Photo by Vince Fedoroff
GETTING A HAND UP – Aurora Krause gets some help from race volunteer Mark Van De Mortel, left, after her dirt bike tire got stuck on an obstacle during Sunday’s Mosquito Hare Scramble II.
Photo by Vince Fedoroff
SHADOWING – Sam Adams rounds a corner in the peewee division.
Photo by Vince Fedoroff
DUSTY TRAIL – Sawyer Adams races in the junior under-15 category.
Photo by Vince Fedoroff
STARTING OUT – Novice riders start the hare scramble Sunday morning at the Schirmer family ranch.
Photo by Vince Fedoroff
OFF THE LINE – Expert riders start their race.
Photo by Vince Fedoroff
RIDING HARD – Peewee riders Ben Macpherson, Leona Adams and Kya Larkin, left-right, burn up the track.
Dirt bikers cap season with final hare scramble
Another Yukon dirt bike season came to a rip-roaring conclusion Sunday near Mount Lorne.
Another Yukon dirt bike season came to a rip-roaring conclusion Sunday near Mount Lorne.
The Yukon Cross Country Motorcycle Association held its final event of the year at the Schirmer family ranch – the Mosquito Hare Scramble II. A total of 32 racers attended.
Tim Schirmer won the expert division, besting Fort Nelson, B.C., rival Mike Scott by one second, while female winners were featured in two of the six other categories.
Kya Larkin won the mini class and Emma Barr earned the novice victory, while Ben Macpherson (peewee), Sawyer Adams (junior), Shane Orban (intermediate B) and Kevin Smit (intermediate A) were the other champs.
The event was heavy on youth, which bodes well for the future, said race organizer Mike Beaman.
“I think half the people that turned out were under 15,” he told the Star. “We were really happy to see that. And it’s good to see a lot more female riders out.
“The dirt bike community really came out in full force for this last race.”
Hare scramble racing sees dirt bikers go speeding down single-track and open-trail routes with experienced competitors taking on a more technical trail that includes logs, rocks and hills.
The expert category was very technical and physically demanding. Riders often had to help each other, making the event more about adventure and camaraderie, said Beaman.
For Scott, it marked the first time racing his new dirt bike purchased from Yukon Yamaha.
The season began in June with an enduro-cross race, featuring a short course chock-full of obstacles.
The second event of the year was a hare scramble held last month.
All events were held at the Schirmer family ranch near Kookatsoon Lake, south of Whitehorse.
“We’re trying to keep that family racing vibe alive,” said Beaman of his association’s goals. “We want to give our kids a sport – keep them off the streets and out of trouble.”
Beaman said Whitehorse city council rules currently disallow anyone under the age of 16 from riding inside city limits.
That makes events held on the Schirmer’s private property important, he said.
“It’s growing slowly,” he said of the racing community. “We get new riders out every year. That’s really positive in keeping it alive.”
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Comments (1)
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Thomas Brewer on Sep 22, 2015 at 3:52 pm
"Whitehorse city council rules currently disallow anyone under the age of 16 from riding inside city limits" what killjoys. Did none of them learn to ride a dirt bike before 16? With Whitehorse comprising 416 square kilometers (in terms of where our city limits are - can you say tax base grab?) in Canada, this is a real pain in the arse.