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Third Letter:"Jim,
Max Markowitz: "I was friends with Rick (Don Cutler's son), living just two miles away. Rick had a Yamaha 80 and I bought it from him. Then Rick got a Hodaka Super Rat, which I liked enough to go buy a new one for myself, and one day Marcia (McDonald) took me and the Super Rat to a farm to ride which we weren't allowed to do that day. On the way home, we went by Marc Belleville's house (I knew Marc from school) and saw him and a friend getting ready to go riding, so I told Marcia to turn around, as these guys were kidding me that I couldn't ride. Marc was going pretty good on a Yamaha Mini Enduro, but the Super Rat had it covered. So that was the first time me and Marc rode together, and we started doing it regularly. About this time, Marcia was starting what turned into the Junior Enduro Series. She got me an Ossa Pioneer, which I think was Donald Cutler's Six Day bike from the year before, rebuilt by Taylor's Yankee shop, and not too long after that, she got one for Marc, which I think was Charlie Vincent's bike from the year before, same situation. So about this time, me and Marc were chasing each other through the local woods pretty often now that we both had real motorcycles. So here I am trying to do my best to impress Marcia in the Junior Enduro Series and Marc entered the last race of the year, beat me, and then quit the Series because he turned 16. I couldn't believe Marc, of all people, beat me, not some other damn fooI I didn't know anything about, but Marc Belleville, my "riding buddy". (Marc's laughing, Max Is emphatic.....) "I won the Series the next year."
Marc B: "I don't know if it was 16 or what, but I was too old."
Max Markowitz: "You know, somewhere around that time, I think Dave Eames, who raced Yankees later on, got me and Marc to load up the Pioneers into Marc's Datsun pickup to go ride at a sandbank down near New London, CT. (maybe to check us out?) After I got too old for the Junior Enduro Series, I started doing NETRA events and some of the Six Day Qualifiers. Dave (Marc's brother) crewed for me and a few other guys at a number of them; we were trying to figure out how many he did and we had a few good laughs at some of the shennanigans we pulled at the events, and on the way home. Both Dave and I recalled one long ride home in a blizzard that made the Qualifier look easy. I think it was just before my first ISDT that Marc bought a brand new Yankee, which he's still got so while we still rode together, we didn't compete against each other, though there was one event with the Pioneers where Marc was in front of me AGAIN, crashed, took me out with him and wrecked my knee in the process. I think Kevin Lavoie was behind me and he might have been collected too."
Marc B: "That was a Qualifier, Birkshire maybe? I wrecked the bike, fixed it, then the electrical system died. Kevin might have been far enough back to escape, I can't remember."
Dave B: "Max, he can STILL do it. Remember Freetown last August, 'put himself in the hospital for my birthday, said "there was a rock that wasn't supposed to be there." (we're all laughing) "But he redeemed himself there last month, what was it, a 3rd?"
Marc B. "Yeah, but I missed a race! 'Like to at least get a top five in the points."
Max Markowitz: "How 'bout The Corduroy Enduro; that was a Canadian ISDT Qualifier for the folks up north. It was like a intramural grudge match between the U.S. guys and the Canadians. I almost won the first one, my gas guy missed the tank and poored gas on me instead. (NOT me!..Dave B.) Then I won the next two, kind of crapped up the works for the Canadians, but racing is racing."
ISDT. England. Isle of Man. 1975...
Max Markowitz: "Marcia McDonald was the Team Manager. She was the first woman ever to manage an ISDT Team, and she had an impressive racing record herself. Donald (Cutler) was Team Captain. Don had mechanical problems and missed the Gold by 5.5 seconds. Charlie Vincent had transmission problems and dropped out on day 4. Kevin Lavoie came from Marcia's Junior Enduro Program, like I did, and missed the Gold Medal in a collision with a mail truck. I think I was the youngest guy in the ISDT, and on the first day I found myself on the hood and windshield of a car, watching my bike go flying. Some guy hit me from behind, knocking me off the Gold."
Max Markowitz, Marc, and Dave Belleville
2-9-02 Saturday afternoon"
More to come!
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