MELVILLE 3 HOUR CROSS-COUNTRY EVENT.
7th Sep 2010
Jason Thomas and Craig Trew Top Melville Ice Race!
The Melville Motor Club Hare and Hound on Sunday the 16th
December turned into an ice race as the ground was frozen solid. The
farmer ploughed the field before the start and probably made the going
worse as the ground broke into large lumps of ice.
There were two races running together with the Enduro riders starting first with a longer lap planning to run for three hours. The Motocrosser`s were held on the line for a full minute until the Enduro riders had cleared the Motocross track and disappeared into the woods. There was a shorter loop for the Motocross bikes missing out the forest and they raced for just two hours finishing at 1.00pm.
Paul Edmondson had run a training day on Saturday and he had intended to ride on Sunday, he had been expecting a new bike to arrive during the week leading up to the event which did not materialise. The borrowed 125 was good enough to ride for training but unfortunately it had not been set up for a frozen three hour race, therefore Paul was relegated to team manager for Jason Thomas.
The Enduro riders were first away with Jason Thomas starting as he intended to go on, in first place. Ricky Mair was pushing hard in 2nd place. Derek Little was running in third place and he was looking steady and confident.
The sun briefly shone on everyone although the temperature never rose above freezing. As the competitors spread out it became easier to negotiate around the frozen puddles and a number of competitors really enjoyed riding the slalom through the trees. Jason Thomas pulled away as Ricky Mair realised he had a puncture and stopped to repair it. Ricky had been hoping to give Jason Thomas a run for his money later in the race, this puncture and the early finish scuppered his plans. Derek Little moved up to second and never looked back.
There had been a rider missing and following two search parties, concerns were setting in for this young man who had disappeared. The motocross riders were approaching their 2-hour mark and were due to finish; it was decided to stop the motocross race on schedule and immediately stop the enduro riders to organise a full search of the course. Ten minutes after the red flag was shown, to every body`s relief the young lad turned up. The lad, who will remain nameless, had ridden the enduro loop by mistake, fouled a plug and got lost. It could have been very different, the club has learned a valuable lesson and riders should listen at the riders briefing and stick to the course. The forest was starting to freeze and becoming ever more tricky, and to re-start the riders in order would have been impossible. The decision was taken to finish the race and pack up early. The Enduro Hare and Hound was won by Jason Thomas, on his first visit to a Melville event.