On Any Sunday
On Any Sunday
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00:00 [Silence]
00:00:05 [Engine revving]
00:00:11 [Tires screeching]
00:00:17 [Music]
00:00:22 Four million people ride motorcycles in the U.S.
00:00:24 They come in all shapes, sizes, and ages.
00:00:27 [Music]
00:00:33 [Music]
00:00:39 [Music]
00:00:45 [Music]
00:00:51 [Music]
00:00:57 [Music]
00:01:03 [Music]
00:01:09 [Music]
00:01:15 [Music]
00:01:21 [Music]
00:01:31 To some people, a motorcycle is work.
00:01:33 [Music]
00:01:35 Or a way to get to work.
00:01:37 [Music]
00:01:38 Or a way to get away from it all to the solitude of the open country.
00:01:41 [Music]
00:01:43 A motorcycle is whatever you want to make it.
00:01:45 Turn it on, you can give yourself a real thrill.
00:01:47 [Music]
00:01:59 A motorcycle is easy to ride, except the first time you try,
00:02:02 your next door neighbor, who probably doesn't know himself, is giving you the hot tips.
00:02:07 Brake, clutch, shift, throttle, just simple coordination.
00:02:11 [Music]
00:02:29 [Explosion]
00:02:31 [Music]
00:02:49 On any Sunday, stretching out, reaching high,
00:02:53 leaving my Monday world behind.
00:02:57 I'd find my rockets and explode in the sky.
00:03:01 Kick off my heels until I find I'm flying.
00:03:08 Over my shoulder to the dust I'm falling.
00:03:12 Come, boy, and catch me if you can.
00:03:17 On any Sunday, I'm a flying man.
00:03:21 [Music]
00:03:24 On any Sunday, like the tale of a kite,
00:03:29 flying and dancing in the wind.
00:03:33 Something inside of me goes back through the years,
00:03:38 and I'm a kid I used to know.
00:03:41 I'm flying.
00:03:44 Over my shoulder to the dust I'm falling.
00:03:48 Come, boy, and catch me if you can.
00:03:53 On any Sunday, I'm a flying man.
00:03:59 Flying man.
00:04:04 [Music]
00:04:13 A group of businessmen during the rush hour.
00:04:15 The young man with a garment bag over his shoulder is Mert Lawill,
00:04:19 29 years old, 5'6", 143 pounds.
00:04:28 He's not a banker or an accountant or a salesman,
00:04:33 but he is a professional man like the rest.
00:04:36 His profession? Motorcycle racer.
00:04:40 [Music]
00:05:01 Mert makes his living in one of the most dangerous sports in which man participates.
00:05:06 His skill on the racetrack has earned him the right to carry the American Motorcycle Association number one professional plate.
00:05:15 He won it by competing in a series of 27 national championship races
00:05:19 and scoring the highest number of points during the season.
00:05:22 [Music]
00:05:30 The speeds he hits are incredible.
00:05:32 On the half-mile tracks, one of the races he rides, it's 100 miles an hour in the straights
00:05:37 and 80 in the corners within inches of posts and guardrails.
00:05:40 [Music]
00:05:57 He rides within inches of other riders he literally has to trust with his life.
00:06:02 Professional motorcycle racing is a violent world.
00:06:06 [Music]
00:06:36 Mert Lawil is a gentle man in a violent world.
00:06:41 [Birds chirping]
00:06:46 His job as a professional racer takes him on the road about eight months of the year following the National Circuit.
00:06:52 He leaves his family and home in the suburb of San Francisco called Tiburon
00:06:59 to compete for another season in 27 national championship races across the United States.
00:07:05 [Birds chirping]
00:07:14 [Music]
00:07:22 He and the rest of the pros pilot their machines off starting lines in 16 states.
00:07:28 80 horsepower engines and 300 pound machines.
00:07:31 That would be like having 2,000 horsepower in your family car.
00:07:36 [Music]
00:07:39 To win the number one plate, you have to ride five different kinds of races.
00:07:44 They each take different machines and different riding techniques.
00:07:48 [Music]
00:07:51 There are several hundred professional AMA racers in the United States,
00:07:54 but there's only about 15 who have the ability to win Mert's number one plate.
00:07:59 The riders are guys like Mert, definitely not the Hollywood image, but highly skilled professionals.
00:08:06 Like Dick Mann, a former number one.
00:08:08 Gary Nixon, twice number one.
00:08:11 Gene Romero.
00:08:13 Cal Rayburn.
00:08:16 Most are small, around 5'6" or 5'8", and most are young, like Mark Frelsford, 20.
00:08:22 Dave Smith, 21.
00:08:25 Dave Aldana, 20.
00:08:27 Don Castro, 19.
00:08:29 Keith Mashburn, 20.
00:08:31 Frank Gillespie, 22.
00:08:33 Jim Odom, 23.
00:08:35 Jim Rice, 23.
00:08:39 Watching them in slow motion, they look almost casual in their actions,
00:08:43 but they're doing over 100 miles an hour.
00:08:46 Number 24, Jim Rice.
00:08:49 Number 14N, the late Ken Presgrove.
00:08:52 They don't all make it through each racing season.
00:08:55 [Music]
00:09:00 There are only a handful of people in the world who have the courage and skill
00:09:04 to ride a motorcycle like Mert and these professionals.
00:09:07 [Music]
00:09:12 Even with their skill, they get into trouble.
00:09:14 The best thing to do to avoid a bad crash is to purposely lay the bike down,
00:09:18 like John Hateley is doing, at 80 miles an hour,
00:09:22 keeping his cool and checking traffic behind him.
00:09:27 In car racing, you can make some small mistakes, like spinning out.
00:09:31 In motorcycle racing, there's no such thing as a small mistake.
00:09:34 Even laying it down hurts, leathers and all.
00:09:41 Most riders can expect to lay it down several times a season.
00:09:45 Some of them are involved in some unbelievable crashes.
00:09:49 Keith Mashburn, number 30X, went right through a 4x4 fence.
00:09:54 [Music]
00:09:59 Ten minutes later, he was picking the strut of his hair,
00:10:02 and ten minutes after that, he was back on the track,
00:10:04 letting it hang out further than ever.
00:10:07 If they didn't have the ability to shake it off and get back on the track,
00:10:10 they wouldn't be professional racers.
00:10:13 Frank Gillespie, a young California rider, had a bad one, too.
00:10:17 [Music]
00:10:24 Down on a dusty track, and out with a broken shoulder.
00:10:28 Two weeks later, he's back, ready to race again, broken shoulder and all.
00:10:33 Gary Fisher is a good example of the incredible courage these racers have.
00:10:38 He was involved in a horrible crash in the Midwest.
00:10:42 [Music]
00:11:03 Amazingly, all the riders got up.
00:11:06 Gary said he was all right.
00:11:08 An hour later, he was taken to the hospital with a broken back.
00:11:12 He soaked the cast off in the bathtub, put on a brace instead,
00:11:16 and within six weeks, would take the brace off and race.
00:11:21 [Music]
00:11:29 To win or keep number one, you have to compete in different types of races.
00:11:33 For example, road racing, riding very special, highly tuned machines
00:11:37 with fairings to cut the wind.
00:11:40 Chin on a foam tank pad with very precise methods of throttle, clutch, and brake.
00:11:45 [Music]
00:12:11 There are five road races in the early part of the season, from March to the first of June.
00:12:16 Road racing is noisy, precise, and very exacting.
00:12:20 It's also a graceful and beautiful thing to watch.
00:12:24 [Music]
00:12:53 [Music]
00:13:08 [Music]
00:13:28 [Music]
00:13:48 [Music]
00:14:15 Of the five road races they ride, Daytona Beach, Florida, is the big daddy,
00:14:20 with 30-degree bank turns and blinding speed.
00:14:24 [Music]
00:14:35 On the banks, there's so much centrifugal force, your suspension is completely bottomed out.
00:14:40 Your helmet's banging around, your eyes are forced into their sockets, and your vision is blurred.
00:14:45 [Music]
00:14:53 When you're watching from the stands, it's hard to believe that coming off the banks,
00:14:57 they're hitting 160 miles an hour.
00:15:00 [Music]
00:15:14 "Follow on the track!"
00:15:16 [Music]
00:15:30 Try jumping out of your car at 120, and you'll know how he felt.
00:15:34 Miraculously, he didn't break a bone.
00:15:37 Watch again in ultra-slow motion, and you can see the abuse he took.
00:15:42 His glove goes flying 30 feet down the track, takes a tremendous jolt.
00:15:48 [Music]
00:15:52 Watch his right leg get bent under.
00:15:55 [Music]
00:15:58 It's amazing he didn't break.
00:16:00 [Music]
00:16:14 Like all forms of racing, road racing is precise.
00:16:17 It's got a certain beauty to it, and it's also very dangerous.
00:16:23 This is the mile, the most incredible of all dirt track racing.
00:16:28 On the straight, Mert hits 130 miles an hour, and around 100 sliding the corners.
00:16:38 Mert's teammate, and kind of protege, Mark Brelsford, number 87.
00:16:43 Mark is spectacular on the mile.
00:16:46 [Music]
00:16:53 Most riders agree, the biggest thrill of all is to sit up at the end of the straight,
00:16:57 and at 120, pitch it sideways.
00:17:00 [Music]
00:17:17 Mark laid out, feet up, out of the turn, 100, 110, 120,
00:17:25 and back down the straight, tucked in to reduce the wind resistance.
00:17:29 [Music]
00:17:34 [Music]
00:17:37 When Mert's not racing, he's working on his machines.
00:17:40 After each race, the engine is torn down and inspected piece by piece.
00:17:45 It's a lot more complicated than twisting nuts and bolts.
00:17:49 For instance, each gear in the transmission is ground down by hand to save a few ounces of weight.
00:17:55 [Music]
00:18:00 If he can get a fraction of an ounce off this cam follower,
00:18:03 he can pick up a few extra RPMs, and that's an edge over the others.
00:18:09 He spends hours alone in his garage trying to figure out a way to improve an engine part.
00:18:15 [Music]
00:18:25 Only another professional racer who maintains his own equipment, like Mert,
00:18:29 can really appreciate the work involved.
00:18:31 He spends over a thousand hours a year working on his motorcycles.
00:18:36 [Music]
00:18:44 It's off to Columbus, Ohio,
00:18:46 one of ten cross-country trips Mert makes during the eight-month racing season.
00:18:52 He drives his van over 70,000 miles a year,
00:18:56 traveling with his friend and helper, Jack Dunn.
00:18:59 They don't stay in motels, but drive 24 hours a day, stopping only to eat and refuel.
00:19:06 Mert is totally dedicated to his profession.
00:19:10 He works at it seven days a week.
00:19:13 He doesn't have time for many outside interests.
00:19:16 Motorcycle racing is his life.
00:19:19 He grossed about $50,000 the year before,
00:19:22 ended up with about $20,000 after expenses.
00:19:26 That's good money, but not what it should be for the skill, knowledge, and dedication he has,
00:19:32 let alone the risks.
00:19:36 For most people, San Francisco to Columbus, Ohio, would be four days.
00:19:40 For Mert and Jack, 27 hours nonstop.
00:19:45 They don't arrive a day early and relax.
00:19:47 The pit gates open at 8.30.
00:19:49 They arrive at 8.30.
00:19:57 An hour later, after driving all night, he's on the track going sideways at 80 miles an hour.
00:20:03 [music]
00:20:19 Before each race, there's about an hour of practice.
00:20:22 They aren't practicing riding.
00:20:24 They're experimenting with frame geometry, gearing, and tires most suitable for this track.
00:20:30 There's a lot more to racing than holding the throttle wide open.
00:20:34 Tires alone are an exact science to them,
00:20:37 with different rubber compounds and different tread designs.
00:20:41 Even a pound or two difference in air pressure makes a difference in handling.
00:20:46 Before each race, they cut their tires with razor blades for added traction.
00:20:50 Each rider has special cuts, and they change from hour to hour,
00:20:54 depending on the condition of the dirt.
00:21:01 There are many things to attend to before a race,
00:21:03 like taping on these clear plastic strips called tear-offs.
00:21:07 Some riders stack up five or six and rip them off one by one
00:21:11 as the flying dirt sticks and obscures their vision.
00:21:16 It's got to be a real thrill just to reach up and find that tab at 100 miles an hour.
00:21:27 The last thing they strap on before a race is their steel skid shoe,
00:21:31 custom-made for each rider,
00:21:33 with a shape of the bottom sliding surface varied to suit the rider's style.
00:21:44 The 20-lap half-mile in Columbus, Ohio.
00:21:48 Mert had won the race two years in a row.
00:21:50 A win today would put him in good shape to keep his number one plate another year.
00:21:56 A $6,000 purse and 60 points, Mert wanted both.
00:22:02 On the starting line, watching for a flicker of movement from the flagman,
00:22:06 he's like a gunfighter.
00:22:08 No show of emotion, not even a blink. Total concentration.
00:22:15 [The sound of a jet taking off.]
00:22:24 [The sound of a jet taking off.]
00:22:53 Mert was riding beautifully, stretching out his lead.
00:22:56 He'd done everything right.
00:22:58 He'd chosen the right tire.
00:23:00 He'd picked up those extra few RPMs by grinding down his cam follower.
00:23:05 His machine was perfectly set up, and he was riding like the national champ he is.
00:23:17 The crowd sensing victory and urging him on.
00:23:23 On the last lap, the pack came around, but no Mert.
00:23:28 Here he came in last place out of the race with a broken throttle cable, a $2 part.
00:23:35 It cost him the 60 points he needed, and his share of the purse,
00:23:40 instead of several thousand, was $116.
00:23:46 It was a pretty disappointing day.
00:23:54 It would be tough with the races left to earn enough points to keep number one.
00:24:02 By Monday, Mert was back on the road heading for more races
00:24:05 and hitting the gourmet restaurants along the way.
00:24:09 You may survive the race, but not the restaurant.
00:24:17 Mert went on to win three national races.
00:24:20 He greatly enjoys the things that come with winning.
00:24:29 What followed him through the season was an unbelievable string of bad luck.
00:24:34 He broke down in nearly half the championship races.
00:24:38 Often little things like a throttle cable or an electrical short or a tire tread coming off.
00:24:45 Here at Terre Haute, Indiana, with a half a lap lead,
00:24:49 Jack Dunn just knew something would happen.
00:24:52 And it did. Mert pulling off with a broken crankshaft.
00:25:02 He'd brake, bounce back, brake again, race again,
00:25:07 but now it was too late.
00:25:09 With the races left to run, there was no way Mert could earn enough points
00:25:12 to regain his number one plate.
00:25:22 The plate he'd ridden 12 years to win and had one season,
00:25:26 he'd now have to give to someone else.
00:25:29 There were four riders who had enough points to have a shot at ending up number one.
00:25:33 One was Mert's best friend, Dick Bugsy Mann, number two, the veteran of the circuit.
00:25:38 Not only excels at each of the five AMA events, but is highly skilled in motocross as well.
00:25:43 There's no one who's more respected by his fellow riders and the fans than Dick Mann.
00:25:56 The second rider who could win the number one plate,
00:25:59 one of the youngest, 20-year-old Dave Aldana, his first year as professional expert.
00:26:04 David Aldana, the crazy kid from Santa Ana, California.
00:26:12 Off the track, he's conservative compared to his action on the track.
00:26:21 He crashed 15 times during the year at speeds up to 120 miles an hour and was never hurt.
00:26:28 David said, "You never know how fast you can go until you fall down."
00:26:33 If he didn't crash, he often won.
00:26:36 The third rider in contention was Gene Romero.
00:26:39 Gene's nickname is Burrito.
00:26:41 He's the most flamboyant of all the professional racers, but is very serious about his racing,
00:26:45 particularly late in the season when he wanted the points for number one.
00:26:57 I don't want to hurt anybody, but I just want to get out there and I got to get third no matter what.
00:27:04 It's going to be either one. I got to get third or come and visit me at the hospital.
00:27:07 I dig carnations, man.
00:27:11 The fourth and final rider who could be number one was Jim Rice.
00:27:15 Jim, the winningest rider on the circuit, had taken the checkered flag six times,
00:27:19 as many times as anyone ever had in a season.
00:27:23 The number one plate would be decided at Sacramento, California in September.
00:27:34 Quite different from the National Circuit is the on any Sunday world of motocross.
00:27:47 The motocross track is uphill, downhill, jumps, bumps, mud, rocks and dust. The rougher the better.
00:28:06 Competition is still the name of the game.
00:28:08 It doesn't matter whether you're battling for first or 31st, it's just as fierce.
00:28:14 Here's a classic confrontation for 10th place.
00:28:17 The guy in the yellow figures he'll zap his buddy through the puddle and cover his glasses with mud and water so he can't see,
00:28:24 and that'll put him behind.
00:28:26 But his pal just threw away his $40 prescription lenses and passed him right back again on the corner.
00:28:42 When some riders start getting behind, they panic and try a shortcut through the giggle weeds.
00:28:48 When they can no longer race, it's simple frustration.
00:28:58 Getting your bike stuck in the mud is bad enough.
00:29:01 Getting your body stuck in the mud is the worst.
00:29:08 Especially when it's your girlfriend who has to dig you out.
00:29:23 Everyone makes mistakes riding motocross, even world champion Ben Albert here going over the handlebars.
00:29:29 Somehow when Albert gets off, he does it with a certain style and grace.
00:29:33 Everyone crashes now and then, but not often with style and grace.
00:29:38 More often, the classic flying W.
00:29:42 [music]
00:29:46 [music]
00:29:50 [music]
00:29:54 [music]
00:29:57 [music]
00:30:03 [music]
00:30:09 [music]
00:30:15 [music]
00:30:22 [music]
00:30:25 [music]
00:30:33 [music]
00:30:50 [music]
00:30:53 [music]
00:31:02 [music]
00:31:07 Missing a turn and going off the course is a common error.
00:31:14 The classic was this guy running eighth who cut the course and nailed his buddy running third.
00:31:21 [music]
00:31:24 [music]
00:31:29 You wonder how they get into the positions they do.
00:31:42 The one kid who was laughing so hard he got stomach cramps.
00:31:47 [music]
00:31:50 Thousands of riders compete in motocross in the United States.
00:32:03 One of them is Steve McQueen.
00:32:07 He's a good starting line. He's not an actor out for a ride. He's 100% motorcycle racer.
00:32:13 [music]
00:32:16 There's no one with a more competitive instinct.
00:32:26 When he gets on his race face, the world could be falling down around him, but all he sees is the track.
00:32:32 [music]
00:32:36 A one million dollar body out there with the possibility of being used by someone for traction in a corner.
00:32:44 If the movie studio moguls realized what he was doing on a Sunday afternoon, they'd have a coronary.
00:32:50 [music]
00:33:03 The two best motocross riders in the world are Ben Alberg, 500cc world champion from Sweden,
00:33:10 and Joël Robert, 250cc world champion from Belgium.
00:33:15 Joël Robert, number 17, is a national sports hero in Belgium.
00:33:20 [music]
00:33:23 Motocross races in Europe sometimes draw crowds of over 100,000 people.
00:33:31 In Joël's home country of Belgium, fans have been known to lay on the track in front of other riders to help Joël win.
00:33:39 Except he doesn't need any help.
00:33:42 [music]
00:33:45 With the number one plate, Swede Ben Alberg, 500cc world champion.
00:33:55 His riding skill is unbelievable, here using power to straighten himself out.
00:34:01 Scientific tests have been made and motocross was found to be the second most physically demanding sport in the world, following only soccer.
00:34:10 After 30 minutes of racing, even a rider in perfect condition like Ben Alberg is almost totally exhausted.
00:34:16 He's got maybe an hour to rest between races, then do it again, three times a day.
00:34:22 [music]
00:34:25 Motocross races run in all kinds of weather.
00:34:32 It's a race against the other man, but even more, it's man's battle against the course itself.
00:34:39 There's a certain brutal beauty to motocross that you can only see in slow motion.
00:34:46 [music]
00:34:50 [music]
00:34:53 [music]
00:35:18 [music]
00:35:21 [music]
00:35:33 [music]
00:35:47 [music]
00:35:50 [music]
00:35:59 [music]
00:36:07 [music]
00:36:16 [music]
00:36:19 The classic example of the Sunday competitor who rides for fun with his usual ear-to-ear grin is Malcolm Smith.
00:36:34 The only thing different between Malcolm and the rest of the Sunday competitors is Malcolm rides a greater variety of events, something different almost every Sunday.
00:36:43 He seems to enjoy it more than anyone, and he's also the best.
00:36:48 [music]
00:36:51 Back in 1968, when being interviewed by Wide World of Sports about his amazing performance the year before in the Mexican 1000,
00:37:01 he didn't talk about how tough it was. Instead, typical Malcolm.
00:37:06 Did you have any adventures during that nine hours and something last year in this wild country?
00:37:11 No, it was easy going down, but it was hard coming back.
00:37:14 We had an old Volkswagen that a friend of mine drove down there, my co-driver this year,
00:37:20 and we started back and it gave up on us and we rode on a turtle truck with live sea turtles on the top of the turtles all the way for five days.
00:37:30 On the top of the live turtles?
00:37:31 Top of the live turtles. And it smelled very bad all the way back.
00:37:35 On the starting line, most riders are nervous. Malcolm's usually got a smile.
00:37:41 Of the many events Malcolm rides, he's particularly outstanding in the rugged off-road races like the Mint 400,
00:37:49 a 400-mile race through the desert near Las Vegas.
00:37:53 Like riding from San Francisco to Los Angeles through the roughest imaginable terrain and averaging 50 miles an hour.
00:38:03 The race goes on night and day and when it's all over and the other riders are almost in shock from exhaustion,
00:38:08 there stands Malcolm in the middle of the night with a big grin.
00:38:12 Malcolm is king of the Mexican 1000, a 1,000-mile off-road race down the peninsula of Baja California, Mexico.
00:38:22 He goes so fast he should be in a class by himself.
00:38:26 One year he drove a dune buggy to see what that was like and was running second before he broke down.
00:38:31 Here again at a pit stop, he didn't say dust, tough, tired. Instead, typical Malcolm.
00:38:38 Looks like you're having a good time, Malcolm. Oh, great. Lots of fun.
00:38:41 See any incidents out there? Any problems? No. Let's turn around this way for just a second.
00:38:45 Only one I ever see is Larry Burquist. Yeah, they're up ahead of you still.
00:38:50 Yeah. Yeah, we know. We can't keep up with a motorcycle.
00:38:55 He couldn't keep up with a motorcycle that year, but every other year,
00:38:59 the lone dust cloud across Lake Chapala was Malcolm Smith and his motorcycle.
00:39:05 He never failed to lead. One year he was two hours ahead of the next machine at the halfway point
00:39:13 and rode the final 200 miles on a flat front tire.
00:39:19 The rougher and tougher the event, the more skill and human endurance it takes, the better Malcolm likes it.
00:39:26 As he would say himself, "That was really neat."
00:39:31 El Escorial, Spain, near Madrid, the site of the international six-day trial, the ultimate test of man and machine.
00:39:42 The six-day trials is the Olympic Games of motorcycle sport held for the 45th year.
00:39:48 348 riders from 16 countries have gathered to compete, among them Malcolm Smith.
00:39:55 Here getting his bike inspected and marked prior to the first day.
00:40:00 Each part of the motorcycle is marked with a special paint.
00:40:03 In six days of riding, no parts can be changed without being disqualified.
00:40:09 Even internal engine parts are marked and the engine is sealed.
00:40:15 The only parts that can be changed are control cables, chains, tires, and tubes.
00:40:21 At 6.45 in the morning, the first of the riders get underway.
00:40:25 They leave four per minute. The colors on their helmets denote the rider's country.
00:40:30 Germans in white, Spanish in yellow, Italians red, English green, Czechoslovakians in blue, the Swedes with yellow and blue.
00:40:43 Malcolm number 242 would be starting on the 60th minute.
00:40:47 Of all the events Malcolm rides, this is the only one he takes very seriously.
00:41:10 There's no prize money involved. The top prize for an individual rider is a gold medal.
00:41:15 Off goes Malcolm and 348 others through the countryside of Spain, the beginning of a grueling adventure.
00:41:22 The concept of the event is quite simple. To ride about 200 miles per day for six straight days and keep on a prescribed time schedule.
00:41:33 The trouble is none but the best can keep up the time schedule and these riders are the best in the world.
00:41:39 It's an honor just to be selected to ride the six days.
00:41:42 You go through a series of checkpoints each day. You can get there early but you can't clock through until your prescribed minute.
00:41:55 You lose one mark for each minute you're late to any checkpoint. In all there are 65 time checks.
00:42:01 If you're only one minute late to any one of these you lose a mark. To win a gold medal you can't lose a single mark in six days of riding.
00:42:10 It's hard to appreciate the difficulty of the six days without being there. It's hard to realize just how long six days on a motorcycle really is.
00:42:20 The best riders are usually the Europeans. Most are paid a salary year-round to ride.
00:42:29 A gold medal at the six day trials sells a lot of motorcycles in Europe.
00:42:34 Malcolm isn't paid. In fact he pays all his own expenses just to go over there and compete.
00:42:40 During the competition the temperatures range from 80 degrees to 20 degrees.
00:42:46 They went from 2,000 feet to over 8,000 feet riding in the clouds in the mountains of Spain.
00:42:58 Of the 1,200 miles the event covers about 800 of it is trails like this.
00:43:03 It may last for 40 miles. On the foot peg maneuvering like six days on a bongo board.
00:43:10 The speed average 24 miles an hour but very few can keep it up.
00:43:17 All work in the machine must be done by the contestant himself with no outside help.
00:43:26 The bikes are locked up except during the time you're riding against the clock.
00:43:30 The only time to make repairs or adjustments is if you can get ahead of schedule and stop to do it.
00:43:36 If you can't change a tire in four minutes you're not competitive in the six day trials.
00:43:42 The only tools you can use for anything are what you carry with you.
00:43:46 If anyone hands you a tool or helps you in any way you're disqualified.
00:43:55 If you keep your bike together, change tires fast enough, keep on time and lose no marks you still haven't won a gold medal.
00:44:02 You have to compete in a series of special tests at the end of each day's riding.
00:44:07 One is this 200 meter acceleration test. Clock top speed at the end earns needed bonus points.
00:44:14 Except there's a sound meter in that tent and if you make too much noise going by bonus points are subtracted instead of added.
00:44:23 [Music]
00:44:28 Another special test at the end of each day is a five mile time cross country loop.
00:44:34 Sort of a motocross against the clock. The fastest times earn the most bonus points.
00:44:40 And to earn enough bonus points for a gold medal you have to be in the top 30%.
00:44:45 The motorcycles have mufflers and lights which are under the number plate.
00:44:51 You can stop at any time and have your light checked. If it doesn't work you have to stay there until you make it work.
00:44:57 In the special test Malcolm has to go fast but not too fast.
00:45:03 He's got to save the machine, he's got to save his body. There are more days to come.
00:45:09 [Music]
00:45:15 Day after day Malcolm left in the morning chill from El Escorial. Stiff and sore but on time.
00:45:21 [Music]
00:45:26 Each day he left to do battle with the clock and the elements of Spain.
00:45:30 Mostly fatigue in his face but on time.
00:45:33 The six days more than any event test a man's all around ability.
00:45:39 His riding, his endurance, mechanical skill and his ability to think clearly when tremendously fatigued.
00:45:46 If you do everything right, don't make one mistake in six days, you win this gold medal.
00:45:53 Malcolm won one in Poland, he won one in Germany and he won this one in El Escorial, Spain.
00:46:00 [Music]
00:46:08 Back in the United States, what's Malcolm do? Heads for another motorcycle race with his friend Steve McQueen.
00:46:14 The event is the Elsinore Grand Prix.
00:46:18 Fifteen hundred motorcyclists line up in the main street waiting for the start.
00:46:25 [Music]
00:46:38 Fifteen hundred riders and fifty thousand spectators fill the little town.
00:46:44 It's a hundred mile race through the streets of the city and into the foothills outside of town.
00:46:51 The average age of the two thousand Elsinore residents is sixty years old and it's the only town in America that welcomes such an event.
00:46:59 The residents love it and so do the riders.
00:47:04 [Music]
00:47:10 Malcolm will be starting in the second row, Steve starting in the fourth row.
00:47:16 Held back by a rope, riders leave at ten second intervals, ten abreast.
00:47:22 It was supposed to be ten second intervals but it got a lot shorter than that.
00:47:27 You could tell the most eager riders by the rope burns on their neck.
00:47:33 [Music]
00:47:43 By the time the race was two miles old, Malcolm passing the last rider and taking the lead.
00:47:50 It had rained a few days before and there was a big puddle.
00:47:57 As the pack came thundering through, the water puddle turned into a mud puddle.
00:48:02 Then it turned into a mud hole.
00:48:04 The first two hundred riders made it through but for the thirteen hundred yet to come, it was all stopped.
00:48:12 [Music]
00:48:32 There's no money involved in the race, a trophy for the winner.
00:48:36 In fact they pay a fifteen dollar entry fee for the honor of riding.
00:48:41 [Music]
00:48:44 While they were getting out of the mud hole, Malcolm had opened up a commanding lead.
00:48:48 [Music]
00:48:55 Malcolm rides so smoothly and effortlessly he doesn't appear to be going very fast.
00:49:00 He is, there's fourteen hundred and ninety-nine riders behind him.
00:49:05 When he came back through town at the end of the first lap, he was so far ahead there were no other riders in sight.
00:49:11 [Music]
00:49:23 [Music]
00:49:25 With the rest of the riders thundering through town, it was sport for the spectators to see if they could get across the street before they got run over by a motorcycle.
00:49:34 [Music]
00:49:41 Everyone rides Elsinore. If there's one event you ride a year, it's usually the Elsinore Grand Prix.
00:49:46 People of all ages, girls, the pig farmer from Murrieta.
00:49:50 [Music]
00:49:53 There's only about two hundred riders who are seriously competitive. For the rest, it's a great Sunday adventure.
00:50:00 Doing wheelies through town to dazzle their friends, bouncing off any object in sight,
00:50:04 missing half the corners, and ripping out ten miles of banners and dragging them back through town.
00:50:11 [Music]
00:50:14 The people of Elsinore can't believe what's going on in their town.
00:50:18 [Music]
00:50:24 They pull a chair up in their front yard and have a grand stand seat.
00:50:29 [Music]
00:50:53 Number 48, Steve McQueen, entered under the name of Harvey Mushman.
00:50:57 But it didn't take long for the spectators to figure out who number 48 really was.
00:51:02 [Music]
00:51:04 She was dazzled, but her husband wasn't too impressed.
00:51:07 [Music]
00:51:09 Yeah, I could do that.
00:51:11 [Music]
00:51:15 Steve really earned the respect of his fellow riders. Some of them didn't realize what a good rider he really is.
00:51:21 His car racing experience gives him the ability to pick the perfect line through the corners.
00:51:25 [Music]
00:51:39 In the subsequent Elsinore race, Steve crashed, broke his foot, got up and finished eighth, broken foot and all.
00:51:47 [Music]
00:51:55 It was Malcolm Smith's day. When Malcolm passes you, it's a mistake to try and stay with him.
00:52:01 [Music]
00:52:06 In the lead, but still time for a wave to a friend beside the course.
00:52:10 [Music]
00:52:17 Malcolm's got an uncanny sense for doing the right thing.
00:52:20 Here, swerving off the course through a hole in the barbed wire fence and around the now cleaned out mud hole.
00:52:26 [Music]
00:52:33 Back through the fence again without missing a beat and passing six guys in the process.
00:52:38 [Music]
00:52:45 What's the guy who rides motorcycles every Sunday do for a living? Malcolm owns a motorcycle shop.
00:52:50 [Music]
00:52:59 In ten laps, Malcolm passed 7,000 riders, some of them three times.
00:53:06 Malcolm almost never makes a bobble or a mistake.
00:53:10 It's about 200 feet down off the side of the road.
00:53:14 [Music]
00:53:32 When it was all over, it was Malcolm Smith. There he stood in the pits with his ear to ear grin. He didn't even look tired.
00:53:41 Steve turned in a great ride, finishing 10th overall, riding against the best riders in the country for this kind of event.
00:53:48 Every time I start thinking the world is all bad, then I start seeing some people out there having a good time on motorcycles, it makes me take another look.
00:53:56 That was good fun.
00:53:58 [Music]
00:54:03 There are a lot of things that are good fun on a motorcycle, like sidecar racing, so specialized that only about 200 people do it in the United States.
00:54:11 [Music]
00:54:15 The passenger is called the monkey. He's usually flat on one side.
00:54:20 [Music]
00:54:23 [Motorcycle engine]
00:54:33 Motorcycle drag racing is another highly specialized form of competition.
00:54:37 [Motorcycle engine]
00:54:45 They hit speeds of 160 miles an hour in the quarter mile.
00:54:49 [Motorcycle engine]
00:54:54 Before they leave the line, they burn their tires to get them hot and sticky for better traction.
00:55:00 This guy was going to donate his lungs to the Mayo Clinic.
00:55:03 Special machines and riders who usually specialize in nothing but drag racing.
00:55:09 It's won or lost in a hundredth of a second at the finish, or even at the start.
00:55:14 [Motorcycle engine]
00:55:20 Probably the least number of people in all of motorcycle sport race their motorcycles on ice.
00:55:27 Quebec City, Canada is the site of one.
00:55:30 The fans try to stay alive in the 10 degree below zero weather.
00:55:35 [Music]
00:55:41 The riders wear leather masks to keep their faces from freezing and protect them from cuts, from flying ice off the track.
00:55:48 Two inch spikes in the tires for traction on the ice.
00:55:54 Before a race, they have to be wondering.
00:55:57 It would be like getting run over by a buzz saw.
00:56:01 [Motorcycle engine]
00:56:05 If you go down, the main thought is to get off the track because there's more buzz saws coming.
00:56:11 This guy set a world record for a 20 foot crawl on his hands and knees.
00:56:16 [Motorcycle engine]
00:56:20 They hit tremendous speeds on this half mile ice track, 20 second lap times averaging almost 80.
00:56:25 [Motorcycle engine]
00:56:29 Absolutely no wheel spin with those spiked tires.
00:56:33 They ride with different styles, some foot down, dirt track style, others slide on the knee on a hockey pad.
00:56:40 [Wind]
00:56:43 There's only about 50 or 60 people who ice race in North America and only a couple of big ice races a year.
00:56:49 It's popular in certain parts of Europe, especially Russia.
00:56:53 Ice racing in Canada, 10 degrees below zero in the middle of a snowstorm.
00:57:01 [Wind]
00:57:08 From 10 degrees below to 115 degrees above at the Bonneville soft flats in Utah,
00:57:15 where once again, men on motorcycles compete, trying to set speed records.
00:57:19 Once a year they have speed week for motorcycles.
00:57:22 There's about 200 different classes and anyone with a two wheel machine gets into the act.
00:57:27 Some of the bikes are a little strange.
00:57:29 This guy had a 60 horsepower skateboard and steel kneecaps.
00:57:36 Some guy got an old bomb and put a motor in it.
00:57:40 Didn't handle very well.
00:57:43 [Music]
00:57:45 From the backyard specials to the exotically engineered and computer designed streamlined bikes.
00:57:51 [Music]
00:57:54 There was a fellow named Cal Rayburn, a professional racer,
00:57:58 who was going to make an assault on the motorcycle land speed record of 250 miles an hour.
00:58:03 He was going to drive one of those slide rule super engineered specials.
00:58:08 He lost a little faith in the computers and engineers when he got in and found out an interesting thing.
00:58:13 He didn't fit.
00:58:15 [Music]
00:58:18 I think Cal was beginning to have some second thoughts.
00:58:21 He kept saying, "You guys are nuts."
00:58:23 [Music]
00:58:26 They said his helmet visor must be too big so they sawed it off.
00:58:30 That way it wouldn't dig into his chest.
00:58:32 It didn't dig into his chest but his chin still did.
00:58:37 In this position he was supposed to try and go faster than anyone ever had with a motorcycle over 250 miles an hour.
00:58:44 [Music]
00:58:46 Once the lid was in place he found out interesting point number two, he couldn't see out.
00:58:51 His feet were too big and blocked his view out the front window and his knee blocked his view out the side.
00:58:57 So all he had to do was peer out the side window over his knee
00:59:01 and follow this black line painted on the saw at anything over 250.
00:59:06 [Music]
00:59:08 Late in the afternoon they launched him and he found out interesting point number three.
00:59:13 It didn't handle very well at six miles an hour.
00:59:16 [Music]
00:59:30 He kept saying, "You guys are nuts."
00:59:32 But he was driving.
00:59:35 [Music]
00:59:36 After a week of trying and crashes from six to 206,
00:59:40 Calvin finally set a new motorcycle land speed record of over 265 miles an hour.
00:59:46 The steering changed with the speed.
00:59:49 Under 100 turn right to go right.
00:59:51 100 to 200 turn left to go right.
00:59:55 And over 200 back to normal again.
00:59:59 [Music]
01:00:25 [Music]
01:00:29 The mile track at Sacramento, California.
01:00:33 This is where the number one plate will be decided.
01:00:37 A $12,000 purse, but more important to Dick Mann, Dave Aldana, Gene Romero, and Jim Rice.
01:00:45 101 points.
01:00:47 Enough to make any of them number one.
01:00:53 All the riders were there, but the pressure was on the four.
01:00:57 If Dave Aldana won, it would be the first time a first year expert ever had.
01:01:02 Romero was not his usual laughing self.
01:01:06 Jim Rice was off alone, walking in the track.
01:01:10 Dick Mann arrived.
01:01:15 He'd broken his leg in a race only three weeks before, and no one expected him to compete.
01:01:22 But he'd sawed off his cast and was going to try.
01:01:25 He jammed his swollen leg into his boot and steel shoe, went out on the track, and won his heat race.
01:01:36 [Music]
01:01:42 Mert won the second heat.
01:01:46 Gene Romero the third, with Dave Aldana transferring to the point-paying main by finishing third in his heat.
01:01:52 The first four riders in each heat transferred to the main event.
01:01:56 Jim Rice, number 24, playing it cool in the final heat and transferring.
01:02:04 After the finish, at 120 miles an hour...
01:02:09 [Music]
01:02:34 [Siren]
01:02:39 [Music]
01:03:03 [Music]
01:03:06 An hour later, they lined up for the main event.
01:03:17 [Music]
01:03:33 Jim Rice was getting out of the ambulance and was going to try and ride the race.
01:03:38 [Announcer] Jim Rice walking out, and he'll be back in action.
01:03:44 In a lot of pain with a bandana covering his broken nose, Jim quietly took his place on the line with the rest.
01:03:52 [Announcer]
01:04:17 And down the back chute at 125 miles an hour.
01:04:21 [Announcer]
01:04:28 It was Dave Aldana. The race was black flagged.
01:04:33 Aldana's bike was completely totaled, but David, as he had all year, walked away unhurt.
01:04:40 But he also walked away from any chance of being number one.
01:04:45 He had to break the three-minute restart rule.
01:04:47 [Engine noise]
01:04:53 The restart was a carbon copy of the first.
01:04:57 Murden fourth, working his way back to third. Romero second, Mann first.
01:05:02 [Engine noise]
01:05:05 [Announcer]
01:05:11 And Romero again getting by Dick Mann in exactly the same place.
01:05:15 [Announcer]
01:05:18 Jim Rice running in last place.
01:05:21 Ten laps later, the field spreading out, Romero further ahead and Rice dropping further back, his bike running poorly, and Jim just too physically shaken to be competitive.
01:05:32 It's amazing he tried to ride at all.
01:05:36 On the 20th lap Dick Mann pulled in, he caught his shoe in a hole and was in too much pain to continue.
01:05:42 For him, that's got to be a lot.
01:05:45 [Engine noise]
01:05:48 Mert hung on to Romero's tail for the first 20 laps.
01:05:52 And then, as it happens so often during the season, smoke began pouring out as his engine went south.
01:06:00 It was Romero's day, 50 laps wire to wire. His father cheering him on, a beautiful ride, the checkered flag, and Gene Romero, the new number one.
01:06:12 [Music]
01:06:29 It was a day of happiness for Gene. For Rice, Aldana, and Mann, it was a very disappointing day.
01:06:35 Rice was lucky to be alive.
01:06:38 [Music]
01:06:42 What kind of men are these that take tremendous chances?
01:06:45 That saw off a cast and ride with a broken leg?
01:06:49 And say, "It'll be okay, I'm a fast healer."
01:06:52 [Music]
01:06:57 Why do they do it? There's no answer to that.
01:07:00 If you ask them, they say simply, "Because it's what I like to do."
01:07:05 [Music]
01:07:07 For Mert, the day at Sacramento had been a mirror of the season.
01:07:10 With as much bad luck as Mert had had during the year, he still finished with enough points to be the number sixth ranked rider in the national point standings.
01:07:19 [Music]
01:07:25 Let's see what's happening in the rest of the motorcycle world.
01:07:28 It's Sunday, and we're about 20 miles from Salt Lake City, Utah.
01:07:32 There's a hill there called Widowmaker. It's 600 feet high, and the angle up the face is 89 percent, roughly 45 degrees.
01:07:41 [Music]
01:07:46 It's the site of the annual Widowmaker Hill Climb.
01:07:50 [Music]
01:08:01 No one's ever made it over the top, and they've been trying for seven years.
01:08:06 Riders come from all over the country to compete in yet another highly specialized form of motorcycle competition.
01:08:14 As I said, no one's ever made the top, but they give it a hell of a try.
01:08:19 [Music]
01:08:49 Wherever the bike stops is where the measurement is taken, so they get some bizarre push-off techniques.
01:08:54 [Music]
01:08:59 This guy nearly nailed a couple of spectators and lost 12 feet in the process.
01:09:04 [Music]
01:09:09 That's a whole lot better than losing 387 feet.
01:09:14 [Music]
01:09:20 Some of the bikes have a lot of character. The hill climbers themselves are safe to say, characters.
01:09:26 [Music]
01:09:31 There was the mortician from Waukegan who thought hyperventilation was the answer.
01:09:36 It got him up the hill, 15 feet.
01:09:42 The classic guy that day was old Hawkeye Hillbilly.
01:09:45 He spent considerable time mentally psyching himself up for the hill.
01:09:50 [Music]
01:09:52 Didn't know whether that was his number plate or a traffic citation.
01:09:57 [Music]
01:10:12 On the hill, old Hawkeye the bouncer turned in a great run.
01:10:17 [Music]
01:10:29 Only about 50 feet short of the top.
01:10:33 [Music]
01:10:37 Old Malcolm was there. He'd never ridden a hill climb, but he thought it would be fun.
01:10:44 For his first try, in typical Malcolm Smith style, he forgot to turn on the gas.
01:10:48 [Music]
01:11:03 Later in the day, he got his second run, more than made up for his first error.
01:11:09 [Music]
01:11:14 Riding his stock motorcycle in the 500cc class against the specially built hill climbers,
01:11:19 he got up to around 500 feet, right in there with the best of them.
01:11:24 Going back down the hill is a major operation for most riders.
01:11:29 Malcolm dazzled folks when he turned around and rode his motorcycle down.
01:11:34 [Music]
01:11:38 Oh, boy.
01:11:39 [Music]
01:11:44 One of the final riders of the day was Mike Gibbon,
01:11:48 who'd driven all the way from Grants Pass, Oregon to ride this event.
01:11:52 [Music]
01:11:59 Chains on the tires and nitromethane fuel in the tank.
01:12:04 Mike Gibbon made the first tire mark on the top of Widowmaker.
01:12:08 After seven years, it had been done.
01:12:11 [Music]
01:12:21 He got a big trophy and the local Lions Club gave him $100 to help him pay expenses back to Oregon.
01:12:27 [Music]
01:12:29 It had been quite a day. Widowmaker had at last been conquered.
01:12:33 [Music]
01:12:35 Malcolm got 100 feet further up the hill than any other stock bike,
01:12:39 finishing third against the special hill climb machines.
01:12:42 [Music]
01:12:44 [Horn honking]
01:12:46 [Music]
01:12:55 This fellow's a trials rider.
01:12:58 The magicians of the motorcycle world.
01:13:02 Good trials riders can do wheelies like this for miles, around corners, everywhere.
01:13:06 Just bopping along, watching the scenery.
01:13:09 Trials riders are the violin players of the motorcycle world,
01:13:13 tremendously skilled at what they do.
01:13:16 [Music]
01:13:18 The kid couldn't believe it. There was nobody to tell.
01:13:22 In riding trials events, all you have to do is get through a difficult section of terrain without putting your foot down.
01:13:30 Good trials riders' ability to do this is amazing.
01:13:33 It would seem impossible to get a motorcycle with ten inches of clearance over a 30-inch log,
01:13:40 and then make a sharp right turn to stay in bounds and not put your foot down.
01:13:45 [Music]
01:13:49 It can be done.
01:13:52 [Music]
01:14:02 Here's a beautiful example.
01:14:04 Lift the wheel at the precise instant,
01:14:06 turn it mid-air so when you land, your turn has already begun.
01:14:10 It looks easy, don't believe it.
01:14:13 Malcolm rides one or two trials a year on his Sunday outings.
01:14:18 In fact, he rides one or two of almost everything a year.
01:14:21 In trials too, he is very good.
01:14:24 [Music]
01:14:30 Try this someday if you want to do something really difficult.
01:14:34 [Music]
01:14:40 Neat, Malcolm.
01:14:42 Quite a different breed from the trials riders are the desert racers,
01:14:47 unique to the southwest, particularly Southern California.
01:14:50 [Music]
01:14:52 There's even a group of girls called the Desert Daisies who race in the desert.
01:14:56 A great variety of people from all walks of life gather each Sunday to race.
01:15:01 [Music]
01:15:04 Number one plate holder in the desert, Whitey Martino.
01:15:07 When they line up for the start, it's quite a sight.
01:15:11 [Music]
01:15:24 Down there on the line are doctors, lawyers, carpenters, plumbers, engineers,
01:15:29 salesmen, students, anyone and everybody.
01:15:33 A thousand riders ready to race a heron hound over a hundred miles of desert terrain.
01:15:40 Fifty miles from the nearest town.
01:15:41 This scene takes place every Sunday of the year with starts from 500 to 2,000 riders.
01:15:48 The prize, a trophy for the winner and the satisfaction of knowing they did it for the rest.
01:15:54 [Music]
01:15:59 They head first to a smoke bomb about five miles from the start.
01:16:03 At 10 a.m., the banner drops.
01:16:07 [Music]
01:16:36 [Sound of fire]
01:16:42 [Music]
01:16:55 About 10% never make the first five miles to the smoke bomb.
01:16:59 It's a cross between a race and a war.
01:17:05 [Music]
01:17:14 They raise a cloud of dust that settles three weeks later on London.
01:17:19 Once to the smoke bomb, they start to thin out following a trail marked with ribbon and lime.
01:17:25 No one's allowed to ride the course first, so it's all new terrain to them.
01:17:29 Three stripes of lime across the trail mean a dangerous spot ahead.
01:17:34 To the experienced desert rider, mounds of dirt mean danger too,
01:17:37 because the mounds had to come out of something like a mine shaft or a ditch or a hole.
01:17:42 You can tell when someone found one by the way they disappear so quickly.
01:17:47 [Music]
01:18:06 It's a hundred miles of uphills, washes, brush, sand, cactus, downhills and rocks.
01:18:14 [Music]
01:18:19 A struggle just to get through.
01:18:22 [Music]
01:18:26 But the biggest hazard to a desert racer is another desert racer.
01:18:31 [Music]
01:18:38 In the spring, the B-29 bugs come out.
01:18:42 And hitting one is like running into a medicine ball.
01:18:45 [Music]
01:19:07 Desert racers are good people.
01:19:11 There's even a guy who rides the desert with his dog.
01:19:14 There's a rug in the tank the dog hangs onto.
01:19:17 He's got claws like an eagle.
01:19:20 Their pit stops are kind of unusual.
01:19:24 [Music]
01:19:41 Some of the hairiest racing is in the pits.
01:19:44 The best riders can invariably be found way in front of the dust and really hauling.
01:19:53 Here, J.N. Roberts, one of the really great desert racers.
01:19:56 [Music]
01:20:03 Steve McQueen riding here still rides an occasional desert race, although he prefers motocross now.
01:20:08 A few years back he rode every Sunday and was ranked the 11th amateur rider.
01:20:13 [Music]
01:20:19 And here, Malcolm Smith, he rarely rides the desert, says he doesn't like the heat and dust.
01:20:23 He's ridden about 12 desert races in his life and he won six of them.
01:20:28 The other six he broke down.
01:20:31 [Music]
01:20:35 King of the desert and number one plate holder, Whitey Martino.
01:20:39 [Music]
01:20:42 There's a great deal of skill involved, not just riding but reading the terrain.
01:20:47 This is the way it looks to Whitey, weaving through the pucker bushes at 60 to 70 miles an hour.
01:20:52 [Music]
01:20:56 You don't go straight, but it's almost like a slalom through the bushes.
01:21:00 If you hit a bush, it's an instant endo.
01:21:03 [Music]
01:21:06 After battling your way through sand, rocks, turtles, bugs and mine shafts, you'd expect the finish to be exciting.
01:21:15 The finish of a desert race is like the finish of no other race.
01:21:19 It's just over.
01:21:21 There's usually about a hundred people watching and they're waiting for somebody else anyway.
01:21:26 Desert races are a very personal experience.
01:21:30 No spectators to cheer you, but a great personal satisfaction in knowing you did it.
01:21:36 [Music]
01:21:50 If a thousand start, there's usually about three or four hundred that finish.
01:21:54 The rest are strewn out over a hundred miles of desert and are picked up by a crew that sweeps the course.
01:22:02 But there's always someone who gets off the course, gets lost and breaks a chain or something.
01:22:07 He has no idea where he is and neither does anyone else.
01:22:12 [Music]
01:22:22 The desert racer's handbook says, "Build a fire."
01:22:26 The rescue squad will see the smoke and come and pick you up.
01:22:31 [Music]
01:22:35 Desert racers don't lean toward tinder and the one-match fire.
01:22:39 It's high test in a pucker bush for them.
01:22:43 [Music]
01:23:05 The nearest water is in the radiator of his truck, but he doesn't have any idea where his truck is.
01:23:12 [Music]
01:23:17 That's a thousand dollar signal fire.
01:23:20 [Music]
01:23:24 Probably the most fun in all of motorcycling is to load your bike in a pickup truck and head out into the country.
01:23:31 [Music]
01:23:37 The pressure of racing over, it's time to relax and have some fun.
01:23:42 Malcolm, Steve and Mert all like to race, but they think this kind of riding is the most fun.
01:23:47 It's called cow trailing.
01:23:50 If your friends aren't paying attention, how can you resist?
01:23:56 [Music]
01:24:08 Steve could have picked better people to fool with than Mert Lawwell and Malcolm Smith.
01:24:12 [Music]
01:24:36 There's something about going riding with your friends, a feeling of freedom, a feeling of joy that really can't be put into words.
01:24:44 It can only be fully shared by someone who's done it.
01:24:49 [Music]
01:25:18 [Music]
01:25:47 [Music]
01:26:03 [Music]
01:26:32 [Music]
01:26:42 [Music]
01:26:54 [Music]
01:27:23 [Music]
01:27:34 [Music]
01:27:55 [Music]
01:28:24 [Music]
01:28:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]