Round Up
ROUND UP
JOE PARKHURST
SEPTEMBER WAS one heck of a month for me. I realize you are probably reading this in November or December, but monthly magazines must start early in order to get hundreds of thousands of magazines printed and distributed across the country and on sale the same day. I spent part of August and most of September in Europe. I saw the Trophee des Nations in Belgium, International Six Days Trial in Czechoslovakia and the Race Of The Year at Mallory Park in England.
The fantastic Cologne (Germany) motorcycle show was going on at the same time, so I couldn’t miss that. I also visited several factories, picked up much valuable information, rode some new hot bikes and visited a lot of old friends, all of which I will report in detail in the next issue.
We will do a full in-depth story on the ISDT next month; but for the record, Czechoslovakia won the Trophy and both Vases, an incredible feat. But we were, after all, competing on their own home ground. The American Trophy team held 4th spot until the disasterous last day. They finished 6th. The American Motorcycle Association team effort was the best ever.
The time now comes for us to begin planning the 1973 ISDT to be held in Massachusetts. It will require tremendous work and cooperation. The ISDT is one of the most complex events there is to stage, score, promote, operate and coordinate. Most Europeans I talked to are looking forward to the U.S. version and expect it to be the best ever. The Czechs used a computer that broke down every day, dropping rider numbers and running consistently late. Other than that, their organization was quite good.
You had to be very careful about what you said, because you never knew who was listening. I heard dozens of stories about journalists, spectators and friends of competitors who had scrapes with the police. One British journalist spent over four hours at the police station and was almost locked up for leaving his car unlocked! It’s against the
law there. French journalist and excellent photographer Christian Lacombe was refused entry into the country because he had criticized their politics and made remarks about the terrible living standards.
Police, often armed to the teeth, were everywhere. I have never in my life received so much instruction in the simple act of parking a car or keeping moving. My temper and tolerance levels went down every day. I was extremely glad to get out of the country. The poverty and depressing atmosphere got to me after a while.
The government lifted its curfews in Spindler Mylvn for the trials, but normally one must be off the streets by 7 p.m. Any gathering larger than four or five people is illegal. Everything in sight is under government control, even the stores, which are selling the crudest merchandise I ever saw. It is cheap though, I’ll say that.
Virtually everywhere you run into large banners and flags. Banners singing the praises of Soviet and Czechoslovakian friendship and describing how they will bring peace to the world and prosperity to the lowly working man are strung between every available post in the towns. If you really want to feel sorry for someone, make it the poor Czechs. Russia is bleeding the country dry. If you are not a good Communist your life is made miserable. But, I’m getting off the track. This is a motorcycle magazine and I always make it a point to avoid politics and the like. Even so, there ain’t no place like the U.S.A.
It will be interesting to see how many riders, mechanics, etc., the
Czechs, Poles, East Germans and Russians let out for the ISDT next year. I’ll wager the secret police members assigned to watch them will outnumbejÄ the competitors two to one.
It really galls me that the world motorcycling body, the Federation Internationale Motorcycliste, of which the AMA is now a part, is so dominated by the Eastern bloc countries. The U.S. shares its power in the F.I.M. with such hotbeds of motorcycle activities as Albania, Mongolia, Cuba, Poland, and a few others. The true centers of motorcycling in the world are clearly outnumbered by those controlled by Russia.
Though it’s a monsterous task, it is up to all of us to work for a international organization made up only of countries who either make motorcycles or are promoters of major events, or whose riders are genuinely active in the sport. Most of the world’s motorcycle scene is in the free countries of the^^ West. They are, of course, represented^^ in the F.I.M. But when it comes to making and enforcing rules, it is all too often the Eastern bloc of nations, voting together, who get their way.
Winning the ISDT is an important political tool for the Communists. The Czechs and East Germans, probably the very best Six Days riders, are fully employed riders, doing the bidding of their masters, riding to win at great risks if they don’t. It is almost a miracle that American riders, who for years were regarded in Europe as simple play riders, doing it only for fun and amusement, paying their own way generally, do as well as they do against such powerful governments. Makes a fellow proud.
