Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126403
IDAYTONA '7 ~ . ....".--"",~-. E J Herluf Johnson slogged his way th~ough the sand, water and palmetto bushes to take the overall. Thue c:IMn folk. actually rode In the AlligatOr Enduro. The trophy pre18ntatlon we. the following day. , Ailiptor Enduro Johnson ·t ames the swamp : By Mike & Anne Adair DAYTONA BEACH, FL, MARCH 8 The Alligator Enduro '79 will be remembered as one of the toughest of all. The water table had dropped to .an acceptable level four days before the run, but then the rains camel The . sun shone down on the 572 hearty contestants at the start, but it would only take 50 feet off 26 the pavement to get a sam ple of what was to come . almost constant water, treacherous ruts , I and punishing palmetto shrubs seemingly planted in all the dry spots . Layout chairman, Tom Cumbee, and the Daytona 200 M.C . bypassed all the " bad stuff' and whittled the 100 mile run down to a more realistic 58 m iles. The club even built three bridges, one 150 feet long, right through the middle of a cypress swamp. . Team Suzuki's Herluf Johnson sliced through the muddy circuit with ' an unbelievable score of 23, 18 points ahead of the closest competition. Nearly 200 riders completed the run, a tribute to the club's rerouting. The new enduro calendar accounted for a smaller than usual entry of AA riders . The March 4 LOUisiana National didn't give the guys time to prep their bikes and drive to Louisiana by Saturday night . Dick Burleson and Jack Penton had pre-entered. but it didn't take math tables to figure out Desert ace Mike Hannon took AA honors in the swamp, that they didn't have time. Herluf Johnson, Rod Bush , and Mike Hannon rode practice bikes, left them in the back of the van muddy, and hooked it west for the National. Desert ace, Lars Larson vent ured east to the Alligator and after the run said (In his Swedish accent), "Now I know what a swamp looks like!!! I've a1wa 1'sw amed to b e-a pan of Daytona , I'm going to rid e the hare 'scrambles and do the whole rhingi " Herluf Johnson said befoi e the run, "T he other Suzuki guys couldn't make it . I've got to hustle to Louisiana as soon as we finish. "J ohnson didn't know he would post such a decisive win . Diamondale, Michigan's ~ }{ie£je rode a two-year· old 390 "a u tom atic Husky to the Overall B trophy with 41 points. Hiefje recounted his winning ordeal. " I was fortunate to be on the first row and the trail blazer for the run. It was wild ; big cranes flew up in front of me. Those guys really hung arrows. The trail was well marked. 1 fell in 'one pond with my head under water and the bike on top of mel Thought 1 would drown. " Jimmy Causey earned 250cc IS honors with the third best finish . 42 points. Causey and riding buddy Terry Lindsey, who aced the 200cc B class. were at the hare scramble at trophy time. Lindsey's wife, Sharon, collected the trophies and was the bearer / of good news. The Georgia boys were joined by 125cc B winner , Fred Veator, and Open class winner. Kenny Pancake who all scored for the Peach State. Pancake burned a check four minutes early or he would-have been among the high pointers. vf'ennessee's Tommy Sullivan claimed the 100cc B trophy and Robert Mehre"r finished off the B division with a Senior class victory. Mehrer, sporting an "Tm just here' for the beer" T -shirt said. "After four runs 1 finally won a trophy, but 1 actually saw an alligator this time! A five-footer crossed the traill" Ft. Lauderdale's Bud Chambles