Logs, mud, dust, steep hills - you name it. Expert course riders had their hands full at the Mosquito Harescramble held at the Schirmer Family Ranch off the South Klondike Highway on Sunday.
For their second event of the season, the Yukon Cross Country Motorcycle Association (YCCMA) offered their hardest course to date for expert AA riders.
The toughness of the course brought out fine sportsmanship between the racers.
“They all helped each other - that was part of the sportsmanship that went on today that was excellent,” said YCCMA president Mike Beaman. “The three guys who came in third place were helping each other and actually waited for each other at the finish line and crossed the finish line - all three of them - together. So I have to make up a couple extra trophies, but that’s OK.”
Tim Schirmer, who helped put the course together, took first ahead of brother Sam. Travis Adams, Neil Ryckman and Tony Watson tied for third.
“It was a struggle,” said Tim. “It was six guys going through a pretty difficult course, but we helped each other out through the whole thing, which made it nice.”
“There were some logs and some challenging uphill, but this was the first time we ... didn’t ride through it. So it was untouched trail, untouched lines, so basically you had to go by eye. There was logs, mud - everything you could ask for.”
Sunday’s races, which included riders from Alberta and B.C., marked a return to the YCCMA’s roots. It was the association’s first harescramble race, in which cyclists complete as many laps as they can in a set amount of time, in over a year. The last two events were endurocross events - a series of races with winners determined by points collected in each race.
“It went really well. A little dusty, but I think everybody had fun,” said Beaman. “We tried to bridge the gap between intermediate B and intermediate A by making a little bit easier A course and having a separate expert course that’s a very hard, challenging, exhausting, physical challenge. The Schirmer boys, Tim and Sam, were instrumental in making that hard course. There were six racers in that class, which was more than we expected, and those guys were up for the challenge and did an awesome job.”
Tim, who recently turned 17, wasn’t the only rider outpacing older competitors.
Ten-year-old Cole Beaman rode his KTM 150 to first place in the junior over-15 category.
“I was just progressing over time, working hard, training and I’m glad my dad pushed me - that’s how I achieved this goal,” said Cole, who won the junior under-15 at the last harescramble.
The course “was like a rollercoaster, up and down. It was just phenomenal fun. I love it.”
The YCCMA will close out the season with the Mosquito Harescramble II on Sept. 20 at the Schirmer Family Ranch.
Contact Tom Patrick at
tomp@yukon-news.com
Results
Mini
1st Brent McNeil (Honda)
2nd Sam Adams (Yamaha)
Junior under-15
1st Brent McNeil (Yamaha)
2nd Evan Arnold (Kawasaki)
Junior over-15
1st Cole Beaman (KTM)
2nd Broden Cull (Yamaha)
3rd Saul Gale (Yamaha)
Novice
1st Chris Lane Jr. (Honda)
2nd Emma Barr (Honda)
3rd Mike Murphy (Yamaha)
Intermediate “B”
1st Jarrid Davy (Yamaha)
2nd Gary Rusnak (Yamaha)
Intermediate “A”
1st Chris Lane Sr. (KTM)
2nd Julien Revel (KTM)
3rd Scott Heppner (KTM)
Expert “AA”
1st Tim Schirmer (KTM)
2nd Sam Schirmer (KTM)
3rd Travis Adams (Yamaha)
3rd Neil Ryckman (Yamaha)
3rd Tony Watson (KTM)