The rough and tumble (or so you thought) world of off-road motorsports

Photo Gallery

The Rough and Tumble (Or So You Thought) World of Off-Road Motorsports

Charlie Roberts describes observed motorcycle trials - a non-speed obstacle event ridden standing up on specialized motorcycles - as "ballet on a bike." The point is to not let your feet touch the ground, so the sport is all about rhythm and technique. During events, riders maneuver their machines through an outdoor obstacle course, usually comprised of natural hazards like boulders, stumps, water and mud. The name "trial," Roberts explains, comes from the concept that a rider will "try all" there is to do with his or her bike across this rugged landscape.

The best athletes can make their bikes climb sheer rock faces with the agility of an alpine goat. Roberts, who has been competing in observed trials for 20 years, insists he is not that good.

At age 69, Roberts still participates in about 12 events across the Southeast every year. He would participate in more, he says, but as manager of Trial Training Center, a 680-acre off-road park in Sequatchie, Tennessee, Roberts stays busy organizing dozens of off-road events each year, including Trial Training Center's upcoming sixth annual Tennessee Knockout, an "extreme enduro" race.

Whereas observed trials are all about the difficulty of the ride, "enduro" is a long-distance off-road race in which the challenge is speed. Extreme enduro is a combination of the two, blending both difficulty and speed.

If trials can be compared to ballet, says Roberts, extreme enduro might be compared to brute force.

Featuring 13 miles of steep, mountainous terrain, the TKO extreme enduro course is no push-over.

Parts of it resemble a dry rocky creek bed. Other parts present narrow dirt trails. Athletes have two hours to complete two laps, totaling 26 miles. Most riders take about 45 minutes per lap, says Roberts, but the fastest riders can complete each lap in 27 minutes.

One hundred eighty riders will complete in this year's TKO, scheduled for Aug. 20-21. Amateur races are held Saturday. Riders' positions are determined by the order in which they signed up. At the starting line, they are organized into rows of five; then, each row begins on the minute. The only regulation for riders is that their bikes must be equipped with silencers.

The first amateur race begins at 9 a.m. CST. From there, the fastest 75 contenders move on to the second race at 1 p.m. CST. The fastest 40 contenders from that second race are given the opportunity to compete on Sunday alongside professional enduro athletes from all over world, including last year's TKO top two finishers, Cody Webb and Jonny Walker.

"But some of those amateurs [who qualify] will say, 'I've had enough to hold me, thank you!'" says Roberts.

"Imagine wrestling a 200-pound machine uphill for 13 miles. The next morning your whole entire body hurts. Even your fingers hurt," says extreme enduro athlete and Hixson resident Reggie Wrinkle, who has competed in - and finished - the TKO every year since its inception in 2010.

Age 65, Wrinkle has received the award for "Oldest Participant" every year.

In 2015, he says, he finished in last place. "I got a separate plaque for being the slowest rider. I had to laugh. It's all for fun. Nobody's out there to draw blood," says Wrinkle, who, in order to stay fit for extreme enduro, follows a six-day-a-week cross-training program.

But for all its intensity, Roberts and Wrinkle agree extreme enduro is a kind sport.

The average age of the TKO amateur rider is 45, Roberts says. That is in part because a certain amount of level-headedness is required to negotiate the course. For example, a "bottleneck" describes a tight spot on the trail prone to becoming clogged with riders. Often, he says, these racers know each other's skill level and who is the fastest.

"So they'll say, 'Take the lead,' because they don't want to hinder somebody else's performance," Roberts says.

Likewise, it is common for a rider to stop to help another rider whose bike becomes wedged between rocks.

"When you're young, [off-road racing] is more cutthroat. For a 16-year-old kid, a cast is a status symbol. But virtually all of these guys have to get up and go to work on Monday," Roberts says of the TKO's amateur competitors.

Although steadily growing, the sport remains relatively small, lending to its sense of camaraderie and community. Both amateur racers and spectators are afforded unique access to their heroes.

Roberts remembers last year during the TKO when he stopped for dinner at Las Margaritas in Jasper, Tennessee, just down the road from the Trial Training Center.

"I walk in, and there's Kyle Redmon, Cody Webb, Max Gershton and Colton Haaker sitting at our Mexican restaurant," says Roberts, who has been following athletes like Haaker most of his career. "These are the best of the best. The top world champions.

"I went and sat down with them and said, 'Hey, guys! How's it going?'"

The first time Roberts watched Haaker compete was 15 years ago during the second annual Trial Training Center's Youth National Observed Trials Championship, an event for riders between the ages of 6 and 15. Haaker had been 13 years old at the time. But despite the fact that he watched Haaker come of age in his very backyard, Roberts still has stars in his eyes.

"The top of the top. The world's best competitors right here in Sequatchie, Tennessee," he says.

Photo Gallery

GALLERY: The Rough and Tumble (Or So You Thought) World of Off-Road Motorsports