100 Mile National Enduro Protested
100 Mile National Enduro Protested
WHAT A RHUBARB the 100 Mile National Championship Enduro at Oak Ridge, New Jersey turned out to be! No winners have been determined due to a formal protest filed by one of the contestants, and action must be taken by the A.M.A. Competition Committee before any results can be announced by the promoting club or the District 5 Referee.
This event, coordinated with Civil Defense officials of the county and local towns, is the type wherein two pathfinder crews mark the course with arrows, well ahead of the riders. One crew started at 0 miles, the other at 48 miles.
John Penton, #1 rider, unexpectedly caught the red-faced pathfinders at 34.2 miles and passed them onto unmarked trails. Many of the first ten riders then got lost, among them the top three enduro riders in the east — Penton, Baird and Wright. From 48.0 miles on, however, the course was marked.
On the grounds of an A.M.A. rule which states that the pathfinders must cover the course prior to the riders, Referee Charlie Watson called the contest at the 34.2 mile mark.
A protest was then filed on another rule stating that if over fifty percent of the contestants reach the next check, the contest shall continue. Well over fifty percent reached the next check close to, or on time, and all who were riding at the 34.2 mark reached it eventually, with the majority finishing the 100 mile distance.
Winners, or other results of the protest, will no doubt be reported in due course, though over a month had passed at presstime. •
