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/126437
e • ~ E ~ eN $-I V ..c S ~ o Z That fine. powdery white stuff. up to e foot deep in some spots. mixed with rein end heiI at the Buckhorn N8tioneI end C8l1ll8d ovw two-thlrds of the field to DNF the event. (Below IeftI-Mike Hennon protested 8n improperly l18'ked check end won. (Right! Rick Munyon had been declared the unofficial winner. before the proteSt was lodged. Munyon colleetlid second lifter eI' W8S said end done. AMA National Enduro Series Hannon's protest upheld at Buckhorn National' End.uro By Rex McClellan OAK RUN, CA, NOV. 4 In a true test of endurance, factory Kawasaki rider Mike Hannon eked out a one point win over Honda's Rick Munyon at the Buckhorn National held in the mountains east of Redding. Displaying a blatant disregard for human comfort Mother Nature threw everything she had at . . us. Dependmg upon where you 12 were, it was either raining, hailing, or snowing all day long. Add ·to this a foot of fresh snow in some places, mix well and you have the recipe for a lot of misery. Even the most waterproof riding gear was penetrated and glasses or goggles beam-e'use1'ess: Many-riden' were soaked before they reached the first check. At gas everyone was wet and ma~y changed to a fresh set <;If clothes (If they were lucky enough to have them). Visibility was also a problem. Not only from the precipitation, but also from douds that shrouded the mountain tops on the course. The course was located on lumber company property and the trails were littered with limbs and branches ''Which: -cblitred with snow and/or:. mud, made for a lot of sudden spills. Fallen trees to either get over or under added a lot of physical labor to the ride. There were also a number of rocky and muddy uphills that had most riders pushing. The difficulty of the course was the only thing that kept riders· anywhere near warm. When they got out on the fireroads, everybody froze. Fortunately, the riders did not have to race on a lot of these roads. The courses made good use of mileage resets. Applauded by most National caliber riders, resets are used to allow riders to catch up after they are checked out of a tight section. This way, you are scored more between sections a nd do less racing on the roads that may have two way traffic. This is a real safety plus. Speeds of 90 + mph are easy for many bikes to reach and the result is a lot of potentially dan:gerous accidents. No one wants to become a hood ornament or go sailing off the road and down a cliff. More enduros should use resets. Resets must be used properly to have this effect and riders must also learn to adapt to them. Since this is the only District 36 event that uses them, many riders were a bit confused. District 36's number two rider and past National winner Rob Sutliff somehow forgot about the first reset and quickly put himself out of contention by burning the second check by a number of minutes. Other top riders did not fare very wl:lll either. Maico's Don Sanford had problems with his throttle cable that kept him out of the running. District 36 numero uno, George Hendrix, who is also a "AA" rider and one who usually does well in tough conditions, had tire problems. George rode most of the first loop on a rear flat, but he quickly replaced the wheel' assembly at