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/1532121
T hose bumper stickers may have boldly stated, "We Don't Care How The Hell They Do It in California," but truth be told, every '70s motocross kid pined to be a child of the Golden State. It was some - thing that was especially true if you grew up in the Midwest, in one of those places that Californians lovingly refer to as "flyover states." Long after kids in the Midwest had been sent off to bed, California's breezy brats still had two more Pacific Time hours of sunny fun to enjoy. And when the unfortunate Cen - tral Time kids were getting up in the early morning darkness, lashing their pack sleds to the team of Alaskan Malamutes before voyag- ing out in deep snow, beach boys and suntanned girls were still snoozing, getting in two more hours of sleep before they had to wake up for school, where they would likely sit next to Marcia Brady and Laurie Partridge in class. And speaking of school, kids in the central part of the country attended high schools with everyday names that indi - cated only the general direction of their location: Northeast High, Central High and South. California kids? Their schools had names that made them sound more like vacation resorts, the kinds of places where you won trips to on The Newlywed Game: Bolsa Grande, La Mirada, San Pe - dro. Where did these school buses take these kids anyway? Puerto Vallarta? There was one more thing that Cali - fornians had that was making the flyover state kids' cornfield green with envy: high school motocross! While everyone else was drawing obtuse circles and learning why General Custer and the 29th Infantry stormed the Bastille, California kids were probably being taught about the impor - tance of weighting the outside peg and writing comparative essays about Roger DeCoster versus Joel Robert. There was even a championship se- ries, with Cycle News covering the 1974 Yamaha California State High School MX Championships in the December 17th issue. The event was held at the famous Saddleback Park, and the results section includes some future heavy names in the sport, including Broc Glover, Tommy Croft, Jeff Jennings and Warren Reid. "It operated a lot like every other high school sport," said Reid, who was victo - rious that day in the 125 Expert class. We had a sponsor, Mr. Dembow, a shop teacher who loved to ride. There were even cheerleaders, I believe, though I think they just sat in the bleachers." "The entry list of 325 riders," according to CN, "represented the survivors of quali - fying events run by the Scholastic Asso- ciation of Motorsport at tracks such as CNIIARCHIVES P124 BY KENT TAYLOR Believe it or not, high school MX was, at one time, a big deal. The Yamaha- sponsored California High School MX Championships final from Saddleback Park made the front page of Cycle News in 1974. Throughout the year, approximately 15,000 riders tried to qualify for the final. T hose bumper stickers may have BY KENT TAYLOR The Yamaha- sponsored California High School MX Championships final from Saddleback Park made the front page of News in 1974. Throughout the year, approximately 15,000 riders tried to qualify for the final.