RUST magazine: RUST#30

circuit de pyrénées
Looking back
they say that hindsight is 20/20 and this is particularly true in Charlie’s
case. he had an eye test in his youth and was told he had perfect visual
acuity and would pass the visual test for being a fighter pilot. this
obviously stood him in good stead when it came riding off-road motorcycles
quickly and precisely. he has ridden against the best in the world
at trials and motocross and has, at some stage beaten most of them.
“i had a wife, two kids and a crap job so i was riding every weekend
with just the will to win and unlike other top-ten riders, with very little
factory support.” in those days the trials bikes had road bike engines
and suspension and the old dunlop four-ply trials tyres were virtually
run-flat tyres because of their very stiff sidewalls. Any ‘factory’
modifications made a considerable difference.
All that experience made him a very quick enduro rider. “i can
only remember having one off in all my years of enduro riding,
because of my motocross riding i was used to everything hanging
out. in the Circuit des Pyrenees the quickest bike i rode was
probably the yamaha it250, it was geared up for road use and i
can honestly say that i rode that bike as fast as it would go
everywhere – you had to, just to stay with the French police who
were mainly riding Kawasaki 500 fours. i obviously had the edge
on the trails and they would come past me on the road.”
in later years Charlie carried on riding the older bikes in classic
events mainly in France where he won the Classic Motocross
Championship aged 69 on a 360 husqvarna. the following year,
on a CZ, he had a big accident, not his fault, and during his
recovery period he had time to reflect and decided that the will
to win had to be reined-in, which effectively meant an end to
competitive riding. now with prescription specs and no longer
as fit and agile as he once was, he can look back and conclude that
he’s been there, done that, got the t-shirt and had a bloody good time
in the process, and the record books will stand testament to his success.
Perhaps his fondest memories, and this goes for many of the Brit riders
of that era, are of riding in France where the crowds and the enthusiasm
for the sport was much greater than in the uK. during our drive through
France to Pau and back Charlie would point to a place names on
signposts and say, “Won there, beat so and so there, had a fantastic
after-race party there...”