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/141029
.,. 0" THE GREENHORN: After 26 Years, The Hard . '" C> C- O" .... ~ ,,; e '" .... " Vl ;: w Z w -' U >- U • IIY R on Schneiders Ph otos by Ro n and Ellen Schneiders DUARTE , CALIF., !\l ay 28 -29, 1972 Ed Wight, who a dmits to being between 33 an d 43, finished his first Greenhorn in 14 tries. His son Lark, who admits to being between 13 and 17 , just finish ed his first one. That really tells y o u quite a b it abou t the Greenhorn and the type of people th at finish it. Determined and lu cky . II is on ly in the com p e ti ti o n for th e top trophies th at skill starts to enter int o it and then onl y in those years I when th e quixotic Pasadena M.C . manages to salvage enough defensible checks to determine a winner on the M Bub eck, ax· basis of points. In some years the m ost scientific p art of the run is the drawing for starting position. Fortunately, this w as one of th e good years. Most everything went more or less according to plan. The run again started in Du arte, just behind th e Triu mph /ilSA building. With p arkin g available for ju st about 65 ca rs. th e ' assemblage o f all th e va ns , tru ck s, campers , motorcycles and people made th e ar e a look lik e an in st ant gypsy ci ty. There were 498 en tries plu s 8 sideh acks. In 63 miles and rou ghl y 1.000 h airp in tu rn s we went through th e Ange les Forest o n -dusty, dry dirt ro ad s. At b es t th c ' go ing is difficult and it can ge t downrigh t trea ch erous. Y ou nev er lo ok ove r the side on th ese roads b ec ause if you d id you'd in stan t1 y slo w to h al f the sch ed u le speed. Every tum requires a se pa ra te . split second d ecis ion . Is there the sligh test indication of a berm so I can affo rd to lay it over and screw it on ? Is i t smo oth and level so I ca n go throu gh in a ne at c ro sse d -u p bro ad slide ? O r is it o ff-camber an d slic k as blue ice so I have to ride aro und like I'm o n egg sh e lls to a vo i d d o in g a Humpty -Dump ty. And alwa ys w atch fo r the ro c ks. I missed o ne in the dust and w ent alo ng o n th e fr ont wh eel lon g enough to think ab o u t h ow mu ch it w as going to hurt before I went d own in a w inn er of th e first Greenhorn a~d mu lti-tim e overall winner. H e used baling wire for a throttl e cable to fin ish this one. Paul F landers rode his first Greenhorn and fini shed. It 's that kind of a thing. Dave Ekins rides a Sui probabl e wi nner in class. heap . Bev ond th e fores t is th e endles s deseri and someplace righ t in the middle o f th e desert is Ridge crest. Ridgecrest is a town that se ems to have been invented by th e Pasaden a :\I.C. for th e usc of th e G reenhorn. For th e o ther 363 days a ye ar i t h as a n in stantl y forgettable existen ce . On Memo ri al Day w ee kend it is h e aven, Me c ca, T he End o f th e War an d balanced budget fo r 500 a moto rcyclis ts. Most play m otor cy cl ists can ride all d ay on a tank of gas. A seriou s race r goes through tw o tanks. T he Greenh ome rs fill their tanks ei ght times in the cou rse o f th e e nd les s trek 10 Rid ge cres t. Dave vans gets dou sed w ith campagne celebrate a probabl e class w in and shot overall .