Cycle News

P130 CN III GUEST COLUMN BY JEFF BUCHANAN T here is a proverb by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807- 1892) that reads; "Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: It might have been." I was reminded of how true those words are on my recent attendance at the Lakewood, Colorado round of the 2017 Pro Motocross Championship. It was a sentimental outing for me be- cause I was a mechanic for Team Maico on the 1982 indoor and outdoor nationals, wrenching for national number 93, Scott John- son. We were the last effort by Maico in the 250cc class before the German manufacturer closed its doors. Though a so-called "factory effort," truth be told, even triple-digit privateers on store- bought Hondas outclassed our machinery. It was still fun to be part of the "circus"—as we used to refer to it. In 1982 the final round of the season for the 250s was held at Castle Rock, Colorado, just down the road from the Lake- wood facility where the national takes place today. That final race of the 1982 season in Colorado went down as one of the great upsets in MX history. Incredibly, 35 years had elapsed between my attendances at the Colorado round. There have been a lot of changes. Semi-truck team transporters have replaced the box vans, al- lowing mechanics to fly to races, unlike the 80s when mechanics (like me) drove; one rider/bike/ mechanic per van. It was a lot of driving. In 1982 KTM was a bit of an unreliable underdog with a number of DNFs for the season, which dramatically contrasts the Austrian brand's success these days under the guidance of an- other fixture from the 80s—Roger DeCoster. As an aside, I was pleased to see DeCoster is still hounded by fans young and old for his autograph. He is still, 'The Man.' 1982 was one of the final years that prototype machines were allowed. That season saw the talent pool running very deep, spread over three classes—125, 250, 500—with factory rosters that included Bob Hannah, Broc Glover, Donnie Hansen, Johnny O'Mara, Danny Chandler, David Bailey, Chuck Sun, Mark Barnett, Goat Breker, Darrel Schultz, Jeff Ward, Mike Bell, Kent Howerton, Jim Gibson, Warren Reid and Alan King, as well as a host of extremely fast support riders and privateers, including Brian Myer- scough, Billy Liles, Erik Kehoe, Mark Murphy, Clint Hardick, Carlos Serreno, and JoJo Keller. Amid this field of very fast riders was a young seventeen-year-old 250cc rookie from El Cajon, Cali- fornia named Ricky Johnson. Coming into the final race in Colorado in 1982 the season had seen an epic battle between es- tablished hero Broc Glover, new sensation Donnie Hansen, and an even more surprising rising sensation, the aforementioned Ricky Johnson, who, as a support rider aboard a modified produc- tion Yamaha against the exotic prototypes, had amassed a fairly WHAT MIGHT'VE BEEN

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