“One generation plants the tree, and the next one gets the shade.”
That quote is from motocross legend Broc Glover, and it aptly illustrates how our lives are linked to the legacies of those who came before us.
In my youth, I didn’t have much reverence for my elders. I thought of old-timers merely as has-beens who should get out of the way to make room for my boundless enthusiasm and my superior riding skills.
But after discovering through the years the stories behind countless past legends of the sport, I came to realize that whatever I could do on two wheels has been more heroically accomplished by many others who came before me. Respect was past due.
That late-discovered appreciation for my forebears is why I was delighted to be at the 79th Trailblazers annual banquet held on April 6 in Carson, California. I attended the event for the first time last year, and I was awestruck to be surrounded by valorous riders and industry icons.
Don Emde, the Trailblazers president, is also a legend of the sport. He famously won the Daytona 200 in 1972, joining his father, Floyd Emde, as the only father/son duo ever to win the renowned race. Floyd won the 1948 race on an Indian Scout. Don Emde says organizing the Trailblazers banquet is similar to racing: Don’t mess with what’s working, and just work on what isn’t perfect.
The event warmed up with a bike show, which also served as a priceless opportunity to mingle with legends. The reminiscing and bench racing continued inside the banquet hall as participants conversed around dinner tables. If we were somehow locked inside, it would take years to exhaust all the motorcycle stories.
The honorees at this year’s event included motocross icons like Roger “The Man” DeCoster, who currently serves as director of KTM Motorsports, and the aforementioned six-time champ, Broc Glover. Nine-time female national MX champ, Mercedes Gonzalez-Natvig, also was welcomed into the club’s Hall of Fame.
Closer to my heart was the induction of buddy Walt Fulton III, a three-time Daytona winner and former factory Harley-Davidson (and Kawasaki and Suzuki) rider. Also receiving honors were Mike Haney (a Houston TT winner) and tuner Pete Pistone.
Rod Lake, a longtime sponsor of racers like Chris Carr, Ricky Graham, Steve Eklund, and Nicky Hayden, among many others, received the Earl & Lucile Flanders Award. A successful entrepreneur and film producer with movie star Kevin Costner, Lake has been supporting riders for more than three decades. And to help young racers, Lake has paid entry fees for riders aged 8 and under at his home track, Lodi Speedway, since 1992, a program that has been adopted at many tracks in the Western U.S., adding up to more than 1,000 kids!
A special President’s Award was given to Irv Seaver Motorcycles in Orange, California, which has roots stretching back to an Indian dealership from 1912. Current owner Evan Bell was presented the award by iconic racer David Aldana, who worked at Irv Seaver as a teenager and was later sponsored on BSAs by the dealership.
Aldana is one of racing’s most colorful personalities and is famously known for his skeleton bones riding suit. In the seminal 1971 film On Any Sunday, Aldana was quoted: “You never know how fast you can go until you fall down.”
On this night, he received the prestigious Dick Hammer award, which acknowledges competitors for their “drive, determination, and desire” as represented by Hammer. Aldana’s bon mot of the evening was, “Take my advice, I’m not using it!”
The evening was full of great stories shared among people who have invested their lives in motorcycling, helping nurture it into what we now enjoy. Although I personally knew only a couple dozen people there, they all have my admiration and reverence.
I’ve learned to respect my elders.
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