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VOL. 54 ISSUE 24 JUNE 20, 2017 P139 grueling Scottish Six Days. Even though that type of racing was not her forte, she trained hard to get into peak fitness. Despite the fact that many thought the Scottish Six Days too difficult for Evans, she proved her skill by not only finishing the event but plac- ing a very credible fourth in the 175cc division. Although she was perform- ing well in competition and had Yamaha sponsorship, she was making little money from her efforts. While she was attending college, an unexpected call gave her the opportunity to make her skills on a motorcycle pay off. A friend of her father's called her to ask if she would be interested in doing stunt work for a movie. The movie called for Evans to stunt ride Yamaha dual-sport bikes clad with 50 pounds of metal panels, sissy bars and other movie props. "Every time you'd turn the thing it would want to take a dive into the ground," Evans recalls. "They had us doing jumps on them and all kinds of other stunts. In ret- rospect it was pretty dangerous stuff, but that's how I got into the Screen Actors Guild." Evans proved to be excep- tional at stunt riding. Her trials background gave her the perfect background for the trick riding required in movie making. In fact, Evans once said that she treated each stunt like a trials section, studying the stunt intensely be- fore performing it. Evans rapidly became one of the leading stunt actors in Hollywood and it wasn't long before that line of work gradually became Evans' full-time profession. Evans became so well respected in the Hollywood community that she became a pioneer in stunt work just as she had in trials riding. Evans began performing stunts that had previ- ously been restricted to male stunt performers. She performed stunts on many of the top mov- ies from the 1980s to present. She has been recognized for her accomplishments by winning numerous awards for her stunts, including a prestigious Taurus World Stunt Award in 2002. "I enjoy the adrenaline rush of stunts—being able to do some- thing I'm really good at and being paid for it," Evans said. "It thrills me to no end to have the police blocking off the street and I come down and do my thing—some- thing I'd normally get thrown in jail for." On the personal side, Evans married three-time U.S. Trials champ Lane Leavitt. The two col- laborated in business ventures, including teaching trials schools and forming a top stunt work agency. Evans' sister, Donna, is also a leading women's trials rider in her own right. Evans was named as Honda's factory rider for the highly publicized Vetter High-Mileage Contest in 1982. Strong winds coming off the Pacific Ocean knocked over the totally enclosed streamlined 125cc Honda and the damage kept her from finish- ing in the prescribed time. Even though the motorcycle lost some of its fuel load in the crash Evans was able to squeeze an amazing 276 miles per gallon out of the Honda. By 1980, Evans had retired from full-time motorcycle com- petition to concentrate on stunt work and raising a family. She and Lane had three children. But Evans' stunt work required her to stay in peak physical condition, and when women's trial competi- tion finally began to take hold, Evans jumped at the chance to return to the sport. In 1998, Italy hosted the first unofficial Women's Trials World Championship (formally rec- ognized by the FIM starting in 2000). After 18 years away from the sport, and at 40 years old, Evans still had enough skills to finish eighth. The next season she led a U.S. squad that fin- ished third overall in a Women's Trials Team competition. In 2002, Sherco/Bultaco signed Evans to compete in the FIM Women's World Trials Championship. In addition, Evans competed in her first road race at Daytona in February of 2002 as part of an endurance racing team. Evans has been featured in numerous articles, not only in motorcycle publications, but also in general interest magazines such as Reader's Digest and Glamour. Evans was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2003. You can read more about her at her website www.debbieevans. com. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives