Time has a way of sneaking up on us!  29 yrs ago this spring, the Sierra Old Timers Club held its annual Intl. race at Tom Anderson’s Sand  Hill Ranch. 

     Our former Club president (10 yrs straight) Johnnie Hall seldom throws anything away. A while back Johnnie gave me a box with lots of club material. Race programs, etc. & sifting thru it, I ran across the pre-entry signup list from that 1983 Sierra race at Sand Hill.

     That year we had 106 pre-entries ( pre-entries usually make up about 60 % of the total)  & I started looking at names & ages.  I recognize more than a few ( if not most) names, but more interesting are some of the stats.    

    First let’s point out that there were no age groups. If you were plus 40, you could sign up in the Master, Expert, Amateur or Novice class, run what ya brung and line up against anybody over 40 in your class.

     Of those who pre-entered, the oldest guy on the list was Novice Hayden Waddington (age 67), following Hayden was Charlie Burchinal (age 62)Oreg., Harley Maulkson (age 61)Oreg., Bob McGrotty (age 58), Wes Bradwell 57, Johnnie Hall & Asker Larnkjar both 55.

     The average age of the 17 pre-entered Masters was 46, oldest of whom was Maico Joe McKenzie (54) (yes, I know that was his number but it was also his age that yr) and the youngest was my little brother Jim McClinton at 40.

     The average Expert was 45.9, average Amateur 47.7,  Novice 50.3 and in the support class the average was 15.5 but slewed somewhat to the low side by little Jessica Hilton on her mini bike at age 3. The average age on the list is 45 yrs.

   Charlie, Asker, Harley, Bob & yes our own Johnnie hall, plus a few more (Norm Armstrong & Dan McCarthy come to mind) they all hung in there for a very long time, certainly longer than any of us could have imagined back then. I suspect the average has risen too.

    I’m not too good at math so if you want, check the list, you might see somebody you know, maybe even find yourself on there. (1983 Sand Hill).

   Oh, the race, well I’ve not yet found the finish list, but I do remember it was a bloody old mud bath & I didn’t do well. my DMS TT500 4stroke yanked my left arm out of the socket going up HP Hill.