Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

- .. . l-o 0- ~ (Clockwise from above) Mike Melton coHected his t hird win in four events. John Martin recovered from the water crossings t o place second overall. Dwight Rudder rode a borrowed bike to High Point A honors. Riders leave the It;arting line. . " AltA National Championship Enduro Series: Round 4 Melton tops Little Harpeth Enduro By Dan McCauley BUCKSNORT, TN. APR. 10 Team Husqvarna 's Mike Melto n co llected th e overall win in the Don Tha va Factory Works-organized 13th Annual Little H arpeth End u ro. This, th e fourth ro und of the 12 event AMA National Championsh ip Enduro Series. was Melton 's third overall win this sea son. 16 - hi s red m ount fo llowi ng th e Tul sa Three-Day ISDE qualifi er . in time to m ake th e Lilli e H arpe th . so Rudder borrowed a 1982 Husq varna 250 XC a n d ro de it 10 High Point A h onors. Melt on pil ot ed hi s H i-P oint/j ones / Dunl op/Bel- Ra y/Oury· sponsored Husqvarri a 430 W R 10 an eig h t p oint loss in the 139.6 m il e run . " I th ought it wa s go ing 10 be an ass kicker. lik e a co u p le o f yea rs a go. but it wasn't , it wa s j us t really good." sa id Melt on . Melt on a lso rook t h e L ill ie H ar perh o vera ll tw o yea rs a go. " T he e ven t wa s p ret ty ea sy for us AA "uys - but we d idn ' t zero it ." sa id M art in . .J o h n went o n 10 sa y... I th in k everyo ne en jo yed th em selv es." Varying fro m t ig h t woods 10 a m ajor i tv o f t h ir d a n d fo u rt h gear tra ils. n o bon len er ks develo p ed . T h is sh o wed super la vo u t beca use a la rge a mo u n t of ra in Iel l t he wee k pr ior 10 Can -Am Ia ctory pilot j ohn Ma rlin . riding with a bruised right wrist a n d a rm , fini sh ed a sca m point behind Melton 10 lak e th e second pl ace points an d th e Open AA win . Defendin g Nationa l Champion T erry Cunning ham a n d Kevin Hines rounded O U I th e rop four pl aces. lroni ca l lv. thi s is a lso th e o rder in wh ich th e f~ursom e stand in Nat iona l p oint s, Melt on 's p oint lead h a s n ow been stre tc h ed to 30 over Martin , 106 to i 6. As ha s been th e ca se in eac h Na ti on al E n d ur o th i s se as on . j e ff F rr-de-u e ca p tu red t h e 200cc AA w in o n h i s j o n es z M etzcl er -spon sored Kaw a saki KDX 200 . Dwi gh t R u dder . w ho is a Ma ico th e even t. Su p port rider , w a )IJl;lpJ<:! . t 'im • , -, . BIl.l b .~s. S,LO p .wclL'. \lo· ilh i u .a fc.\~ hundred ya rds o f th e sta rtin g area, a n d this was very co n ve n ien t for pit cre ws . The Don Thava Factorv Works Club a lso provided great sp ec ta to r points w ithin a sto ne 's throw o f th e ga s SlOpS, th e firs t in th e form o f a n eig h th -o f-a -m ile grass track a n d then a creek which riders crossed tw ice. At the fir st g a s SlOp a t 25.6 mil es. th e ri de rs were given a 40 minute reset. Melton h ad the best sco re with a 6:24. C u n ni n g ha m wa s l-t secon ds slo wer. . Mai co Mei st er Barry H iggins sa id , a t the firs t g a s sto p , ' 'I' m g oing ba ck 10 MX- you don 't h av e 10 go as fa st a s th is." Al th e seco n d gas sto p . Cunningh am sa id . " T hev shou ld h av e m ad e it much tou gh er-e-w e 'r e j us t cr u is in' ... T o thi s. Marrin sa id , " If it 's so eas y. h ow co me Ter rv doesn ' t have a zero?" Meh an a n d Cunningh am h ad borh pi ck ed up two m ore points, givin g th em eac h scores o f eig h t. Martin was o n ly o ne minut e o ff th e pace with a run e, C u n n ingha m k ne w h e was st ill beh in d . H e the n made a very co stlv err o r by bu rnin g tw o checks by a rni n ute each . H o wever . th e second to la st check was a lso hit ha l bv Kevin H in es. Ma r k H vde. Kevin B'r own a n d m a n y . -.· Olh ers . T be -chec ks c lock wa s 20< ge1'A 110 onds off and the check was thrown o ut. As the scores were bei ng calcu la ted some pretty good stories were being told back at the starting area. " So m ething passed me and then j umped right in from of me!" said Hyde. " I. co u ld n' t believe it . it was a doe. I kept thinking I almost killed Ba mbi." .,q Fourth overall was a close ba tt le between Massachusetts ' Kevin Hi nes and north ern Californi a 's David Bertram. Two seco n d s on the tiebreaker ch ec k divided the Husqvarna' support rid er s. Hines came out on top and sa id . " I think they could have placed the ch ecks in more appro priate pl a ces ." Hines co n clud ed by saying, .. It wa s g ood fun !" 'J . Frede tte sa id. "T he terrain was excellent , but the trail s wer e a w fu l slic k- I wa s j USI sl idi n '. " T he O p e n A clas s belonged 10 Alvi n :-Ic Cann o n . T he da v bef o r leav in g fOI th e en d u ro . McCannon pi ck ed up t wo n ew Husqvar n as . McCann on sa id . " I r's ni ce 10 fin all y( fin ish ." Dav id Kerwe l l was fo ur p oin ts. behin d :\l cC ann on to tak e seco nd . C hris tan Rod-m ann 1\ ' took O\'e ~T a ll B o n hi , Hu sq varn a 250 XC: Ro d ern an n w ho is a m em ber o f Th e :\ t' \\' O r k-ans En d u ro :\ss ()ci a t i ~n a sa id . " 1 was go ing fO I it. " E rn nu -t Cox tu rned in a lerr ific ride" in t h e Se n io r :\ ·d a " :'G,,x lo st o n lv 26 . "

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