Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

(Above) Larry Roeseler does repair work. (Clockwise from top far right) Dick and Jill Burleson. Jury rep Hugh Fleming and friends. Bronze medalist Scot Harden. Terry Cunningham in a crowd. Mike Melton. Ron Ribolzi. into the last check before the special test on loop one that Hollingshead was out on the trail with problems. Eventually he came trudging into the check, looking decidedly down in the dumps. "I had a bunch of problems and everyth in g seemed to pile upcrashes, engine problems and the radiator leaking. I kept on as long as I could. " Wall y Wilson came into th e ch eck on time after having changed a broken intake reed assembly at the previous check. On the next loop, Wilson banged the primary cover hard enough to crack it. Repairs to replace th e . sidecover cost nearl y 40 minutes. " I began to get a bit demoralized after that, " said Wilson. Chuck Miller was the next rider to find he didn 't have enough time to fix things and our Silver Vase squad was down to three. " T h e chain broke on an uphill and got caught doubled up between the frame and the countershaft sprocket. I had to remove the swingarm toget things untangled," said Miller. "T he chain was twisted andl didn't have enough extra masterlinks to repair it. I pushed the bike to the check, but I was so close to houring out that by the time I had gotten things fixed it would have been too late. It 's very disappointing. " At about the time the riders were starting the second loop, a very heavy rai n began. Ten of the 19 riders still '1 . . on t h e trai dropped points 10 1arge amou nts and those losses were compo un ded by a very slimy second specia l test. Dwight Rudder, with knees hurting so bad he wore a permanent pained expression, rookie Can-Am rider Zack Elkins, Ray Mungenast, on a Husqvarna, Maico rider Alvin McCannon, Eddie Lojak's uncle, Joe, Kevin Davis, Wilson, Maico rider Ray Cosgrove and Tom Buckles were all to lose over 20 minutes each through various problems. Scott Harden was thankful for only a ~OO 16. l PO ' I 'I~' . . medal. Elkins, Mungenast, Joe Lojak, Wilson and Buckles all dropped from silver to bronze. Cosgrove was the hardest hit, going from gold to bronze. Harden went from gold to silver after losing five minutes trying to get up a big hill in the midst of a traffic jam. Morrill Griffith went out on loop two. " I got so tired from pushing up hills that I couldn't ride the trails. I kept crashing and getting frustrated. By then I was about 55 minutes into 'my hour and I just knew I wouldn't make it to the last check before houring out. That's a terrible feeling. " Kevin Davis lost his time through a strange problem. " T he exhaust pipe wore a hole in the gas tank about ten miles from a check. The gas was leaking onto the engine and I didn't know if I would make it to the check or become a human torch first ," said Davis. He made it to the check and got things repaired. Eddie Lojak, never with much to say, was smiling even in the rain. " T h in gs are going good, even with the rain. The past few ISDEs I've rid- . den I've always had problems. This time everything is together. " The Czechs still led the Trophy standings at the end of day four with West German y second and the U.S. mo ving up three notches to third. The Swedish, Austrian and Du tch teams had all lost a rider. With the loss of Chuck Miller, th e Vase squad dropped to seventh. The East German team led th e wa y. pay Five " Bein g th ird going into da y five is a plus for the Trophy riders," said U.S. team manager John Morgan. " It will give the riders who had the day four blahs a shot of inspiration. I'm not greedy, let us finish third' or second or let us win. Just let us do the best we've ever done." "Our riders are some of the best mud riders and nasty weather riders ·1.. _li ,~ ~·~\l I~ ~," ager Dick Burleson. "With a little good luck for us and some bad luck for some of the other teams we could pull this thing off. The weather, although bad, is on our side. " Fog, wet trails and threatening ski es gr eeted the riders on day five. There wer e 18 Americans among th e 174 starters. The tim e schedule was again C. There were five retirem ents on day five. Zack Elkins was one of th e first rid ers out. " It was just a bunch of little things that cost me time. I cra shed. I had spark plugs whisker because the engine was caked with mud and running too hot. I've got no excuses. I couldn 't get to the checks soon enough." Alvin McCannon was also out on day five. "T he transmission packed in . I ran it as long as I could, but with only fourth gear you can 't go far." The biggest blow was the loss of Trophy rider Wally Wilson. " I went over the bars on a fast downhill, landed on a rock and gashed my left forearm badly. I went to an aid station to get patched up. " · Wilson houred out, but kept on going for one more check. Kevin Davis and Joe Lojak were the final retirements. Davis had an assortment of problems while Lojak ran out of gas after the final special d h d '1 ' test an oure out whi e trymg to Ret some fuel. Other riders were also having problems. Kevin LaVoie, on gold at the start of the day, dropped to bronze because of his problems. "It's a shame," said LaVoie. " I'm in good shape and going for it and then I had nothing but bad luck. I ran out of. good spark plugs after having plug problems all day. The bike would run and then it wouldn't. ' I lost ~O minutes or more. " Trophy rider Scott Harden went m mans- . ' .' rp19 51 f to '!>rl~ ~ W p II l>rQ~~ his chain and didn't have a chain breaker to repair it. -Dick Burleson, hearing of Harden 's problem, tried to get a new chain to him. However, a trail marshal was on the spot and thwarted all attempts. Finally, Harden got a chain breaker from a Swedish rider and performed his repairs after going 55 minutes into his hour. Tom Buckles was on the trail when he met another rider on a small moped coming the other way . The other rider tried to avoid the collision, but only got sideways before Buckles rammed him. Buckles was quickly up, but was shaken. Luckily, only the front fender was broken. He had lost his goggles and, on this day , was wearing an open face helmet. Farther down the trail, some people were hiding in the woods and smacked Buckles in the face with a tree lim b.: He looked like he had been in a prize fight at the end of the day . Roeseler lost about eight minutes when he got a flat rear tire and then a flat front in the space of a quarter mile. He fixed them at the next check and continued on. On the second loop, Roeseler crashed hard. " I went over the bars on a fast downhill, " said Roeseler later. "I hit so hard I heard bells and sat on the edge of the trail for some time just to clear my head. I bruised my left leg and actually twisted the knee brace I wear on my right leg." Cosgrove had his chain come off after the first checkand then three more times quickly afterward. After fixing that, he spent time replacing the backing plate on the rear brake. Husky riders Ron Ribolzi and Kevin Hines each saw their gold medals turn to silver on the trails of day five. The l~ finishers of day five did as much work as possible on their bikes prior to impound on that night. With the news of the loss of one Czech Trophy Team rider, the spirits of all riders soared. The vote was coming up on the protest and many including Hugh Fleming and.john , ,

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