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/141031
Round The Ca.mpf'fr-e c ": .., " ~ w Z W ...J U :> o 1972.M t rcycle Competition Guidebook for California (first edition published by CYCLE NEWS, Inc.) 10,000 names and riding numbers! including AMA Nati onal numb ers. AMA District 36 & 37 MX, Enduro, Scrambles & Desert numbers. Plus Calendar of Events for 1972! District 35 & 38 Earned Numb ers. AMA National points scoring table. COMPL ET E CMC rid er numbers to date. ACA, Trials Clubs, AF M, CERA , HR A, USMRC, Sidehack & Speedway Racing Association names & numbers. PLUS complete Californ ia CL UB GUIDE and much, MUCH MOR E. Send for your copy 'NO W . Or see your nearest Cycle News Dealer- Your complete program for all 1972 California Amateur and Professional races! By A lice R hea Choking an d gagging on the dust, half-blinded. w ith tears st reaming down his cheeks and sweat pouring down h is back and dripping off his goggles. wrung out and done in . the exhausted Novice picks up his moto rcycle after getting off for the umpteenth time. The bike feels like it must weigh close to 1000 pounds and the Novice limps a little, favoring the ankle he b loodied when the bike kicked back the first time he tried to start it. He throws a weary leg over the bike and ' kicks it . once....twice.. .it fires and he lurches off. He's wondering what the hell he is doing out in the middle of the desert on a day this hot when ' h e could be home watching TV an d drin king a cold beer in front of the air conditioner. Knowing he will get lost if he leaves the course, the Novice continues to follow the ribbon and lime and suddenly, looming up like an oasis, he sees vehicles; trucks, bikes, vans, and banners ma rking the finish line and someth ing to drink. He finished his first desert race. It was terrible. It was stupid. Anybody who would do that and say it Was fun must really have a sick sense of humor. Must be some sort of plot or some big masochist punishmen t-worship cult. Boy, he'll never do that again, he promises. Funny thing is, long about Wednesday he is showing all his friends the finisher pin he got when he cro ssed the line and telling them about the thrill of flying off a bump and winging it through the whoop-de-docs. By Saturday the bike is shaped and Super-Novice rides again ... Off in search of another desert race. Why do the desert racers come out week after week and flog their bodies to hamburger and pound their motorcycles to scrap metal, racing a course they've never ridden before in blinding dust and unbearable heat; crashing and picking it up and thrashing on, determined to finish, even if it is in las t palce? The following are comments from Experts, Amateurs and Novices; from the fastest to the slowest, and a few in between : "I t's like a drug. Even when the bike b reaks and I don't finish for the ten th week in a ro w and ] swear I'm going to find so m e th ing else to do o n Su ndays.... Mond ay nigh t I'm out in the garage agai n. so rt ing it all ou t. Bo y , n ex t week I'm go ing to kick that (ce n sored) over on th e first k ick and I 'm go ing to be firs t to the bomb and nobody is go ing to catch me the whole race," said one Expert. An Amateur said, "I talk to myself a lot while I' m racing. 'Come on, you can do it. Take it easy in the rocks now. this is no place to be getting ofL.a little faster now. You can ride just a little faster. " Most races : are entered with one objective; win! That is where dese rt racing is different. As one Amateur put it; "Even if you are last, it is so neat just to get ou t there and boggie across the desert." A girl racer admitted , "When the weather is b eautiful and you are riding along by yourself, as you so often are , I WHAT It. PAL WE HAVE IN SOUTH BAY - - -(cut out and ma il t oda y) - - - __ o CYCLE NEWS PRODUCTS P.O. Box 498 Lon g Beach, Calif. 90801 Please rush my copy!s) of the 19 7 2 Motorcycle Competition G u idebook ' fo r .-. Ca liforn ia. I e nclo se $ 1 for each copy . -l. ,NA ME - - - - -- ADDRESS ~ _ I I I I J I CITY STATE Z IP SA T ISFACT I O N GUARANTEED OR YOUR MONEY BACK _ J J I I ------------------------------------~ South Bay Mo torcycles h as b ee n appointed th e official U.S . d istribu to r for t he co mp lete line of Czechoslovakian PAL spark plu gs. fro m the So u thern Available California dist rib u to r will be PAL spark plugs for street app lica tions as well as racing . South Bay Mo torcycles will handl e PAL plugs fo r every make o f motorcycle imported into the U .S. as well as a wi de ra nge of spark p lugs for Ame rican auto mo bi les. O riginal eq uipmen t spark p lugs fo r J awa an d CZ m o torcy cle s, PAL has a lo ng history in the production of high quality ign ition co m ponen ts. PAL plugs sparked the winning Trophy Team and Silver Vase team at the 1970 International Six Days Trial in Spain and at the 1971 event, h eld on the Isle of Man. • Brochures detailing th e specifications of PAL spark p lugs, as well as cross-comparison charts wi th o ther major brands and heat ra nge tables are from th e South Bay avai la. ' , Mo t o rcy cles , 2001 W. A rt e sia , Red o ndo Beach , CA 902 78. get to dayd reami ng and then so m e fa st Novice goes roaring by me and wakes me up. and I think 'Hey , I'm su pposed to be racing! " Standing on the finish line, you often see a racer p ull up and tap the guy in front of him on the shoulder and hold out his hand, "Nice race, fel la ." Dicing it out with another rider of near-eq ual skill is a real pleasu re for a desert racer. For m ay be just that h al f a loop, they challenge each other to the best racing each can produce and, for that while, they form a bond. If o ne of them fouls a plug or gets off the other fee Is a pang of loss. For a while there he was racing with a buddy. and it was fun! "Just by entering a desert race you've do ne something 90 percent of th e people in the world don 't h ave the balls to do," commented one racer. "You p u t yourself in a situation where you have to rely on your own personal rescources completely." "There are no holds barred," said one veteran. "Just get out there and go as fast as you can . I put myself to a test of my abilities. I'm flexing my muscles an d proving 'my ability to kill the sabre-toothed tiger." "It's an adventure. I'm going somewhere I've never been before and pitting my wits against the lime cr ew and nature," mused another racer. It is also the Saturday night gather-round-the-campfire, exchange of hot tips and speculation on what the super-stars are doing. I t is bench racing, and friends who really listen as the star of the moment unfolds his saga of leading it to the bomb ; losing the course, getting off 18 times and finally fouling a plug. It is riding with your friends on Saturday afternoon, getting familiar with your bike again after a week away from riding. And sometimes it is winning; crossing the finish line first in your class and knowing, just knowing that you are the fastest, bravest, smartest person who ever had the good sense to buy a motorcycle-in the first place. But even in last place, it is that powerful m ac h ine wound out at yo ur urging; the desert stre tching as far as you can see in every direction and the sky so blue that it hurts to lo o k too long. Desert racing is, in o ne wo rd; freedom. that "mo torcycles must be excluded because th e h igh cost of prem iums would p ut the motorcycles off the road" . Pre t ty neat , h uh ? Who said "letters don't count"? In the May 30th issue of Cycle News. we announced a series of public hearings sponsored by the U.S . Forest Service for purposes of taking testimony from concerned individuals on the subject of expanding non-vehicular Wilderness Areas in California. The off-road vehicle enthusiasts made good showing at some of the meetings, bu t we were terrib ly outnumbered at the Pasadena meeting. Those of you who didn't make it to the meetings, can still do you r part . Send a letter or postcard today, right now, to: Mr. Joe Fly nn, Chairman USFS Wilderness Hearings . U .S. Forest Service 630 Sansome Street San F rancisco, CA 941 1 1 You need only state that " I op p ose any attempt to designate ne w Wilderness Areas." Sign yo ur name an d list you r m ailin g address. It is just that sim ple to say your ridi ng areas. Write no w... ride late! Ple ase ad d ress all co m me n ts or in qui ries to MORE (Motorcycle Owners. Riders and En thusiasts), P.O. Box 26 062, Sacram ent o , CA 9582 6.