I used to have a lot of fun riding the District 37 T.T.s back in the early 80s. They were always Saturday affairs put on mainly by the Lightweights M.C. They ran many classes including Sidehacks which were popular at the time. We alternated between three tracks, Ascot, Saddleback and Perris. Ascot was very close to me as I lived just up the hill in Palos Verdes, 20 minutes away. Close enough as the crow flies that we could hear the start of the Sprint Car heats. It was cool, we would be in the backyard sitting around the barbie and at regular intervals we would hear BWWwwaaaahh as twenty Sprinters took the green flag.
This is a good shot of the short shute that leads to the right hander to the jump. The straight in the background just starting to arc into Turn 1. The track looks typically hard baked and a little dusty and not at all tacky like it was at night. The T.T. course was a blast and I found the high speed decreasing radius Turn 1 into the infield the most challenging. It got real tight right where the red Honda is and bunched you up and there was a lot of elbows and bar bangin' going on with the right hander not easy either when your trying to grab a big handful to sail over the jump which was close.
Still got a few Lightweights T-Shirts in my Flat Track Stash.
Cant wear them as I'm twice the size I was then but they are nice to have
to look at and be transported way back to those awesome days of sun and dirt and the smell of Castrol R.
