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Jimmy Carr -- The Great Escape
Jim, in the red shirt, is racing in the 1968 Pacific Southwest Championship Hare Scrambles.

After a year or so of racing I'd finish 20th to 30th overall out of about 300 bikes which was also 3rd to 5th in my class. Races were 2 or 3 loops of 30 miles each and as enduring as any motocross. My most exciting challenge was trying to keep up with the #1 rider in California, J. N. Roberts, along with Steve McQueen, the late movie actor and Malcolm Smith. About 10 minutes into a race I was one of the 20 or so "front runners" and could see that I was just a few hundred yards behind a group of bikes that included Roberts. Lost sight of them and came up over a hill and the front runners were ether stalled at the bottom or on the side of this vertical steep hill, about like my Palos Verde "piece of cake" hills. I passed everyone and now I'm in the lead. The desert is pristine - - - not a fresh motorcycle track to be seen and I am flying. No dust to eat 'cause I'm the front runner; Numero Uno. The ten minutes of glory I enjoyed, up front, by myself was short lived, because 5 or 6 bikes blew by me with only their rear wheels on the ground. These guys were professionals and not as crazy as you may think. Novice's like me are the crazy ones. Just trying to stay close to those front runners, which is what I did, just before I crashed, flying over the handlebars.  Fortunately, the only thing I broke was my ego. I did manage to win a race though and still have the trophy. My wife Sandy has it on display in a favorite spot somewhere in the garage. 

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