As I drove the big silver Dodge with the TEAM P&G rig in tow thru the north woods of Wisconsin near Hayward
Wisconsin on my way the Blue Hills Enduro I thought to myself, that after the race I will be much like the martini that
Sean Connery coolly orders in James Bond; “SHAKEN NOT STIRRED”. If you have never participated in this event
trust me, that is exactly what you feel like after the race, well that and beat down. So with back to back weeks of
racing lets turn our focus from Marquette MI to northern WI.
The two primary clubs that put this race on have spent and continue to spend countless hours cutting and
clearing trail at the Summit Lake Game farm near the town of Stone Lake. The facility that holds this event is first
class, with a gorgeous lodge, cabins, a full commercial kitchen and wonderful lake to cool off in after the race. What
more could you ask for......? Well maybe say 1 or 6 billion less rocks would be nice..but I digress. Mike Ward and
Jack Potter head up this program, and from what I hear they have a great group of people behind them to help
make this event happen year after year. At signup you will find the smiling face of Bev Ward making signup happen,
their daughter even jumped in (sorry I don’t know her name) and lent her light smile and energy when someone
needed a break. Thanks to all the nameless folks that put effort into making this race happen, us riders really
appreciate it!
Getting to the event early, as I like to do, but am rarely able to make happen, found us with plenty of time to
set up camp and get our bikes up to signup. Running thru tech found all three bikes in compliance and we were
issued our “onion skin”. I held back on running up to signup right away as I hoped to be granted a number around
my good buddies Ryan Moss and Scott “Red Skirt” Hoffman. It is always fun to be close so we can compare notes
on a section by section basis. Well after some smooth talking (my specialty……..) we land a 23 close to my buddies
on 19. Cool that will work! With the race started (Duey always says the Race starts at signup) we file back to the
Team P&G rig to program our computers, build our route sheets and have a few sudsy beers (another one of my
specialties). About this time Ken “Super Spree Ken” Shuck and Richy “Rebecca” Brereton roll in with what is quite
possibly one of the most plush campers I have ever seen……..I think they are from this point on to be know as
“TEAM Jack-a-Roo”. You can’t have a rig that slick and not have a team name. As the picture shows it may have
been a bit much for the rest of us to park around, but they took it easy and made it into the pits in one piece.
Here is the rig:
So with that excitement of checking out the new rig over it was off to bed in preparation for the following days
events. Sunday morning finds a mix of clouds but a generally promising day in store for racing, the previous days
late afternoon storms would prove to make the first section tricky, to put in mildly. Since Dean was not able to take
part in this weeks festivities there was no worries about anyone fainting (see the Marquette story for a little
background). We (Smooth C, John “the strangler” Strangfeld, Bobby “Princess” Kau and my self blast off the line,
well ease off would better describe my departure from the start. I know what this race has in store for us and
decided that the start would not make or break me overall so I cruise along and keep time. Blasting down some two
track for just a bit was fun, but then we are dumped into some tight woods, grass sections and generally rutted,
muddy trail. To say the section was interesting would be one way to put it, to say it sucked would be a better fit, but
hey that’s what enduros are about……..toughness. The previous wet weather made this section rutted and wet. I
would venture to say that there quite a few riders that were defeated by the ruts, Rebecca Breateon of TEAM JACK-
A-Roo being one of them. Breaking out of this section and into the next sections rewarded anyone that soldiered
on. They were more reflective of the Hayward trail, Rocky and tight, however the 3rd section of the day was new
and flowed and was…dare I say…rockless…yes….rockless! Fun stuff for sure! Gas stop finds Bob Kau SR pretty
well lubed up with beer but more than willing to lend a hand with gas, goggles and any repairs that were necessary.
Tom Eller (Dueys bro) was also there beer in hand and give aid when he could. With ample rest time at gas we
were ready to head into the last sections of the day! They both were nice sections, I would even go so far as to say
the last section of the day was fun as well. For those that have ridden this enduro, they know exactly what I mean
when I say it is tight. Tight like if you wanted to tip over I am pretty sure that physically you could not perform that
act. I have my bars cut to 29” with bark busters and there are very few times when the bar is straight. It is one of
those sections that you just approach with the attitude that you can only go so fast and that is it……..I just muttered
thru it at an alarming slow pace and came out with a 16:20…I was happy with that as Ryan went 15 (that is good for
me to be that close to him). So with the last section in the books it was a great day of riding in the north woods.
For the day I end up 4th in 250A with a 50, Johny snares a 3rd in 250A with a 45, Bobby (when I typed that I missed
a keey and added an “O” turning it into BOOBY…funny stuff) scores a 84’ish for first in 250B, Smooth C a 100
something, Duey a 60 I believe, Richy DNF’s due to, I believe looking foreward to getting back to his rig to hang out
and sign autographs, and our one and ONLY SSK Kenny finishes without houring out! Mission accomplished buddy
and congrats! IT was a tough race and everyone that soldiered on deserves a pat on the chest protector.
Before I sign off I cannot say enough about the crews that put this event on. Over the last few years they have
carved (litterly) this event out of nothing and into a well ran, well presented event that they certainly can be proud
off. There many many hours of hard work does not go unnoticed by the riders and we all owe them a tip of the visor
for their efforts!
In keeping with the Marquette theme of misc notes:
1) John Stranfeld spent $450.00 at this event ($40.00 for entry, and $410.00 for a new Gas Gas front fender, yes
they really are EXPENSIVE). He decided to sheer his front fender off on a neat tree/rock combo that did not pan out
that way he had envisioned it to.
2) This is the real Team Jack-A-Roo rig. Watching them fellers put this rig together was a good time (I was going to
say erect, but that term kinda sounds…well just not fitting).
3) Smooth C and Princess Bobby Kau were ushered into the great world of NO “C Early Cut off’s with the tight, tight
section at the end of the day. Smooth C commented that he did “NOT FEEL WELCOMED”…huh…..toughen up
there cupcake…..ummmmm cupcakes………….:)
4) Dean got to fly to Texas for work on Sunday eve and was missed.
5) Gus lives just too far away……….come on back to cheese land buddy!
6) I am still slow in the tight tight stuff but I did have fun and my Little Debbie cup cake training program has been
trimmed to 3 per day making my size Extra Fat pants fit just a bit less snug.
8) Da Pope rode his first enduro since 1972 and had fun. Well it was not that long ago, but is was a blast having
him along again. He is good people and always up for a good laugh.
9) After much review, it is still Duey in the lead for having the most trashed looking bike….but only buy a cracked
fender length over Ben Eggum. Maybe we could call Benny “lil’ Duey. On second thought maybe not…I would fear
that Benny would kick my ass!
Smooth C musters a sorta wave at the end of the day! He was tired!
Till next! Heres dirt in your eyes!
Speedy Pete
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