About the founder

Extreme Sports Pioneer

(about the founder)

My name is Chris Brooke and I grew up in the world of horses first in Denver CO and then in southern CA with my two younger brothers Rich and Bart. By the time I was 9 I had kid broke a dozen or so horses and was participating in the little britches rodeo. I was running barrels and competing in several of the other gymkhana events winning shaving kits because they weren’t doing buckles for a few years. Then it was off to CA.

We would play “cowboys and Indians” and when shot we would fly off of the horse and land in a pile of wood shavings out of the stalls. It was not enough to train my pony to cart and harness. We would tie a wagon behind it and go for the whip effect and eventually we would go tumbling across the ground.

Our steel wheeled roller skates were pretty much out of control going down the steepest hills we could find i.e. Shoup street in Canoga Park CA so we cut them in two and attached them to a board thinking that would make a difference. The results were the same. We hit the pavement a lot and without the safety gear of today our bodies took the abuse. We were still having fun. How we survived with no one to save us from ourselves is amazing. I mean the govt. not our parents because lord knows they tried.

We then moved to Chatsworth and a few of my friends had mini-bikes, go-carts and motorcycles. A neighbor gave me some pipe and an old briggs and stratton engine off of a lawnmower and supervised my construction of a replica taco 22 mini-bike. The welds looked like a 12 year old kid did them but they held for years. I think I spent as much time pushing it as riding because the engine had seen better days. It was all fun!!

Bed sheets were good for several things. 1: parachuting off of our patio down to the ice-plant bank below. 2: attach a mast to a bicycle or skateboard and get wind driven. This only worked going with the wind.

I was still riding horses a lot. We had gone from gymkhana to show Arabians and I was on several different horses every week. We moved up next to Roy Rogers where he would let us cut through his place to get to the old stagecoach road and into the mountains. Growing up I had watched his show every Saturday and was glad to have him as one of my all-time heroes!!! It couldn’t get any better than to have him as a guy in the neighborhood. We would see him about town in his steer horned silver dollar and pistol gripped car that I would have sworn to have been a Caddy but many years later talking to him at his museum with the car a Torino I believe.

Roy and family moved soon and they developed the property. Shoup was steep, but Trigger hill had turns in it. We had now gone to the flexi-flier world. This was a snow sled with wheels and a poor excuse for a friction brake. We built a slalom downhill dirt course at my friend Scott Smith’s ranch that lined up with Trigger hill so I guess it was inevitable that we would gear up and climb up the hill as far as we wanted to go speed wise. As it would turn out it was a good thing we wore our helmets and padded clothing.

I was now 14 and my mom ” Stoney Brooke” (nickname after Jack Lord’s character Stoney Burke on TV) surprised the heck out of me when she showed up with a beautiful Honda 50 step-through motorcycle for. I sold the mini bike!!! My friend Scott had a Honda 90 step through and we started putting together a track up in the back of his ranch and riding to areas where others were riding. Back at the ranch we buried an old pickup for a jump and dug a pit we could fill with water for a mud hole. There were already trails from the horses and bicycles we incorporated into the track. We went for thousands of laps over the next few years
.
The world of Motocross was trying to decide what cc displacements were to be the prominent classes at the races. There were about 10 different displacements so there were a lot of classes on race-day. I had been to the Westlake and Hopetown Grand Prix and wanted to ride and race eventually. The premier classes were going to be 125, 250 and 500 cc. I wanted a Sachs. They had been dominant in the ISDT events in Europe and were now becoming available in the US. I found a dealer in Woodland Hills (Continental Cycle Center) and put down a deposit. I must’ve been a pest calling frequently until the shop told me to bring a truck. My dad Dick Brooke drove me to the shop and much to my dismay did not see my new bike. The shop owner told me to take this Sachs boondocker 80cc bike home and they would call when my bike arrived. Are you kidding me? I rode the heck out of that fun little motorcycle for the next few months. About this time Scott had gotten a Hodaka and we were going a lot faster flying higher and farther than ever. After witnessing the skills of the Europeans we had a new mission……..Learn this Sport!!!

For the next 40 + years I have raced at the following tracks in alphabetical order. Most of them have disappeared but many still survive!!

Extreme sports pioneer the tracks I raced since 1968
Adelanto: The Desert Vipers Grand Prix and the moto park on395
Anaheim Stadium: Home of the Supercross in So. CA… I rode a couple of the amateur days following the pros.
Anzac: A course in the desert known for it’s big whoops
Ascot Park: The Friday night motocross went on for many years run by Gavin Trippe and was the first stadium style event . It combined TT and Motocross and was a lot of fun!
Bay Mare: The famous “mud fest” in the movie “On Any Sunday” took place here as well as many big events with the vision of Lloyd Ferguson i.e. North South Championships, East West Championships. Viewfinders GP, AMA events etc…
Butterfield Raceway: existed only for a couple of years out east of Temecula
Castaic Lake: Inter Am event and Viewfinders GP
Carlsbad Raceway: Hosted many of the World MX events and was the birthplace of the Superbike now called Super-moto . These events were also the brainchild of Gavin Trippe. Since then a lot of different sanctioning bodies have used the facility for MX and Grand Prix events.
Corona Raceway: Another race facility in So. CA
De Anza: Out past Riverside utilizing a landfill. It was a lot of fun until it rained. It could take hours to get everyone out as the clay cap quickly turned to slime.
Elsinore: made famous in “ON ANY SUNDAY” I raced the revived GP for several years
Ely: Northern Nevada is the site for this best of the desert race promoted by Casey Folks. It started at 6000 ft. and you would climb a ways through the pines then down a dry waterfall and back through the town. It reminded me of a lot of the early races through town where the whole town would be spectating. There was one section that was soooo dusty that you could only hear the mayhem but not see any of it… riding by brail. On the second lap there was a way around but not many found it!!
Ensenada Baja CA: CMC’s Stu Peters ran this event for a few years back in the early 1970’s just south of town on the beach. There was a parade through the town in the first events. I remember battling with LR when he was riding a Husky. He won 2 motos and I won 1 back in the 3 moto format days.
Fontana Raceway: They held night races and the only thing that stands out in my mind was the lighting system. 100 watt lights strung everywhere creating a lot of shadows but still a lot of fun.
Glen Helen: Back in the day it was called Arroyo and the road would get washed out so the racing would go on hold for months. Today it is a Premier track and over the years I have raced here a lot. It has been a home for the Nationals and now for the revived USGP.
Gold Strike: On the way to Vegas the Best of the Desert hosted this event that took us through a lot of sand and volcanic rock. There were marked off corridors to protect the desert tortoise and penalties if you violated the course markings. I fried my top end but was able to break it loose and limp back to the truck
Gorman : Is a large riding area that also has had a few tracks over the years. CMC and A “Day in the Dirt” are a couple that have promoted races there.
Hangtown : The Dirt-diggers North hosted this event. The early races were held in Placerville down along the river. There was no such thing as a National , yet this event and it’s twin drew thousands of racers and spectators. In 1969 it rained and it rained. The track had to be adjusted as much of the course was underwater. Gary Baily was there back from campaigning in Europe aboard a Greeves Griffin. He set up this huge tent ( he thinks he is the first to have one at the races) and showed films of him racing all over Europe. Very cooool!! The race facility was moved a couple years later to Prarie City where they have hosted a National for 30 + years.
Hopetown” The Dirt Diggers South took over Bob Hopes movie ranch at the east end of Simi valley. This was probably the largest event of it’s kind for all of the years it was in Simi until 1973 when it moved to the Dunes. Over a thousand racers would take to the track and many many thousands would spectate. We would look forward to this race all year long and it was in our back yard. It was filmed by Bruce Brown in 1967 and 1973 shot for ABC’s Wide World of Sports but ai don’t know if it ever aired. You can find Hopetown Ascot 1967 at Amazon
Indian Dunes: Ernie Alexander and co. held many events for a lot of years at this facility. From being the new home of the Dirt Diggers and the Viewfinders GP to the night races every friday there was always innovative advances in track design. There were two main tracks. The International and Shadow Glen courses were both challenging and as the bikes improved suspension wise so did the tracks!!
Irwindale: was known for drag racing but they also held motocross events in the 1970’s.
Mesquite: Another race brought by Best of the Desert” Casey Folks. The course was a lot of fun and had it’s share of challenges. I was racing with the amateurs and there were only twenty of us who got to go 5 laps. I was stoked as I was 40 + at the time.
Mammoth: Dave McCoy’s MX is the longest continually run event in the US. It has grown from a weekend event into a two week happening. It’s been fun to be a part of the growth over the years. It’s the one event I try to do if at all possible!!! Many thanks to the mountain for bringing us this event!!!
Muntz: AKA Valley Cycle Park in Simi saw a lot of years with various track layouts and promoters. You can stillsee remnants of some of the trails from the freeway.
Perris: This racing facility has been around for many many years. It was host to the TT races and Scrambles before the onslaught of MX. We raced there a lot. They were always laying out different courses to challenge us.
Railroad Pass Nevada: Just a little east of Vegas there was a track that Doublecross Gran Prix held a couple of events. It was cold and almost snowing at the first event. All of the roads were closed so we spent the night. There was 6 inches of snow down to the water at Lake Mead the next morning. By contrast the next races were Memorial weekend and were night races. With all of the mayhem on the lake there were no ambulances available until 10 pm or so. We raced until 3 or 4 in the morning. Long day for sure!!!
Roughriders: Again another track in Simi. I don’t know why it went away but I do remember a problem with rattlesnakes.
Rosarito Beach Baja CA: The Hilltoppers MC hosted two races a year. One was an inland grueller for 120 to 140 miles of some really rough and some really high speed sections. You could really gear up for this event 100+ MPH. Their other race was on the beach and through the town. It doesn’t sound like high speeds are going to be possible but the start sends you down the beach right on the water for 3 ½ miles before the first corner. On lap 2 there would be a lot of bikes that had seized if they did not use their kill button and full throttle (cooling the piston) to slow down.
Route 66 cycle park: The Missouri version of Ascot
Saddleback Park: This was one of my favorite tracks. There were a lot of hilly sections and some technical. Drop aways into a full G-out then back up the hill by the announcers tower with a jump parrelling the long uphill start that really showed the horsepower differentials of the machines. The big races Inter AMS and later the Trans AMA events were here as well as many local events
Starwest: This is a recent addition to tracks in So Cal. It is inPerris near the dam. It’s more of a Supercross style track. Lots of jumps.
Saint Charles Raceway: Missouri had one of the best tracks that I rode back in the 1970’s. It had uphills and a downhill with a jump in the middle as well as a lot of jumps down in the river bottom.
Washougal: Washington has been hosting the Nationals for a lot of years and I raced several of the Amateur days preceding the big show. Visually it is a lot like Mammoth but at sea level you get monster horsepower and the dirt is mega traction unless it rains. From the Ski Jump to the rhythm sections it was a lot of fun.
Westlake Village: The birthplace of MX in the USA for many of us. It was 1967 and the Europeans were coming over to race. The things they were doing on motorcycles were amazing and I wanted to be a part of it. The following year I entered and rode support . I was just out of the trophy group but not by much. With no silencers yet our ears would ring for a while. I remember asking DeCoster about his smooth style and he said it was rhythm and balance. The Euro trick to riding standing up was to remove the seat and force yourself to stand and help steer with your feet. We went home and did countless laps without our seats. At the time you don’t realize the importance of an event but in retrospect it was way cool to have been a part of the MX generation.
Most of these tracks are long gone but the memories blazed into the memory banks will never go. The good bad and the ugly are all there. The people who made all of this possible are waning and I am glad to help keep their efforts in the forefront with my site and recognitions. Thanks to all of the promoters and safety apparel industries who make our sports possible past present and future and to the participants who are taking our sports to new heights around the world in all of the Extreme Sports Go Big Go Extreme be a Pioneer!!!!