I thoroughly enjoy revisiting old papers and magazines looking for things I may have missed previously. One of these days (hopefully) Cycle News will have the East version available online. Going back to 1973 looking for a photo of a Canadian ISDT bike these photos caught my eye. Interesting story behind them which I'll share once one of our sleuths recognizes her [?]
(http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae59/CheneySachs/scan0022_zps11c84dbf.jpg)
(http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae59/CheneySachs/scan0021_zpsfa7b05a5.jpg)
Dale Fisher
Penton Owners Group - Memberships
Mudlark Registry
Facebook - Cheney Twinshock Racing Group - Administrator
'70 Six-Day 125 - V2017
'71 Six-Day 125 (Dave Fisher's) - V5553
'72 Mudlark - W257
'73 Jackpiner - 175 21159727
'74 Berkshire 100 - 40171056
'98 HP-14 Hi-Point
And some silly other bikes...
is it sue fish?
I think it might be Marcia Holley. Nelson McCullough
Marica Holly . Sue Fish rode Hodaka Super Combat in 73. West Coast girls. I have pictures somewhere from Hope Town and Viewfinders Grand Prix at Indian Dunes. I believe Marcia won the Woman's class. District 37 . I will have to post pictures in the near future . My family has been a member of the Viewfinders since 1970. Have a lot of pictures and film from the late 50s 60s 70s. and still have most of my bikes and cars. It was fun growing up in Southern Calif
Indeed it is Marcia Holley. Article reads as follows - to be posted in installments.
Powderpuff racer, Stunt girl and Jaqueline of All Trades
"There was a young boy from Wisconsin Who got stuck on one constant digression
'Twould be a Caleefornia Girl
With his mind in a whirl
So a crossed the country he trecked
The confessions of a now defunct Assistant Editor with apologies to Dr. Zuess, Mason Williams, and the Beach Boys - By Dave Schoonmaker
So yon boy did make himself fleet of foot and truck and came to California looking for a "California Girl." With the power and quickness of a Honda 160 he dropped valves up and down the coast; from Muscle Beach to Malibu and even to San Fernando Valley. Along his was he saw blond hair, blue eyes, surf boards, bikinis, and other things, but remorse grew inside him as he searched in vain for the girl the Beach Boys were singing about. Slowly and unsurely (as usual) reality (sic) crept into his cerebrum, and he realized he had been falsely lured to the smog ridden, pomegranite infested basin. Memories of cows and pale winter faces from past years in America's DairyFairyland occupied his mind, and he was just a poor country boy lost in the wilds of the big city with only a vague memory of that California Dream (in').
Experience taught him that dreams were born of KLOS and London Britches and Jack In The Box. The walls of the bubble grew thin and the naive young man (growing harder) began to doubt his idols, the Beach Boys. All the ingredients were here but nothing seemed ever to add up, "The California Girl" must live somewhere West of Catalina (or South of San Diego), he sighed.
Just as the grass cam int springtime in Western Rhineland to salve raw spirits, so did a saving grace come to him in California. There was indeed a human embodiment of the liveliness, health, and spirit for doing that he imagined but never found.
She was quiet but her eyes were very alive; small but most obviously physically fit. Sun bleached her auburn hair slightly and her skin was dark from those hours obviously spent in the sun. Her poise (at times she almost seemed to be on her tip toes) gave off a feeling of vitality and life. Yes siree, this was a California Girl."
Dale Fisher
Penton Owners Group - Memberships
Mudlark Registry
Facebook - Cheney Twinshock Racing Group - Administrator
'70 Six-Day 125 - V2017
'71 Six-Day 125 (Dave Fisher's) - V5553
'72 Mudlark - W257
'73 Jackpiner - 175 21159727
'74 Berkshire 100 - 40171056
'98 HP-14 Hi-Point
And some silly other bikes...
She came and went as the days went by and everytime she was present the was a lightened feeling to the air, and it was hard for those around not to be pleased by her presence. She's what you might call a happy-go-lucky character. A week is full of seven days for her which hopefully not be repetitious. Her avocations and vocations are so numerous that it's hard to remember them all. Somehow she seems to have time to be proficient at all of them.
One of those avocations (slightly vocational) is racing motorcycles. If You've been around Southern California you've probably seen her leading a powder puff class. Or, maybe you saw someone with a Mettco jersey with Marcia above it passing you when there wasn't a powder puff class.
If you didn't see her riding. you might have seen her taking pictures at a race in some part of the United States or Mexico, fulfilling her role as part-time freelance photographer.
Those who hide indoors reading back issues of Cycle News and the Saturday Evening Post can't even claim exemption. If you turn on the tube you've probably seen Marcia performing a stunt for Stunts Unlimited. Even if you don't watch Mannix, the FBI, the Rookies, Walt Disney movies, or Movies of the Week, you've no doubt been caught by a commercial she's been in.
Now that you remember her well, or at least have been introduced, where in the world did she come from? She was born in Santa Rosa, but Marcia Holley's real heritage is obviously Southern Californian. For some years her residence has been in San Clemente (just up the street from the Nix). Despite the previous, living in San Clemente does have some advantages. For Marcia on advantage proved to be that Bruce Brown lives just up the street, too, Brown film producer of "On Any Sunday" and the "Endless Summer", has had a significant part in getting Marcia involved in many of the things which she now does. Possibly through happenstance, Marcia's life style bares a sigificant resemblance to the Bruce Brown the Adventurer life style.
The beginning of allowed reordable history is at about age twelve with Marcia riding horses. The story goes much like most of the things that Marcia is involved in, increasing levels of proficiency. From a casual rider at age twelve, Marcia progressed to training horses for sale, exercising race horses, showing horses, and then she became a veterinary assistant. Fortunately, the example down the street and a large portion of inquisitiveness led her away from the dreary life of smelly, inefficient equestrianism. She took up snow and water skiing, sailing, scuba diving, flying and eventually even motorcycling.
Dale Fisher
Penton Owners Group - Memberships
Mudlark Registry
Facebook - Cheney Twinshock Racing Group - Administrator
'70 Six-Day 125 - V2017
'71 Six-Day 125 (Dave Fisher's) - V5553
'72 Mudlark - W257
'73 Jackpiner - 175 21159727
'74 Berkshire 100 - 40171056
'98 HP-14 Hi-Point
And some silly other bikes...
Marcia has a long list of avocation which she occasionally does for money. That's what she does for a living. Being a stunt girl isn't actually quite that simple. Marcia has been trained by Stunt's Unlimited to perform stunts in a planned and therefore safe manner. When she receives an assignment she goes out to the scene with one of the experts, and they play the whole stunt out. Sometimes it is a matter of split second timing between success and injury. While there is an element of the rough and tumble in the work, it is a profession which one is taught to plan almost scientifically. But after all the planning has been done, success is based on skill and physical condition.
A combination of planning, skill and physical condition has carried Marcia through all the active sports she competes in without ever breaking a bone. However, as she says, "I've never been hurt....badly." Sprains and bruises are a part and parcel of stunt work. For the rather sizeable pay check she is receiving for performing a stunt she is being paid both to do the stunt and not get hurt. Injury is to both her and to the company's disadvantage. "I can't afford to get hurt, especially not for free."
Just two years ago Bruce Brown and Malcolm Smith taught Marcia how to ride a bike. Less than a year later she was competing and wining powder puff races. For 1973 she is sponsored by Mettco in Gardena and has won every District Grand Prix which had a powder puff class. She has proven herself a wise addition to the Mettco team of Bruce McDougal, Chuck Bower, and Danny LaPorte.
Fred at Mettco has prepared a "73 Penton 125 for her and modified it to suit her riding style. The powerband is almost equivalent to a stock Penton, but the engine has what seems like a 20% boost throughout the range and another 500 RPM's on top. Intake and exhaust ports are nearly stock, just cleaned up. The compression has been raised slightly, and a Mettco pipe with a new tail, has been installed. Other items include a Mettco heat sheild, a riveted tank, Curnutt shocks and Torsten Hallman bars. Her bike is easy to ride and that combined with her skill and strength is proving to be almost unbeatable.
While she rides Grand Prixes, desert, and motocross her favorite is definitely the first. Part of that might be due to her success in negotiating the long pavement-dirt combinations. She enjoys the desert because of the social situation but shys away from the dust and heat. When asked who she though was the fastest girl she said, with a mischevious grin, "Jeanne Pennington used to be fastest, but she's slowed a little since becoming Turton. Cherrie Stockton is pretty fast now, too. One of them I guess." In any event, Marcia is queen of the rand Prix.
Part of the mystical aura around Marcia is the fact that she can be so competent in male oriented sports without and kind of sexua identity problem, from the inside or outside. She's very much a girl and enjoys it. She can also whip guys at their own games. Most of the time she doesn't though, because she prefers competing in the powder puff class. At first she said she did it because it was easier and she could win more often, but when pressed other reasons came out. Like: "Guys are weird, they seem to get really aggressive around girls on a race track. It kind of scares me. Then if you pass them they get mad. I'll race with guys, but I'd rather race with girls."
Marcia is getting interested in enduros now, and Fred is talking about preparing a Jackpiner for her to ride in ISDT qualifiers next year. There's already one girl who earned a Silver medal this year.
As in motorcycle racing, being a female stunt worker presents some unique problems. There just isn't the theatrical call for girls to do acrobatic things. While Marcia has gotten the opportunity (?) to fall off a bike on screen, there just aren't too many scenes with girls crashing motorcycles. "A girl has to be versatile to make it as a stunt girl. If you can;t do a lot of different things, you'll never get hired." With all the sports that Marcia is involved in, versatility is her calling card. Consequently, Marcia's duties have ranged from dropping bags of groceries to rolling over cars.
Marcia points out that while she isn't all that excited about horoscopes, hers seem to have its accuracies. Geminis are supposed to be almost dual and change their minds frequently. "I'm always changing my mind." Maybe one of the reasons that change is such a self evident truth for her is that she is constantly open to new experiences. Unlike so many people, she doesn't seem to be backed up against the Pacific Ocean. Maybe that's where so many of the people who were supposed to fit into such a simple-minded stereotype as "California Girls" went. And maybe her carefree changing and traveling are the keys to freedom.
Where would you find a 22 year old girl who would travel accross the country with the Husky motocross team; or travel half way down the Baja Peninsula to El Arco by herself to take pictures; and the comment that she almost had to turn back because her tape player broke; all the while with the clutch on her Datsun pickup out to lunch. She has self sufficiency that is impossible not to admire because she isn't withdrawn. Life isn't a burden for Marcia, it's all easygoing. Maybe what you get out of it isn't related to how much you worry about it but only to how much you put into it.
Dale Fisher
Penton Owners Group - Memberships
Mudlark Registry
Facebook - Cheney Twinshock Racing Group - Administrator
'70 Six-Day 125 - V2017
'71 Six-Day 125 (Dave Fisher's) - V5553
'72 Mudlark - W257
'73 Jackpiner - 175 21159727
'74 Berkshire 100 - 40171056
'98 HP-14 Hi-Point
And some silly other bikes...
The End [|)]
Dale Fisher
Penton Owners Group - Memberships
Mudlark Registry
Facebook - Cheney Twinshock Racing Group - Administrator
'70 Six-Day 125 - V2017
'71 Six-Day 125 (Dave Fisher's) - V5553
'72 Mudlark - W257
'73 Jackpiner - 175 21159727
'74 Berkshire 100 - 40171056
'98 HP-14 Hi-Point
And some silly other bikes...
From Marcia's social media page.
(http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae59/CheneySachs/10670188_888094144547564_1019691885861625568_n_zps812ffd13.jpg)
(http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae59/CheneySachs/10300807_789602834396696_3418554942709945755_n_zpsf37664bd.jpg)
(http://i957.photobucket.com/albums/ae59/CheneySachs/971332_620102484680066_1406157747_n_zpsb28bb44e.jpg)
Dale Fisher
Penton Owners Group - Memberships
Mudlark Registry
Facebook - Cheney Twinshock Racing Group - Administrator
'70 Six-Day 125 - V2017
'71 Six-Day 125 (Dave Fisher's) - V5553
'72 Mudlark - W257
'73 Jackpiner - 175 21159727
'74 Berkshire 100 - 40171056
'98 HP-14 Hi-Point
And some silly other bikes...
Dale, you keep the Penton spirit alive. Cool article.
Lew Mayer
Lew, I totally agree with your comment. Thank you Dale...:)
Paul