Ridge Runners - XC & Trials

David Farmer & Bryan Dudley

Cross Country

East Tennessee Style

Words: Scott Robirds Photos: Jake Farr

Weather pundits predicted this past weekend would be a washout for the Tennessee Ridge Runners’ first AHRMA Southeast regional cross country and trials event. Thankfully, the rains ended Thursday afternoon and the weekend ended up being glorious. Even the Brood X cicadas were in full flight preparing for their 17-year hiatus. John Strange is the owner of 310 acres of beautiful Smokey Mountain foothills in Bybee, TN. His property has over 100 miles of trails and has been used over the past 30 years for local off-road enthusiasts and as the venue for the Volunteer Hare Scramble, a Southeastern Enduro and Trail Riders Association (SETRA) event. Mark Hawk and his son Clint worked with John to open the property to AHRMA for an inaugural two day Southeast regional cross county and trials event. Signup was well organized, and the riders’ meeting

was conducted by Mark and Clint from the clubhouse porch. The clubhouse overlooks the pit area which has parking for trucks, trailers, and room for limited primitive camping, but is not quite big enough for large recreational vehicles. Most stayed in hotels Saturday night in nearby Morristown, TN. The track was laid out by Clint and was 6.9 miles of well-marked primarily single track over rocks, clay, and roots, with a few uphill and downhill switchbacks for good measure. After all, the course was in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains, so elevation change was to be expected. There was an open field as part of the course which Clint used as a spectator friendly grass track. The rains earlier in the week made the course a little slick for the vintage riders in the first race on Saturday, but conditions became tackier as the day went on, and Sunday’s conditions were ideal. The threat of torrential rains kept many from attending, but 21 riders showed up to participate in the cross country event; four rode vintage and 17 rode post vintage, including Marc Therrien who traveled 15 hours from Connecticut. The AHRMA Executive Director himself, Curtis Comer, was also there and had a few words during the riders’ meeting (it was awesome seeing AHRMA leadership trackside and accessible to members!) The trials competition was held Saturday morning, with the vintage cross country race starting promptly at 1:00pm. This first of the cross country races had the honor of wearing in and drying out the track, which the post vintage riders greatly appreciated! Jeff Shumate and his Yamaha took first in the Vintage Sportsman Open class and first overall. Oscar Gaeton took first in Vintage 50+.

The post vintage race started at 3:00pm with five classes and all skill levels represented. Phil Henderson on his Yamaha took first place in Post Vintage 200. Post Vintage Open was battled out between Clint Hawk and Jason Baisden. Clint ended up taking first in his class, and first overall. In Post Vintage 60+ Doug Groff rode his Husky to first place followed by Scott Robirds and Jeff Anthony. Post Vintage 50+ was the most popular class with Frank Rowland taking first followed by Marc Therrien and James Eubanks. And finally, in Pre-2K Support Curtis Comer, not surprisingly, took the gold followed by Nathan Glinski and Westley Vaughan. Sunday’s race was down to eight riders, which was unfortunate since the track had dried out to perfect conditions. Vintage and Post Vintage rode

together with Jeff Shumate as the sole vintage rider, who very effectively held his own amongst his fellow post vintage competitors. Phil Henderson won Post Vintage 200 again even after changing his steed from an IT200 to his nicely rebuilt KDX200. In Post Vintage Open, Clint Hawk took another first aboard his Husky. In Post Vintage 60+, Doug Groff took the gold followed by Scott Robirds. In Post Vintage 50+, Chip Sharer rode his Yamaha to first place, and in Pre-modern Justin Ramsey rode his big bore Kawasaki to first in his class, and first overall. The weekend was a typical AHRMA cross country event; fantastic people enjoying a well laid out course for their vintage and post vintage machines, and the almost-as-much-fun pit racing afterwards. Marc Therrien described the experience well, “I’ve ridden most of my life in the northeast, so it’s always fun meeting and competing with riders from other parts of the country. The course had a great mix of singletrack, off-camber trails and the occasional slick elevation change. It demanded your attention for the full hour of riding.” The Tennessee Ridge Runners put on a terrific crosscounty and trials event, and Mark has committed to keeping this event on the AHRMA southeast schedule. So, keep an eye out for it when the 2022 schedule is posted and plan on making the trip to Bybee, TN, for great riding and the opportunity to meet some new east Tennessee friends.

Tennessee Ridge Runners Mototrials

Words: Tim Cash Photos: Jake Farr

F

Tim Cash

On June 12th and 13th, the inaugural Tennessee Ridge Runner invited riders from around the southeast and even Connecticut to enjoy riding some of east Tennessee’s best trails. The two-day event hosted regional competition in both Trial and Cross Country rounds. Despite the predictions for wet weather the 2 day event saw no precipitation. Venue owner John Strange has hosted off-road events numerous times over the years and so has developed an extensive trail network which played perfectly into the weekend’s events. Father and son duo, Mark (Trials Master) and Clint Hawk, designed a course that utilized the terrain to challenge all classes of riders. A corps of dedicated friends helped clear, mark and groom the loop and sections. Their use of two different colors to mark the sometimes concurrent XC and trials loops worked perfectly. If you are one of those who opted out because of the weather forecast, be sure to put this on your calendar for next year; these guys put on a first class event.

TOP RIDERS BY CLASS

Jason Baisden Mark Hawk MODERN CLASSIC

NOVICE - Griff Shirley INTERMEDIATE - Randy Sharp EXPERT - Jason Baisden

MODERN TWIN SHOCK

INTERMEDIATE - Mark Hawk

AIR-COOLED MONOSHOCK

EXPERT - Gary Holbert

PREMIER LIGHTWEIGHT

EXPERT - Dennis Simoes

MODERN SUPPORT

INTERMEDIATE - Tom Tsuhants

MODERN CLASSIC

EXPERT - Steve Glinski MASTER - Tim Cash