Sports : ATV weekend gets down and dirty

Vern Hollister - Correspondent

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, ATV riders camped at Crandon International Raceway for the Ultimate ATV Experience sponsored by the Forest County Potawatomi and Lucas Oil and promoted by Fantasy Motosports out of Appleton.

Like ants moving about a giant hill, riders crossed the Raceway grounds for any number of activities, some for pleasure, a few for the thrill and others for the competition. Saturday, one group competed on the raceway track near the Brush Run's finish line, pausing in their routes to circle their ATV's around barrels set up in an "S" pattern. On another portion of the grounds, competitors raced ATV's at the dragstrip. At the bottom of a hill a large group surged into mud to get down and dirty during mud bogging.

Riders in seven classes competed and slogged through thick mud, a return to the simple pleasures of making mud pies, jumping in puddles and emerging covered and streaked with the goo. Competitors, often wearing waders, drove their ATV's through the muck from a start line to a finish line.

Kelly Lee from Fox Valley ATV Accessories served as one of the officials at the start. "Crandon has an awesome ATV facility," she said. Lee travels to Illinois and also north to Hurley, which has mud bogging over Memorial Day weekend. She kept track of competitors at the starting spot who competed in pairs and raced two at a time through the muck and mire. Teams competed, and drivers arrived from Texas and Louisiana for the event.

Brad Gumz didn't travel that far. He's a logger from Westboro, near Medford, and he likened the weekend and the experience to "boys night out," a time for play and good times. Competing in Class 4 with a 600-1,000 cc machine, goo dripping from the waist down, his shirt in front the color of a mud pie. Spatters of mud clung to his arms, face and helmet. After another run, he joined family members and friends. "This was a trophy run," he said. "No money for this." Money races occurred later in the day.

Drag racing had 13 classes. At the start line, dragsters sped over the track, again in head to head competition, until one remained as the top dragster in each class. Heidi and Mike Kolve from Strum, Wisconsin, helped out at the drag strip.

"We have our own drag strip in Strum," Heidi said. "We run it out of our home." Heidi worked the start. Mike sat in a piece of heavy equipment prepared to work the strip between groups.

For some riders, the weekend experience wasn't as much about competition. It was the riding. They traversed the Raceway property where trails are readily available. A couple who live near the Raceway said they heard some ATV's at 3 a.m. Circle of Fifths performed Saturday night; and starting Sunday morning, motorcross, more mud bogging, trail riding, another round of drag racing and an obstacle course occupied their time until departure.