Driving blind: ATV teams take on T-Falls course blindfolded

One sure fire way to ruin a day’s pleasure drive is to have the dreaded “back-seat driver” in the vehicle.

That was not only mandatory at an ATV rally this past Saturday in Thompson Falls, but it was encouraged by the passenger in the side-by-side only rally involving the popular sport vehicles and their rapidly growing ranks of owners and enthusiasts.

And just for an added thrill, the driver of the ATV was blindfolded during the run through a challenging obstacle course among the trees and tall grass in a field across from the Thompson Falls Elks Lodge.

More than a dozen teams of driver/navigators showed up for the event despite overcast skies and a steady drizzle that at times was outright rain for the chance to have some good fun with their trail-gobbling vehicles and win trophies and prizes along the way.

Event spokesperson Shelle Mitchell, who along with her husband David, of Thompson Falls, said the idea came from an internet video about intoxicated drivers.

“I was looking on the internet and came across a video that showed drivers wearing blindfolds to simulate being intoxicated and driving,” Shelle said. “I looked at my husband and said why can’t we do something like that?”

With that, the wheels were put in motion to come up with a fun event for the growing number of ATV owners and enthusiasts who have fallen in love with the dune-buggy like vehicles that can traverse wide varieties of terrain.

“This is the first annual event,” Shelle said. “I lot of people expressed an interest in watching this type of competition”.

The competition centers around two-person teams who take turns driving the course with black blindfolds blocking their vision as they ride through the course, which in this case featured several pines trees and rolling terrain just to make things interesting and challenge the drivers abilities.

And the real challenge, the contestants all say, is the ability of the “navigator” to tell the driver when to turn, what speed to go and what obstacles lay ahead. At the end of one lap around the approximately half-mile course, the two entrants would jump out of their ATV and switch places and blindfolds with the driver becoming the navigator and vice versa.

The team with the best time for the two-lap event was declared the winner. Prizes included some nifty trophies for bragging rights for the top finishers.

Teams paid $30 to enter the competition, which served as a fund raiser for the nearby Elks Lodge. Those funds are then used to help families in need, purchases of fire safety equipment and other charitable efforts.

“The main thoughts here are to have fun and help others who need help,” Shelle added.

One of the first teams to tackle the course consisted of Travis and Stephanie Wisenhunt, who practiced driving the course earlier in the week.

“We came out to practice the course and it was interesting,” said Travis, who was instrumental in setting up the challenging run. “It was also pretty funny to hear wives and other navigators yelling ‘I said turn left, no right, no left’ while driving the course”.

Thompson Falls residents Gary Moe and Peg Donklin agreed the event was challenging in a number of ways.

“Having the blindfold on is very disorienting for the driver,” Moe said. “It was a challenge to follow the instructions.”

“Nobody killed anybody,” added Donklin with a laugh following the two longtime friends’ ride around the course.

All who took on the course agreed it was a fun way to spend the day.

“We didn’t yell at each other, it was actually kind of a funny thing to do,” said Marshanna Basham after she and her husband Mike had finished their run. “I think we did pretty good”.

Event organizers are hoping Saturday’s rally was the first of what will become an annual event.