Ride the Whirlwind

Ride the Whirlwind
Episode #	222
Air Date	March 10, 1979
Briefing	Outlaw bikers

Title Screen

Plot

Jon is creating a new form of CHP and plans to use it to get Sindy on a motor. When asked for volunteers, Grossie is enthusiastic about it and Sarge forces Jon to pick him. Sindy shows up after the briefing and is upset she wasn't picked. Later, Ponch, Jon, and Grossman get a good workout at Indian Dunes. Sindy shows up and rides with them. Grossie takes a spill but we learn that he's not really hurt and Ponch paid him off to do it. Grossie admits he would have done it himself, but plans to take Ponch's money anyway. Sindy takes over for Grossman and Getraer expresses his concern.

When Jon and his team goes out on patrol, they split up. Jon is threatened by a woman and her dogs. Menawhile, Ponch comes across a councilman who's riding in a restricted area. Even though he owns the land, Ponch cites him. Down in the valley, Jon comes across a man chasing chickens on his bike. Jon cites him and has him and his girlfriend follow him back to the woman's house to apologize for ripping up her garden. Soon, Sindy's chasing two bikers across some rough terrain. One of the bikers kicks her down into a riverbed. Ponch finds her injured and limping but she doesn't give up.

Back at Central, Ponch wheels Sindy down the hallway so that she doesn't have to walk and give away her injury. Later, Jon stops by her apartment and confronts her about her ankle. They get in a shouting match and Ponch breaks them up. Sindy agrees to visit the doctor.

Out on patrol the next day, Ponch chases the councilman. Ponch knocks him off his bike just before it goes off a cliff. Meanwhile, Sindy finds the outlaws' hideout. She calls for Jon and chases after one of the outlaws when he takes off. As Jon arrives, the two other outlaws leave the hideout and cause it to explode. Jon apprehends them. Down in the riverbed, the outlaw sets a bush on fire. Ponch comes along and puts the fire out while Sindy goes after the outlaw again. She catches him and finds a baggie of drugs.

Back at Central, Getraer commends them on a job well done. As Sindy, Jon, and Ponch leave, Jon says the woman Ponch spots is waiting for a "macho" man. She's Jon's date. Everyone appears and laughs.

Great Quote

"Hey, what are you? Something out of Star Wars?"

-Harry (commenting on Jon's BMX uniform)

Guest Stars

• Robert Donner as Coby
• Paul Koslo as Verne
• Allen Case as Walter Dunlap

Also Starring

• Brianne Leary as Sindy
• Brodie Greer as Baricza
• Paul Linke as Grossman
• Lew Saunders as Fritz

Co-Starring

• Maray Ayres as Sheila
• Kitty Hilton as Janice
• Peggy Doyle as Rancher Woman

Featuring

• Eric Lawson as Harry
• Jenny Neumann as Lady Biker
• Chester Grimes as Chico

Crew

• Produced by: Cy Chermak
• Written by: Stephen Lord
• Directed by: Larry Wilcox
• Executive Consultant: Rick Rosner
• Story Editors: William D. Gordon & James Doherty
• Associate Producer: Paul Rabwin
• Developed for television by: Paul Playdon
• Music by: Alan Silvestri
• Theme by: John Parker
• Music Supervisor: Harry V. Lojewski
• Director of Photography: Robert F. Sparks
• Art Director: Joseph M. Altadonna
• Editors: Quinnie Martin, Jr. & William Neel
• Unit Production Manager: Thom Anable
• Assistant Director: Ron Grow
• 2nd Assistant Director: Mary Lou MacLaury
• Script Supervisor: Jack Gannon
• Set Decorator: W. Joseph Kroesser
• Production Consultant: Bob Hayden
• Technical Advisor: Dick Barton
• Sound: Maury Harris, Hal Watkins, C.A.S.
• Stunt Co-ordinator: Paul Nuckles
• Wardrobe Supervisor: Shelly Levine
• Makeup: John M. Norin
• Casting: Michael O. Hanks
• Locations by: Cinemobile Systems
• With Appreciation to Glen B. Craig, Commissioner California Highway Patrol
• Motorcycles Furnished by: Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A.
• Automobiles furnished by: Ford Motor Company
• Filmed in METROCOLOR / Titles and Opticals MGM
• Rosner Television in association with MGM Television

Fun Facts

Cliff at Indian Dunes

• This episode was directed by Larry Wilcox
• Indian Dunes was a popular motocross venue on Henry Mayo Drive that appeared in many TV shows and movies in the '70s and '80s. The last races were held there in the mid '80s, and today there is no trace of the track or the adjacent airstrip. View in Google Maps
• Councillor Dunlap loses his bike over the same cliff where Daisy's yellow Road Runner met its fate in The Dukes of Hazzard episode "The Runaway".

Mistakes

• In the scene after Grossie limps past Getraer in the hallway, you can see bright lights reflected in the bad guy's helmet. (...either that or the scene was filmed on Tatooine with its two suns.)
• During the first day of patrol in the valley, the sky goes from sunset to mid-afternoon several times.
• At the end, Ponch wonders who the "Mona Lisa" is waiting for. She's waiting with her elbow on Jon's truck. Doesn't that make it obvious?
• Ponch cites the councilman, but not the girlfriend for riding in a restricted area.
• When Jon stops the guy from chasing the chickens, he gets off his bike and rests his helmet on the mirror. When he walks away, the bike falls over.
• When Getraer tells Ponch that Councillor Dunlap wants to speak to him, he mispronounces his surname as Dunlop.

Buy this Episode

• Ride the Whirlwind on DVD at Amazon.com

Preceded by: "CHP BMX"

Ride the Whirlwind 222

Followed by: "The Greatest Adventures of CHiPs"