Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/141023
." '" e, ,... N Ol <.=i . > :. ~ w Z w ..J U >U hi s bonus from Jack Ross. Back to Ponderosa By John Huer te r Photos by K. C. Brintnal l LAJl:CASTE R, CAL.. :'lay 7, 1972 CZIS o V SE JACK KNEBEL 'lst, Prospectors H&H Apr il 16 1st, Cactus Cats H&H Apr il 23 JIM FISHBACK 'lst, Simi Valley H&H April 30 CZ has a reputation of being a fine motocross machine, but nob ody th inks of it as a desert machine. Well, almost nobody. Jack Knebel and Jim Fishback won th e last three District 37 Desert Events overall on stock CZ's. Wh en eve r a would-be S o u th ern California desert rider has been away from the scene for a while, there is n o better way to get your bike and body back into shape than to rid e th e Ponderosa Hare Scrambles. Wcll, actually your bi ke wo n 't be in any be tter shape but you 'll fin d out wh at's go ing to fall off befor e you ge t in a lon ger race. A s an ybody wh o's been the re well kn ows, th e th ree n in e-mil e loops are a co llec t io n of sandy r oug h wh oop-de-d ocs, fas t rutted fir e road s an d dry lake. b ut, th an k God, precious few rocks and just eno ugh Josh ua tre es to keep you ho nest. The ab sence o f a d istrict dese rt p o in t run w as n oticed at th e Sunday race . whi ch is o rie n ted toward novices, normally . A fa ir prop ortion o f expert and amateur n umber pl ates were evi dent on th e starting line. These included Wes An de rson , Jr. who took first overall on his CZ ridin g for O tto ' s. Wes ranks No. 2 Dese rt Ligh tweigh t and reall y smoked the troop s on h is " day off" . Nobady was to o upse t, th ough . since th e 50% trophies th e Greyh ounds give ou t let every b ody have a sho t at th e brass if they d on't crash o r b reak . Second in was K. Lohmeyer o n a Bu l with Mik e Powers th ird in th e Open class (everything o ver 125 cc). Mi ke w as h igh finis her for th e S atu rd ay and Sunday races, with tw o th irds on his Mon tesa, an d won a McHall full co verage h elme t for his rides. First 125 bo th days w as Mik e Lee. but he' d alrea dy won hi s hel me t. Ron Wrigh t too k th e T rai lbike class o n Sunday . pushing Saturday ' s w inner , Lee Caldwell, b ack to second . With the tw o day s o f racing, it's .p ossible to get th e co urse sorted out and some of the regul ar s reall y fly . A rank n ovice , fo llo wing the easies t track, is ju st as likel y to tr op h y , however. Next mo nth , J u n ~ 3 and 4, mar ks th e sixth an niversary of the Ponderosa Hare Scram bles. . That ma kes it almost an ins titu tio n in th e fast -changing wo rld of two-w heeled competition . A lot of sponsored hot-shoes cut their teeth on the course in their greener days. The Brooks brothers, Cord is and Tom , were regulars. Old-timers tell the story of the match race between Tom Brooks, Sr. an d J .N. Roberts some years b ack. Tom, Sr. won ; the n J .N. took th e re ma tch. Tom Muto and Tom Clodt have b een kn own to go h ead to head in mo re recen t years . \\'es Anderson , Sr. (Expe r t 69T) te lls o f w hen Sunday ' s winn er, h is son , first rod e the Po n d ero sa. " D ad ", began th e curre n t Num b er Two ligh tweight, " they 'r e go ing too fast out th ere." Wh ich is exac tly the w ay a lot of pe op le felt abo u t him o n Sunday . (R esu lt s on page 4 4 ) AMERICAN .JAWA LTD. WEST: 3745 Overland Ave" Los Angeles, Ca. 90034 EAST: 185 Express St., Plainview, Long Island, N.Y. 11803 CANADA: Skoda & Jawa Mtrs. Canada Ltd., 7600 Trans-Can . Hwy., Montreal 377 Ca. Th e loneliness of th e long d istance racer.