Yamaha Silver Cup, Long Beach, CA

Great old clip, posted by Superbike Planet, of early-1970s indoor short track on concrete. Nixon, Mashburn and Brelsford are all interviewed. The track looks like ice, definitely no Coke syrup down to make that more tacky. I'm pretty sure it's 1971, or late 1970. A bit of digging showed that Jim Odom won it (the rider from the Trophy Queen page of Sideburn 10).

As the presenter explains, the series also went to the famous Madison Square Gardens for the NY round in January 1971. A reported 17,000 turned up, on a Monday night!, the iconic venue sold out and spectators were turned away, according to an AMA report from the time. I wonder how many will go to the first US Superprestigio in Vegas on November 20-21? Two who will be there are Ben and me. Travis the poet too! Whose coming?

Click the 'Carpet Shoes' label below for more post about indoor concrete short track, or the 'indoors' label for more indoor short track in general.

Thanks to Roger for bringing it to our attention. G

Bonsey Dominates Vegas Indoor

More from Randy K in at the Gene Romero WCFTS Indoor meet at Vegas.

Stevie Bonsey was dominant last night as he led every lap raced and had a convincing victory in the Open class. Stevie won the 2005 AMA Horizon Award given to the fastest amateur racer in the U.S. He went on to compete in the MotoGP circuit in 125 and 250, with the backing of Kenny Roberts. He's now back home racing flat track. 

Note 1: Check out the carpet shoe. Click the green carpet shoe link below carpet shoes through history. Note 2: Look at the carnage in the background of the photo above.
Note 3: Both yesterday's post, Vintage class winner, John Kocinski, and Bonsey have links with Roberts.
Note 4: Bonsey rides with 80, the number a young Kenny Roberts raced with.
Note 5: Keep front mudguards out of flat track.

Axminster Hot-Shoe

Invisible from the air with its grass covered roof, Hanger 88 on the edge of the old RAF Hullavington runway is hard to find in the pitch black of a winter's night. Easier to switch off your engine and listen out for the whine of under-powered Chinese mini-bikes and the screeching from the cheap - but very effective Cheng Shin tyres.
Last weekend my brother sold his BTS I was intending to ride, for £250. Ronald picked one up last night for £280 (the same one maybe?!) which was flying until we decided to venture out from the tiny central ring we set up, onto the much faster perimeter karting circuit and he slammed it into the barrier. Co Built kindy brought along some extra bikes so all 8 of us has plenty of track time. I managed to create an small oil slick after a less spectacular tumble. But what with the make-shift carpet-shoes it soon got mopped up after a few laps. Thanks for organizing it all Anthony.
Next time it would be great to have a few more riders and spend some time setting up a slightly bigger oval. Maybe even make a day of it and add it as a Short Track UK event. BP

Carpetburn

Travis from the excellent 747Rider blog asked about carpet shoes in the Vegas post below. I first heard about them when I interviewed Craig Randall about his incredible life for Sideburn #3. This brilliant shot of Craig in his carpet shoe is taken from his old photo album on page 77 of that issue.Then I remembered a post from the Timomium Cow Palace flat track that illustrated carpet shoes just dandy.Photo: Tim White

UPDATE:
continuing our fetish in the same arena, but examples of plastic stacks instead of fluffy ones...
Out-takes from Gary's The Great Indoors II story in SB#2.
kneeslider screwed to Timberland boots
White nylon - the same stuff as used for chain-guides on MX bikes. This was actually off-cuts from uPVC double-glazed windows.Best not use transparent plastic, you'll just look like a total slut. BP

Mopeds of the Medina

When I'm a billionaire and I've already got my Amsterdam pizza delivery boy MotoGP up and running, the next project will be another life threatening street race but set in amongst the tiny Souks of Marrakesh. The max speed obtainable on such puny step-through machines wont render it as terrifying as Macau, but then again Macau isn't awash with donkey piss, toothless beggars, carpet salesmen trying to abduct your wife, and dumb tourists stumbling about.
I've just got back from a week's family holiday. We stayed in a cheapo riad with air-con that actually heated our room up above the ambient street temp. Icecream couscous became our staple diet. But it's an amazing place. I had hoped to sneak off for a couple of days KTM'ing with Wilderness Wheels, but my back was still out, so I had to make do with a one day taxi trip into the spectacular Atlas mountains and daily gorking at mopeds.
BP

Jethro's got his lean on

Indoor racing throws up some incredible images. Like this one, taken by Checkered Flag, that was sent in by Wayne K. He says

'Rod Lake's indoor reunion/race is coming up in a couple of weeks. I thought you might like this shot of Jethro on the concrete. He said he was going to go out and drag his handlebars on the ground. I don't think he ever did but he got it damn close. BTW he never crashed.
'Jethro Halbert national Number 69. He rides for David Zanotti. David's dad was Mario Zanotti the team owner of Steve Eklund's program when he was racing. Here's some interesting reading about them. Krumpledick is in the process of building these
sites.'

We're not sure who Krumpledick is.
Also, can someone explain why he's using what seem to be quite narrow bars? Is it because the indoor oval was tiny or just a personal preference?

Live from the Timonium Cow Palace

Carpet shoe

Dress for the ride, not the crash

Oxford shirt, chinos, silk tie, tidy moustache. Sir, you are a gentleman and a example to us all.

High, wide and handsome


From ace shooter, Tim White

'Hosted by the Baltimore County Trail Riders Association (www.bctra.org), the Timonium indoor short track races are a must-do every December. With AMA sanction the group puts on 13 races in an evening on the cement floor of the Maryland State Fairground cow palace, with classes for everyone from kids on 50cc shafties to "adults" on 100cc thumpers and the crazed on 450cc MX bikes. Bring warm clothes, ear plugs, and maybe a respirator.'