Cycle News

VOLUME ISSUE SEPTEMBER , P139 somewhere outside of Fresno or wonderful Lake Huron in the mid- dle of nowhere California. (Come to think of it, I never did see the "lake," and I'm not sure if there re - ally was a lake. Just cows.) Plus, I was getting paid to do it! When I started at Cycle News, I jumped right into the fire. My first assignment was covering the Mammoth Mountain Motocross. I was extremely nervous about interviewing some of the top riders there, like Johnny O'Mara, Danny Chandler, and the new kid on the block, Ron Lechien. I had never met Lechien or Chandler, and when I finally got the nerve to walk up to Chandler, who was alone resting in between motos in his Honda box van, he immediately invited me inside, and we chatted like we were good friends. I never forgot that. He made me feel comfortable; perhaps he sensed I was nervous. The ice was broken. I now had the courage to interview the stars of the sport whom I had been reading about for so long. Thanks to Chandler, I now had the confidence to interview Yamaha's new factory racer and 250cc Mam - moth winner, Lechien. For some reason, Lechien intimidated me big-time that day, but as it turned out, it was for no reason. Lechien was cool to me, too. Mammoth was the start of a hectic schedule. The CMC Trans-Cal MX Series started in late summer and was followed by the CMC Golden State MX Series in the winter. And I went to them all! I think I single-handedly kept Western Airlines and PSA in business for a couple of extra years. I quickly learned even more about deadlines, airports, rental cars, hotels, transcribing tapes, and how to type faster and faster while living off black coffee and no sleep. It was not glamorous. But no high-dollar and prestigious four-year college anywhere in the world could've taught me more about the world of journalism than what I learned in the first four months working at Cycle News. No wonder CN had the nickname Cycle News U. It was an appropriate one. Good luck if you wanted to work at one of the glossies (monthly magazines) and didn't have Cycle News on your resume. I remember a lot about my first few months at Cycle News 40 years ago. However, a few things stand out, like being given a super-tech but used company typewriter on my first day on the job. You know, the one that had that little ball with all the letters on it and built-in white-out! How cool was that! I had my own push-button phone, too. I had made the big time. I remember David Edwards' desk butting up to mine, face to face. That's right, face-to-face. Pretty unforgettable, really. I remember the god-awful ciga - rette smoke that stung my eyes horribly; I could barely see Dale's office through the brown haze just two cubicles away. Nearly all the CN staff seemed to puff away like a raging SoCal brush fire. Every few hours, I had to take a step outside on the balcony to grab a few breaths of fresh Signal Hill air and then dive back in. The computer room was sealed off from the smoke; obviously, the computers' health was more important than ours. I also remember our underground parking lot where the "cage" was that stored our test bikes. It held, I don't know, maybe five bikes. When I got there, there was only one bike in there. I'll never forget it, a beautiful Maico Sand Spider. I could go on and on about my 40 years at Cycle News — the motorcycles, the races, the people, the racers, the travel and all that. Perhaps another column someday. But those first few months 40 years ago were the most memorable of so many memorable moments working at Cycle News. Wow. Forty years. All I can say is thanks, Dale. Thanks for giving me a shot and having faith in me 2000 issues ago. I'm glad you did. And I hope you—our read - ers—are glad he did, too. CN No high-dollar and prestigious four-year college anywhere in the world could've taught me more about the world of journalism than what I learned in the first four months working at Cycle News. No wonder CN had the nickname Cycle News U.

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