JACK PINE

[Music] 22 play football. If you watch an auto race, you might catch 50 drivers at a time. Now watch the only American sports competition where more than 500 contestants fight for trophies and glory. Watch men, women, and children enjoying the nation's fastest growing sport, motorcycleycling, in the oldest and most distinguished motorcycleycling contest of all, the wild and woolly Jack Pine. [Music] [Music] Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Now there can be no switching of engines or motorcycles in mid-run. Owners outfit their machines with mufflers and fire extinguishers, but strip them of all unnecessary weight. They carefully waterproof their bikes. On the eve of the Jack Pine, a sellout crowd attends a banquet in the Lancing Masonic Temple to hear guest speakers and a summary of important developments. Contestants eat well and leisurely. Next morning at 5:30, it's a different story. Jack Piners pushed through crowds and hurried breakfasts to keep on a split-second schedule of starting times. Five a breast they wheeled to the starting line in downtown Lancing. [Music] Motorcyclists protect themselves with jackets, helmets, and goggles. Crowds are largely made up of motorcyclists and their families. [Music] Wives wisfully kiss their men goodbye. Several women are entered in the toddler pup class. A few children bravely go the 500 miles seated behind their dads. [Music] All must face 41 secret checkpoints. 200 volunteers are already positioned at these control points all along the course. [Music] The pre-dawn darkness is pierced by the roar of dozens of motorcycles warming up at once. The starter whistles them into action every minute. The entire field of 494 vehicles roars northward. Quickly they find themselves off the security of paved highways and on paths bordering railroad tracks and across rich Michigan farmland. Their destination is the little town of West Branch, 36 mi west of Lake Euron in northern Michigan. But their route is anything but direct. After 38 years, the organizers have found every piece of devilry that can be worked into the course without stopping contestants cold. They don't try to trick the participants. When anyone gets off course, he comes across a wrong sign that hopefully directs him back to the proper turnoff. [Music] The Jack Pine is blessed with good motorcycleycling weather. Some sun, some overcast, balmy, but not hot. Contestants get a fine taste of early fall among the hardwoods and gentle terrain of central Michigan. Only 10% of this year's course is on paved roads. The rest is on unpaved roads or no roads at all. This endurance run is sponsored by the Lancing Motorcycle Club and sanctioned by the American Motorcycle Association. together. These two [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hundreds of fans followed the Jackpine signs ahead of time to stake out choice spots to watch the ordeal they know will come. Motorcycles by the hundreds splash into the slippery bed of the river, which they must cross at this point. Quickly, bursts of steam tell the owners that their waterproofing wasn't effective, and water pours into carburetors. Some engines are permanently damaged. Most survive. Good luck and good experience see many through the water without incident, but most are helplessly losing one point for every minute of delay. According to the rules, they aren't supposed to, but bystanders enthusiastically pitch in to help riders who need it. Most men whose machines conk out walk them to the shore to try out. One for soul waits it out in midstream. [Music] It is suspected that many of these men fancy themselves cowboys on the Santa Fe Trail, fighting Indians and uncharted back country. There is little doubt that they're having the time of their lives despite their somber faces. [Music] The Grand River trial is followed by a run up the muddy banks. [Music] [Music] [Music] ride on cowboy. boy. [Music] Some intrepid riders try to smell out alternate paths on the same course. This leads to occasional disaster or a better break. [Music] Now motorcyclist speed into plains country, ancient sand flats, ground covered with burns and second growth jackpine trees. The going gets tough again as men plow into sand traps. [Music] [Music] [Music] the dean of the Jack Pine Endurance run as Oscar Lens of Lancing in Tampa, Florida. Now, we watch and travel with Oscar as he tells us something of this wild rally. I won the first Jackpine back in 1923. Then I rode for 14 years and won seven of those. Since then, I've been on the Pathfinder layout crew and this is my 24th year on that. Each contestant starts with a,000 points to his credit as he checks out. He attempts to retain as much of his thousand points as he can. If he finished with a perfect score, he'd have a thousand points. However, this has never been done. The champion would lose in the neighborhood of 20 to 25 points for the two-day running, which is still a very, very good score. We had some of them that continue on the run until they've lost their entire thousand points and are working on a minus score. That's how determined these youngsters are. Engines [Music] already dipped in water and mud are now immersed in miles of sand. Spills are inevitable. Good piloting and quick thinking avoid pileups. Participants sit far back for better rear wheel traction. Many find themselves walking their wobbling motorcycles through the unsure sand. It may take weeks to get some of these machines back in original operating condition. Wow. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] They've already been through. The trouble beckons again. Now just past a benign checkpoint awaits Skyline Hill. A steep hill of soft sand flanked by sharp banks and mischievous onlookers who know what's coming. Some shout to the contestants to take it fast. [Music] Bill Bair takes it too fast. His vicious crash stuns the crowd and stops the Jack Pine. Baird lies motionless for minutes until a physician rushes to his aid. smelling salts bring him too. The doctor finds no breaks, no concussion, just a cut over his eye. He goes on to win the class A championship. Later, there was speculation that if it had not been for this accident, Beard might have become grand champion. Sunset retires the exhausted motorcyclist to a long sleep. West Branch is so crowded many sleep on floors or camp outlet. 6:00 Labor Day morning sees them back at the starting line, but the ranks have thinned. 200 entrance failed to make the start of the second. [Music] Father and son doing fine. Mother nervous. It's a rugged sport. Of course, that starts in from racing and hill climbing and reliability trials, of which the jackpine is a granddaddy. It's a very fascinating sport. Of course, you got to like it and you've got to like outdoors and you've got to like machinery to really get involved in it. [Music] The warriors of the Jack Pine now accept the challenge of many more miles of sand. trails of sand and great open areas of deep sand up here in Great Lake Country. It's an event like this that could drive the motor [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] Noon control converts a bear ground into a giant outdoor garage. Righters are given 1 hour to tune up their bikes, grab a bite to eat, and maybe even take a short nap. Rest periods like this keep the Jack Pine civilized. No one wants exhausted drivers out on the Michigan highways on Labor Day weekend. [Music] The Rifle River contestants are largely unaware of the pitfalls here. Most spectators try to help. Few try to send the riders into the deepest holes just for kicks. [Music] The accident toll grows quickly. [Music] Drive chain snap. [Music] The water is bold and clear, but for the life of you, you can't see those great holes. [Music] Some find the one right place to cross. Others follow as if they were riding a tight rope. [Music] 23 different brands of motorcycles are represented in this contest, most of them European and Japanese. Awards await winners by weight and type of the motorcycles and by age and sex of the riders. There are no manufacturers teams entered, but a great number of dealer teams and club teams are evident here today. [Music] There goes last year's grand champion wearing his cowbell. It's Bert Wheelen, number 256, going through the Rifle River like a winner. Everybody can't win the Cowbell Classic, but they can all work to finish it, which is an honor in itself. [Laughter] [Music] through the mud and onto trails to the south go the remaining riders. There are now fewer than 200 left out of the original 500. Checkpoints aren't so busy now. [Music] [Music] [Music] The Michigan highways are filled with the returning remnants of the motorcycle army. At last comes the drag back to Lancing at sunset. 193 men and one woman make it back to the final control at the finish line. It's a mass victory. [Music] Father and son make it back safe and sound. Individual honors will remain unknown until Tuesday. For now, the real work begins for officials. All night they analyze control records to determine the grand champion and individual class championships. [Music] [Laughter] [Music] Heat up here. [Music] Heat up here. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Laughter] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]