Hollister native recalls motorcycle races of his youth
After 37 years, Hollister resident Don Castro returned to the
place where he helped roll a Rolls, to the place where he got his
tennis shoes shined, and of all things, to the place where he lived
like a rock star at 21 years of age.
After 37 years, Castro rekindled all those memories recently
when he returned to England for a reunion of the 1971
Trans-Atlantic Match Race Series
– a friendly us-against-them motorcycle event promoted by
Triumph that pitted the Americans versus the English for bragging
rights.
Hollister native recalls motorcycle races of his youth
After 37 years, Hollister resident Don Castro returned to the place where he helped roll a Rolls, to the place where he got his tennis shoes shined, and of all things, to the place where he lived like a rock star at 21 years of age.
After 37 years, Castro rekindled all those memories recently when he returned to England for a reunion of the 1971 Trans-Atlantic Match Race Series – a friendly us-against-them motorcycle event promoted by Triumph that pitted the Americans versus the English for bragging rights.
“That was quite a thrill,” said Castro, now 58, from his motorcycle shop in Tres Pinos called Racer’s Edge.
As part of the Triumph team back in the early ’70s, Castro was one of six racers to compete in the original three-race promotional event, which took place at three famed circuit tracks in England, including Mallory Park, Oulton Park and Brands Hatch Circuit.
Atop a Triumph three-cylinder Trident, Castro can’t recall how well he did as an individual back in 1971 – “I know we lost,” he said – but he does remember the fond memories he made with his American contingent of Dick Mann, Jim Rice, Gary Nixon, Don Emdy and David Aldana.
Only Nixon and Rice didn’t show for the Aug. 15 reunion, Castro said, but the remaining four – along with Gene Romero, who was the No. 1 Triumph rider back in 1971 – acted out as the wild one’s once again.
“After some 30 years, to get back on our Trident’s, for us old guys that was something,” Castro said. “It took you back to when you were a kid and all the dumb stuff in the hotel, wearing Levi’s, and all the fans.”
Castro’s track record is lengthy. Born and raised in Hollister, he was ranked No. 1 Indoor California and No. 5 in the nation as a professional novice, ranked No. 2 as a junior pro after winning seven of the 24 Grand Nationals, and was eventually ranked No. 5 as a professional for Team Yamaha in 1973, tying the highest ranking he ever had.
But it was his trip to England in 1971 that seems to evoke the most memories for Castro, as it was the first time he had ever left the country.
“It was like old family,” said Castro of reuniting with both American and English racers for the first time since the ’70s. “You’re older, but it was like just yesterday you were talking to them. It was like a dream because it was so quick and then it was over.”
The two-day reunion celebrated the match series with a get-together dinner, a trip to the National Motorcycle Museum (where some of Castro’s accomplishments are displayed), a couple friendly races with those in attendance, and even a “supervised” ride around Cadwell Park, one of the original race tracks for motorcycles, Castro said.
“They wouldn’t let us drive (around Cadwell Park) because of our past experiences of rolling cars,” Castro said. “They were serious, at least that’s what they said.”
Back in 1971, the U.S. Triumph team rolled a Rolls Royce at Oulton Park, and Castro recalls hanging upside down looking out the window when a pair of “blokes” came running towards them.
“They said, ‘Boy, you guys are in for it now,'” Castro said. “Needless to say, we didn’t get anything but front-page headlines in the newspaper. That might be why we got over 70,000 spectators at the first match race.”
Castro and his team were put up at the five-star Grosvenor House in London for the original Trans-Atlantic Match Race Series. Wearing Levi’s and T-shirts – Triumph later footed the bill to buy them proper clothes suitable for a luxury hotel – Castro and his fellow countrymen lived the five-star life for a short while. They realized they could have their shoes shined by simply placing them outside their hotel room door, which led to their sparkling sneakers, while they also enjoyed the experience of a chauffeured-driven Rolls Royce lifestyle – different, of course, from the one they rolled.
Although the ruined Rolls was missing from the reunion, Castro did get to sit atop a replica of his Trident motorcycle, and even hit the track a couple times with the other racers.
“We felt like we were still kids racing, and the best thing was that none of us fell,” Castro said.
Castro, who returned to the match series in 1975 with Yamaha (and even finished second), is considering a trip to Paris next year for another race, perhaps to rekindle old memories. But simply reading about his own racing accomplishments, about his own memories, at the motorcycle museum in England was enough to floor the former speed racer.
“To have someone remember you after that is remarkable,” Castro said. “The feeling you get is unreal, that satisfaction of doing something that people remember.”
