Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Husky-mounted Gary Johnson was in the running for the top spot before running into problems in the late stages of the race; he finishad sixth. (Above) John Martin couldn't match Terry Cunningham, but started the season with a second overall. (Below) Kevin Hines finished third. AMA National Championship Enduro Series: Round 1 ' Cunningham chief of Cherokee National By Tom and Peggy Kolnowski PENFIELD, GA, MAR. 16 The rites of spring were ever so sweet for defending National Enduro Champion Terry Cunningham, as he dealt his competition yet another knockout punch by winning the 14 season-opening Cherokee National Enduro. After emerging from the pine forests in the vicinity of the small north Georgia community of Penfield, Husqvarna's Cunningham had a total of 18 points on his scorecard to lock up the win and pick up right where he left off in 1985, while Can-Am's John Martin (thedefending National Hare Scrambles Champion) turned a score of 20 points to earn second overall ahead of KTM's Kevin Hines. Husky/Carolina Tool-backed Randy Hawkins and Can-Am's Geoff Ballard rounded out the top five overall. While torrential rain forced the cancellation of the February l6 ew Idria, California, round of the series and gave the Cherokee the distinction of being the season opener, rain in Georgia in the days preceding the 20th Annual Cherokee Enduro came in just the right doses to contribute to what Cunningham called "near-perfect" riding conditions. A storm system dropped another helping of rain over the area in the early morning hours, but by the 9:00 a.m. key time the rains began to subside and soon gave way to partly-cloudy conditions and temperatures in the low 70s. Nearly 400 riders were on hand to try their Iuck at the course laid out by the Cherokee Enduro Riders, and were handed a route sheet which read 131.6 miles. A total of 27.3 miles in mileage resets brought the actual ground miles down to just over 100, but there were few riders at the finish who wanted more. As John Martin put it, "The last section (all woods for 14 straight miles) was awful fast and I was getting pretty worn out- I kept thinking about all of the riders that must've been just hangingon for the finish line." Cunningham, on the other hand, was at his woods best in the final sections, having put aside his problems in the early part of the run. "The (moist) ground was tacking up before the first gas stop, and the roots were really bad - almost like riding in rocks," said Cunningham, who was mounted on the Husky 430 Automatic. "I went to pass a guy, and I was watching to make sure he moved over far enough so I would clear his bars. I hit a root, and it highsided me, threw me down and pitched me straight into a tree - which struck me right in the middle of the back. It kind of ruined my day. "In the next tough section - which was the first tiebreaker - it was one of those things where nothing could go wrong. You would start falling because of a root in the corner, catch a berm and just wheelie out. That was where I really smoked everybody one of those picture-perfect rides." Hines, riding the 273cc KTM 350M XC, had an extremely good ride until the second tiebreakerseetion. "I have the bike dialed in and am used to it," said Hines, "but I ran out of gas. Later on, I had a few minor mechanical problems which cost me some time and a shot at the overall." Hines, along with Cunningham and Gary Johnston, led the pack with four points apiece at the first gas stop at 52.8 miles. At th.e fini h, Hines' scorecard read 21 points, while Johnston had problems in the latter stages of the run and finished with a 26 to place sixth overall behind Ballard. 'Tm looking forward to the California National next month," continued Hines. ''I'm heading there in a few days to begin testing the prototype KTM 350 with the full 350cc motor." Some of the other AA riders also had their share of troubles in the early going. Husky/Carolina Tool's Mike Melton, who sustained a serious left leg/hip injury in December, was back on the National scene but withdrew before the mid-point of the run after twisting his still-healing leg. Husky's Fritz Kadlec called itquitsat about the same time after his mount came up with a leaking base gasket. Husky's Dave Bertram, runner-up to champ Cunningham in last year's series, was "having a great ride in the first few sections. Then my bike (a Husky 430 Automatic) began to slow down, and later on things just got so bad that I couldn't even wheelie it over a small log. We traced the problem to a batch of bad transmission oil." Bertram was forced to bow out in the last half of the run. Husky's Jeff Russell, who copped seventh overall behind Johnson with a 29-point ride, got too close to the vegetation as he left a checkpoint and "a vine grabbed me and slammed my shoulder into a tree. I thought, 'This is no way to start a section,' and then things started going pretty good for a while. I jumped off a bank and landed in some soft mud and just stuck - I tumbled over the bars, catching the odometer and computer as I went. I also lost a little time in the final section when I got onto the wrong arrows. I lost four at the finish, where I should have had a zero." While mud was on the minds of many before the start, their fears were generally unfounded. The 30-member Cherokee crew, hosting their first National, built bridges over allof the potential bad spots, which turned the

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