Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

." N M " '" '" "N r- ~ M I'I~IIII DIS PLAY ADVE RTI SING D EADLINE c " .., " "' ;: w Secret Weapons CHERRY CREEK ." .. Z W ..J U > u (213) 427-7433 DYNAMOMETERS Hanson Engineering P.O. Box 23 54 , Canoga Park, Cal. 91306 ( 213) 882 · 2667 Exp ert service on all ma k es of motorcycles 10% RACERS DISCOU NT 2255 HA RBO R BLVD ., COS TA MESA, CA . (7 14 ) 646-4655 We sell &ferp~;ARfL> MAleO~he,e! ~ ..'. AMERICAN 13 E. O 20 RAJlGETHORPl fULLERTON CAUf. ( 71 1 110 · Ull 4 Hoda ka Mon tesa Greeves Motorcycles "'4. """'v._ "'~J ~ ........ IIV A" "" ~. '·M" t~y~: Sport Cycle Guv R. Lo uis < 1l4) 893-1051 72 19 W~tm in st er Ave.• Westm inst er. Ca. poppy 115 0 I., S. VICTORY PHONE 213 GLENDAlE . CAL . Z41-31., SUPER TRICK STUFF Our free cat a log ha s MX garb: boots", g loves , leathers, et c . . . pl us . . CZ and MAIC O go·fast frames , pipes, etc., etc . WRIT E . GRAND PRIX CYCLES 2450 EI Camino Real Sa nta Clara, Ca . 95051 By Terry Newfarnler Photos by Ne wfarmer and Paul Vogler JE R ICHO, UTAH, May 21 , 19 72 So me cu rsed it, so me enjoyed it, an d mos t jus t co uldn't believe it .. .Cherry Creek this year was just like the o ld day s. Cherry Cr eek is o ne of th e races that sta rte d the d esert race-finis h er pin th ing; thi s yea r was the 13th an n ual. Th ree -hundre d nin e ty -o ne starte d, an d 46 fini sh ed . Bac k in th e o ld days, the h ot dogs rod e bi g sleds, and th e rest wore sneakers an d rode street Ho ndas. Fi nding the co urse was p art of the game and fin ishing w as a b ig de al . One year, the riders knocked off to go find a los t chil d in th e san d d un es, an d ano the r year, the ho un ds caught the hare - the co urse m ar king te am - righ t in fro n t o f the ABC Wide World o f Sports cameras. The race quickl y be came steeped in its ow n tr adition of being one of th e toughest in th e nati on, and the challenge of fini sh ing bro ugh t riders fro m as fa r away as eastern Can ad a. Then came 19 70 , wh en a las t-minute rero u te of the course le ft 3 00 riders lost on th e first lo op, an d only six ca me o u t the other end with all th e checks . In ' 7 1, the pe n d ulu m swu ng, and 200 riders followed course mar kers ten yards apart to finish on an easier rou te . Well , the local press tou ted this year's race as th e to ughest ever, an d th e Sal t Lak e Motorcy cle Club rep eatedl y w arn ed th at en o ugh gas fo r 5 0 mil es of sand w ou ld e need ed . Man y of the previous fini shers co uldn't be lieve it would be that much h arder , and a week later, so me of their b ikes are still parked on lonely sand dunes. All th e d ay befo re the race, the signup tent bu zzed wi th shoes from California an d Colo rad o , wh o wanted to know w.h o w as th e man to beat for the four-fo ot travelin g trophy, which bear s nam es like Max Switzer and Mike Pa trick. The answer was th at it could be any body's race. But th at night, th e wh ispers spread th ro ugh the camp: "J .N . is h er e. " The nex t d ay , J .N. Roberts in scr ibed hi s name on th e tro phy for th e second tim e, b ut he got a race all th e way fr om a Utah rid er nam ed Dave Blaylock. T ragedy st ruck in th e Novice start, whe n 18-year-old Mic hael Eddy wen t down abou t 200 yard s o ut, and was either hit by h is bi ke or some on e else's. He died on the way to th e hospi tal, desp ite im me d iate help fro m trained ambul an ce attendants, of an apparen t bro ken neck. He w as rid ing his frist race , on a 175 Yamaha. The st ar t led over tall sagebrus h and gulli es to a dirt road, wi th de ep p owder du st. This wri ter rod e th e loop , but can't rep ort on th e scenery , be caus e th e du st neve r ende d . T he fir st rider into th e first check w as th e o ne wh o m ad e him self pop ular by b lasting through th e spectators to the m ain road. He was dis qualified, bu t w hy bother to save him some work by te lling h im so? Firs t racer to the check an d off th e first loop was Blaylock ,with J .N. ru n ning thi rd , foll ow ing Don Fu ller. The secon d loo p w en t d irectl y to th e san d, and wh at fo llowed was 4 7 miles o f dry soft san dy trai ls, san dy d unes, an d sandy roads, wi th n o firm ground to re st bik e o r driv er. It was here that J .N . made his move , to tea r th e lead from th e Utah p ilots. Fulle r an d Blay lock kep t h im in sigh t, un til a h ole in h is gas tan k caught up with Fu ller, wh o watched the rest o f the race fro m a sand d une . Blayl ock went on to close the d istance o n J.N. something he ke pt doing un til he b ro ke a shock on the h om estretch, p u tti ng h im ten minu tes behind Rob erts after NOW AVAILABLE 1 972A M X T CALE-NDARS $3.95 Help support the A merican Motocross Team Send check or money or to: CYCLE NEWS Products Box 498 Long Beach, Ca. 90801 Dept. CNP The start at Cherry Creek H&H . as 391 hopeful raeers kieked their bikes to life. By Rita Lewis INDIO , CAL. , May 21, 1972 Coachella Valle y Motorcycle C lub's European Scrambles no rth of Ind io unveiled a couple o f sec ret we apons Brian Cross and a li tt le German made bike. Add th e Don Hullett family , a Cholla cactus which sen t one rid er to the hosp ital for su rgery and to the store for a new p air o f pants and it was a perfect day fo r racing - cool with just enough breeze to le t spe ct ators do ze between race s and repairs. Young Cross, on an Austrian -made Puch 125 , stole the thunder from a lo t of riders in the fin al big n oisy Ope n even t. Cross acjually overloade d his engine during the warmu p b efore the ra ce an d didn' t get away from the sta rting line u ntil four mi nu tes after the other ride rs. In th e Open, a lot of gro un d gets covere d in fo ur minu tes, bu t young Cross, a Coache lla Valley Mo torcycle Club me mber had paid h is $4 to race and he decided to fo llo w the pack. In three lap s, Cross leaped o u t front in to th e No . tw o sp o t and h eld on . The o ther riders seemed to simp ly fade o u t be hin d him. ' Run nin g firs t w as ano th er hard-to-b ea t rider , J ohn Roger s. Rogers, h owe ver, hadn' t sto ppe d to pay the $4 fe e after th e ea rlie r 250cc co mpetition so he was dis q ualified. Behind Cross on hi s littl e Pu ch wer e Mike Dosh , o n a Suz u ki, an d G ary Lutes, on a Su zuki 400 , tak ing . th e second an d th ird spots fo r tro p hies in the Open. "T he on ly casual ty in th e Op en was Rob in Harbe rt who lost co ntro l an d tumbled down an incline in to a bed o f ju m pin g Ch o lla. T he rest of th e day it was DKWs out fro nt except for Windsor on a Bultaco to take the No . O ne spot in th e 250 class . In th e I OOcc event, th e first of the day, it w as D on Hullett, o n a D KW, wh o picked up th e first trophy fo llowed by Wesley A rita , on a Yam ah a 90 MX, and Fre d Sno w, o n a Hon da 10 0. In the 125 cc event, Darre ll Brown , o n a DKW , took the first tro phy afte r th e checkered n ag foll ow ed b y Brian Cross, on h is Pu ch taking th e second, and D on Fine r, a th ird o n a DKW . In th e 175cc eve nt, Jim D avis, on a Yam aha, was the lone rid er to tr ophy in hi s class . In th e Powder ·Pu ff tha t foll owed , it was Ginger Hullett o f Indio o n a Hon da 125 ac ing o u t th e comp e titi on . In the Mini -Bik e c1ass,Jim Hullett, on a Honda , apparen t1y was rid in g just th e way Dad to ld him, and tr ophied for a first. Seco nd was Mar k Wood, of Indio, also on a Honda. J.N. Roberts chased Dave Blaylock. caught him, a nd go t his name on th e traveling troph y again. five h ours of racing. Meanwhile , moving ' up th ro ugh th e crowd w as Ad rian Nebeker , who no t on ly r olled in fourth overa ll on a 25 0 Ho nda, b ut w ent on to go o u t again and help rid ers who ran o u t of gas'. But Nebe ker co ul d n' t ca tch young Ker ry Fo wler, wh o h as bec ome a p ower in Utah racing w ith hi s 25 0 Bultaco. He held d o wn third overall fro m the san d on in, to win firs t 25 0 Expert. Despite the terrible at trition , 35 per cent o f the Experts , including Norm Par cel, on a 100cc , were able to finisb . In fact, fu lly half of th e 250 Ex pe rts sign ed up made the fu ll distance. Am ong the six percent o f the Novi ces to make it w as T agg Guio , a 14-year-old b oy from Big Pin ey, Wyo . Wat ch out for him in tw o years ,J.N. Because of the aforemen tioned obst acles, dan 't have an y first hand stuff on th e third loop . They say it was somewhat steep and ro cky, but with lots of fun trail, if you can h ave fu n after all that. At day's end, 46 deserving finishers, a lot of ride rs, and a tired club, none of whom are sure if it's really worth it . Bu t it's likel y they 'll all be b ack ne xt year.

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