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/141053
The Hard Way bv Alice Rh ea Ph o to s by Dale Rhea LAS VEGAS, NEV ., Mar. 3 1, 19 73 Mik e Powe rs, f irs t No vice in the Barsto w-to -Vegas Hare an d Hou n d last Nov ember , grabbed an earl y lead in th e OR A' s first an nual Baker-to-Ve gas Har e and Ho un d fo r No vices and Begin ne rs . o nl y. T he starting area, 18 miles from Baker, California was a rough one and ORA , to prevent se rio us get-offs in th is area, elect ed to use a Le Man s start. After running a 50-y ar d-das h in full riding gear th e race rs had blown o ff some of th e steam wh ich had been accumulated o ver th e p ast w eek and th e race got off to a sane start. Co mmunicati on s and first aid were furnish ed by Safety Communications Aid T eam (SCAT), Cl ark County React and Las T'o rtugas Four Wheel Drive Club, providing a total of 24 res cue, con tr o l and relay sta tion s: an ex cellen t example of a c o o p e r a t i v e co mmunications n etw ork. Mike Powers had urged his Mo n tesa into a two minute lead j ust before the second pits when he hit a ro ck and knock ed the m agn e to case' off and bent the kick starter shaft. Mike dropped out of the race when he wa s unable to restart the bike. Ron McClellan , on a 250 CZ , took over th e J ea d and h eld it to st ateline wh ere h e, 10 0, had rock probl ems. Ron blew o ut his front tire and go t off ha rd . T he 100 mil e race utiliz ed the old Barst ow -to-Ve gas course an d alth ou gh it was conside rably ro ugher than th e usual ORA co ur se, riders were st ill ab le to make good tim e . Winner D ave Spangler brough this 500cc Yam ah a across th e fin ish lin e in two hours an d 40 minutes fo r an average spe ed of 40 MPH. On a section of fireroad just p ast Stateline w e cl ocke d Da ve with the car and discovered th at h e w as traveling at 70 MPH ! Comin g o ut of gas che ck two, Dave was pushing h ard, t rying to ca tc h th e ora nge -clad rider on th e 5 00 Yam aba. lie final ly did o vertak e and pass him w he n the rider. wh o w as not w e aring a number, pulled over with apparent bike problems . . D ave later learned that he had been ch asing Frank "Wheelie" Wheeler wh o is notorious for, among other things, th e tim es h e h as allegedl y r'idden great distances with a spare engi ne in his ba ckpack . Frank was unable to convinc e race o ffici als th at h e was a Novice , but th ey allowed him to rid e along a s semi-offici al co urse p atrol. Bob Wadlow, riding a 400 CZ and Lar ry Whit e on a 400 Hu sk y, to ok second an d third o verall with Darrell Primro se (Y am) in fo r firs t 25 0. Ron McCl ellan took seco nd 250 and fifth overall d espite his fla t front ti re . Sometime later Will Eveland (yes, J im 's dad ) brou gh t his Hoda ka in for th e Novi ce T railbike w in. Rich Wagn er ro de his 175cc Yamaha to vic tory in the Beginne r class with l S-year-o ld Jamie Avels taki ng second on his 2 50 Yam ah a. Larry T hill finis he d first Beginner T railbike, b ringi n g his Hodaka in two h o u rs behind th e le ad ing Novices. You must take in to cons id eratio n , though that Larry gave the winning N ovice a head start of th irty minu tes and 4 00 cc. Du e to good p lanning o n the p art of OR A , th e race wen t off with a minimum of c o n fusio n and mo st o f th e ) 00 0 en tra n ts wer e ab le to finish . Rid ers , whil e . co mplaining abou t Nevada 's ro cks , still said it w as the best race th ey had ever ridden wi th a co u rse so w ell m arked that it w as impossible to ge t lost. U NO F FI C IA L R E S U LTS O RA Bake r-lo- La s V egas Hare a nd Hou nd M ar . 3 1 ,1973 b y A lic e Rh ea OVERALL NOV Dav e Spangler Bob W adl o w L arry Wh ite Darrell Pr im rose Ro n McCl ella n L.arr y M ason Joh n G er r it sen A lb ert Hu ll B rian B lackb u rn C ha rles c o nwa y 125 NOV Bill Wagne r Scott Elery Bu z Z Sile r T R A I L BI K E NOV W ill Ev ela nd OVERALL BEG R ich Wagner Jamie A ve ls Joh n M itt end orf St eve Sm ith Yam C2 Hus Ya m CZ Y am Bul Ya m Yam Suz Ya m H us Yam Hod 17 5 Y am Yam Yam Ma l Su z Oaryn Wyatt Pepper Sh ir ley Yam TRAILBIKE B E G Larry Th ill HOd CAUTIO •••••••••• DON,T BE FOOLED BY 1MIT A IONS. CYCLE NEWS CENTRAL IS ALIVE AN DWELL IN AUSTIN, TEXAS. LON'E STAR BROTHER TO CYCLE NEWS WEST & CYCLE NEWS EAST!DIXIE. SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER . $4.00/YEAR P.O. BOX 13245 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711 512 / 47~-7571 SUBSCRIBE TO THE AUTHENTIC ONE!!! . -.CLIP OUT AND MAIL TO~ - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - - - • Cycle News Cent ral, ~ox 13245, Austin, Tx. 78711 . . • • • • • • I L • Please send me a one-year subscr iption to Cycle News Cent ral (25 issues) at the Charte r Subscriber price. I enclose S4 o cash o check or o mo ney order. (Sorry, no " bill-me' s" at t his price.) Allow th ree weeks for subscript ion 't o start. NAME _ ADDRESS CITY. ~ - - - - - -- - -- - - -- - STATE ZIP _ _ _ o c. « ~ w 2 w ..J U ~ U