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/456427
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE A ub LeBard is one of the largely overlooked early off-road racing heroes in America. His mastery of the Big Bear Run, one of the biggest annual off-road races, in the late 1940s and early '50s made him the grandfather of a group of racers that popularly became known as desert rats. But LeBard's skills were not limited to the wide-open spaces of desert racing. In 1948, he and several other West Coast riders trekked to the famous Jack Pine Enduro in Michigan and stole the show. West Coaster Earl Flanders won the Jack Pine that year and LeBard, having never ridden back East, finished a solid second. To understand the significance of LeBard you first have to understand the evolution of off-road racing in America. Off-road has been a part of motorcycle racing from the very start. The roots of off-road racing, both in the East and West, can be traced back to the early city-to-city events. In the early days of motorcycling there was very little in the way of improved roads in America, so endurance races from town to town often included negotiating nearly impassable sections of "road." As cars became more affordable and popular, roads quickly improved and off-road motorcycle racing started getting pushed to the lesser-populated woods in the East and the high deserts in the West. It wasn't until after the Great Depression and World War II, when California experienced a massive population explosion, that long distance off road races were truly pushed out to the wilderness. And LeBard, in the post-War years was one of the burgeoning earliest stars of the group of gritty riders who would test man and machine against the unforgiving high desert and its surrounding rugged mountains. LeBard was encouraged into racing by his father "Pappy" LeBard. Even though Pappy wasn't an avid motorcyclist himself, he served as trail scout, pit crew and avidly followed his son's com- BIG BEAR LEBARD P112 petitions. Aub grew up trail riding around Los Angeles, which in those days was pretty wide open to ride off road in any direction. LeBard and fellow racer Jim Underwood founded the LeBard & Underwood dealership in February 1946 with money LeBard won playing poker in the Army Air Force. The shop originally refurbished Army-surplus Harley-Davidsons, adding A.J.S. and Matchless, followed by BSA when a franchise became available in 1947. LeBard & Underwood were the number one West Coast BSA shop through the 1974 BSA bankruptcy. The dealership later sold Honda and Yamaha and remained under the management of LeBard's family. LeBard first won the prestigious and gruel- ing Big Bear in 1949. He repeated in 1950 and was the heavy pre-race favorite for the 1951