Appalachian Championship Enduro
Series
Round Four: Moonshine Enduro
Gaitten
“Shines” Again
By Steve Wheeler
New
Straitsville, OH, June 13
The 85 riders who braved the extreme conditions
caused by a week’s worth of torrential rains discovered why the hills surrounding New Straitsville were a safe haven
for moonshiners and such a challenge for the Federal agents who sought them out. After 58 brutal miles, only 29 riders managed
to finish within their hour and hoist a coveted moonshine jug.
New Straitsville native Josh Gaitten, who
probably has a bootlegger in his bloodline, bested the field dropping 43 points, 8 fewer than Carey Eberts who claimed the
Overall A jug from the 200 A class. Carey probably benefitted by drawing an early row (203), as did Tyler Jarvis (309) who
bested Gaitten by one point through the extremely difficult, 11.2 mile, first section. Jarvis went 7/18 through checks two
and three to Gaitten’s 8/18. Mechanical gremlins struck Jarvis causing him to drop off the pace, but he still easily
topped the Open A class, finishing 4th overall with a score of 53. Anthony Glasso out of the Vet A class was able
to capitalize on Jarvis’ misfortune and card a 52 to claim 3rd overall.
Early numbers
proved to be the hot ticket in the B ranks too. Andy Matheny (204) made his ACES debut in the 250 B class and walked away
with the Overall jug, topping series regular Chad Ingalls (Vet A/203) by 8 minutes with scores of 126 and 134 respectively.
Ingalls had his best ride of the year going, holding a 12 point lead over Matheny through 8 checks only to see it come to
an end with trouble in the next to last section. At only 3.2 miles long, Matheny went 8, while Ingalls dropped 22 points,
carrying 8 of them into the final 3.2 mile section.
Nathan Bidwell was the last of the B riders to finish, dropping
322 points to earn the 200 B win as well as a set of Enduro Engineering hand guards that were designated for the low point
finisher. It has to be a rare occasion when you can drop more points than anyone, win your class and finish third overall!
Nathan was on row 28 and had to overcome countless obstacles as he muscled his way to the finish.
Overcoming obstacles and proving his endurance is nothing new to Bidwell, a 2010 graduate of the Fire Fighting program at
Tolles Technical Center. Nathan won the high school division of the State of Ohio’s Skills USA Fire Fighters Challenge
and will compete in the National competition at the end of June. The New Straitsville Enduro Riders added to Nathan’s
winnings, giving him $100 for travelling money. Congratulations on your ride and your academic accomplishments and good luck
in bringing a National Championship back to Ohio.