1.
GV riders arriving ( 3 shots )
0.08

2.
SV woman rider arrives
0.11

3.
SV machine receives attention
0.14

4.
SV woman rider removes helmet
0.16

5.
SV rider preparing for start (2 shots)
0.24

6.
TGV riders lined up for start
0.37

7.
GV massed start
0.53

8.
Aerial view GV's ( 5 shots ) of race in progress
1.44



Initials PAF/AW/PS/1840 PAF/AW/PS/1850


SPORT: MOTORCYCLE RACING

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Two thousand motorcyclists, most of them amateurs, took part in a 150-mile ( 240 KILOMETRES ) race across the Californian desert from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on Saturday (28 November). There were so many entrants that they had to be started off in two waves of one thousand each.

Lined up for the start, the riders stretched out for more than a mile ( 1.6 KMS ). The more experienced riders took part in the first wave and the others followed them after 15 Minutes. The prizes were only small trophies, but that was not important for the riders taking part. Only about half of the starters managed to finish the course.

California is currently in the midst of a motorcycle craze and each weekend thousands of people, including entire families, go riding on the desert flats either for pure pleasure or in organised events.