RESULTS

Check out Tim Ds Photos he got of everyone up on the mountain.

Round 4 The Cow Patty; The Mothers Day Blizzard May 8^th & 9^th 2010. Okay I have had time to get some rest, sit back, talk with some others about the weekend and really process the whole thing. Conclusion: It was a success story. Yes, the weather was not what we wanted. Yes, it was a lower turn out then we predicted because of the weather, 400 riders. Yes, the course became more of a challenge for all of the riders and course workers with the weather changing the game. So what the heck, you ask, makes it a success story for us?! Well I will tell you. Sitting back and talking with others about the event and getting their take on it, I learned we all observed the same thing. While everyone was bundled up with blankets and sub zero gear on they also were smiling, laughing and excited about being on the line waiting for the race to start. That’s what we are here for, right? Fun, and when someone is smiling and joking around despite the obvious reason not to smile and laugh then that is a success story and this NEOC mothers day blizzard race event will go down in our books as one to always remember. Actually, that book is becoming a very thick book at this point! We try to always make our courses unique, challenging and different from the one before but mother nature seems to think we don’t do it well enough so she always adds her own little curve ball in there for us and you. The results of her doing this we are seeing now and we will continue to see them in the future. Our riders, and don’t forget many are very first time riders, have become and are becoming very skilled, strong, unfearing, determined and fast racers. NEOC racers have become a dominating force to be reckoned with from the Oil Injected clear up to the A riders. They have the endurance, grit and the mind set of a racer that knows no limits to what they can race on or in. Our course workers know immediately where to go and what to do when the adversity sets in on the course. They have become stronger not only physically but as a unit. It is a really cool thing to see happening. Maybe mother nature, like all mothers, is much wiser then we all gave her credit for. Maybe she can see the bigger picture when she is deciding what the weather conditions are going to be for us. No longer will we question her judgment….or challenge her authority.

We would like to sincerely thank the Davis Family for allowing us to have this incredible event on their cherished family land. Brothers Phillip and Sheldon Davis came to this farm 66 years ago. Ray and Elaine Davis made this event happen for us with the blessing and help of his cousin Charlie Davis. WNYOA and the Ithaca Dirt Riders pitched in and made us feel welcome. Offroad Racing saw a great weekend of camaraderie with all these different groups of racing organizations coming together for the love of the sport and friendship. That speaks volumes all by itself!!

Saturday morning it was chilly, windy but sunny and blue skies. Everyone that arrived started walking the course to get an idea of what lie ahead of them and take in the beauty. The grass fields were covered in beautiful yellow and purple flowers as far as the eye could see, which, unless you looked closely, hid the two foot wide cow patties you would step in. Lady T and her registration girls had everything up and running by 10am. The field started filling up and the Mothers Day flowers were being passed around. 11am our tutor time started the weekends events. They practiced standing up while weaving the cones and riding a small off camber rocky section of the course. 12 noon 6 Tikes on Bikes (3 girls-3 boys) came to the mountain and took on a small section of doable off camber and tight turns. They did great. The Tikes always get us pumped up and ready for the rest of the weekend. It is our favorite event and the reason we are here.

1pm 24 Oil Injected youngins took their position just as the winds began to kick it up a notch. 7-8 OI top gun #316 Jonathan Miller took his second win this year securing his place in the points lead. #841 Zeppy Wright, representing Offroad Cycle, hopped positions until he finally took his second place finish. Third place #177 Nathan Karl ran super strong up in the pack for the whole race. 4-6 OI winner and fourth overall  #89 Wayne Cox is a South Jersey boy that was born and bred in the sticks so for him to come up to the mountains and take such a strong win tells a tale that you just can’t predict. Awesome ride kiddo. Second place #54 Drew Enman of Team Caffeine had his best finish and race I have ever seen him ride. He’s a northern boy and represented properly. Another South Jersey boy took the third place spot #237 Tyler Kowalski. I will say, by the time these kids get to the 65s and 85s I don’t think you will be able to tell who is from the south or the north by judging their skill on certain terrain. Lol, we will have to look at their necks to see if they’re red or not!

3pm Fifty some peewees came to the line along with the high North West winds. Some of the wind gusts were so strong it actually almost blew a few riders off their bikes. Brian saw one little guy go completing across the grass track from a big gust. If you got a good gust to your back you could gain a position probably.  Our 7-9 65 winner was another member of Team Caffeine and his first win this year #64 Neil Enman. Second place held his position and gave it a good strong run to try for first #26 Kyle Tino. Our points leader #38 Brandon Gahm took a solid third place on this tough course. Thumpers #388 Cody Reeves took another win to secure his place as points leader. Second place with an incredible charge and best race ever in his history of racing #78 Nathan Bell found out he can run a 6 day legendary grass track like a pro! Our 4-8 50 class winner represented his land and family name like an Olympic winner. #136 Colby Davis took his first well deserved win. Now second place #41 Jason Tino fought his way from the back of the pack to make it up to a podium finish just ahead of another south jersey boy riding the rocks, #185 Johnny Manera. I would really like to talk about a parent from this class. #41s dad, Carmen Tino. He is a great example of the caliber of parents that are part of the NEOC. The winner of this class #136 took a bad crash and Mr. Tino couldn’t run fast enough to help him up and get him back on his way. Colby was in direct competition with his own son #41, so he could have easily looked the other way so his son could take the win. I know it never crossed his mind not to help that boy up. Our children learn what they see and the Tino boys, no doubt, will be good men. We know these types of acts happen at every race by many parents. It does not go unnoticed or appreciated. 10-12 EL winner has progressively moved up the ranks with each race #813 Adam Exel took the lead on the fifth lap over second place #367 Desirae Shaw who ran so strong the whole race until she ran into some bad luck. Girl Power to fullest, I love it! The 4-9 EL class for the first time this year has a new name at the top and it happens to be another south jersey boy born and bred in the sticks. With his best finish #705 Hunter Riggins was able to take the lead on the fifth lap and go for a sixth, one more then the rest. Second place #63 Kyle Lawton also had his best finish ever just ahead of third place #99 Michael Resch. Our Peewee riders step up to the plate for us every time we put a challenge before them. They show no fear, they never give up and they never cease to amaze us with skill and sportsmanship. Take a look at all the names. I can tell you that 50 percent are new and beginner riders. Check the number of laps they are doing in these extreme races we seem to keep having. They know no boundaries. Goose Bump Great!

5pm came fast and so was the frigid winds and black clouds across the open fields. For the first time I was not able to actually see the pit bike races. I was helping to batten down the hatches for what was approaching us at very high rate of speed. Adrian was out there video taping for me and he gave me the low down on the hoe down. This is what he said, and I quote "Wow, they are nuts! Maybe I will try to do a pit bike race." I hope he does try one. Any way, here are some of the top riders in this event. First overall and Young Buck was #393 Philip Morshead just second ahead of Mega Buck #44 Alan Jessat. Those two are always locking horns at every race. 12 Pointer pro winner and fourth overall #102 Sammy Hansen came in on his true pit bike with a whole herd of beefed up and hybrid horned bucks. The boy can ride (he’s actually a man now, working and paying his own bills). The first big slam daddys came in to the shoot with horns locked tight #75 Robert Robbins and #515 Jeff Hickman. The first Ruttin Buck pulled into the checkered right smack dab in the middle of a Big Slam Daddy all out war for the flag #906 Jeremy "Fuzzball" Williams has definitely dropped his fuzzballs!

Our Youth Pit Bikes are primarily all Spikes and the top two are dead locked in first place points. #122 Dillan Abrams and #90 Malcolm Hill have never come to the finish without horns engaged. Pretty dang cool. Our button buck sole rider #185 Johnny Manera has become a member of the "eats, sleeps and breathes" racing club.

Well we did have plans for Saturday night activities but instead everyone unanimously decided against it by just going inside to hunker down for the night while the winds played rock a bye baby with our campers. Mother nature brought a Nor’wester in on us but we thought it was an Alberta Clipper, any who, it was a Blizzard.

Sunday morning we woke up to snow covered mountains, 30 degrees, wind chill at 20 or less, wind gust of 60+ with a steady light snow all day. Yup, perfect racing conditions. I woke up at 5am to the voice of Brian saying words that I am not even sure how to spell so you can just use your imagination, okay. All the boys gathered together in their thermal underwear, heavy socks and thick beanies to go out and see what kind of damage the high winds did to the course over night. Theresa and the girls headed to sign ups to prepare for a wicked cold day. Big Phil brought a heater out and Shag strung some tarps but as we all know, it didn’t really help. We thank all of our Sign up girls for enduring the weather from 6:30am until 1pm so we could make this event happen. Wendy, Barb, Jessica, Tina, Pam, Francie, Amy, Sherry, Anita and all the others that came up to help relieve our girls when they could. You are the unspoken heros of the whole NEOC Staff. Another unsung hero is our tech guy Eric Derkinderen. He is out in the weather working at a non stop pace checking every bike that has to go to the line. Think about how many riders we have at the races and that will tell you how hard and long he works. Speaking of staff, I have to mention about our Big Chuckie being gone. He went to Florida OF ALL PLACES!! In his absence Big Phil did the flags, James did the announcing, Brian did the C awards, Todd did the Main awards, Brenda worked the scoring chicane and Scooter took care of Chelsea and Amy. It took 5 grown men and a woman to fill Chuckies Big shoes. We missed you.

8:30am and everything is in full swing with 70 plus youth riders bundled up on the line. Our AA Youth was taken by #10 Tegan Temple for a third time in a row. Points Leader #3 Robbie Civiletti took second after changing spots with third place #109 Thorn "Slappy" Devlin a few times. 12-15 100 winner had me screaming the whole race, I will try to dub it out of the video, I am so stoked about this kid winning the race because #23 Jake Butterly has paid more then his fair share of dues for this win on an incredibly challenging course. Awesome ride Jake! Second was solid for points leader #216 Zachary Olsen. 14-15 85 #36 Chris "Flash" Gordon took his third win in a row. He is strong this year. #295 Jared Wobensmith secured second the whole race with third place #240 Nicolaas DerKinderen having another best finish. 12-13 85 #906 Jeremy "Fuzzball" Williams taking his second win in a row and securing his place as points leader has flipped that switch on to full blast. #543 Tanner Barnhardt took second for a nice bump in points and best finish. For his second win this year 10-11 85s #312 Sal Cusimano made it look easy after that first lap from hell that most, if not all, of the youth had to endure. Our 13-15 150 winner took his first one this year and it also happen to bump him into first place points. His 4 stroke ran and sounded like an Evinrude outboard motor going through the mud and around the grass tracks. Great win kiddo. The 10-11 65 class had a hot shoe take the win #115 Jeffery Elliott ran that 65 around the track like I have never seen. Wow. 10-12 125 for the third time was taken by #292 Tyler Tayvinsky points leader with a solid second for #293 Hunter Bush. Our freshly exploded competitive ELW class winner took it for the second time this year to keep her in the points lead #712 Kiersten McDonal. Second place and her best finish on the toughest course to date #143 Amanda Stites staked her claim in the game. Third place and another best finish #24 Chelsea Marriner worked her way up after getting beat up on the first lap. I really don’t know where these youth riders find the grit and determination to make it through such difficult conditions and never quit. It’s quite amazing and I can assure you that we will never quit in the face of adversity as long as these kids continue to conquer the challenges.

By the time 11am rolled around it seemed like it should have been the end of the day because physically I felt spent after trying to fight the winds and having that deep down chill in my bones with toes that were screaming. Not complaining, just making an observation. 80 plus C riders shivered their way to the start to take on what the youth just survived.  This course proved to be a challenge with this group too but they proved to be stronger in the end. First rider to the gate was C Vet points leader #75 Robert Robbins ahead of some young C Light guys #735 Charlie Thayer and points leader #729 Christian Crum. First C Heavy and fourth overall #444 Michael Purificato took his fourth win. Four seems to be his lucky number. First Industry & Mechanic was points leader #35 Larry Gordon with some Canadian blood hot on his trail, Women’s winner and seventh overall #994 Felicia Robichaud is representing her country with pride. A born and bred South Jersey boy #190 George Pettit was the first C 4 Stroke and his best race yet. Our first C Senior and fourteenth overall took this win right from the start #613 John Manera. All of the C event riders really fought hard against the elements and came out on top. Super impressive.

1:30 was time for the main event and the fastest most skilled riders to go out and tackle an 8 mile course of off camber tough technical terrain. They and their bikes were definitely put to the test at this event. The top 3 AA riders to the flag were #356 Ryan Rodgers, #8 Jesse Groemm, #32 Kevin Bennett and before some trouble got in his way #4 Nicky "Iceman" Davis was knockin the knobbies off Rodgers back tire. Back in the saddle was A Heavy #306 Kyle "Bomber" McDonal for fourth overall and his second win this year. Sixth overall and B Light winner #996 Loic Leonard from Canada is just a kid like Kyle but rides like a pro. Seventh overall and first A Light is also just a kid but wicked fast #95 Chase Rusden. It’s just incredible to have seen these boys race in the youth division just a year or two ago and now they are running in the top of the Main Event. First B Heavy held his position from the first lap #842 Ethan "The Bull" Walter ran strong. #34 Keith Rodgers was the first A Senior mixed in with all the youngins. He had the wisdom and experience to make it look easy. Our School Boy winner couldn’t have been a more deserving kid #309 Travis Corchado ran that course like its something he does every day with second #199 Zack Gallo giving himself a bump in points. B Vet #970 David Dowgaillo worked hard to take his first win. B Senior #597 "POOH" took his second win this year on the hardest course that he said he loved, he can’t be right in the head. I know by the end of this event there were front plates and fenders missing, brakes completing gone, shrouds missing or smashed, chains broke, visors gone, blown clutches, bars bent, bark busters busted and complete physical exhaustion, not to mention the gear that simple green is going to have a hard time getting clean. When the riders were leaving the course taking their goggles off (if they were even still on) and waiting for their buddies and the guys in their class they were dicing it out with, as beat up as they all looked, they were happy and so expressive about the ride they just completed. No matter what place you finished in, just the fact that you survived this event with all the elements running against you made everyone number one in our book.

Whew what an event. From the Oil Injected to the AA Main each racer had their work cut out for them and would have every bit of grit and skill put to the challenge. It was a hard but truly great event. We thank all of you for coming out and spending this beautiful wicked cold Mothers Day Blizzard with us.