewing Company presents Evel Knievel and the Second Annual Snake Rive r Motocross, Saturday and Sunday, May 6-7 at Tw in Falls , Idaho. Purse fo r Profess ionals is $25,000. Entr y fee is $25.00. Entry blanks an d licenses are avail· able at C. M.C., P.O. Bo x 1402, -Costa Mesa, Cali forn ia 92626. On Saturd ay, ther e's a MiniBike race for jun iors and a 125cc and 250cc race for amateurs. Entry fees are $5.00. No license requ ired, All Saturday finishers receive an Olympia Souvenir Trophy. On Sunday, five Harley Davidson Shortsters will be given away as door prizes . Evel Knievel wi ll be there . So will the Skycycl e X and XI, the bike he 'll jump the canyon wi th (it 's .the first time this bi ke is shown in public) . And so will the actual take -off ram p he'll use in the canyon jump. So enter the Second Ann ual Snake River Motocross sponsored by Olympia Beer. It's the Evel way of making $25,000.

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