Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

, e tB . am Over 10 iverside ear' C e C. 'B g An I co e· efe Account of the First Great Be r GP « ~ w Z W ..J o >- o Mitch Mayes (Hus! did it again . He was unoff icially first overall in the comb ined classes on Sund ay at the D.e.M .e:. GBGP (as they called itl. b y J ohn Huetter b ump . T he re go th e sidecars , a lo r- o f Ph otos b y Mar ci a Holley and the m. A h, h ell, 1 b lew it. Dave S ch oonmaker /\ thre e -mil e runn in g push-b u mp RIV ERSID E , C AL .. Mar , 25 , 1973 - I swe a ty tired t rip late r, I find the pl a st ic try n o t to ad m it it b u t th e re is a tigh t w a terp ro o fin g ma terial h as suc ke d kn o t of so mething ab o ut where I aro und the Fil tron, CUlli ng off a ir a t . im agin e m y st oma ch used to be. T wo medium to h igh RPM and floodi ng o ut cu p s of coffe e an d th e casual joking th e engi ne . N ow I 'm re ally m ad. Dumb. aro und in the impound area arc over. T urns out the re wasn 't much wa ter o n Hmm, thi rd row o f Novic es . No t b ad. th e c o u rse , an y h ow . Just d e ep gu mbo But wh y start us on th e quarter -m ile m ud. Push, b ump an d it fires clean a ft er d rag strip ? T ha t first right-hander is a p lug ch ange and so me shovi ng from go ing to b e mu rd er . Wb at if the bike th e be st pi ck-up p it crew ever. sta lls ...or w on' t start? I can jus t see Finally in th e race ; fou r la ps do wn being ru n ove r b y a h orde of side ha ck s. b ut t he li t tle beas t is j us t howling. I've T he 25 0 Experts are b ac k th er e, t oo . se en Mar k Co ok c o me b y lik e a banshee The y 're fas te r o ff the start than an y on wh a t h a s to b e a 400 Bul ta co . J im N o vice o n any siz e any d ay . Fishb ack I re co gni ze goi ng b y . Th e . . T h e kid di ng is m ore st rained ; the o the r numb ers aren 't fam iliar throu gh lau ghter is definitely mo re fo rced . Th ere th e swea t a n d mud. arc: N ovic es with gray hair and No vices O K , up the b ank onto th e d irt. G a ll a not o ld enough to shave in the sa me rem ember th at fo u r-foo t d ro poff th ey row. 1I0w lon g c a n y ou st ay with thi s talk ed ab out in th e riders' m e etin g. Pass sp o r t ? Th e Oran ge Coun ty M.C. official a c o up le o f side h ack s. Two sharp b umps h ol d s up five finge rs . I kick th e bike and an d b ig mudfield. Plowe d on thro ug h in it starts o n th e th ird kic k, li ke al w ay s. go o d shape . Guys are dro p p in g out o f Tum it o ff to ' save gas. I sudde nly sight u p ahe ad. G as it. A irb orne t he n otic e a dry ness in the back of my dropoff. ..OOO F F ! A nd n ow I'm o ut o f thro a t. 1I0w long h as it b een like that? shape for th e sharp right -h an d e r. Mo re T he official's finge rs are do wn to ruts an d stut te r b u mps tha n I ever o ne . Bikes are running all around me th ough t possib le o n o ne c o u rse. J a c k wit h clouds of gray ' smoke obsc uring Kn e b el c o m e s b v . 1 follo w h is lin e do wn vision an d st ingi n g the n o strils. T he CZ through th e b umps to the c ulve r t . li e starts u p agai n . Fuel t aps o n a n d kno ws ho w to pick 'em . A m o to cro ss so nofagun , h ere 's the guys w ith th e berm after th e cu lve r t. !lo t d og! Up to a rope. I can see Experts disa ppearing in t o sh ort stretch o f road and Kn ebel the fo g that shrouds th e first t um . T h e disappears . rope flips o ver th e h eads of th e 15 ri de rs . " lore de ep mud , h ub-deep if yo u o n m y ro w. an d the e ngine dies. Bo ot. do n ' t p ic k the rig h t line . Man, findin g sto m p , kic k. Bikes c o min g past. O ff to good lines on this co urse is a real bit c h. th e side, p ush start, i t ru n s clean at low I feel so rr y fo r the ligh tw e igh ts trying to R PM won ' t re v h igh eno ug h to pull th e negotia te it yeste rday. O f c o urse , the y tall Grand Prix p a veme nt gearing . Pu sh , helped to chop it u p th is wa y . Open e ~ u y Wit 471 on his Kawasa 450 M x er, Lackey's jersey and leather s on his bodv, and 13 .ki ~n . h is h.elme t wa s...you guessed It : D ave A ldana! Of course. who else would do all that just to fini sh third . Mi tch event ually too k over the lead afte r motocrosser Ma rk Cook (SuI) had taken off like a j et only to drop back and out w ith mechanicals. p astu re and some grass that h asn't b een ch urned in to mud come up ve ry fast. Rid e th e e dge here, th en...OOOFFF ! A nothe r fo ur-foo t d ropoff th ey d idn 't menti on in the rider's meeti ng. :\0 way I'm go ing to b e ab le to d o tha t tr ip twi ce a lap . Pit y the p o or suspe nsio n. Up the two-ju m p hill and J ohn R. co mes b y . I foll o w h is lin e. John p icks so me of th e smoothes t line s I've e ve r seen : Just righ t fo r us " o ld men, " li e so on d isappe ar s into th e fog an d dust. T he co mb in atio n of moi sture and dust makes go ggles fil m .o ve r, rhey come off and th en m y eyes fil m o ver. Flyin g b lind rb e tter slow d own. More pasture , th en a nast v d ownhill o ff-c a m b e r le ft with a bike ' and rider lyin g sprawled in th e tum. (I will see at leas I o ne bike down in th is t u m e ve ry la p .) Th e appr o ach is c ritic-al sinc e thi s tur n is fo llo we d b y d eep sand wh o op-de-d ocs . J im Fishback c o me s b y. li e d oe sn 't see m to have a , lin e : j us t c harges ac ros s the wh oop- de-doos lo oking com p le te ly o u t of sha pe . X ob ody , n ot ev en th e E xp erts m o ves aw ay very fas t through thiS section. It's to o ro ugh. N ot too mu ch la te r, ' every body bre ak s le ft d ownhill and ou t on to th e pave me nt. A n O p en e xp ert -on a 650 thu m pe r comes b y an d we _ xc h an ge e grins . In so me perverse way. this is fu n. On to the e ngi ne- destroying long paveme n t st retch . !l op e I' m j elled ric h enough . lI. little 'IT action in the infield, over th e j ump a nd bac k o n th e paverne n t go ing toward th e videotape c am e ra s re c o rdin g numbers. A n O .C .l\I.C . official signals that my pl ates • are clean . A t le ast so me thin g is going: righ t. Fi nally, I ge t mo vin g for a coup le o f laps , passin g p eople ; m o stl y o the r No vices an d sid ehacks, Spec ta to rs sta re with lo oks o f d isb el ief: "H ow co me this tur key is so fa r bac k if he's rid in g th a t fast? " lI. very fas t gro up o f e xp e rts comes b y me - o n th e p avement. The re are abo ut fo u r all bunch ed to gether led b y Da ve Aldan a di sgui sed as Brad Lackey. T hey go a way ra p id ly . !low com e the y don't c rash ? Damn pro s. Th e d ay glo un ic orn p it sign is flashe d at m e tell in g m e to co me gel so me prem i x. Th e p ick -up cre w gasses up, h ands Gat orad e, lube s th e c h a in , wipe s th e mud fro m m y eyes an d a len s pops o ut of m y goggles. Fi ve laps wen t by very fast but th e c o urse is ge t ting e ve n ro u gh er; th e r u ts ve ry d e ep an d m udd y . Most everyb od y is ridin g slow ly ove r th e drop offs b y now to set up fo r the foll owing c o m er s. /\ lot o f b ik es ar e parked beside the co urse , Abo ut 10 la ps o u t o f the I:, h ave go ne by . /\ minute and a h alf later. I' m bac k on the p a vem en t' with an Oran ge Co un ty M.C. flagman w avin g me o n wi th grea t gus to, S till picking guys off a n d being p assed , in tum , b y Ex perts lapping th c field . All th e sid eh acks h ave b e en la ppe d tw ic e b y now , even by m e. Two lap s late r c o min g down the p ave men t . the pist on s tar ts ge tt ing sticky . I pull in o n th e clu tch an d shift d o wn two gea rs. Wh en I let the clutch o ut, th e e ng ine fi res aga in an d I go over th e T'I' ju m p to the urgin g of m y two fai thful fans. ( Eve ry b o d y should be so lucky .) The nex t stretch of p avemen t c o me s u p . I ge t in to fo urth , w ick it and th e bi ke is d ead. We ro ll to a sto p togethe r with a h o le in the piston. Far, far d o wn the final st ra igh t. a guy in an oran ge jac ke t is w avin g a wh it e fla g. Damn . A push across t o th e che ckered . th ree (i;onlinu ed un pag e 40 )

• Cover