NATIONAL
CHAMPIONSHIP
HARE
AND
HOUND
Ron Nelson recovers
from spill to win
The defending champion sat this one out.
Mike Patrick,, who had wrestled the crown
away from two-time winner Eddie Mulder
at the 1964 National Championship Hare
& Hounds run at Cherry Creek. Utah in
May of that year, eyed the long starting
line. It seemed only natural that Mike
should be aboard his husky 750 Norton,
foot poised, ready for the fall of the banner
and the frantic charge over the desert which
followed. But not this time. Not that he
wasn’t more than ready, but a technical
point in the rule book kept Patrick from
any chance of repeating his win: He was a
member of the sponsoring San Gabriel Val-
ley Motorcycle Club, with access to knowl-
edge of the course, checkpoints, etc.
None of the 348 entries figured that
winning would be a snap just because the
current champ was automatically retired.
There was still plenty of top talent in at-
tendance to guarantee that the win would
be hard-fought, demanding a well-prepared
machine, experience, stamina, determined
drive and whatever luck could be wrestled
from the hands of fate. There was one fac-
tor in everyone’s favor: damp ground and
no dust. Heavy rainfall, setting an all-time
record in California, had wet the desert for
a week prior to the running and the present
weather was CAVU (Ceiling and Visibility
Unlimited).
SGVMC’s lightweight ace, Bob Belt, had
conducted the riders’ meeting, outlining the
start and check procedures. The run was
111 miles long divided into three separate
loops—clover leaf fashion—of 38, 38 and
35 miles, returning each time to the cen-
trally located pits northeast of California
City to allow small-tanked bikes to refuel.
Most of the big machines could make it two
loops before pitting. The 51 trail bikes of
lOOcc and under and the 10 sidecar outfits
(half of which were lightweights) would
finish at the end of the first 38-mile loop.
An innovation by the San Gabbers was
TOP—Some 90 miles out, a string of riders slow imperceptibly for a danger-marked road crossing (see six
limed lines on trail under second rider's wheels). LEFT—Most of run laid out by sponsoring San Gabriel
Valley M.C. was over rapidly executed sand wastes. Fast trails permitted winners' averages of 60mphl
RIGHT—Crashing through the thick shrubbery of the start area, the mob heads for the smoke, several miles
away. Fortunately, rains the preceding week had wet down the arid California City region of the high desert
70 country and dust was light, permitting a fast break to the lime pick-up point.
to have the hounds place their check cards
on the backs of their helmets rather than
atop gas tanks. The idea had a two-fold
purpose: it required the rider to (nearly)
stop at the checkpoints in order to assure
being marked, and it obviated the problem
of gas splashing on the cards and obscuring
the checkers’ marks.
Checkers were positioned, mobile radio
units were put at strategic locations includ-
ing an air-watch control in a light plane
wafting overhead, marshals were posi-
tioned at i;oad crossings with red flags and
the banner was held high over a jeep on a
low ridge a half-mile in front of the poised
riders and their silent mounts. In the dis-
tance, smoke coasted gently skyward, signi-
fying the spot where the lime and ribbon
markers began. And then the flag fell.
Instantly, the quiet morning was shat-
tered with sound and fury, and the line
broke with cycles dodging and crashing
through the thick brush of the start area,
which had been selected in order to slow
down a banzai charge at the outset. Except
for the few neophytes who had decided to
play at the championship tilt and an unfor-
tunate or two with starting problems, the
pack had disappeared in seconds, their roar
slowly diminishing to a faint drone in the
distance.
At the smoke, a dozen riders converged,
grasping for every advantage offered by a
spot in the front. In some cases the low
numbers told that a champion was at the
throttle. (A number is based on the rider’s
performance over the preceding year with-
in his local district.) Up in the front ranks
were no. 2, Dick Vick, on a 500cc ’66 Tri-
umph; no. lx, Neil Fergus and 2x, Bill
Thorwaldson, on new Bultaco Metisse
250’s; no. 7, Gary Preston, on a 650 Tri-
umph battling against no. 7x, Gary Conrad,
on a 250 Greeves Challenger. Big Ken
Knudsen, no. 4, had his immaculate Tri-
umph in the thick of the front-runners. Not
all the vying hounds in the first wave car-
ried low numbers, due to their commit-
ments in other forms of racing which keeps
them from battling for low desert-racing
plates. Among these were Eddie Mulder,
hot to regain his title and fresh from a
regional championship win a fortnight be-
fore, and Ron Nelson, who had fought to
win a good many state championships in
the sand and hills. Not many miles out, it
',zas Nelson in the lead.
Young Rich Thorwaldson, on another of
the light-yellow terrors from Spain, passed
his dad and fought his way forward. The
Continued on Page 79
place no. name & machine class
1. 141 Ron Nelson
Triumph 500 Expert
2. 43 Cliff Coleman
Triumph Open Expert
3. 7x Gary Conrad
Greeves 250 Expert
4. 2 Dick Vick
Triumph 500 Expert
5. 7 Gary Preston
Triumph Open Expert
6. 115 Rick James
Triumph Open Expert
7. 69 Bob Ferro
Triumph Open Expert
8. 618x Gary Griffin
Bultaco 250 Expert
9. 15 Gene Dempsey
Triumph Open Expert
10. 63 Dick Romas
Triumph Open Amateur
277 entries (solo) over lOOcc
189 finishers
51 trait bike entries (1 OOcc and under)
33 finishers (first loop only)
winner: Earl Roeseler/90cc Honda
10 sidecar entries (2 men each)
7 finishers (first loop only)
winner: John Palfreyman/
Steve Foss
650cc Triumph
LEfT-A study in techniques. A pair of 250cc machines come out of the some wash crossed by the yellow
ribbon-marked trail, but in divergent attitudes. The Dirt Diggers M.C. member at *he '®f‘ '
Greeves' front wheel airborne, while the Jawa-riding Buzzard clubber nearside lands flat on two pomts.
RIGHT—With a hastily applied Band-Aid over a cut received when he fell in rocks, Ron Nelson gives a weary
'X, .X KnudX Too. bear -es.taon, of grueling boble ,o hold mil.—inu..
untried course. Ron's 500cc Triumph also bore the scars of battle to gain the goal of Nat.onal Champ.on...