A Quiz

[Tom Penton]

Name the Penton team members in this picture.



Tom Penton

[johnborn]

Jack Penton, Dane Leimbach , Dave Mungenast . No idea who has their back to the camera , maybe Carl Cranke?

[Tom Penton]

Well, I goofed up and had a smaller sized picture posted than I intended. What I rather intended with this "quiz" is a confirmation of who had their back to us: I was 95% sure it's Carl, now with John's "no idea but maybe Carl", I'll bump it up to 99%.

That would not be Dane facing him, but rather Joe Barker, and I believe Gary Younkins to the far right.

Besides the body build, posture and hair giving me the thought this is Carl, that we are all smiles is another give-a-way. Carl was always so fun to be around. I can just imagine his telling of one of his many stories. I had a chance to relive it again when coming to the February 50th Penton Anniversery, I flew from Portland with him and Dave Duarte: it was one big laugh the whole way what with the memories and Carl flirting with the flight attendants.

Tom Penton

[Toolsurfer]

you can see Jacks name on helmet but the person in front of him is unclear. I cannot make out the name on the helmet. Maybe some one one else can take a look. Have no ideal on the guy with their back turn to camera. I thought Carl had long locks back then, I know my hair was almost to my waist . 1973 or 1974 ?  If only I could be that now! 64 and in cruise control .  Great memories Tom . Saw you I believe at the Hungry Creek 100 along with the rest of the clan a few times. SWEET

[Paul Danik]

Hi Tom,

  To confirm the year I pulled my 1973 ISDT results and sure enough you are # 57 and Jack is # 240.  As has been stated, the rider facing the camera is none other than Joe Barker and I too think the rider who has his back to camera is Carl.

   As for the rider on the right whom I didn't notice till you enlarged the photo,  I don't think that is Gary Younkins. I went through the 1973 results and the 1974 Official Program and didn't see Gary's name in either, plus I didn't remember Gary from "back in the day" having only had the pleasurer of meeting him in more recent times.

   So, who is that rider on the right I wondered, although I did have a hunch.  The dark visor caught my eye and as I was going thru photos and such from the event I noticed that on the cover of Still...Keeping Track, issue No. 20 from the fall of 2003 is a photo of me crossing a stream, and sure enough the visor and what appears to be a decal on it matched up with the rider on the right in your photo. The same photo is on page 2 of Keeping Track from back in the day. Click the link below and scroll down to page 2.

http://www.pentonusa.org/publications/keepingtrack/No.%2015%20%20June-July%201974.pdf

  Now I am looking for a photo of Carl from the event to see if he indeed rode with his riding pants duct taped to his ankles as they were on the outside of his riding boots, while the others in the photo had their pants inside their boots, if I can find such a photo that will help to prove that the rider with his back to the camera is Carl.

   As for what the guys were laughing at, possibly trading insults as to whether the riding pants go on the inside of the boots or the outside. I am sure Carl would argue that everyone else was wrong as his socks would still be dry as the water would run down his pants instead of making its way inside the boots.... Possibly a socks comparison was upcoming before dinner....to see whom was buying whom dinner...

   Thanks for the quiz Tom

Paul

[Tom Penton]

Paul, good catch! And welcome to the photo. And as I look at it more closely, I agree it's you. But why no smile? Was the the conversation too juvenile for you, or did you not get the joke?

Tom Penton

[Paul Danik]

Tom, maybe the joke was me, a Martian joke to be sure...

I have a question for you.

Do you remember when we went to Carl's place in the Cycleliner and then traveled up into the mountains with it and went for a soak in a hot spring ? I remember how the Cycleliner made a big dent in the parking area and how we walked down a path to where the hot spring was. Joe Barker and I were amazed at how we could feel the ground on the bottom of the spring sort of flexing as the hot gases escaped from the ground. Yep, going to the races sure was all work and no play...

Paul

[Tom Penton]

Paul, I don't remember the Cycleliner trip to the Hot Springs, but I wouldn't put money on my memory now... what event was that for? And when? Does anyone remember when the first year of the Cycleliner was? I was in the Air Force until April 1973, did I miss a couple years?

Considering "The Martian" (with Matt Damon) is one of my favorite movies, I can't make fun of the natives, so you have a pass with me!


Tom Penton

[Paul Danik]

Tom, your questions have given me something to think about and a I have a few tidbits of information, hopefully correct !

The year was 1974 and we were headed to McMinnville, Oregon for Trask Mountain and then onto Bad Rock. I am fairly certain on the year as in 1973 Doug Wilford was still working for Penton Imports and I helped he and Dot with the driving chores of Doug's van as needed heading out west, as well as helping with the Cycleliner driving chores. By 1974 Doug had moved on from Penton. 73 and 74 were the only two years that I made that trip so that narrowed it down a bit.

If I remember correctly, Carl was living in Placerville. In looking at the map it all makes sense as I do recall being near Lake Tahoe at night and wishing it was daylight, and if we took I-80 from Amherst to Reno and dropped down 580 to 50 we would have skirted Lake Tahoe and ended up in Placerville. Looks like it was about a 2324 mile run with a 35 hour time estimate, according to Google...

Yourself, Dane, Joe, Jack as well as myself made the trip together, I do believe. When we left Placerville it would have been about a 10 hour run up to McMinnville, home of the Trask event. I recall the trip north from Carl's as two very pretty young ladies who were friends with one of the guys from that area hitched a ride in the bus with us.

Interesting comment about the Martian and me being from Mars, you might find this interesting. The planet Mars New Year comes every 687 earth days, and guess where it is celebrated with a party thrown mostly by NASA, Mars, Pa !

The mayor of Mars, Pa on a whim contacted NASA about 5 years ago with the idea of having a planet Mars New Year celebration in Mars, Pa and they loved the idea. So every 687 days NASA rolls a high tech caravan of trucks and trailers into town along with some very well educated and interesting NASA scientists and we have one heck of a party. Out of the top of one of their trailers emerges this incredibly large tv screen and we sit on chairs on main street and watch presentations into the evening on many facets of interplanetary exploration with the main focus on the exploration of Mars, the planet. The whole experience is simply priceless and obviously very, very interesting. They showed a special clip from the movie The Martian the first year they came to town, before the movie was released if I remember correctly. Below are a couple of video clips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF8k9NWaRuw

http://marsnewyear.com/

Here is a crazy bit of info, the little spaceship that they show landing in town is actually a fixture in town and a tourist attraction to be sure. The spaceship was the brain child of a really cool local gentleman by the name of Bill Swaney who for years operated a transmission repair shop.

 Many years ago a young local long haired gentleman looking for his first job was hired by Bill to pull transmissions out of cars for him, his name was Erik Buell. Just like John Penton, Erik today has his name on some motorcycle gas tanks as well A few years back at the Daytona Speedway Erik was the guest speaker at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame breakfast which I attended along with JP, Jack and my son and son-in-law. I was able to spend time with Erik that morning and he very fondly recalled his days of working for Bill in the tranny shop. Erik was kind enough to write old Bill a personal note which I was happy to hand deliver to him.


Paul

[Tom Penton]

Paul ... so much interesting info about your hometown, I love it!

Still no memory of Tahoe/Placerville/hot springs. I think we took the Cycleliner to SoCal for the Barstow 2 day qualifier the week before Trask. I bet you skipped that and caught up in Sacramento in the van to go on to Trask. I don't ever remember coming down Donner Pass in the Cycleliner, and if so it should be memorable. The alternative, following Lake Tahoe and down rt50 would also be memorable! I do remember coming down Donner once with Cousin Chris Kovach in Penton Import's Red Kenworth 18 wheeler with a load of bikes and parts for Penton West in Sacromento. Chris had a heck of head of steam and brakes a smoking!

It might have been that year, we once did get the yearning for a scenic route back East in the Cycleliner. We had just finished Bad Rock 2 day, and headed out Sunday evening from Weston. We decided to go through Lewiston / Clarkson on the way to Missula, MT to catch I90. We were getting low on Diesel fuel but would make Lewiston area just fine, a pretty good size city. We got there later than anticipated, past midnight, I believe, and couldn't find anyplace open for fuel, and decided to push on to Missoula. So late and dark, lonely road, running on fumes. Not good! But we made it.

Note: I had gone over Donner Pass several times, but only on the Interstate. Finally I took the scenic old highway 40 and wished I had earlier: spectacular! And a great placard about building the Transcontinental Railroad over the Sierra's.

Tom Penton