On Any Sunday (1971) - full transcript
A documentary following the lives of motorcycle racers and racing enthusiasts, including actor Steve McQueen. First asking the question "Why do they do it?" this film looks at the people who devote (and sometimes risk) their lives to racing on tracks and off-road courses around the world.
(engine revs)
(fun, lively music)
[Voiceover] Four million people
ride motorcycles in the U.S.
They come in all
shapes, sizes, and ages.
To some people, a
motorcycle is work.
Or a way to get to work.
Or a way to get away from it all
to the solitude of
the open country.
A motorcycle is whatever
you want to make it.
Turn it on and you could
give yourself a real thrill.
(bouncy, lively music)
A motorcycle is easy to ride,
except the first time you try,
your next door neighbor, who
probably doesn't know himself,
is giving you the hot
tips: brake, clutch,
shift, throttle - just
simple coordination.
(kids making motorcycle noises)
* On any Sunday, stretching
up, reaching high
* Leaving my Monday world behind
* I fire my rockets
and explode in the sky
* Kick up my heels
until I find, I'm flyin'
* Over my shoulder through
the dust and fallen
* Run will they
catch me if you can
* On any Sunday I'm a flyin' man
* On any Sunday like
the tail of a kite
* Flying and dancing in the wind
* Something inside of me
goes back through the years
* And I'm a kid I used to know
* I'm flying
* Over my shoulder
through the dust and quiet
* Run where they'll
catch me if you can
* On any Sunday I'm a flyin' man
* Flyin' man
A group of business men
during the rush hour.
The young man with a garment bag
over his shoulder
is Mert Lawwill.
29 years old, 5'6", 143 pounds.
(bell dings)
He's not a banker or an
accountant or a salesman.
But he is a professional
man like the rest.
His profession -
motorcycle racer.
(engine roars)
(fast, lively music)
Mert makes his
living in one of the
most dangerous sports in
which man participates.
His skill in the racetrack has
earned him the right to carry
the American Motorcycle
Association #1
professional plate.
He won it by competing
in a series of
27 national championship
races and scoring
the highest number of
points during the season.
The speeds he hits
are incredible.
On a half mile track, one
of the races he rides,
it's a 100 miles an
hour in the straights
and 80 in the corners, within
inches of posts and guardrail.
(fast, anxious music)
He rides within
inches of other riders
he literally has to
trust with his life.
Professional motorcycle
racing is a violent world.
(tense music)
(birds chirping)
Mert Lawwill is a gentle
man in a violent world.
His job as a professional racer
takes him on the road about
eight months of the year,
following the national circuit.
He leaves his family and
home in the suburb of
San Francisco, called Tibron,
to compete for another season
in 27 national championship
races across the United States.
He and the rest of the
pros pile up their machines
off starting lines in 16 states.
80 horsepower engines
and 300 pound machines.
That would be like having 2,000
horsepower in your family car.
To win the #1 plate, you have to
ride five different
kinds of races.
They each take
different machines
and different riding techniques.
There are several hundred
professional AMA races
in the United States,
but there's only about 15
who have the ability
to win Mert's #1 plate.
The riders are guys like Mert.
Definitely not the
Hollywood image,
but highly skilled
professionals.
Like Dick Mann, a former
#1, Gary Nixon, twice #1.
Gene Romero.
Cal Rayburn.
Most are small,
around 5'6" or 5'8",
and most are young
like Mark Belsford, 20.
Dave Smith, 21.
Dave Aldana, 20.
Don Castro, 19.
Keith Nashford, 20.
Frank Gillespie, 22.
Jim Odem, 23.
Jim Rice, 23.
Watching them in slow motion,
they look almost casual in
their actions, but they're
doing over 100 miles an hour.
Number 24, Jim Rice, number 14
in, the late Ken Pressgrove.
They don't all make it
through each racing season.
There are only a handful
of people in the world
who have the courage
and skill to ride
a motorcycle like Mert
and these professionals.
Even with their skill,
they get into trouble.
The best thing to do
to avoid a bad crash
is to purposely
lay the bike down,
like John Hastie is doing
at 80 miles an hour.
Keeping his cool and
checking traffic behind him.
In car racing, you can make some
small mistakes,
like spinning out.
In motorcycle racing, there's no
such thing as a small mistake.
Even laying it down
hurts, leathers and all.
Most riders can expect to lay
it down several times a season.
Some of them are involved in
some unbelievable crashes.
Keith Nashburn, number 30x,
went right through a 4x4 fence.
Ten minutes later,
he was picking the
straw out of his hair,
and ten minutes after that,
he was back on the track,
letting it hang out
further than ever.
If they didn't have the
ability to shake it off and get
back on the track, they
wouldn't be professional racers.
Frank Gillespie,
a young California
rider, had a bad one, too.
Down on a dusty track and
out with a broken shoulder.
Two weeks later
he's back, ready to
race again, broken
shoulder and all.
Gary Fisher is a good example of
the incredible courage
these racers have.
He was involved in a horrible
crash in the Midwest.
(impending doom music)
Amazingly, all
the riders got up.
Gary said he was all right.
An hour later, he was taken to
the hospital with a broken back.
He soaked the cast
off in the bathtub,
put on a brace instead,
and within six weeks,
would take the
brace off and race.
To win or keep #1, you have to
compete in different
types of races.
One is road racing.
Riding very special,
highly-tuned
machines with ferrings
to cut the wind.
Chin on a foam tank pad
with very precise methods
of throttle, clutch, and brake.
(motorcycle accelerates quickly)
There are five road
races in the early part
of the season, from March
to the first of June.
Road racing is noisy,
precise, and very exacting.
It's also a graceful and
beautiful thing to watch.
(slow, mellow music)
Of the five road races
they ride, Daytona Beach,
Florida, the is the Big
Daddy, with 30 degree
bank turns and blinding speed.
On the banks, there's so
much centripetal force,
your suspension is
completely bottomed out.
Your helmet's banging around,
your eyes are forced
into their sockets,
and your vision is blurred.
When you're watching
from the stands,
it's hard to believe that
coming off the banks,
they're hitting
160 miles an hour.
(engine roars)
- [Voiceover] Oil on the track!
(horrified music)
- [Voiceover] Try
jumping out of your car
at 120 and you'll
know how he felt.
Miraculously, he
didn't break a bone.
Watch again in ultra-slow motion
and you can see
the abuse he took.
His glove goes flying
30 feet down the track,
takes a tremendous jolt...
Watch his right
leg get bent under.
It's amazing it didn't break.
Like all forms of racing,
road racing is precise.
It's got a certain beauty to it
and it's also very dangerous.
This is the mile.
The most incredible of
all dirt track racing.
On the straight, Mert
hits 130 miles an hour
and around 100
sliding the corners.
Mert's teammate,
kind of protege, Mark
Brelsford, number 87.
Mark is spectacular on the mile.
Most riders agree the
biggest thrill of all
is to sit up at the
end of the straight,
and at 120, pitch it sideways.
(fast, fun, music)
Mark laid out, feet
up, out of the turn,
100, 110, 120, and
back down the straight,
tucked in to reduce
the wind resistance.
* K-C-A-C-L
When Mert's not racing, he's
working on his machines.
After each race,
the engine is torn
down and inspected
piece by piece.
It's a lot more complicated
than twisting nuts and bolts.
For instance, each gear
in the transmission is
ground down by hand to save
a few ounces of weight.
If he can get a fraction of an
ounce off this cam follower,
he can pick up a few extra RPMs,
and that's an edge
over the others.
He spends hours
alone in his garage,
trying to figure out a way
to improve an engine part.
Only another professional racer,
who maintains his own
equipment like Mert,
can really appreciate
the work involved.
He spends over a thousand hours
a year working on
his motorcycles.
It's off to Columbus, Ohio.
One of ten cross-country
trips Mert makes
during the eight
month racing season.
He drives his van over
70,000 miles a year,
traveling with his friend
and helper, Jack Dunn.
They don't stay in motels,
but drive 24 hours a day,
stopping only to eat and refuel.
Mert is totally dedicated
to his profession.
He works at it
seven days a week.
He doesn't have time for
many outside interests.
Motorcycle racing is his life.
He grossed about
$50,000 the year before,
ended up with about
$20,000 after expenses.
That's good money, but
not what it should be
for the skill, knowledge,
and dedication he has.
Let alone the risks.
For most people,
San Francisco to
Columbus, Ohio,
would be four days.
For Mert and Jack,
27 hours nonstop.
They don't arrive a
day early and relax.
The pit gates at 8:30,
they arrive at 8:30.
An hour later, after
driving all night,
he's on the track going
sideways at 80 miles an hour.
(fast, enthusiastic music)
Before each race, there's
about an hour of practice.
They aren't practicing riding,
they're experimenting
with frame geometry,
gearing, and tires most
suitable for this track.
There's a lot more
to racing than
holding the throttle wide open.
Tires alone are an
exact science to them.
With different rubber compounds
and different tread designs.
Even a pound or two
difference in air pressure
makes a difference in handling.
Before each race,
they cut their tires
with razor blades
for added traction.
Each rider has special
cuts and they change
from hour to hour, depending
on the condition of the dirt.
There are many things to
attend to before a race,
like taping on these clear,
plastic strips called tear-offs.
Some riders stack up five or
six and rip them off one-by-one
as the flying dirt sticks
and obscures their vision.
It's gotta be a real
thrill just to reach up
and find that tab at
100 miles an hour.
The last thing they
strap on before
a race is their steel skid shoe.
Custom-made for each rider,
with the shape of the bottom
sliding surface varied to
suit the rider's style.
The 20 lap, half mile
in Columbus, Ohio.
Mert had won the race
two years in a row.
A win today would
put him in good shape
to keep his #1
plate another year.
A $6,000 purse and 60 points.
Mert wanted both.
On the starting line,
watching for a flicker
of movement from the flagman,
he's like a gunfighter.
No show of emotion,
not even a blink.
Total concentration.
(engines roar)
Mert was riding
beautifully, stretching out
his lead, he'd done
everything right.
He'd chosen the right
tire, he'd picked up
those extra few RPMs by
grinding down his cam follower.
His machine was perfectly
set up and he was
riding like the
national champ he is.
The crowd, sensing
victory and urging him on.
On the last lap, the pack
came around, but no Mert.
Here he came in last
place, out of the race,
with a broken throttle cable.
A two dollar part.
It cost him the 60 points
he needed and his share
of the purse, instead of
several thousand, was $116.
It was a pretty
disappointing day.
It would be tough,
with the races left,
to earn enough
points to keep #1.
By Monday, Mert was back on
the road, heading for more
races and hitting the gourmet
restaurants along the way.
You may survive the race,
but not the restaurant.
Mert went on to win
three national races.
He greatly enjoys the things
that come with winning.
What followed him
through the season
was an unbelievable
string of bad luck.
He broke down in nearly
half the championship races.
Often little things,
like a throttle cable,
or an electrical short, or
a tire tread coming off.
Here at Terra Haute, Indiana,
with a half a lap lead,
Jack Dunn just knew
something would happen.
And it did.
Mert pulling off with
a broken crank shaft.
He'd break, bounce
back, break again,
race again, but now
it was too late.
With the races left to
run, there was no way Mert
could earn enough points
to regain his #1 plate.
The plate he'd ridden
12 years to win,
and had one season, he'd now
have to give to someone else.
There were four riders
who had enough points
to have a shot at ending up #1.
One was Mert's best
friend, Dick 'Bugsy' Mann,
number 2, the veteran
of the circuit.
Not only excels at each
of the five AMA events,
but is highly skilled
in motocross, as well.
There's no one who's
more respected by
his fellow riders, and
the fans, than Dick Mann.
- [Voiceover] On the BSA
number 2, Dick 'Bugsy' Mann.
(cheering)
- [Voiceover] The second rider
who could win the #1 plate,
one of the youngest, 20
year old Dave Aldana,
his first year as
professional expert.
David Aldana, the crazy kid
from Santa Ana, California.
Off the track, he's conservative
compared to his
action on the track.
He crashed 15 times
during the year
at speeds up to 120 miles
an hour and was never hurt.
David said, "You never know how
"fast you can go
until you fall down."
If he didn't crash,
he often won.
The third rider in
contention was Gene Romero.
Gene's nickname is Burrito.
He's the most flamboyant of
all the professional racers,
but is very serious
about his racing,
particularly late
in the season when
he wanted the points for #1.
- [Voiceover] I don't
want to hurt anybody,
but I just want to get out there
and I gotta get
third, no matter what.
It's gonna be either one.
I've gotta get third or come
and visit me at the hospital.
I dig carnations, man.
- [Voiceover] The
fourth and final
rider who could be
#1 was Jim Rice.
Jim, the winningest
rider on the circuit,
had taken the checkered
flag six times,
as many times as anyone
ever had in a season.
The #1 plate would be decided at
Sacramento, California,
in September.
(engines rev)
Quite different from
the national circuit is
the On Any Sunday
World of Motocross.
A motocross track
is uphill, downhill,
jumps, bumps, mud,
rocks, and dust.
The rougher, the better.
Competition is still
the name of the game.
It doesn't matter
whether you're battling
for first or 31st,
it's just as fierce.
Here's a classic
confrontation for tenth place.
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,
and that'll put him behind.
But his pal just threw away
his $40 prescription lenses
and passed him right
back again on the corner.
(fast, bouncy music)
When some riders
start getting behind,
they panic and try a shortcut
through the giggle weeds.
When they can no longer race,
it's simple frustration.
Getting your bike stuck
in the mud is bad enough.
Getting your body stuck
in the mud is the worst.
Especially when it's
your girlfriend who
has to dig you out.
Everyone makes mistakes
riding motocross,
even world champion Bengt Aberg,
here going over the handlebars.
Somehow, when Aberg
gets off, he does
it with a certain
style and grace.
Everyone crashes now and then,
but not often with
style and grace.
More often, the
classic flying W.
(goofy, comical music)
Missing a turn and going off
the course is a common error.
The classic was this
guy, running 8th,
who cut the course and
nailed his buddy running 3rd.
- [Biker] Son of a bitch!
What the hell were you thinking?
- [Voiceover] You
wonder how they
get into the positions they do.
The one kid was laughing so
hard, he got stomach cramps.
Thousands off riders compete
in motocross in
the United States.
One of them is Steve McQueen.
On the starting line,
he's not an actor
out for a ride, he's
100% motorcycle racer.
(engines roar)
There's no one with a
more competitive instinct.
When he gets on his race face,
the world could be
falling down around him,
but all he sees is the track.
A one million dollar
body out there,
with a possibility of being used
by someone for
traction in a corner.
If the movie studio moguls
realized what he was
doing on a Sunday afternoon,
they'd have a coronary.
The two best motocross
riders in the world
are Bengt Aberg, 500cc
World Champion from Sweden,
and Joel Robert, 250cc
World Champion from Belgium.
Joel Robert, number 17, is a
national sports hero in Belgium.
Motocross races in
Europe sometimes draw
crowds of over a
hundred thousand people.
In Joel's home
country of Belgium,
fans have been known
to lay in the track
in front of other
riders to help Joel win.
Except he doesn't need any help.
With a #1 plate, Swede Bengt
Aberg, 500cc World Champion,
his riding skill
is unbelievable.
Here, using power to
straighten himself out.
Scientific tests have
been made and motocross
was found to be the
second most physically
demanding sport in the
world, following only soccer.
After 30 minutes of racing,
even a rider in perfect
condition, like Bengt Aberg,
is almost totally exhausted.
He's got maybe an hour
to rest between races,
then do it again,
three times a day.
Motocross races run in
all kinds of weather.
It's a race against
the other man,
but even more, it's man's battle
against the course itself.
There's a certain brutal
beauty to motocross
that you can only
see in slow motion.
(rhythmic, confident music)
The classic example of the
Sunday competitor who rides
for fun, with his
usual ear-to-ear grin,
is Malcolm Smith.
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.
He seems to enjoy it more than
anyone and he's also the best.
Back in 1968, when
being interviewed by
Wide World of Sports
about his amazing
performance the year before
in the Mexican 1,000, he didn't
talk about how tough it was.
Instead, typical Malcolm...
- Did you have any adventures
during that 9 hours
and something last in this
wild country down there?
- No, it was easy going down,
but it was hard coming back.
We had an old Volkswagen
that a friend of mine
drove down there, my
co-driver this year.
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.
- [Reporter] On the top
of the live turtles?
- Top of the live turtles.
And it smelled very
bad all the way back.
- [Voiceover] On the starting
line, most riders are nervous.
Malcolm's usually got a smile.
Of the many events Malcolm
rides, he's particularly
outstanding in the rugged,
off-road races like the
Mint 400, a 400 mile
race through the
desert near Las Vegas.
Like riding from San
Francisco to Los Angeles,
through the roughest
imaginable terrain
and averaging 50 miles an hour.
The race goes on night and
day and when it's all over,
and the other riders are almost
in shock from exhaustion,
there stands Malcolm
in the middle
of the night with a big grin.
Malcolm is king of
the Mexican 1,000.
A 1,000 mile off-road race down
the peninsula of Baja
California, Mexico.
He goes so fast, he should
be in a class by himself.
One year, he drove a dune buggy,
to see what that was like,
and was running 2nd
before he broke down.
Here again, at a pit
stop, he didn't say,
"Dust, tough, tired."
Instead, typical Malcolm.
- [Voiceover] Looked like you
were having a good
time, Malcolm.
- Oh, great, lots of fun.
- See any incidents out
there, any problems?
- Nope, nope.
- Turn around this
way for just a second.
- The only one I ever
see is Larry Berquist.
- [Reporter] Yeah, they're
up ahead of you still.
- [Malcolm] Yeah, yeah, we know.
We can't keep up
with a motorcycle.
- [Voiceover] He couldn't
keep up with a motorcycle
that year, but every other
year, the lone dust crown
across Lake Chapala was Malcolm
Smith and his motorcycle.
He never failed to lead.
One year, he was two
hours ahead of the
next machine at the
halfway point and rode
the final 200 miles
on a flat front tire.
The rougher and tougher
the event, the more skill
and human endurance it takes,
the better Malcolm likes it.
As he would say himself,
"That was really neat."
El Escorial, Spain, near Madrid,
the sight of the
international Six Day Trials.
The ultimate test
of man and machine.
The Six Day Trials is
the Olympic games of
motorcycle sport, held
for the 45th year.
348 riders from 16 countries
have gathered to compete.
Among them, Malcolm Smith.
Here getting his bike inspected
and marked prior
to the first day.
Each part of the motorcycle is
marked with a special paint.
In six days of
riding, no part can
be changed without
being disqualified.
Even internal engine parts are
marked and the engine is sealed.
The only parts
that can be changed
are control cables,
chains, tires, and tubes.
At 6:45 in the
morning, the first
of the riders get underway.
They leave four per minute.
The colors on their helmets
denote the rider's country:
Germans in white, Spanish
in yellow, Italians red,
English green,
Czechoslovakians in blue,
the Swedes with yellow and blue.
Malcolm, number 242 would be
starting on the 60th minute.
Of all the events Malcolm rides,
this is the only one he
takes very seriously.
(clock ticking)
(engines start)
There's no prize money involved.
The top prize for an individual
rider is a gold medal.
Off goes Malcolm and 348
others through the countryside
of Spain, the beginning
of a grueling adventure.
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.
The trouble is, none but
the best can keep up the
time schedule and these riders
are the best in the world.
It's an honor just to be
selected to ride the six days.
(horse whinnies)
You go through a series
of checkpoints each day.
You can get there
early, but you can't
clock through until
your prescribed minute.
You lose one mark for each
minute you're late
to any checkpoint.
In all, there are
65 time checks.
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.
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.
The best riders are
usually the Europeans.
Most are paid a salary
year-round to ride.
A gold medal at
the Six Day Trials
sells a lot of
motorcycles in Europe.
Malcolm isn't paid.
In fact, he pays
all his own expenses
just to go over
there and compete.
During the competition,
the temperatures
range from 80 degrees
to 20 degrees.
They went from 2,000
feet to over 8,000 feet,
riding in the clouds in
the mountains of Spain.
Of the 1,200 miles
the event covers,
about 800 of it is
trails like this.
They may last for 40
miles, on the foot peg,
maneuvering like six
days on a bongo board.
The speed average:
24 miles an hour.
But very few can keep it up.
All work on the
machine must be done by
the contestant himself
with no outside help.
The bikes are locked
up except during the
time you're riding
against the clock.
The only time to make
repairs or adjustments
is if you can get ahead of
schedule and stop to do it.
If you can't change a
tire in four minutes,
you're not competitive
in the Six Day Trials.
The only tools you can use for
anything are what
you carry with you.
If anyone hands
you a tool or helps
you in any way,
you're disqualified.
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.
You have to compete in a
series of special tests
at the end of each days' riding.
One is this 200 meter
acceleration test.
Clocked top speed at the end
earns needed bonus points,
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.
Another special test
at the end of each day
is a five mile timed
cross-country route.
Sort of a motocross
against the clock.
The fastest times earn
the most bonus points.
And to earn enough bonus
points for a gold medal,
you have to be in the top 30%.
The motorcycles have
mufflers and lights,
which are under
the number plate.
You can be stopped at any time
and have your light checked.
If it doesn't work, you have to
stay there until
you make it work.
In this special
test, Malcolm has
to go fast, but not too fast.
He's got to save the machine,
he's got to save his body.
There are more days to come.
Day after day, Malcolm left in
the morning chill
from El Escorial.
Stiff and sore, but on time.
(clock ticking)
Each day, he left
to do battle with
the clock and the
elements of Spain.
Mostly fatigue in his
face, but on time.
The six days, more than
any event, tests a man's
all-around ability, his
riding, his endurance,
mechanical skill, and
his ability to think
clearly when
tremendously fatigued.
If you do everything
right, don't make one
mistake in six days,
you win this gold medal.
Malcolm won one in Poland,
he won one in Germany,
and he won this one
in El Escorial, Spain.
Back in the United
States, what's Malcolm do?
Heads for another
motorcycle race
with his friend, Steve McQueen.
The event is the
Elsinore Grand Prix.
1,500 motorcyclists
line up in the
main street waiting
for the start.
(energetic, bouncy music)
1,500 riders and 50,000
spectators fill the little town.
It's a 100 mile race through
the streets of the city
and into the foothills
outside of town.
The average age of the
2,000 Elsinore residents
is 60 years old and
it's the only town
in America that
welcomes such an event.
The residents love it
and so do the riders.
Malcolm will be starting
in the second row,
Steve starting in
the fourth row.
Held back by a rope,
riders leave at
ten second intervals,
ten abreast.
It was supposed to be
ten second intervals,
but it got a lot
shorter than that.
You could tell the
most eager riders
by the rope burns on their neck.
(engines rev)
By the time the race
was two miles old,
Malcolm passing the last
rider and taking the lead.
It had rained a few days before
and there was a big puddle.
As the pack came
thundering through,
the water puddle turned
into a mud puddle.
Then it turned into a mud hole.
The first 200 riders
made it through,
but for the 1,300 yet to
come, it was all stopped.
(trumpet plays)
There's no money
involved in the race.
A trophy for the winner.
In fact, they pay a $15 entry
fee for the honor of riding.
While they were getting
out of the mud hole,
Malcolm had opened
up a commanding lead.
Malcolm rides so smoothly
and effortlessly,
he doesn't appear to
be going very fast.
He is.
There's 1,499 riders behind him.
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.
For 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.
Everyone rides Elsinore.
If there's one event
you ride a year,
it's usually the
Elsinore Grand Prix.
People of all ages, girls,
the pig farmer from Marietta.
There's only about 200 riders
who are seriously competitive.
For the rest, it's a
great Sunday adventure.
Doing wheelies through town
to dazzle their friends,
bouncing off any
object in sight,
missing half the corners
and ripping out ten
miles of banners and dragging
them back through town.
The people of
Elsinore can't believe
what's going on in their town.
They pull a chair
up in their front
yard and have a grandstand seat.
(engines roar)
Number 48, Steve
McQueen, entered
under the name of
Harvey Mushman.
But it didn't take
long for the spectators
to figure out who
number 48 really was.
She was dazzled, but her
husband wasn't too impressed.
Yeah, I could do that.
Steve really earned the
respect of his fellow riders.
Some of them didn't realize
what a good rider he really is.
His car racing experience
gives him the ability
to pick the perfect line
through the corners.
In a subsequent Elsinore
race, Steve crashed, broke his
foot, got up and finished
8th, broken foot and all.
It was Malcolm Smith's day.
When Malcolm passes you, it's a
mistake to try
and stay with him.
In the lead, but
still time for a
wave to a friend
beside the course.
Malcolm's got an uncanny sense
for doing the right thing.
Here, swerving off the
course, through a hole
in the barbed wire
fence, and around
the now cleaned out mud hole.
Back through the fence
again without missing a beat
and passing six
guys in the process.
What's a guy who
rides motorcycles
every Sunday do for a living?
Malcolm owns a motorcycle shop.
In ten laps, Malcolm
passed 7,000 riders,
some of them three times.
Malcolm almost never makes
a bobble or a mistake.
It's about 200 feet down
off the side of the road.
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.
Steve turned in a great
ride, finishing 10th overall,
riding against
the best riders in
the country for
this kind of event.
- Every time I start thinking
the world is all bad,
then I start seeing some people
out there having a good time
on a motorcycle and it
makes me take another look.
It was good fun.
- [Voiceover] 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.
The passenger is
called the monkey,
he's usually flat on one side.
(engine roars)
Motorcycle drag
racing is another
highly specialized
form of competition.
They hit speeds of 160 miles
an hour in the quarter mile.
Before they leave the
line, they burn their tires
to get them hot and sticky
for better traction.
This guy was going to donate
his lungs to the Mayo clinic.
Special machines and
riders who usually
specialize in nothing
but drag racing.
It's won or lost in a
hundredth of a second
at the finish, or
even at the start.
Probably the least
number of people
in all of motorcycle sport
race their motorcycles on ice.
Quebec City, Canada,
is the site of one.
The fans try to
stay alive in the
ten degree below zero weather.
The riders wear
leather masks to keep
their faces from
freezing and protect them
from cuts from flying
ice off the track.
Two inch spikes in the tires
for traction on the ice.
Before a race, they
have to be wondering,
it would be like getting
run over by a buzz saw.
If you go down, the main
thought is to get off the track,
because there's more
buzz saws coming.
This guy set a
world record for a
20 foot crawl on
his hands and knees.
They hit tremendous speeds
on this half mile ice track.
20 second lap times,
averaging almost 80.
Absolutely no wheels spin
with those spiked tires.
They ride with different
styles - some foot down,
dirt track style, others slide
on a knee on a hockey pad.
There's only about 50 or
60 people who ice race in
North America and only a
couple of big ice races a year.
It's popular in certain parts
of Europe, especially Russia.
Ice racing in
Canada, ten degrees
below zero, in the
middle of a snowstorm.
(wind blows)
From ten degrees below
to 115 degrees above
at the Bonneville
Salt Flats in Utah,
where once again, men
on motorcycles compete,
trying to set speed records.
Once a year, they have
speed week for motorcycles.
There's about 200 different
classes and anyone
with a two-wheeled
machine gets into the act.
Some of the bikes
are a little strange.
This guy had a 60 horsepower
skateboard and steel kneecaps.
Some guy got an old bomb
and put a motor in it.
Didn't handle very well.
From the backyard specials
to the exotically engineered
and computer-designed,
stream-lined bikes.
There was a fellow
named Cal Rayburn,
a professional racer, who
was going to make an assault
on the motorcycle land speed
record of 250 miles an hour.
He was going to
drive one of those
slide rule,
super-engineered specials.
He lost a little faith in
the computers and engineers
when he got in and found
out an interesting thing.
He didn't fit.
By then, Cal was beginning
to have some second thoughts.
He kept saying,
"You guys are nuts."
They said his helmet visor
must be too big, so they
sawed it off, that way it
wouldn't dig into his chest.
It didn't dig into his chest,
but his chin still did.
In this position, he
was supposed to try
and go faster than
anyone ever had with
a motorcycle over
250 miles an hour.
Once the lid was in
the place, he found
out interesting
point number two.
He couldn't see out.
His feet were too big and
blocked his view out the
front window and his knee
blocked his view out the side.
So all he had to do was
peer out the side window,
over his knee, and follow
this black line painted
on the salt at
anything over 250.
Late in the afternoon,
they launched him,
and he found out interesting
point number three.
It didn't handle very
well at six miles an hour.
He kept saying,
"You guys are nuts."
But he was driving.
After a week of trying and
crashes from six to 206,
Calvin finally set a new
motorcycle land speed
record of over
265 miles an hour.
The steering changed
with the speed.
Under 100, turn
right to go right.
100 to 200, turn
left to go right,
and over 200, back
to normal again.
(piercing ringing)
The mile track at
Sacramento, California.
This is where the #1
plate will be decided.
A $12,000 purse.
But more important to
Dick Mann, Dave Aldana,
Gene Romero, and Jim
Rice, 101 points.
Enough to make any of them #1.
All the riders were there, but
the pressure was on the four.
If Dave Aldana won,
it would be the
first time a first
year expert ever had.
Romero was not his
usual laughing self.
Jim Rice was off alone,
walking the track.
Dick Mann arrived.
He'd broken his leg in
a race only three weeks
before and no one
expected him to compete.
But he'd sawed off his
cast and was going to try.
He jammed his swollen leg
into his boot and steel shoe,
went out on the track,
and won his heat race.
Mert won the second heat,
Gene Romero the third,
with Dave Aldana
transferring to the
point-paying main by
finishing third in his heat.
The first four riders in each
heat transfer to the main event.
Jim Rice, number
24, playing it cool
in the final heat
and transferring.
After the finish, at
120 miles an hour...
(horrifying music)
(sirens wailing)
An hour later, they lined
up for the main event.
Jim Rice was getting
out of the ambulance
and was going to try
and ride the race.
(cheering)
- [Voiceover] Jim
Rice walking out
and he'll be back in action.
- [Voiceover] In a lot
of pain with a bandanna
covering his broken
nose, Jim quietly
took his place on the
line with the rest.
(indistinct announcer)
(engines roar)
And down the backshoot
at 125 miles an hour.
(indistinct announcer)
It was Dave Aldana.
The race was black-flagged.
Aldana's bike was completely
totaled, but David,
as he had all year,
walked away unhurt.
But he also walked away
from any chance of being #1.
No way he could make the
three minute restart rule.
The restart was a carbon
copy of the first.
Mert in fourth, working
his way back to third.
Romero second and Mann first.
(indistinct announcer)
And Romero, again, getting by
Dick Mann at exactly
the same place.
Jim Rice, running in last place.
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.
It's amazing he
tried to ride at all.
On the 20th lap,
Dick Mann pulled in.
He'd caught his
shoe in a hole and
was in too much
paint to continue.
For him, that's got to be a lot.
(engines roar)
Mert hung on to Romero's
tail for the first 20 laps
and then, as it happened so
often during this season,
smoke began pouring out
as his engine went south.
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 #1.
(fun, celebratory music)
It was a day of
happiness for Gene.
For Rice, Aldana, and Mann, it
was a very disappointing day.
Rice was lucky to be alive.
What kind of men are these
that take tremendous chances?
That saw off a cast and
ride with a broken leg
and say, "It'll be okay,
I'm a fast healer."
Why do they do it?
There's no answer to that.
If you ask them,
they say simply,
"Because it's what
I like to do."
For Mert, the day at Sacramento
had been a mirror of the season.
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.
Let's see what's happening in
the rest of the
motorcycle world.
It's Sunday and we're about 20
miles from Salt Lake City, Utah.
There's a hill there
called Widowmaker.
It's 600 feet high and the angle
up the face is 89%,
roughly 45 degrees.
It's the sight of the annual
Widowmaker hill climb.
No one's ever made
it over the top
and they've been
trying for seven years.
Riders come from all over
the country to compete in yet
another highly specialized
form of motorcycle competition.
As I said, no one's
ever made the top,
but they give it
a hell of a try.
(fast, lively music)
Wherever the bike stops is
where the measurement is taken,
so they get some bizarre
push off techniques.
This guy nearly nailed
a couple of spectators
and lost 12 feet in the process.
That's a whole lot better
than losing 387 feet.
Some of the bikes have
a lot of character.
The hill climbers, themselves,
are safe to say, characters.
There was the mortician
from Waukegan who
thought hyperventilation
was the answer.
It got him up the hill 15 feet.
The classic guy that day
was old Hawkeye Hillbilly.
He spent considerable
time mentally
psyching himself
up for the hill.
Didn't know whether that was his
number plate or a
traffic citation.
On the hill, Hawkeye the
bouncer turned in a great run.
Only about 50 feet
short of the top.
Ol' Malcolm was there.
He'd never ridden
the hill climb,
but he thought it would be fun.
On his first try, in
typical Malcolm Smith style,
he forgot to turn on the gas.
Later in the day, he
got his second run
and more than made up
for his first error.
Riding his stock motorcycle
in the 500cc class,
against the specially
built hill climbers,
he got up to around 500 feet,
right in there with
the best of 'em.
Going back down the hill is a
major operation for most riders.
Malcolm dazzled
folks when he turned
around and rode his
motorcycle down.
- Holy cow.
- [Voiceover] One of the
final riders of the day
was Mike Gibbon, who'd
driven all the way from
Grants Pass, Oregon,
to ride this event.
Chains on the tires and
nitromethane fuel in the tank,
Mike Gibbon made the first tire
mark on the top of Widowmaker.
After seven years,
it had been done.
(horns honking)
He got a big trophy and
the local Lions Club
gave him $100 to help him pay
his expenses back to Oregon.
It had been quite a day.
Widowmaker had at
last been conquered.
Malcolm got 100 feet
further up the hill
than any other stock
bike, finishing third
against the special
hill climb machines.
(horn beeping)
This fellow's a trials rider.
The magicians of the
motorcycle world.
Good trials riders can do
wheelies like this for miles.
Around corners, everywhere,
just bopping along,
watching the scenery.
Trials riders are the violin
players of the motorcycle world.
Tremendously skilled
at what they do.
The kid couldn't believe it,
but there was nobody to tell.
In riding trials events,
all you have to do
is get through a difficult
section of terrain
without putting your foot down.
A good trials rider's ability
to do this is amazing.
It would seem impossible
to get a motorcycle
with ten inches of
clearance over a 30 inch log
and then make a sharp right turn
to stay in bounds and
not put your foot down.
It can be done.
Here's a beautiful example.
Lift the wheel at
the precise instant,
turn it in midair
so when you land
your turn has already begun.
It looks easy, don't believe it.
Malcolm rides one or two trials
a year on his Sunday outings.
In fact, he rides one or two
of almost everything a year.
In trials, too, he is very good.
Try this someday if you want
to do something
really difficult.
Neat, Malcolm.
Quite a different breed from the
trials riders are
the desert racers.
Unique to the
southwest, particularly
southern California.
There's even a group
of girls called
The Desert Daisies,
who race in the desert.
A great variety of people,
from all walks of life,
gather each Sunday to race.
Number one plate holder in
the desert, Whitey Martino.
When they line up for the
start, it's quite a sight.
(fast, fun music)
Down there on the line
are doctors, lawyers,
carpenters, plumbers,
engineers, salesmen,
students, anyone, and everybody.
A thousand riders ready
to race a hare and hound
over 100 miles of
desert terrain.
50 miles from the nearest town.
This scene takes place
every Sunday of the year,
which starts from
500 to 2,000 riders.
The prize - a trophy
for the winner
and the satisfaction of knowing
you did it, for the rest.
They head first to a smoke bomb
about five miles from the start.
At 10:00am, the banner drops.
(energetic music)
About 10% never make the first
five miles to the smoke bomb.
It's a cross between
a race and a war.
They raise a cloud of dust that
settles three weeks
later on London.
Once through the smoke bomb,
they start to thin out,
following a trail marked
with a ribbon and line.
No one's allowed to
ride the course first,
so it's all new terrain to them.
Three stripes of
line across the trail
mean a dangerous spot ahead.
To the experienced desert rider,
mounds of dirt mean danger, too.
Because the mounds had
to come out of something
like a mine shaft or
a ditch or a hole.
You can tell when
someone found one
by the way they
disappear so quickly.
It's 100 miles of
uphills, washes,
brush, sand, cactus,
downhills, and rocks.
A struggle just to get through.
But the biggest
hazard to a desert
racer is another desert racer.
In the spring, the
B-29 bugs come out
and hitting one is like
running into a medicine ball.
Desert racers are good people.
There's even a guy who rides
the desert with his dog.
There's a rug in the
tank the dog hangs on to.
He's got claws like an eagle.
Their pit stops are
kind of unusual.
Some of the hairiest
racing is in the pits.
The best riders can
invariably be found way
in front of the dust
and really hauling.
Here, J. N. Roberts, one of
the really great desert racers.
Steve McQueen riding here.
Still rides an
occasional desert race,
although he prefers
motocross now.
A few years back,
he rode every Sunday
and was ranked the
11th amateur rider.
And here, Malcolm Smith.
He rarely rides the desert.
Says he doesn't like
the heat and dust.
He's ridden about
12 desert races
in his life and he
won six of them.
The other six, he broke down.
King of the desert and #1
plate holder, Whitey Martino.
There's a great deal
of skill involved,
not just riding, but
reading the terrain.
This is the way it looks
to Whitey, weaving through
the pucker bushes at
60 to 70 miles an hour.
You don't go straight, but it's
almost like a slalom
through the bushes.
If you hit a bush,
it's an instant end-o.
After battling your way through
sand, rocks, turtles, bugs,
and mine shafts, you'd expect
the finish to be exciting.
The finish of a desert race is
like the finish
of no other race.
It's just over.
There's usually about
100 people watching
and they're waiting for
somebody else, anyway.
Desert races are a very
personal experience.
No spectators to
cheer you, but a great
personal satisfaction
in knowing you did it.
If 1,000 start, there's usually
about 300 or 400 that finish.
The rest are strewn out
over 100 miles of desert
and are picked up by a crew
that sweeps the course.
But there's always someone
who gets off the course,
gets lost, and breaks
a chain or something.
He has no idea where he is
and neither does anyone else.
The desert racer's
handbook says build a fire.
The rescue squad will see the
smoke and come and pick you up.
Desert racers don't lean toward
tinder and the one-match fire.
It's high-test and a
pucker bush for them.
The nearest water is in
the radiator of his truck,
but he doesn't have any
idea where his truck is.
That's $1,000 signal fire.
Probably the most fun
in all of motorcycling
is to load your bike in a pickup
truck and head out
into the country.
The pressure of racing over,
it's time to relax
and have some fun.
Malcolm, Steve, and
Mert all like to race,
but they think this kind
of riding is the most fun.
It's called cow trailing.
If your friends aren't paying
attention, how can you resist?
Steve could have picked
better people to fool
with than Mert Lawwill
and Malcolm Smith.
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.
It can only be fully shared
by someone who's done it.
(light, fun music)
* On Any Sunday looking
back on the crowd
* From the far out
place I've found
* Screaming inside of
me and laughin' out loud
* I'm losing contact
with the ground
* I'm flyin'
* Over my shoulder
through the dust and quiet
* Run where they'll
catch me, if you can
* On Any Sunday I'm a flyin' man
* Free as the wind,
faster than time
* Reason and rhyme
are running behind
* Tastin' the sun,
feelin' the Earth,
* Knowing my worth
and freeing my mind
* On Any Sunday like
the tail of a kite
* Flying and dancing in the wind
* I'd like to break the
string and drift out of site
* I may not pass this way again
* I'm flyin'
* Over my shoulder
through the dust and quiet
* Run where they'll
catch me if you can
* On Any Sunday
I'm a flyin' man *
(fun, lively music)
[Voiceover] Four million people
ride motorcycles in the U.S.
They come in all
shapes, sizes, and ages.
To some people, a
motorcycle is work.
Or a way to get to work.
Or a way to get away from it all
to the solitude of
the open country.
A motorcycle is whatever
you want to make it.
Turn it on and you could
give yourself a real thrill.
(bouncy, lively music)
A motorcycle is easy to ride,
except the first time you try,
your next door neighbor, who
probably doesn't know himself,
is giving you the hot
tips: brake, clutch,
shift, throttle - just
simple coordination.
(kids making motorcycle noises)
* On any Sunday, stretching
up, reaching high
* Leaving my Monday world behind
* I fire my rockets
and explode in the sky
* Kick up my heels
until I find, I'm flyin'
* Over my shoulder through
the dust and fallen
* Run will they
catch me if you can
* On any Sunday I'm a flyin' man
* On any Sunday like
the tail of a kite
* Flying and dancing in the wind
* Something inside of me
goes back through the years
* And I'm a kid I used to know
* I'm flying
* Over my shoulder
through the dust and quiet
* Run where they'll
catch me if you can
* On any Sunday I'm a flyin' man
* Flyin' man
A group of business men
during the rush hour.
The young man with a garment bag
over his shoulder
is Mert Lawwill.
29 years old, 5'6", 143 pounds.
(bell dings)
He's not a banker or an
accountant or a salesman.
But he is a professional
man like the rest.
His profession -
motorcycle racer.
(engine roars)
(fast, lively music)
Mert makes his
living in one of the
most dangerous sports in
which man participates.
His skill in the racetrack has
earned him the right to carry
the American Motorcycle
Association #1
professional plate.
He won it by competing
in a series of
27 national championship
races and scoring
the highest number of
points during the season.
The speeds he hits
are incredible.
On a half mile track, one
of the races he rides,
it's a 100 miles an
hour in the straights
and 80 in the corners, within
inches of posts and guardrail.
(fast, anxious music)
He rides within
inches of other riders
he literally has to
trust with his life.
Professional motorcycle
racing is a violent world.
(tense music)
(birds chirping)
Mert Lawwill is a gentle
man in a violent world.
His job as a professional racer
takes him on the road about
eight months of the year,
following the national circuit.
He leaves his family and
home in the suburb of
San Francisco, called Tibron,
to compete for another season
in 27 national championship
races across the United States.
He and the rest of the
pros pile up their machines
off starting lines in 16 states.
80 horsepower engines
and 300 pound machines.
That would be like having 2,000
horsepower in your family car.
To win the #1 plate, you have to
ride five different
kinds of races.
They each take
different machines
and different riding techniques.
There are several hundred
professional AMA races
in the United States,
but there's only about 15
who have the ability
to win Mert's #1 plate.
The riders are guys like Mert.
Definitely not the
Hollywood image,
but highly skilled
professionals.
Like Dick Mann, a former
#1, Gary Nixon, twice #1.
Gene Romero.
Cal Rayburn.
Most are small,
around 5'6" or 5'8",
and most are young
like Mark Belsford, 20.
Dave Smith, 21.
Dave Aldana, 20.
Don Castro, 19.
Keith Nashford, 20.
Frank Gillespie, 22.
Jim Odem, 23.
Jim Rice, 23.
Watching them in slow motion,
they look almost casual in
their actions, but they're
doing over 100 miles an hour.
Number 24, Jim Rice, number 14
in, the late Ken Pressgrove.
They don't all make it
through each racing season.
There are only a handful
of people in the world
who have the courage
and skill to ride
a motorcycle like Mert
and these professionals.
Even with their skill,
they get into trouble.
The best thing to do
to avoid a bad crash
is to purposely
lay the bike down,
like John Hastie is doing
at 80 miles an hour.
Keeping his cool and
checking traffic behind him.
In car racing, you can make some
small mistakes,
like spinning out.
In motorcycle racing, there's no
such thing as a small mistake.
Even laying it down
hurts, leathers and all.
Most riders can expect to lay
it down several times a season.
Some of them are involved in
some unbelievable crashes.
Keith Nashburn, number 30x,
went right through a 4x4 fence.
Ten minutes later,
he was picking the
straw out of his hair,
and ten minutes after that,
he was back on the track,
letting it hang out
further than ever.
If they didn't have the
ability to shake it off and get
back on the track, they
wouldn't be professional racers.
Frank Gillespie,
a young California
rider, had a bad one, too.
Down on a dusty track and
out with a broken shoulder.
Two weeks later
he's back, ready to
race again, broken
shoulder and all.
Gary Fisher is a good example of
the incredible courage
these racers have.
He was involved in a horrible
crash in the Midwest.
(impending doom music)
Amazingly, all
the riders got up.
Gary said he was all right.
An hour later, he was taken to
the hospital with a broken back.
He soaked the cast
off in the bathtub,
put on a brace instead,
and within six weeks,
would take the
brace off and race.
To win or keep #1, you have to
compete in different
types of races.
One is road racing.
Riding very special,
highly-tuned
machines with ferrings
to cut the wind.
Chin on a foam tank pad
with very precise methods
of throttle, clutch, and brake.
(motorcycle accelerates quickly)
There are five road
races in the early part
of the season, from March
to the first of June.
Road racing is noisy,
precise, and very exacting.
It's also a graceful and
beautiful thing to watch.
(slow, mellow music)
Of the five road races
they ride, Daytona Beach,
Florida, the is the Big
Daddy, with 30 degree
bank turns and blinding speed.
On the banks, there's so
much centripetal force,
your suspension is
completely bottomed out.
Your helmet's banging around,
your eyes are forced
into their sockets,
and your vision is blurred.
When you're watching
from the stands,
it's hard to believe that
coming off the banks,
they're hitting
160 miles an hour.
(engine roars)
- [Voiceover] Oil on the track!
(horrified music)
- [Voiceover] Try
jumping out of your car
at 120 and you'll
know how he felt.
Miraculously, he
didn't break a bone.
Watch again in ultra-slow motion
and you can see
the abuse he took.
His glove goes flying
30 feet down the track,
takes a tremendous jolt...
Watch his right
leg get bent under.
It's amazing it didn't break.
Like all forms of racing,
road racing is precise.
It's got a certain beauty to it
and it's also very dangerous.
This is the mile.
The most incredible of
all dirt track racing.
On the straight, Mert
hits 130 miles an hour
and around 100
sliding the corners.
Mert's teammate,
kind of protege, Mark
Brelsford, number 87.
Mark is spectacular on the mile.
Most riders agree the
biggest thrill of all
is to sit up at the
end of the straight,
and at 120, pitch it sideways.
(fast, fun, music)
Mark laid out, feet
up, out of the turn,
100, 110, 120, and
back down the straight,
tucked in to reduce
the wind resistance.
* K-C-A-C-L
When Mert's not racing, he's
working on his machines.
After each race,
the engine is torn
down and inspected
piece by piece.
It's a lot more complicated
than twisting nuts and bolts.
For instance, each gear
in the transmission is
ground down by hand to save
a few ounces of weight.
If he can get a fraction of an
ounce off this cam follower,
he can pick up a few extra RPMs,
and that's an edge
over the others.
He spends hours
alone in his garage,
trying to figure out a way
to improve an engine part.
Only another professional racer,
who maintains his own
equipment like Mert,
can really appreciate
the work involved.
He spends over a thousand hours
a year working on
his motorcycles.
It's off to Columbus, Ohio.
One of ten cross-country
trips Mert makes
during the eight
month racing season.
He drives his van over
70,000 miles a year,
traveling with his friend
and helper, Jack Dunn.
They don't stay in motels,
but drive 24 hours a day,
stopping only to eat and refuel.
Mert is totally dedicated
to his profession.
He works at it
seven days a week.
He doesn't have time for
many outside interests.
Motorcycle racing is his life.
He grossed about
$50,000 the year before,
ended up with about
$20,000 after expenses.
That's good money, but
not what it should be
for the skill, knowledge,
and dedication he has.
Let alone the risks.
For most people,
San Francisco to
Columbus, Ohio,
would be four days.
For Mert and Jack,
27 hours nonstop.
They don't arrive a
day early and relax.
The pit gates at 8:30,
they arrive at 8:30.
An hour later, after
driving all night,
he's on the track going
sideways at 80 miles an hour.
(fast, enthusiastic music)
Before each race, there's
about an hour of practice.
They aren't practicing riding,
they're experimenting
with frame geometry,
gearing, and tires most
suitable for this track.
There's a lot more
to racing than
holding the throttle wide open.
Tires alone are an
exact science to them.
With different rubber compounds
and different tread designs.
Even a pound or two
difference in air pressure
makes a difference in handling.
Before each race,
they cut their tires
with razor blades
for added traction.
Each rider has special
cuts and they change
from hour to hour, depending
on the condition of the dirt.
There are many things to
attend to before a race,
like taping on these clear,
plastic strips called tear-offs.
Some riders stack up five or
six and rip them off one-by-one
as the flying dirt sticks
and obscures their vision.
It's gotta be a real
thrill just to reach up
and find that tab at
100 miles an hour.
The last thing they
strap on before
a race is their steel skid shoe.
Custom-made for each rider,
with the shape of the bottom
sliding surface varied to
suit the rider's style.
The 20 lap, half mile
in Columbus, Ohio.
Mert had won the race
two years in a row.
A win today would
put him in good shape
to keep his #1
plate another year.
A $6,000 purse and 60 points.
Mert wanted both.
On the starting line,
watching for a flicker
of movement from the flagman,
he's like a gunfighter.
No show of emotion,
not even a blink.
Total concentration.
(engines roar)
Mert was riding
beautifully, stretching out
his lead, he'd done
everything right.
He'd chosen the right
tire, he'd picked up
those extra few RPMs by
grinding down his cam follower.
His machine was perfectly
set up and he was
riding like the
national champ he is.
The crowd, sensing
victory and urging him on.
On the last lap, the pack
came around, but no Mert.
Here he came in last
place, out of the race,
with a broken throttle cable.
A two dollar part.
It cost him the 60 points
he needed and his share
of the purse, instead of
several thousand, was $116.
It was a pretty
disappointing day.
It would be tough,
with the races left,
to earn enough
points to keep #1.
By Monday, Mert was back on
the road, heading for more
races and hitting the gourmet
restaurants along the way.
You may survive the race,
but not the restaurant.
Mert went on to win
three national races.
He greatly enjoys the things
that come with winning.
What followed him
through the season
was an unbelievable
string of bad luck.
He broke down in nearly
half the championship races.
Often little things,
like a throttle cable,
or an electrical short, or
a tire tread coming off.
Here at Terra Haute, Indiana,
with a half a lap lead,
Jack Dunn just knew
something would happen.
And it did.
Mert pulling off with
a broken crank shaft.
He'd break, bounce
back, break again,
race again, but now
it was too late.
With the races left to
run, there was no way Mert
could earn enough points
to regain his #1 plate.
The plate he'd ridden
12 years to win,
and had one season, he'd now
have to give to someone else.
There were four riders
who had enough points
to have a shot at ending up #1.
One was Mert's best
friend, Dick 'Bugsy' Mann,
number 2, the veteran
of the circuit.
Not only excels at each
of the five AMA events,
but is highly skilled
in motocross, as well.
There's no one who's
more respected by
his fellow riders, and
the fans, than Dick Mann.
- [Voiceover] On the BSA
number 2, Dick 'Bugsy' Mann.
(cheering)
- [Voiceover] The second rider
who could win the #1 plate,
one of the youngest, 20
year old Dave Aldana,
his first year as
professional expert.
David Aldana, the crazy kid
from Santa Ana, California.
Off the track, he's conservative
compared to his
action on the track.
He crashed 15 times
during the year
at speeds up to 120 miles
an hour and was never hurt.
David said, "You never know how
"fast you can go
until you fall down."
If he didn't crash,
he often won.
The third rider in
contention was Gene Romero.
Gene's nickname is Burrito.
He's the most flamboyant of
all the professional racers,
but is very serious
about his racing,
particularly late
in the season when
he wanted the points for #1.
- [Voiceover] I don't
want to hurt anybody,
but I just want to get out there
and I gotta get
third, no matter what.
It's gonna be either one.
I've gotta get third or come
and visit me at the hospital.
I dig carnations, man.
- [Voiceover] The
fourth and final
rider who could be
#1 was Jim Rice.
Jim, the winningest
rider on the circuit,
had taken the checkered
flag six times,
as many times as anyone
ever had in a season.
The #1 plate would be decided at
Sacramento, California,
in September.
(engines rev)
Quite different from
the national circuit is
the On Any Sunday
World of Motocross.
A motocross track
is uphill, downhill,
jumps, bumps, mud,
rocks, and dust.
The rougher, the better.
Competition is still
the name of the game.
It doesn't matter
whether you're battling
for first or 31st,
it's just as fierce.
Here's a classic
confrontation for tenth place.
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,
and that'll put him behind.
But his pal just threw away
his $40 prescription lenses
and passed him right
back again on the corner.
(fast, bouncy music)
When some riders
start getting behind,
they panic and try a shortcut
through the giggle weeds.
When they can no longer race,
it's simple frustration.
Getting your bike stuck
in the mud is bad enough.
Getting your body stuck
in the mud is the worst.
Especially when it's
your girlfriend who
has to dig you out.
Everyone makes mistakes
riding motocross,
even world champion Bengt Aberg,
here going over the handlebars.
Somehow, when Aberg
gets off, he does
it with a certain
style and grace.
Everyone crashes now and then,
but not often with
style and grace.
More often, the
classic flying W.
(goofy, comical music)
Missing a turn and going off
the course is a common error.
The classic was this
guy, running 8th,
who cut the course and
nailed his buddy running 3rd.
- [Biker] Son of a bitch!
What the hell were you thinking?
- [Voiceover] You
wonder how they
get into the positions they do.
The one kid was laughing so
hard, he got stomach cramps.
Thousands off riders compete
in motocross in
the United States.
One of them is Steve McQueen.
On the starting line,
he's not an actor
out for a ride, he's
100% motorcycle racer.
(engines roar)
There's no one with a
more competitive instinct.
When he gets on his race face,
the world could be
falling down around him,
but all he sees is the track.
A one million dollar
body out there,
with a possibility of being used
by someone for
traction in a corner.
If the movie studio moguls
realized what he was
doing on a Sunday afternoon,
they'd have a coronary.
The two best motocross
riders in the world
are Bengt Aberg, 500cc
World Champion from Sweden,
and Joel Robert, 250cc
World Champion from Belgium.
Joel Robert, number 17, is a
national sports hero in Belgium.
Motocross races in
Europe sometimes draw
crowds of over a
hundred thousand people.
In Joel's home
country of Belgium,
fans have been known
to lay in the track
in front of other
riders to help Joel win.
Except he doesn't need any help.
With a #1 plate, Swede Bengt
Aberg, 500cc World Champion,
his riding skill
is unbelievable.
Here, using power to
straighten himself out.
Scientific tests have
been made and motocross
was found to be the
second most physically
demanding sport in the
world, following only soccer.
After 30 minutes of racing,
even a rider in perfect
condition, like Bengt Aberg,
is almost totally exhausted.
He's got maybe an hour
to rest between races,
then do it again,
three times a day.
Motocross races run in
all kinds of weather.
It's a race against
the other man,
but even more, it's man's battle
against the course itself.
There's a certain brutal
beauty to motocross
that you can only
see in slow motion.
(rhythmic, confident music)
The classic example of the
Sunday competitor who rides
for fun, with his
usual ear-to-ear grin,
is Malcolm Smith.
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.
He seems to enjoy it more than
anyone and he's also the best.
Back in 1968, when
being interviewed by
Wide World of Sports
about his amazing
performance the year before
in the Mexican 1,000, he didn't
talk about how tough it was.
Instead, typical Malcolm...
- Did you have any adventures
during that 9 hours
and something last in this
wild country down there?
- No, it was easy going down,
but it was hard coming back.
We had an old Volkswagen
that a friend of mine
drove down there, my
co-driver this year.
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.
- [Reporter] On the top
of the live turtles?
- Top of the live turtles.
And it smelled very
bad all the way back.
- [Voiceover] On the starting
line, most riders are nervous.
Malcolm's usually got a smile.
Of the many events Malcolm
rides, he's particularly
outstanding in the rugged,
off-road races like the
Mint 400, a 400 mile
race through the
desert near Las Vegas.
Like riding from San
Francisco to Los Angeles,
through the roughest
imaginable terrain
and averaging 50 miles an hour.
The race goes on night and
day and when it's all over,
and the other riders are almost
in shock from exhaustion,
there stands Malcolm
in the middle
of the night with a big grin.
Malcolm is king of
the Mexican 1,000.
A 1,000 mile off-road race down
the peninsula of Baja
California, Mexico.
He goes so fast, he should
be in a class by himself.
One year, he drove a dune buggy,
to see what that was like,
and was running 2nd
before he broke down.
Here again, at a pit
stop, he didn't say,
"Dust, tough, tired."
Instead, typical Malcolm.
- [Voiceover] Looked like you
were having a good
time, Malcolm.
- Oh, great, lots of fun.
- See any incidents out
there, any problems?
- Nope, nope.
- Turn around this
way for just a second.
- The only one I ever
see is Larry Berquist.
- [Reporter] Yeah, they're
up ahead of you still.
- [Malcolm] Yeah, yeah, we know.
We can't keep up
with a motorcycle.
- [Voiceover] He couldn't
keep up with a motorcycle
that year, but every other
year, the lone dust crown
across Lake Chapala was Malcolm
Smith and his motorcycle.
He never failed to lead.
One year, he was two
hours ahead of the
next machine at the
halfway point and rode
the final 200 miles
on a flat front tire.
The rougher and tougher
the event, the more skill
and human endurance it takes,
the better Malcolm likes it.
As he would say himself,
"That was really neat."
El Escorial, Spain, near Madrid,
the sight of the
international Six Day Trials.
The ultimate test
of man and machine.
The Six Day Trials is
the Olympic games of
motorcycle sport, held
for the 45th year.
348 riders from 16 countries
have gathered to compete.
Among them, Malcolm Smith.
Here getting his bike inspected
and marked prior
to the first day.
Each part of the motorcycle is
marked with a special paint.
In six days of
riding, no part can
be changed without
being disqualified.
Even internal engine parts are
marked and the engine is sealed.
The only parts
that can be changed
are control cables,
chains, tires, and tubes.
At 6:45 in the
morning, the first
of the riders get underway.
They leave four per minute.
The colors on their helmets
denote the rider's country:
Germans in white, Spanish
in yellow, Italians red,
English green,
Czechoslovakians in blue,
the Swedes with yellow and blue.
Malcolm, number 242 would be
starting on the 60th minute.
Of all the events Malcolm rides,
this is the only one he
takes very seriously.
(clock ticking)
(engines start)
There's no prize money involved.
The top prize for an individual
rider is a gold medal.
Off goes Malcolm and 348
others through the countryside
of Spain, the beginning
of a grueling adventure.
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.
The trouble is, none but
the best can keep up the
time schedule and these riders
are the best in the world.
It's an honor just to be
selected to ride the six days.
(horse whinnies)
You go through a series
of checkpoints each day.
You can get there
early, but you can't
clock through until
your prescribed minute.
You lose one mark for each
minute you're late
to any checkpoint.
In all, there are
65 time checks.
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.
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.
The best riders are
usually the Europeans.
Most are paid a salary
year-round to ride.
A gold medal at
the Six Day Trials
sells a lot of
motorcycles in Europe.
Malcolm isn't paid.
In fact, he pays
all his own expenses
just to go over
there and compete.
During the competition,
the temperatures
range from 80 degrees
to 20 degrees.
They went from 2,000
feet to over 8,000 feet,
riding in the clouds in
the mountains of Spain.
Of the 1,200 miles
the event covers,
about 800 of it is
trails like this.
They may last for 40
miles, on the foot peg,
maneuvering like six
days on a bongo board.
The speed average:
24 miles an hour.
But very few can keep it up.
All work on the
machine must be done by
the contestant himself
with no outside help.
The bikes are locked
up except during the
time you're riding
against the clock.
The only time to make
repairs or adjustments
is if you can get ahead of
schedule and stop to do it.
If you can't change a
tire in four minutes,
you're not competitive
in the Six Day Trials.
The only tools you can use for
anything are what
you carry with you.
If anyone hands
you a tool or helps
you in any way,
you're disqualified.
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.
You have to compete in a
series of special tests
at the end of each days' riding.
One is this 200 meter
acceleration test.
Clocked top speed at the end
earns needed bonus points,
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.
Another special test
at the end of each day
is a five mile timed
cross-country route.
Sort of a motocross
against the clock.
The fastest times earn
the most bonus points.
And to earn enough bonus
points for a gold medal,
you have to be in the top 30%.
The motorcycles have
mufflers and lights,
which are under
the number plate.
You can be stopped at any time
and have your light checked.
If it doesn't work, you have to
stay there until
you make it work.
In this special
test, Malcolm has
to go fast, but not too fast.
He's got to save the machine,
he's got to save his body.
There are more days to come.
Day after day, Malcolm left in
the morning chill
from El Escorial.
Stiff and sore, but on time.
(clock ticking)
Each day, he left
to do battle with
the clock and the
elements of Spain.
Mostly fatigue in his
face, but on time.
The six days, more than
any event, tests a man's
all-around ability, his
riding, his endurance,
mechanical skill, and
his ability to think
clearly when
tremendously fatigued.
If you do everything
right, don't make one
mistake in six days,
you win this gold medal.
Malcolm won one in Poland,
he won one in Germany,
and he won this one
in El Escorial, Spain.
Back in the United
States, what's Malcolm do?
Heads for another
motorcycle race
with his friend, Steve McQueen.
The event is the
Elsinore Grand Prix.
1,500 motorcyclists
line up in the
main street waiting
for the start.
(energetic, bouncy music)
1,500 riders and 50,000
spectators fill the little town.
It's a 100 mile race through
the streets of the city
and into the foothills
outside of town.
The average age of the
2,000 Elsinore residents
is 60 years old and
it's the only town
in America that
welcomes such an event.
The residents love it
and so do the riders.
Malcolm will be starting
in the second row,
Steve starting in
the fourth row.
Held back by a rope,
riders leave at
ten second intervals,
ten abreast.
It was supposed to be
ten second intervals,
but it got a lot
shorter than that.
You could tell the
most eager riders
by the rope burns on their neck.
(engines rev)
By the time the race
was two miles old,
Malcolm passing the last
rider and taking the lead.
It had rained a few days before
and there was a big puddle.
As the pack came
thundering through,
the water puddle turned
into a mud puddle.
Then it turned into a mud hole.
The first 200 riders
made it through,
but for the 1,300 yet to
come, it was all stopped.
(trumpet plays)
There's no money
involved in the race.
A trophy for the winner.
In fact, they pay a $15 entry
fee for the honor of riding.
While they were getting
out of the mud hole,
Malcolm had opened
up a commanding lead.
Malcolm rides so smoothly
and effortlessly,
he doesn't appear to
be going very fast.
He is.
There's 1,499 riders behind him.
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.
For 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.
Everyone rides Elsinore.
If there's one event
you ride a year,
it's usually the
Elsinore Grand Prix.
People of all ages, girls,
the pig farmer from Marietta.
There's only about 200 riders
who are seriously competitive.
For the rest, it's a
great Sunday adventure.
Doing wheelies through town
to dazzle their friends,
bouncing off any
object in sight,
missing half the corners
and ripping out ten
miles of banners and dragging
them back through town.
The people of
Elsinore can't believe
what's going on in their town.
They pull a chair
up in their front
yard and have a grandstand seat.
(engines roar)
Number 48, Steve
McQueen, entered
under the name of
Harvey Mushman.
But it didn't take
long for the spectators
to figure out who
number 48 really was.
She was dazzled, but her
husband wasn't too impressed.
Yeah, I could do that.
Steve really earned the
respect of his fellow riders.
Some of them didn't realize
what a good rider he really is.
His car racing experience
gives him the ability
to pick the perfect line
through the corners.
In a subsequent Elsinore
race, Steve crashed, broke his
foot, got up and finished
8th, broken foot and all.
It was Malcolm Smith's day.
When Malcolm passes you, it's a
mistake to try
and stay with him.
In the lead, but
still time for a
wave to a friend
beside the course.
Malcolm's got an uncanny sense
for doing the right thing.
Here, swerving off the
course, through a hole
in the barbed wire
fence, and around
the now cleaned out mud hole.
Back through the fence
again without missing a beat
and passing six
guys in the process.
What's a guy who
rides motorcycles
every Sunday do for a living?
Malcolm owns a motorcycle shop.
In ten laps, Malcolm
passed 7,000 riders,
some of them three times.
Malcolm almost never makes
a bobble or a mistake.
It's about 200 feet down
off the side of the road.
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.
Steve turned in a great
ride, finishing 10th overall,
riding against
the best riders in
the country for
this kind of event.
- Every time I start thinking
the world is all bad,
then I start seeing some people
out there having a good time
on a motorcycle and it
makes me take another look.
It was good fun.
- [Voiceover] 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.
The passenger is
called the monkey,
he's usually flat on one side.
(engine roars)
Motorcycle drag
racing is another
highly specialized
form of competition.
They hit speeds of 160 miles
an hour in the quarter mile.
Before they leave the
line, they burn their tires
to get them hot and sticky
for better traction.
This guy was going to donate
his lungs to the Mayo clinic.
Special machines and
riders who usually
specialize in nothing
but drag racing.
It's won or lost in a
hundredth of a second
at the finish, or
even at the start.
Probably the least
number of people
in all of motorcycle sport
race their motorcycles on ice.
Quebec City, Canada,
is the site of one.
The fans try to
stay alive in the
ten degree below zero weather.
The riders wear
leather masks to keep
their faces from
freezing and protect them
from cuts from flying
ice off the track.
Two inch spikes in the tires
for traction on the ice.
Before a race, they
have to be wondering,
it would be like getting
run over by a buzz saw.
If you go down, the main
thought is to get off the track,
because there's more
buzz saws coming.
This guy set a
world record for a
20 foot crawl on
his hands and knees.
They hit tremendous speeds
on this half mile ice track.
20 second lap times,
averaging almost 80.
Absolutely no wheels spin
with those spiked tires.
They ride with different
styles - some foot down,
dirt track style, others slide
on a knee on a hockey pad.
There's only about 50 or
60 people who ice race in
North America and only a
couple of big ice races a year.
It's popular in certain parts
of Europe, especially Russia.
Ice racing in
Canada, ten degrees
below zero, in the
middle of a snowstorm.
(wind blows)
From ten degrees below
to 115 degrees above
at the Bonneville
Salt Flats in Utah,
where once again, men
on motorcycles compete,
trying to set speed records.
Once a year, they have
speed week for motorcycles.
There's about 200 different
classes and anyone
with a two-wheeled
machine gets into the act.
Some of the bikes
are a little strange.
This guy had a 60 horsepower
skateboard and steel kneecaps.
Some guy got an old bomb
and put a motor in it.
Didn't handle very well.
From the backyard specials
to the exotically engineered
and computer-designed,
stream-lined bikes.
There was a fellow
named Cal Rayburn,
a professional racer, who
was going to make an assault
on the motorcycle land speed
record of 250 miles an hour.
He was going to
drive one of those
slide rule,
super-engineered specials.
He lost a little faith in
the computers and engineers
when he got in and found
out an interesting thing.
He didn't fit.
By then, Cal was beginning
to have some second thoughts.
He kept saying,
"You guys are nuts."
They said his helmet visor
must be too big, so they
sawed it off, that way it
wouldn't dig into his chest.
It didn't dig into his chest,
but his chin still did.
In this position, he
was supposed to try
and go faster than
anyone ever had with
a motorcycle over
250 miles an hour.
Once the lid was in
the place, he found
out interesting
point number two.
He couldn't see out.
His feet were too big and
blocked his view out the
front window and his knee
blocked his view out the side.
So all he had to do was
peer out the side window,
over his knee, and follow
this black line painted
on the salt at
anything over 250.
Late in the afternoon,
they launched him,
and he found out interesting
point number three.
It didn't handle very
well at six miles an hour.
He kept saying,
"You guys are nuts."
But he was driving.
After a week of trying and
crashes from six to 206,
Calvin finally set a new
motorcycle land speed
record of over
265 miles an hour.
The steering changed
with the speed.
Under 100, turn
right to go right.
100 to 200, turn
left to go right,
and over 200, back
to normal again.
(piercing ringing)
The mile track at
Sacramento, California.
This is where the #1
plate will be decided.
A $12,000 purse.
But more important to
Dick Mann, Dave Aldana,
Gene Romero, and Jim
Rice, 101 points.
Enough to make any of them #1.
All the riders were there, but
the pressure was on the four.
If Dave Aldana won,
it would be the
first time a first
year expert ever had.
Romero was not his
usual laughing self.
Jim Rice was off alone,
walking the track.
Dick Mann arrived.
He'd broken his leg in
a race only three weeks
before and no one
expected him to compete.
But he'd sawed off his
cast and was going to try.
He jammed his swollen leg
into his boot and steel shoe,
went out on the track,
and won his heat race.
Mert won the second heat,
Gene Romero the third,
with Dave Aldana
transferring to the
point-paying main by
finishing third in his heat.
The first four riders in each
heat transfer to the main event.
Jim Rice, number
24, playing it cool
in the final heat
and transferring.
After the finish, at
120 miles an hour...
(horrifying music)
(sirens wailing)
An hour later, they lined
up for the main event.
Jim Rice was getting
out of the ambulance
and was going to try
and ride the race.
(cheering)
- [Voiceover] Jim
Rice walking out
and he'll be back in action.
- [Voiceover] In a lot
of pain with a bandanna
covering his broken
nose, Jim quietly
took his place on the
line with the rest.
(indistinct announcer)
(engines roar)
And down the backshoot
at 125 miles an hour.
(indistinct announcer)
It was Dave Aldana.
The race was black-flagged.
Aldana's bike was completely
totaled, but David,
as he had all year,
walked away unhurt.
But he also walked away
from any chance of being #1.
No way he could make the
three minute restart rule.
The restart was a carbon
copy of the first.
Mert in fourth, working
his way back to third.
Romero second and Mann first.
(indistinct announcer)
And Romero, again, getting by
Dick Mann at exactly
the same place.
Jim Rice, running in last place.
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.
It's amazing he
tried to ride at all.
On the 20th lap,
Dick Mann pulled in.
He'd caught his
shoe in a hole and
was in too much
paint to continue.
For him, that's got to be a lot.
(engines roar)
Mert hung on to Romero's
tail for the first 20 laps
and then, as it happened so
often during this season,
smoke began pouring out
as his engine went south.
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 #1.
(fun, celebratory music)
It was a day of
happiness for Gene.
For Rice, Aldana, and Mann, it
was a very disappointing day.
Rice was lucky to be alive.
What kind of men are these
that take tremendous chances?
That saw off a cast and
ride with a broken leg
and say, "It'll be okay,
I'm a fast healer."
Why do they do it?
There's no answer to that.
If you ask them,
they say simply,
"Because it's what
I like to do."
For Mert, the day at Sacramento
had been a mirror of the season.
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.
Let's see what's happening in
the rest of the
motorcycle world.
It's Sunday and we're about 20
miles from Salt Lake City, Utah.
There's a hill there
called Widowmaker.
It's 600 feet high and the angle
up the face is 89%,
roughly 45 degrees.
It's the sight of the annual
Widowmaker hill climb.
No one's ever made
it over the top
and they've been
trying for seven years.
Riders come from all over
the country to compete in yet
another highly specialized
form of motorcycle competition.
As I said, no one's
ever made the top,
but they give it
a hell of a try.
(fast, lively music)
Wherever the bike stops is
where the measurement is taken,
so they get some bizarre
push off techniques.
This guy nearly nailed
a couple of spectators
and lost 12 feet in the process.
That's a whole lot better
than losing 387 feet.
Some of the bikes have
a lot of character.
The hill climbers, themselves,
are safe to say, characters.
There was the mortician
from Waukegan who
thought hyperventilation
was the answer.
It got him up the hill 15 feet.
The classic guy that day
was old Hawkeye Hillbilly.
He spent considerable
time mentally
psyching himself
up for the hill.
Didn't know whether that was his
number plate or a
traffic citation.
On the hill, Hawkeye the
bouncer turned in a great run.
Only about 50 feet
short of the top.
Ol' Malcolm was there.
He'd never ridden
the hill climb,
but he thought it would be fun.
On his first try, in
typical Malcolm Smith style,
he forgot to turn on the gas.
Later in the day, he
got his second run
and more than made up
for his first error.
Riding his stock motorcycle
in the 500cc class,
against the specially
built hill climbers,
he got up to around 500 feet,
right in there with
the best of 'em.
Going back down the hill is a
major operation for most riders.
Malcolm dazzled
folks when he turned
around and rode his
motorcycle down.
- Holy cow.
- [Voiceover] One of the
final riders of the day
was Mike Gibbon, who'd
driven all the way from
Grants Pass, Oregon,
to ride this event.
Chains on the tires and
nitromethane fuel in the tank,
Mike Gibbon made the first tire
mark on the top of Widowmaker.
After seven years,
it had been done.
(horns honking)
He got a big trophy and
the local Lions Club
gave him $100 to help him pay
his expenses back to Oregon.
It had been quite a day.
Widowmaker had at
last been conquered.
Malcolm got 100 feet
further up the hill
than any other stock
bike, finishing third
against the special
hill climb machines.
(horn beeping)
This fellow's a trials rider.
The magicians of the
motorcycle world.
Good trials riders can do
wheelies like this for miles.
Around corners, everywhere,
just bopping along,
watching the scenery.
Trials riders are the violin
players of the motorcycle world.
Tremendously skilled
at what they do.
The kid couldn't believe it,
but there was nobody to tell.
In riding trials events,
all you have to do
is get through a difficult
section of terrain
without putting your foot down.
A good trials rider's ability
to do this is amazing.
It would seem impossible
to get a motorcycle
with ten inches of
clearance over a 30 inch log
and then make a sharp right turn
to stay in bounds and
not put your foot down.
It can be done.
Here's a beautiful example.
Lift the wheel at
the precise instant,
turn it in midair
so when you land
your turn has already begun.
It looks easy, don't believe it.
Malcolm rides one or two trials
a year on his Sunday outings.
In fact, he rides one or two
of almost everything a year.
In trials, too, he is very good.
Try this someday if you want
to do something
really difficult.
Neat, Malcolm.
Quite a different breed from the
trials riders are
the desert racers.
Unique to the
southwest, particularly
southern California.
There's even a group
of girls called
The Desert Daisies,
who race in the desert.
A great variety of people,
from all walks of life,
gather each Sunday to race.
Number one plate holder in
the desert, Whitey Martino.
When they line up for the
start, it's quite a sight.
(fast, fun music)
Down there on the line
are doctors, lawyers,
carpenters, plumbers,
engineers, salesmen,
students, anyone, and everybody.
A thousand riders ready
to race a hare and hound
over 100 miles of
desert terrain.
50 miles from the nearest town.
This scene takes place
every Sunday of the year,
which starts from
500 to 2,000 riders.
The prize - a trophy
for the winner
and the satisfaction of knowing
you did it, for the rest.
They head first to a smoke bomb
about five miles from the start.
At 10:00am, the banner drops.
(energetic music)
About 10% never make the first
five miles to the smoke bomb.
It's a cross between
a race and a war.
They raise a cloud of dust that
settles three weeks
later on London.
Once through the smoke bomb,
they start to thin out,
following a trail marked
with a ribbon and line.
No one's allowed to
ride the course first,
so it's all new terrain to them.
Three stripes of
line across the trail
mean a dangerous spot ahead.
To the experienced desert rider,
mounds of dirt mean danger, too.
Because the mounds had
to come out of something
like a mine shaft or
a ditch or a hole.
You can tell when
someone found one
by the way they
disappear so quickly.
It's 100 miles of
uphills, washes,
brush, sand, cactus,
downhills, and rocks.
A struggle just to get through.
But the biggest
hazard to a desert
racer is another desert racer.
In the spring, the
B-29 bugs come out
and hitting one is like
running into a medicine ball.
Desert racers are good people.
There's even a guy who rides
the desert with his dog.
There's a rug in the
tank the dog hangs on to.
He's got claws like an eagle.
Their pit stops are
kind of unusual.
Some of the hairiest
racing is in the pits.
The best riders can
invariably be found way
in front of the dust
and really hauling.
Here, J. N. Roberts, one of
the really great desert racers.
Steve McQueen riding here.
Still rides an
occasional desert race,
although he prefers
motocross now.
A few years back,
he rode every Sunday
and was ranked the
11th amateur rider.
And here, Malcolm Smith.
He rarely rides the desert.
Says he doesn't like
the heat and dust.
He's ridden about
12 desert races
in his life and he
won six of them.
The other six, he broke down.
King of the desert and #1
plate holder, Whitey Martino.
There's a great deal
of skill involved,
not just riding, but
reading the terrain.
This is the way it looks
to Whitey, weaving through
the pucker bushes at
60 to 70 miles an hour.
You don't go straight, but it's
almost like a slalom
through the bushes.
If you hit a bush,
it's an instant end-o.
After battling your way through
sand, rocks, turtles, bugs,
and mine shafts, you'd expect
the finish to be exciting.
The finish of a desert race is
like the finish
of no other race.
It's just over.
There's usually about
100 people watching
and they're waiting for
somebody else, anyway.
Desert races are a very
personal experience.
No spectators to
cheer you, but a great
personal satisfaction
in knowing you did it.
If 1,000 start, there's usually
about 300 or 400 that finish.
The rest are strewn out
over 100 miles of desert
and are picked up by a crew
that sweeps the course.
But there's always someone
who gets off the course,
gets lost, and breaks
a chain or something.
He has no idea where he is
and neither does anyone else.
The desert racer's
handbook says build a fire.
The rescue squad will see the
smoke and come and pick you up.
Desert racers don't lean toward
tinder and the one-match fire.
It's high-test and a
pucker bush for them.
The nearest water is in
the radiator of his truck,
but he doesn't have any
idea where his truck is.
That's $1,000 signal fire.
Probably the most fun
in all of motorcycling
is to load your bike in a pickup
truck and head out
into the country.
The pressure of racing over,
it's time to relax
and have some fun.
Malcolm, Steve, and
Mert all like to race,
but they think this kind
of riding is the most fun.
It's called cow trailing.
If your friends aren't paying
attention, how can you resist?
Steve could have picked
better people to fool
with than Mert Lawwill
and Malcolm Smith.
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.
It can only be fully shared
by someone who's done it.
(light, fun music)
* On Any Sunday looking
back on the crowd
* From the far out
place I've found
* Screaming inside of
me and laughin' out loud
* I'm losing contact
with the ground
* I'm flyin'
* Over my shoulder
through the dust and quiet
* Run where they'll
catch me, if you can
* On Any Sunday I'm a flyin' man
* Free as the wind,
faster than time
* Reason and rhyme
are running behind
* Tastin' the sun,
feelin' the Earth,
* Knowing my worth
and freeing my mind
* On Any Sunday like
the tail of a kite
* Flying and dancing in the wind
* I'd like to break the
string and drift out of site
* I may not pass this way again
* I'm flyin'
* Over my shoulder
through the dust and quiet
* Run where they'll
catch me if you can
* On Any Sunday
I'm a flyin' man *