cles were no longer competitive
at the world championship level.
I am certain he looked longingly
at the sophisticated Japanese
machines, but he was not al-
lowed to ride a motorcycle made
anywhere other than Czechoslo-
vakia. He retired from racing in in
1984, leaving it behind him. My
father gave up riding completely.
There would be no more motor-
cycles and he did not follow the
sport in any way. It was in his
past, that was where he wanted
it to remain and we did not speak
of motocross for many years.
You might assume that he was
bitter and angry. If that is true,
then only he knew about it. My
father was a very quiet man and
believed that his actions spoke
more loudly than any words he
could ever use. He also never
raised his voice. Never did I
hear my parents argue, simply
because it never happened. He
was not perfect, and he was no
angel, but he did not like con-
frontations. My mother would
talk about the problem and if
there was something in the "talk"
that he could fix, it was fixed the
next day.
And speaking of fixing, my Dad
loved to repair things! There was
nothing he could not fix. He never
threw anything away! Sometimes,
he would bring something home
and we would ask him "why did
you bring this crap home?" "You
never know," he would respond.
"Maybe one day you or your
CN
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P122
But I can tell you that the
events of 1974 hurt him deeply.
Our headline 48 years ago says it all.
