Appalachian Championship Enduro Series (ACES) Banquet Chillicothe, Ohio                         January 16, 2010

Over 150 guests were in attendance to honor our 2009 award winners and enjoy an evening filled with friendship, legendary stories and great food. With the support of series sponsor Osburn Signs of Logan, Kenda, MSR, Enduro Engineering, Rocky Outdoor Gear, Beaver Creek Cycles, Ohio Motorcycle and Sport Cycles Racing, the riders walked into the well decorated banquet hall, compliments of Leann Meeker and Heidi Claytor, and walked out with a lot of swag along with priceless memories.

Doors opened at 4:00 PM, allowing guests to mingle and listen in on some great bench racing stories as told by some of the legends of the Ohio and National enduro and off road community. Since ACES was formed to help return the southern Ohio enduro scene to prominence, we decided to honor those that put us on the map in the first place. Joining us to share their stories and love of the sport were all but 5 champions ( Barry Rutherford, Hans Raidel, Doug Blackwell, Mark Hyde, and Nick Fahringer)  since season points were first tracked in 1973.

After mixing and reminiscing, Sam Phillips of the Christian Motorcyclist Association addressed the group, and offered prayer before the champions headed to the buffet line with their families. Sam and the CMA have been a huge asset at ACES events, providing fellowship to those that want to join them and monitoring road crossings to keep the riders safe as they compete. Any event or series would be well served to seek out similar organizations in your area.

Kevin Claytor kicked of the awards presentation portion of the evening as KTM’s 2008 champion Josh Gaitten handed the rotating trophy over to Husaberg’s Robbie Jenks. Robbie hails from New Straitsville also and has etched his name on the trophy multiple times, even though he was on hiatus several years chasing national titles instead. Mike VanCise was then honored as the top “B” rider for 2009 and will likely be very competitive in the “A” class next year. This was Mike’s first year riding enduros but he has a passion for racing and competes in MX, flat track and hare scrambles as well. We are happy to say he is hooked on enduros now and hope he will bring some more cross over riders into the sport. Billy Farmer was handed the Overall “A” trophy and welcomed to the “AA” class in 2010. When asked if he was going to start training, Billy smiled and said Monday. Since Monday was a state holiday, I have my doubts.

Kevin proceeded to introduce the winners in the different “B” classes. As they came forward to collect their awards, Heinz Raidel projected a PowerPoint with pictures he had taken of the riders from various races during the 2009 season. The riders were rewarded handsomely for their accomplishments as the class winners walked away with a custom HJC helmet commemorating their achievement, a Rocky jacket, MSR Hydro Pak and a great looking 3-D trophy. Second through fifth earned a set of Kenda tires, an MSR riding outfit, hoodies, polo shirts, enduro related goodies and trophies.

After a short intermission, the champions were brought to the front of the room to be introduced and allow me the opportunity to interview them. Before speaking with the recognized champions, I introduced a few people who predated the series or were integral in its formative years. John Toth came forward to share his love of the sport as well as an extremely rare Triumph promotional poster highlighting his achievement of winning the 1960 Little Burr 250 Mile National Enduro. Toth shared that he bested the legendary John Penton by 2 points to take the win. Ronnie Wend picked up where John left off, paying tribute to his friend, and winner of the 73 and 74 titles, Barry Rutherford.  Barry passed away a few years ago and was fondly remembered. “Wendy” was no slouch himself, finishing second in the series three times to the likes of Rutherford, Jim Fogle or Terry Cunningham. In fact, Wendy recalled TC’s mom coming up to him at an enduro, asking him if her son on an MR 175 could ride on his number because Terry didn’t have any timing equipment or experience. Ronnie just asked that TC stay out of his way. Wendy noted that wasn’t a problem! Larry Sells was the final “special guest” as he recalled winning the Ohio State Championship enduro and riding two-up with his son, and multi-time champion Brad, in the buddy class when Brad was a youngster.

As our past champions were introduced, it seemed that it might become a roast of TC as all of the early champions had a story to tell. Jim Fogle (Rokon 75-76) also remembered Terry and that MR early in his career. Fogle stated that he had an epic battle through a section known as “Snake Hollow” with some “kid” and that he couldn’t really remember being pressured or passed in that manner and maybe it was time for a changing of the guards. Perhaps in more ways than one, as Fogle rode an automatic too!

When TC (77-78, 80) took the microphone, he told a great story about being a brash young kid and converging on the same line as Rutherford at a bottle neck. Barry was a big guy with a booming voice and he had a few choice words for Terry as they tried to get unstuck and going again. TC credits Barry for a little of his speed since all he could do when he got going was make sure that Rutherford never caught him!

The night continued as Vic Ely, Randy Kline, Rick Lanning, Jeff Russell, Jim Robson, Wally Wilson, Shawn Sommers, Brad Sells, Jeff Anderson, Robbie Jenks and Josh Gaitten shared their favorite memories. Wally  voiced  that he was proud to say that he has raced against each of these champions over his four decades of racing. It should also be mentioned that Brad Sells has won the series more than any other rider (7 times) with an extremely hard to beat combination of speed and smarts. Recent winners such as Jeff Anderson and Josh Gaitten expressed the influence the earlier champions had on them. Jeff recalled begging his mom for a new white helmet like Randy Kline wore.  When he finally got it, he went straight to the woods to beat it against the trees so it would resemble Kline’s battle scarred Simpson. Josh Gaitten concluded the interviews by trying to describe what it meant to grow up admiring Robbie Jenks and now finding himself in the position of needing to beat Jenks as he competes for another title.

A common theme for all of these riders was the journey not the destination. The friendships formed and the lessons learned. Enduro riders are a unique breed. We want nothing more to win but will stop in an instant to assist an injured rider. This is carried into our personal lives and I know from personal experience that friends formed through racing and more specifically, as part of a club, are the best you will ever find.

The evening concluded as the “A” riders were presented their awards and the winners of our autographed “Champions” photo tribute poster, autographed jerseys from KTM’s Buttrick, Bobbitt and Russell and an ACES banner featuring our heritage were announced. ACES will use the proceeds of these auctions to support local riders selected to compete in the ISDE.

As clean up began, riders continued to mingle and chat. It seemed no one wanted to leave and everyone had more stories to tell. Some of the younger riders just eaves dropped as the legends of our sport continued to reminisce. Events like this only happen once in a lifetime. If only I had the foresight to record it, but I too was caught up in the minute.

Steve Wheeler

New Straitsville Enduro Riders

V.P. ACES