mxa@hi-torque.com “J ody!” said Lovely Louella when I came back from borrowing a tube from Jimmy Mac. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you. Give me the keys to the Jodymobile. I have to move it.” “Why? Is it blocking someone?” I asked. “No,” she said. “I’m going to move it from the pits to the driveway at home. You can get a ride home with Jimmy Mac.”
“Louella, Jimmy wants me to do lap times. Could I borrow your stopwatch?” said Jimmy Mac’s girlfriend Sheila. “I don’t use a stopwatch to do Jody’s lap times,” said Louella. “What do you use?” asked Sheila. “On a good day, a sun dial is adequate, but today I brought a pocket calendar.”
“Jody,” asked Lovely Louella, “what happened in the last moto? You were missing for two laps.” “I got caught in a 10-bike pileup in the first turn and came in dead last,” I said. “Well, I hope you do at least as well in the next moto,” said Louella.
“Jody,” said Crazy Dave after the first moto, “I know a corner where you can save a second a lap.” “That would be cool. Do you know what it would mean if I could knock a second off my lap times?” I asked. “Yeah,” said Louella, without looking up from her National Geographic. “You’d only be losing time on the straights.”
The other day I heard Louella on the phone with her mother. “Oh, I’d love to come. Who else will be there? That’s great. Can I bring anything? Jody? No, he won’t come. I don’t have to ask; I already know what he’s doing. He’s going to finish 14th again.”
“How did you do in the first moto?” said Louella while thumbing through the latest issue of National Geographic.
“Didn’t you watch my moto?” “No,” she said. “It was dusty over by the fence.” “In that case,” I said. “I won.”
The newly wed wife of Monte Roy sat down next to Louella in the pits and was asking for advice on how to be a moto wife. “Aren't you ever afraid that Jody is going to get hurt while racing?” she asked. Louella looked at her, smiled briefly and said, “Not at the way he does it.”
“Boy, I hope I get a good start,” I said to Luscious Louella before the start of the second moto. “Why?” she asked without looking up from her National Geographic. “So I can win!” I said. “What will that prove?” she asked. “That I’m the fastest rider,” I said. “In the world?” she asked. “No, not exactly, but the fastest rider here,” I said. “Here in California?” she asked. “No, I mean here at Glen Helen,” I said. “So, if you win today you’ll be the fastest rider at Glen Helen?” she said. “In my class,” I said. “Are there other classes?” she asked. “Yes,” I said. “How many?” she asked. “Thirteen,” I said. “Is everybody who wins his class the fastest rider at Glen Helen?” she asked. “No,” I said. “You are putting too much emphasis on winning. I’m here to have fun.” “Then I guess it doesn’t matter what kind of start you get, does it?” she said. ;
By Jody Weisel
