Americade adds Powersports Rally

Americade, Inc., organizers and promoters of the world’s largest motorcycle touring rally, announced the launch of an ATV and snowmobile rally to be held in the Lake George region of N.Y., scheduled for September 17-19, 2004.
Named the Northeast Powersports Rally (www.powersportsrally.com), this event will offer activities for ATV and snowmobile enthusiasts, competitors, families and individuals. The Northeast Powersports Rally will include a 30,000 sq. ft. consumer Expo; an ATV poker run; an ATV mud bog competition and ATV Rodeo; riding events in the Adirondacks; a snowmobile grass drag competition; ATV demo rides on the latest models; rider safety classes; seminars from industry experts; club meetings and more.
The ATV & Snowmobile Expo will be held in The Forum (www.lakegeorgeforum.com), a brand-new, 50,000 sq. ft. conference facility in Lake George, N.Y. The ATV Poker Run and Mountain Ride will take place on trails and fire roads in the Adirondacks, and the ATV Mud Bog, ATV Rodeo and Snowmobile Grass Drags will be held at nearby resorts.
Events Management Team, Inc., the company organizing this event and a sister company of Americade, Inc., hopes to attract 3,000 to 5,000 attendees.
Milk Vetch Woes continue
The Peirson’s milk-vetch plant that has caused trouble for off-road riders at California’s Imperial Sand Dunes, better known as Glamis, continues to trouble recreationists. The Fish & Wildlife Service listed Peirson’s milk-vetch as a federally threatened species in 1998 due to habitat degradation, impacts associated with off-road vehicles, and inadequate regulations to conserve the plant.
Listing the milk-vetch under the Endangered Species Act has closed 49,000 acres of Glamis to off-road vehicle activity. After an exhaustive three-year study, the Fish & Wildlife Service has chosen to keep the Peirson’s milk-vetch on the list.
The status of the plant was reviewed after a petition to remove Peirson’s milk-vetch from the Endangered Species Act was submitted to the Service in October 2001 by the American Sand Association, San Diego Off-Road Coalition, and the Off-Road Business Association.
After reviewing all of the available information about Peirson’s milk-vetch, the Service concluded that “It remains threatened by habitat destruction and modification from off-highway vehicle use; ongoing predation by bruchid beetles; the inadequacy of existing regulatory protections; and susceptibility to rangewide population declines from natural and manmade factors, including vandalism and drought.”
NOHVCC’s Summer Plans
Planning to make stops in at least 11 states by the end of September, the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC) recently finalized its summer workshop and event schedule.
“The planning process for the workshops and events is of course an ongoing deal,” said NOHVCC Executive Director Russ Ehnes. “But at this point in time we pretty much have the busy summer schedule set in stone as far as major events and workshops go. Our staff is really looking forward to seeing and meeting with hundreds of new folks in the coming months as we help state associations get organized at the workshops and travel with the NOHVCC semi and the new Adventure Trail to some of the premiere riding jamborees and festivals throughout the country.”
NOHVCC representatives will be in Grand Lake, Colo., July 7-10, for the 4th Annual OHV Management Workshop, and wrap up the tour Sept. 17-19 at the Fall Festival Sportsman Expo in Conneaut Lake, Penn.
Grants provided for Trail Program
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco recently presented the federally funded Round II 2003 Recreational Trails Program awards to 17 grant recipients for a total of $648,500.
The Recreational Trails Program awards are given to communities and local initiatives across Louisiana to help them improve the quality of life of their residents through various trail programs. The $648,500 awarded will generate over $1 million in local matching funds.
In addition to walking and running trails, grants awarded include trails for canoes, ATV and off road vehicle trails, and those for horse riders and cyclists.
Hatfield-McCoy Adds 100 Miles
The Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area is again expanding into another southern West Virginia county.
The newest addition to the trail system will be located in Wyoming County and named Pinnacle Creek. The trailhead will be called Castle Rock. This system will add another 100+ miles of trail, bringing the Hatfield-McCoy total to over 500 miles.
A “First Look” event was held May 26-30.
‘Huevos VI’ Wins Xtremey Award
H-Bomb Films’ “Huevos IV” made history as the first extreme ATV video to win a Xtremey Award. The video was nominated and won in the Offroad category at the fourth annual Xtremey Awards.
H-Bomb Bomb Squad freestyle team rider Jon Guetter, who is now famous for being the first to do a backflip on an ATV, won the Best Off-road Rider Xtremey Award. Guetter’s backflip was not on Huevos VI.
Docy Andrews, president of Impact Video Distributing began the Xtremey Awards four years ago as a way to honor the dedication and professionalism displayed by video producers and athletes who share a common love for extreme sports. To qualify for the 2004 nominations, videos had to be released from November 1, 2002 to December 31, 2003. They had to be submitted to Impact Video by January 1, 2004. For more information, visit hbombfilms.com
Jones Ends Gust’s Winning Streak
Jeremiah Jones ended Doug Gust’s ATV motorcross winning streak at Round 8 of the ITP/ATVA MX Nationals in Casey, Ill. Gust set a record this year by winning six races in a row on his Yoshimura-prepped Suzuki Z400.
Jones, riding a factory-supported Yamaha YFZ450, finished third in the first moto and second in the second moto to take the overall win this round. Gust finished 2-3 for second place and John Natalie, Jr., who was battling a back injury, placed third. Currently, these three riders are leading the race series, with Gust in first place with 230 points, Natalie in second with 151 points and Jones in third with 147 points.
Yamaha Quads are Most-Searched
Officials at ATVTraderOnline.com say a greater number of visitors to their Web site are beginning to search for Yamaha ATVs than for Honda ATVs.
“We’ve noticed the number of searches increasing over the past couple of months, as searches for Yamaha’s began superseding the searches for Honda by a range of 5 to 20%,” said Peter Busenlener, product development manager for CycleTrader.com and ATVTraderOnline.com. “Honda has always been the leader in number of searches as well as the number of ATVs listed for sale, but something is happening now that is giving Yamaha the edge and more people are searching for them.”
Last year, Yamaha consistently took a back seat to Honda, with anywhere from 500 to 27,000 less monthly ATV searches. Based on current statistics, however, more ATV enthusiasts are actively searching for Yamaha brand units than for Honda. In March, there were almost 80,000 searches for Yamaha ATVs, an increase of 33% from last November when only 55,000 searches were conducted.
“Perhaps more people are searching for Yamahas for the variety that Yamaha is offering, or as a result of the more aggressive marketing Yamaha is doing,” said Danielle Kerner, general manager for CycleTrader.com.
A part of the TraderOnline.com network, a leading network of Web sites serving buyers and sellers in the new and used vehicle marketplace, ATVTraderOnline.com averages 256,000 monthly visitors. psb