Ups & Downs

Ups & Downs

ROUNDUP

UP: To Terry Pratt, for getting back to his ink-stained roots. Before wising up and becoming an ad salesman for Cycle News, Pratt was a starving moto-journalist, gunning a VW camper around Europe and filing reports on the 1972 motocross world championships. It's all here, including 300 black-and-white photographs, in Grand Prix Moto cross, a soft-bound book that takes MX freaks back to a time when men were men, leathers were leather and long-travel described the distance between races, not suspension. Available at www.cyclenews.com/ store.

DOWN: To Aerostich, for \ underselling its `% 25th Anniversary J Celebration. ,/ That's right, after a quartercentury in the riding apparel and equipment business, the company is celebrating with the so-called Very Boring Rally Il. Headquartered at the company's Duluth, Minnesota, base near Lake Superior, VBRII promises to not actually be boring by providing riding-related seminars, lots of food, scenic group rides, camping and even a round of the U.S. Observed Trials Championship. Okay, so maybe company founder Andy Goldfine is just further exercising his tongue-in cheek attitude and not taking things too seriously. Sound fun? Mark your calendars for August 22-24 and visit www.boringrally.com for more information.