As the season reached the halfway mark, 150 riders gathered just outside of New Ulm, Minnesota to compete in the Flying Dutchmen Motorcycle Club’s annual hillclimb. Since the hill debut in 1998, the hill record has been a usual topic at New Ulm and this year was no exception. The record, a time of 4.122 seconds held by Chuck Neinfeldt, was under fire all day long.

    In the 250 class, Mike Wood set the first four second ride of the day with a 4.949 second ride. Red Wing, Minnesota’s Kurt Koester continued the downward trend with a 4.894 in the 600 class before Kirk Mueller set a time of 4.534 seconds on his Honda. However, Belleview, Nebraska’s Ernie Beckwith narrowly edged out Mueller with a 4.521 second ride before 600 class national champion Mike Wood set a time of 4.318 seconds on his Honda. The battle for the record continued in the Open class when Open class national champion Harold Waddell flew his Suzuki over the 230 foot hill in 4.246 seconds, claimed the first round lead in the fast time chase.

    During the second round, Wood set a time of 4.124 seconds on his CR500, just short of the record. Rider by rider, everyone took a shot at the hill record, and at the end of the day, the day’s ten fastest riders had one last chance at the hill record and fast time of the day. Woodbury, Minnesota’s Brad Cain was the first to the line and set the pace at 4.599 second before West Fargo, North Dakota’s Justin Odegaard took his Buell over the hill in 4.328 seconds. Odegaard’s lead proved to be lasting with the closest call coming from Wood with a 4.391 second ride. "I just figured it was time," Odegaard stated after the conclusion of the event. "I had been getting bumped back in the Open class all day long so I wanted to make up for it in the 80 Open."

Results

ATV 250 1.Myron Engle 2.Tod Hintz 3.Rolland Engle

ATV Open 1.Tod Hintz 2.Steve Atherson 3.Myron Engle

Micro Mini 1.Logan Cipala 2.Mitchell Koester 3.Zach Degross

65 1.Zach Degross 2.Alex Gerdes 3.Jeremy Johnson

Mini Jr 1.Seth Seymour 2.Henry Kelley 3.Alex Gerdes

Mini Sr 1.Jay Sallstrom 2.Jacob Prebe 3.Jason Sternitzke

125 1.Danny Mears 2.Scott Braun 3.Bobbi Cipala

200 1.Aaron Prebe 2.Ryan Stevermer 3.Danny Mears

250 1.Scott Braun 2.Mike Wood 3.Harold Waddell

450 1.Chad Koopsma 2.Jay Curtis 3.Danny Mears

600 1.Mike Wood 2.Ernie Beckwith 3.Todd Cipala

750 1.Todd Cipala 2.Kurt Koester 3.Kirk Mueller

Open 1.Harold Waddell 2.Brad Cain 3.Curt Sullivan

Four Stroke 1.Corey Danberry 2.Steve Cain 3.Darren Degross

Sr 1.Brad Cain 2.Scott Juhlin 3.Jay Curtis

Super Sr 1.Dave Byer 2.John Steinmeier 3.Greg Schmidt

Fast time of the day - Mike Wood 4.124

80 Open - Justin Odegaard