Plenty of Bares at the Summer Bummer

 

August 20, 2006

 

Summer Bummer

Presented by: Hill & Gully Enduro Riders

Roselawn, IN

 

By Ryan Moss

 

Photo by Len Hofmann

 

A

s we pulled into the Sun Aura property for the 39th annual Summer Bummer I realized I’ve raced this event for every year since 1991(except for 1997 when I broke my collarbone, I still came over and helped at the event).  I’ve been coming to this event way before that as my dad raced the event many years before 1991 and I was on hand for many of those years.  I started wondering, why is this one of the events that I’ve attended the most.  I also talked to other riders and this event seems to be the event that everyone puts on their calendars.  Could it be because of the great single track trail that is laid out, the great arrowing the club does, good check placement, or great awards?  Not sure because the club does all those very well just like most other Midwest enduro clubs.  After some more thought and questioning of other riders I came to the conclusion that it’s the Bares that roam the woods surrounding the pit area.  The Bares only seem to come out during the last section of the day and have been known to make more then one rider stop to stare or worse yet crash trying to get a high speed glimpse at one of them.  If you’ve never seen these Indiana Bares then you don’t know what you are missing (which could be a good thing) and should come ride this enduro to try to spot one of the unique Indiana Bares.

 

After my thoughts and research it was time to do the usual sign up and bike / rider prep along with attending the traditional riders meeting.  The word was that the club put in tons of overtime cutting in new trail to get off some of the existing whooped out trail.  The riders meeting confirmed this and it was pointed out that the riders would get their moneys worth of tight single track.  The endurocross section was also pointed out and explained that only the A / AA riders would be riding this section. The B & C riders would have time to play spectator and watch how fast or not so fast this little test could be ridden.

 

As with almost every Summer Bummer I’ve attended the day started out humid and most people were sweating just putting on their gear.  After doing a little sweating myself it was off to the first section of the day. The section was run through the Sun Aura property and consisted of nine miles for the A / AA and five miles for the B / C / SS classes.  This section proved that the club had indeed done tons of trail cutting as it was tight and twisty and tons of fun.  At the end of the section for the A / AA riders it was into the endurocross section to test your skills against the mud and wet telephone poles. 

 

After a little break and a gas available we ventured out into some more great Summer Bummer trail.  A little section after the gas available was nice with a check in but no check out and made you wonder what the club was up to this year.  Into another section with some tight and twisty trail that was broken up by some open flowing woods. This section ended with a little creek crossing that provided action for the spectators.  The next section was again a good mix of tight and open allowing riders to truly enjoy the day.  One more section before the main gas caught some riders off guard as they went into a little too early (Five minutes for some).  As you started down a lane you went around a house that was ribboned off like the start of a grass track, only to take a hard right and have a secret check staring at you.  It was something that would have made Terry Gerken of the Brushpoppers M/C smile.  After that it was off to the main gas stop and the start of the 18 mile section, known as Millers.

 

Entering Millers (this is the landowners last name) you know that you are in for some great trail, but there’s tons of it and the infamous sugar sand whoops.  This is one of those sections that normally decides the outcome of the winners due to the length and roughness of the trail.  But the club again put in tons of time and had some excellent trail arrowed.  There were only a couple of snags in the section like an unexpected down tree that riders had to find there way around and a couple of missed corners causing some riders to have to u-turn.  Towards the end of the section it again got tight and twisty and had a log jam that caused some back ups.  Many bikes were seen coming out of Millers trying to overheat.  Some riders even learned the hard way not to open up an extremely hot radiator but I won’t mention any full names (Mr. B.V.).

 

It was off to the final gas available and the final section.  Again the Sun Aura property was used as the trail would be the same nine miles for A / AA and five miles for the B / C / SS classes that was rode during the morning.  Going into the section the Hill & Gully club finally made a mistake and placed the checkpoint at the wrong possible location causing some riders to “burn” it.  This worked to those riders advantage as they sped away from the checkpoint early into the section giving them a theoretical head start over some riders.   That theoretical head start played a role in the outcome of the Overall finishes and as I was told it’s all part of a good enduro, true I guess but not something some of us wanted to here.  The final section also reported many Bare sightings, most years you hear about one or two seen, but this year groups of Bares were reported to be seen, they must have been mating well over the winter.  Other then the checkpoint mishap this was an excellent enduro and one that you should be disappointed if you missed it.

 

Once again the Overall event winner was Jeff Fredette on his Team Green Kawasaki, Moose, Pirelli, CRD, Spectro, Scott, M2R, Tri-flow, Tire Balls, IMS, Wiseco, Grand Kankakee Trail Riders, sponsored KX250F.  Jeff had some great things to say about the event including, “I had a great time, you could not have asked for a better day, and the trails were awesome. The club really put on a great event and I’m glad I got to ride my dirt bike on a great sunny day.”

 

The overall B award went to another familiar face for the District 14 riders, Cody Dusendang.  Cody is an up and coming rider from Michigan that is destined to be an A rider and eventually one of the top AA rides I’m sure.  Seems that dad, Dewayne, has been giving Cody all the right racing pointers and also raising a very polite and confident young man.  Cody was a pleasure to talk to and had this to say about the event; “You couldn’t have asked for better conditions, weather was great, arrowing was great, no dust, and hardly any mud holes to go through.  If you like timekeeping, this was the event, with some tricky checks that some people came in early on. The trail flowed well with some tight and open sections along with the usual Indiana logs to make up for a well rounded enduro.  I would like to thank the club and all the people involved who helped put on this great event!”

 

I got a chance to talk to Duane Eller the winner of the Super Senior class on his Moose Racing,  Barr's Kawasaki / KTM 300EXC.  Duane has been a fixture on the Midwest enduro circuit for more years then he would like to admit I’m sure and has finally moved into the Super Senior class, a class he’s been eligible to ride for a couple years.  Duane always has great stories and opinions on events and had this to say, “Great weather, overall well marked trails, good check placement... And there were even 'bares' in the woods!  Hot checks on almost every section; with a section with a hot check and no late check: Same kind of thing I would do at the old Black River Falls enduro.  I like the SS Class... After Marquette, I don't mind not having to ride the 'AA sections'.  In Summer Bummers case, I got to witness the riders go through the endurocross area and keep my pristine 'bling mobile' spotlessly clean... I won't even need to wash it!!!  Give it a once over and it's ready to go for the next event! Being 55, this short coarse thing is not all bad!  Competition in the SS class was still tight for the top few spots... I guess I'm not the only one that doesn't know enough to 'act his age' and slow down. A special thanks to my Family of 3 females that would rather see me go racing than sit home and rag on them about 'going shopping again'?!?!?”

 

I’m sure all riders that attended the 39th Annual Summer Bummer would agree with me when I say Than You to the Hill and Gully Enduro Riders for putting on a great event.

 

The club wanted to thank everyone for coming and to say thanks to Moose Racing, Pro Grip, and Illinois Trucking for their support of the event.  And God Speed to Randy Hatcher, a missed Hill and Gully club Member.

 

back

 

 

Event Overall

Jeff Fredette

Score 49

Class AA

 

 

 

Overall A

John Roth

Score 57

Class 250A

 

 

 

Overall B

Cody Dusendang

Score 43

Class 200B

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

AA

1

Andrew Stokely

50

 

SS

1

Duane Eller

41

AA

2

Ryan Moss

52

 

SS

2

Randy Mastin

46

AA

3

Aaron Adams

53

 

SS

3

Donald Marsh

60

AA

4

Cory Maryan

58

 

SS

4

George Wills

61

AA

5

Scott Hofmann

59

 

SS

5

Jerry Pekel

72

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

200A

1

Pete Laudmeirer

48

 

200B

1

Amanda Mastin

49

200A

2

Terry Wilton

49

 

200B

2

Anthony Stevens

60

200A

3

 

 

 

200B

3

Jordon Muzzillo

62

200A

4

 

 

 

200B

4

Kurt Krueger

74

200A

5

 

 

 

200B

5

Kenneth Mckeever

75

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

250A

1

Kiel Muelle

65

 

250 B

1

Chris Huffman

52

250A

2

Eric Briggs

67

 

250 B

2

Radek Bahnik

58

250A

3

Derek Toberman

128

 

250 B

3

Brian Vankoevering

63

250A

4

Scott Kennedy

175

 

250 B

4

Ryan Barkovich

69

250A

5

Steve Marsh

No Card

 

250 B

5

Craig Hamilton

74

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

Open A

1

Bruan Kryzanowicz

70

 

Open B

1

Todd Mikel

56

Open A

2

Neal Soenksen

82

 

Open B

2

Mike Maurer

56

Open A

3

David Tripp

109

 

Open B

3

Darren Morgan

57

Open A

4

Kevin Peterson

163

 

Open B

4

John Hammond

63

Open A

5

Matt Bucher

47 Ck 12

 

Open B

5

Tom Elliot

65

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

Vet A

1

Aaron Barth

66

 

Vet B

1

James Wilkinson

46

Vet A

2

Mike Ricketts

68

 

Vet B

2

Kevin Dekock

55

Vet A

3

Josh Conner

77

 

Vet B

3

Steven Laplante

57

Vet A

4

Lloyd Shaffer

81

 

Vet B

4

Charles Hoormann

60

Vet A

5

Jeff Snedecor

81

 

Vet B

5

Kevin Houk

60

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

Sen A

1

Dave Edsall

69

 

Sen B

1

Fred Briggs

58

Sen A

2

Dave Dupree

73

 

Sen B

2

Kenneth Graham

62

Sen A

3

Dewayne Dusendang

73

 

Sen B

3

Scott Allen

65

Sen A

4

Kim Hahncke

75

 

Sen B

4

Mark Adams

67

Sen A

5

Don Raschke

79

 

Sen B

5

Jemes Payne

68

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

 

Class

Rank

Rider Name

Score

C

1

Paul North

56

 

Masters

1

James Garber

79

C

2

Kristopher Bunker

64

 

Masters

2

John Bombyk

90

C

3

David Griffin

84

 

Masters

3

Per Lillmoen

125

C

4

Jeff Buxton

96

 

Masters

4

Charles Vanway

130

C

5

David Averill

102

 

Masters

5

Ted Del Solar

122