Sand Booger and Sand Goblin = True Fun for Families

 

 

April 21st & 22nd, 2007

 

Sand Booger Family Enduro

Sand Goblin Enduro

Presented by: Grand Kankakee Trail Riders

Roselawn, IN

 

By Ryan Moss

 

Photo by Stineback.com

 

It’s hard to put into words just how fun these events were, but I’ll try my best to capture the highlights.  The Grand Kankakee Trail Riders weekend started out with the Sand Booger Family Enduro on Saturday and ended with the Sand Goblin (adult) enduro on Sunday.  It’s hard enough to put on a regular enduro, but to put on two in the same weekend is quite the feat, but the GKTR club pulled it off in grand fashion. 

 

Sand Booger Enduro:

 

The family enduros have been started as a way to get kids and new riders involved in sport of enduros.  The concept is great, typically a 13-15 mile that is run twice, once at a 12mph and once at 18mph.  Up to 8 year old riders (typically on 50cc bikes) one run loop and the rest of the riders (I know some were well into their 60’s) got to ride two loops.  The classes are broken down into age groups rather then displacement classes, which I thought were perfect as most off-road riders know it’s not really about the bike but the rider and their abilities.  The events are run as true enduros with timekeeping and everything and no timekeeping computers are allowed, only odometers and watches can be used.  This is done so that kids and new riders learn the art of keeping time instead of letting the computer do it for them.

 

The Grand Kankakee Trail Riders laid out a perfect 13 mile loop for the family enduro.  It started off with a huge grass track out in the cornfield, headed into the woods, then ended up back in the grass track that had the now famous Fredette Escargot layout.  The woods were a good mix of open and single track trails and the arrowing was top notch.  The best part was that even the little riders on the 50cc’s could get around about 98% of the course with no help.  Only a couple times did I have to stop and help my son or another 50cc rider over a log over up a little hill.  There was truly nothing that was un-ride able by even the least experience riders.

 

I have to say the best part of the whole event was seeing the families out riding together and enjoying themselves.  I stood in line at sign up with a family of four that were riding, dad, mom, and their two boys, everyone was excited.  There were many families out there and a couple of them had three generations of family members riding together.  I got to talk to the Darmon family and they were one of the families that had three generations out there riding together.  Eric Darmon had his two boys, Tyler and Jake with him along with his brother Jon and father Joe.  His father Joe last rode the Roselawn Enduro back in 1973 on a Suzuki PE 250, a bike he rebuilt over the winter so he could ride this event with his boys and grandsons.  Joe was all smiles as it reminded him of the fun times he had riding with his boys 30 years ago.  Both of Eric’s sons put in great rides too with Jake taking the win in the 4-6 year class and Tyler taking second in the 7-8 year class.

 

Another great part of the Sand Booger Family enduro was the trophy presentation.  Every kid got a trophy and some were way bigger then the kids could even carry, which put the biggest smiles on kids faces I have ever seen.  And handing out the trophies was none other then Mr. ISDE, Jeff Fredette.  I think Jeff was having just as much fun handing out the trophies and the kids were having receiving them.

 

The Darmon Family at the start and at the end.

 

Sand Goblin Enduro:

 

After such a fun time was had at the Sand Booger everyone was excited about the Sand Goblin, all 97 miles of it.  With the Sand Goblin paying points for Districts 14, 15, 16, & 17 and 253 riders showing up everyone knew the competition was going to be fierce in all classes.  Luckily the sun was out and all the riders were ready to take on the trail and the clock.

 

The day started out with the now famous Fredette Escargot layout having riders circling around the cornfield wondering if they were going to run into each other.  After the Escargot fun it was off the Millers woods for the first test of the day.  This section is always fun with fast flowing woods and some sand whoops to keep it interesting.  Somewhere in the sections some rides missed a hard left that caused them to miss some trail but not any checks or observed checks, so they got lucky and gained a couple minutes on the their competition that caught the left hander.

 

The next section started out with the typical Midwest cornfield riding then into a pasture.  It was easy riding and most riders were riding a little ahead of schedule, which was what the club was hoping for.  The club had thrown in an old school hidden check that caught many off guard.  It was classic old school, hidden at a bottom of steep hill that could not be seen from up top.  After that there was a small road section then back into the woods.  The next check was right after the 3.2 mile free territory which caught some more riders off guard causing them to have some hot points.  The section ended with a little creek crossing and a check out.

 

It was off to the first gas stop and then back to more great trail riding.  With the club having creative checks in the sections before gas everyone was on their toes and trying to guess what the club would do next.  The sections leading up to the final gas stop included a great spectator creek crossing, tight woods, open woods, and a little bit of muddy trail.  The checks were standard “check in” / “check out” so every test section was just a test of speed.

 

The last two test sections were reserved for the AA / A riders, I’m sure the C & B riders were plenty happy for this as they had already had 60+ miles of great riding.  The first of the AA / A section was back into Millers woods, but it wasn’t the same trail.  The club out did themselves and had rerouted the whole section after everyone rode it in the morning.  This kept things interesting and all the riders on their toes once again.  By this time the majority of riders were tired but there was the final test of the day.  As we all sat waiting for our time to come up for the final test we wondered what was in store for us.  Turns out the final test was more great trail, including the “rabbit trail” that was tight and twisty.  It all ended with the Roselawn house, where I got to see a rider literally stuck between a door frame and his motorcycle unable to move, then the final check.

 

In the end it was Ohio Native Cody Mastin on his Funmart Racing / Moose Racing / Enduro Engineering YZ250 taking the win with a 15 point drop, besting the competion by 5 minutes.  In the runner up position was Daniel Janus on his Halls Husky Gas Gas 250 with a 20 point drop.  In the 3rd overall and 1st 250A was Wes Donaldson on his borrowed Neihaus Cycle CR250.  Wes hadn’t even ridden the borrowed bike before the start of the race and hadn’t raced an enduro in a couple years, I guess when you have natural talent it shows.

 

The ride of the day came from Jordan Mapes in the C Class.  Jordan is an up and coming rider from MI that has support from Hiemjoingracing.com / KTM / Ford & Hammer Nutrition.  Jordan’s score would have been good enough for 3rd overall in the B class.  I’m sure we’ll see Jordan moving up through the ranks in the years to come.

 

I didn’t talk to anyone that didn’t have fun.  Everyone thought the course was great and had good things to say.  I don’t think anyone would argue when I say the club out did themselves by putting on two great events.

 

The club would like to thank all their sponsors that include: Moose Racing, Kawasaki, FRP, and Hammer Nutrition.  But they really want to thank all the landowners that are the real reason that great events like this can happen.

 

The last note is to let everyone know why the scoring took longer then an average enduro.  The club allowed the District directors to try out a new software scoring system and since this was the first test there were a few hiccups.  The effort needed to input data, check backup sheets, and make corrections was underestimated and it caused some delays in not only posting the results the day of the event but the posting of the results on line.  A lot was learned and the scoring software shows great possibilities for all clubs.  Now that the test of the software is over and it’s understood the effort needed to run it efficiently the next rounds where it is used will show everyone how technology can help enduro scoring.

 

 

Grand Kankakee Trail Riders Sand Goblin Enduro 2007

Place

First Name

Last Name

Checks

Points

EPoints

AA

1

Cody

Mastin

22

15

628

2

Daniel

Janus

22

20

759

3

Ryan

Moss

22

22

829

4

Matt

Bucher

22

23

860

5

Kiel

Mueller

22

24

787

A 200

1

Robert

Heinzerling

22

25

961

2

Pete

Laubmeier

22

27

883

3

Donald

Rainey

22

39

1369

4

Daniel

Ryan

22

45

1421

5

James

Wilkinson

22

45

1634

A 250

1

Wesley

Donaldson

22

20

786

2

Michael

Jolly

22

23

890

3

Cody

Dusendang

22

25

975

4

Dave

Edsall

22

27

1032

5

Brad

Becker

22

28

1037

A Open

1

Tom

Farris

22

30

1027

2

Steve

Ricketts

22

31

1150

3

Nicholas

Rasmussen

22

35

1160

4

Heath

Drone

22

39

1405

5

Tim

Anderson

22

43

1543

A 4-Stroke

1

Tom

Krivi

22

38

1268

2

Mike

Grimm

22

103

2891

3

Mark

Quador

15

50

2061

A Vet

1

Mike

Ricketts

22

32

1136

2

Jeff

Snedecor

22

39

1441

3

John

Stichnoth

22

40

1331

4

Mike

Maurer

22

42

1379

5

Anthony

Walsworth

22

46

1705

A Senior

1

Jeremy

Garber

22

28

1087

2

Brent

Floyd

22

30

1033

3

Neal

Soenksen

22

30

1141

4

Don

Raschke

22

36

1222

5

Vic

Flegel

22

36

1223

B 200

1

Daniel

Abney

15

28

1154

2

Anthony

Stevens

15

34

1206

3

Adam

Krumanaker

15

34

1338

4

Daniel

Meyer

15

40

1534

5

Karl

Graber

15

46

1678

B 250

1

Chris

Huffman

15

13

488

2

Jeremy

Breault

15

21

910

3

Scott

Mertes

15

28

1026

4

Mark

Lyons

15

31

1065

5

Joshua

Aspell

15

33

1254

B Open

1

Kevin

Houk

15

28

1154

2

Mike

Davenport

15

29

883

3

Darren

Morgan

15

34

1123

4

Adam

Vanopdorp

15

36

1358

5

Ryan

Barkovich

15

55

1459

B 4 Stroke

1

Jason

McCorkle

15

39

1515

2

Jamison

Parker

15

58

2080

3

Rick

Sullivan

15

69

1560

4

Ross

Waggoner

15

87

1564

5

Robert

Micco

11

169

4017

B Vet

1

Steven

Laplante

15

28

1125

2

Todd

Mikel

15

30

1151

3

John

Ranes II

15

34

1187

4

Kevin

Dekock

15

36

1128

5

Eric

Cheatwood

15

45

1491

B Senior

1

Paul

Bucher

15

28

1054

2

Kurt

Krueger

15

29

1146

3

Frank

Shepeck

15

32

1102

4

Craig

Scholten

15

32

1305

5

Bret

Barel

15

32

1325

C Class

1

Jordan

Mapes

15

26

1056

2

Brandon

Flegel

15

39

1378

3

Mike

Veld

15

48

1528

4

Kane

Tervoort

15

49

1360

5

Ken

Johnson

15

51

1696

Super Senior

1

Kim

Mahncke

15

20

833

2

Dane

Eller

15

27

949

3

Gary

Peterson

15

27

1083

4

John

Dameron

15

27

1108

5

Nick

Zambon

15

29

1094