Gentleman, start your peddlin'

It may not be as well known as the Daytona Speedway and it may not carry as much prestige as the Brickyard in Indianapolis, but after five years, a 50-foot stretch of dirt in St. Regis is starting to be talked about in racing circles.

Twenty-two teams converged on the dirt stretch behind the Talking Bird Saturday for the fifth annual Tricycle Rally. A crowd of well over 100 people circled the track to watch the grown adults try to maneuver the little kids tricycles up and down the track and through the mud puddles.

Talking Bird owner and race starter Ken Jasper said he had no idea the race would grow into such large event when they started it five years ago. “I’m very surprised,” he said.

So what brings people from across the northwest to St. Regis to race in the event? For one member of the Umatilla, Ore., team, the answer was easy. “We like the humiliation,” said Kelli Hendon of the team Drunken State. She said that she had raced in all five races and plans to keep coming back.

For teams to travel 200 miles to compete in the race and humiliate themselves in front of others, one would expect the prize money to be a hefty sum. “They just get a trophy,” Jasper said. Jamie Marsh, of the winning team, the Pedal Pushers, said the reward isn’t what motivated his team. “We don’t know even know what we won,” Marsh said. He said just to be able to have the bragging rights after the race made the trip from Missoula worth it.

While the over 80 racers may have worked up a sweat under the hot sun, the hardest worker was race mechanic Larry Kelley. Kelley was in charge of keeping all 12 tricycles up and running and never had a moment’s rest in the three-hour span of the races. While he said the mechanic’s job may be challenging, it was a lot easier on him the next day. “Riding is definitely harder on the body,” Kelley said.

Kelley said he tried his luck on the tricycles in the inaugural race and his legs was covered in bruises the next day. “I couldn’t even walk the next day,” he said.