told me . “ I swerved , and the handlebar went over the child ’ s head , but it struck the mother in the chest , tossing her violently into the crowd and fracturing several ribs . The maneuver flipped me over the high side and I tumbled down the pavement . I was skinned and bruised , and thoroughly upset . I kept flashing back to how close I had come to hitting and maybe killing a child . I was so shaken ; all I could think of afterward was going home .”
Fortunately , the woman recovered , though she later tried to sue the race promoter , the city of Elsinore and Malcolm . She failed , but according to Malcolm , it wasn ’ t much fun .
Widowmaker
Malcolm ’ s mother Elizabeth was born and grew up in Provo , Utah , just 30 miles south of Salt Lake City , and while Malcolm grew up in San Bernardino , California , he spent several summers in Utah working for his uncles . All of which made Malcolm and Bruce ’ s trip to Salt Lake City for the annual Widowmaker hillclimb a comfortable affair – though he didn ’ t stay long .
“ I didn ’ t have a lot of time to enjoy my Widowmaker adventure ,” Malcolm told me with a laugh . “ I came up the night before , and came back the evening of the next day . Hey , I had to work !”
The Widowmaker hill , which lies at the southern edge of the Salt Lake valley ( you can still see grooves in the hillside 50 years later ), was so steep that no one had gotten to the top on a motor-
Left : Malcolm Smith waiting for a run during the 1970 Widowmaker hillclimb . Right : Bruce Brown and crew adjusting the 1970 version of today ’ s GoPro helmet-cam as it sat on Harley-Davidson racer Scott Brelsford ’ s head . The thing was cumbersome and heavy , but footage from the setup ended up in the movie , first in the opening dirt track scenes and , later , from road races at Daytona and the Pacific Northwest .
20 | JANUARY 2021 | THUNDERPRESS . NET