Ups & Down

UPS & DOWN

up: To Jim Lawson and Peter Laird, for turning their pastimes into a penand-ink epic. Avid motorcyclists, the pair have come up with Planet Racers, a 276-page "graphic novel" (that's comic book to you and me) that follows the exploits of bike racers Godman Falcon and Methania Fitts in the Planet Race Series of 2999. Planet Racers is available in select bookshops, or order a copy direct from Zeromayo Studios, P.O. Box 417, Haydenville, MA 01039; 413/584-9372. Price is $14.95 plus $5 shipping and handling. You may have heard of Laird before: He co-created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and used his royalty checks to sponsor roadracer Dale Quarterley and hare scrambles ace Tommy Norton.

DOWN: To the California Supreme Court, for shutting out motorcyclists. The justices refused to review a lower-court decision allowing the private community of Canyon Lake to ban bikes. "State and federal government agencies already exercise sufficient control over motor vehicles through licensing and manufacturing regulations," says the AMA's Rob Rasor. "An owner of a vehicle that complies with all those regulations should not be restricted by the whim of some official in a property owners' association."

UP To Daniel Day-Lewis, for work ing all the angles. The Oscar-winning actor and long-time rider trained so hard for his current movie, The Boxer, that he suffered a herniated disc. Told the injury qualified him for a handicapped vehicle permit, Day Lewis wanted to know, "Can l put one on my motorbike?"