By Stephanie Bunker
Moapa Valley Progress
The Mesquite Off-Road Weekend brought excitement to the northeast Clark County trails for many ATV riders last weekend. The Eureka Hotel and Casino hosted the event where an estimated 7,000 people attended.
It was an event for all ages to join in. Nitro Circus was a big part of the event. On Friday, Nitro Circus daredevil Tanner Godfrey made a world record jump on his ATV side-by-side. He broke the previous record of 46 feet making an amazing jump of 102 feet. Then he jumped it again and broke his own record at 105 feet.
Godfrey had been in a motorcyle accident in Mesquite 5 years ago where he became paralyzed. At that time, the doctors told him he would never walk again. Godfrey can now walk with the help of canes. And he uses the cane for much more than that. He still races using a cane to push on the accelerator of his vehicle. It was using this method that Godfrey made the world record jump.
Another unique event was the Redneck Rodeo. People came forward and entertained the crowd participating in activities like the Green Pig Bungee Grab, Zip line Snake Hunt, Lemonade Stand Challenge, and a Paintball Goose Target Shoot.
For this last one, the contestants were set up in kayaks on top of ATV’s. From there, they were to shoot the paint gun at decoy geese.
All the events contained super duty redneck adventures. The winners received prizes such as an overnight vacation to the Big Rock Candy Mountain Resort, helicopter ride over Hoover Dam with an ATV Tour in Eldorado Canyon, and an Adventure Tour with Awesome Adventures.
Saturday was the finals for the endurocross racing. The Eureka transformed their 100 acre lot into an endurocross race track. This track consisted of tractor tires, buried old cars, tires, logs, and jumps. The motorcycles included novice, armature, pro, veteran, and trial classes. ATV’s and UTV’s also competed in the endurocross race.
Troy Steineckert raced in the trial class. The trials bikes are imported from either Italy or Spain, are lighter weight than more traditional vehicles, and are designed to master the skill of controlling the bike. The trials bikes are really difficult on a track like this because there is no seat. The rider is forced to stand while riding the entire time.
Steineckert said that the endurocourse was extremely difficult. He said it was the hardest thing he has ever done on a bike.
“This race was epic,” he said. “I will definitely come to the Eureka next year. It’s a true test of stamina.”
The Nitro Circus Beyond Pro Show consisted of the top 5 racers from each class racing together in the endurocross race. This means motorcycles, ATV’S, and UTV’s racing together on the same track.
Another twist in the Beyond Pro Show required every racer to hit the metal ramps no matter what vehicle they were driving. Many of these racers had never made freestyle jumps from a metal ramp to dirt landing before.
Trent Stoney was a key player in planning the event. He made the comment that the uncertainty of the jumpers is what made the show unique. Before the Beyond Pro Show began, Gregg Godfrey the Executive Producer of Nitro Circus was giving jumping tips to a UTV driver who was a little nervous about making those big jumps.
During the day on Friday and Saturday there were ATV trail rides guided by Awesome Adventures around outlying areas of Mesquite. With 5 trails to choose from, ATV riders got to enjoy the beautiful country and terrain here in Southern Nevada.
“The Loop” in Logandale Trails was a part of the trails system as well as the flat top mesa just west of Mesquite.
Two of the trails explored along the Virgin Mountain Foothills. One of these was called the “Steam Engine Run”. The other was “Over the River and Through the Seeps”.
The fifth trail explored out into the Gold Butte area. This trail was named “Beauty and the Beast”.
Most of the trails were about 40-55 miles long. It took a lot of work from many organizations to put the trails together. They had to scout out the trails, take GPS readings of each one, and complete a lot of paper work for permits.
Partners In Conservation (PIC) was responsible for gathering permits and developing a brochure for the trails. Elise McAllister with PIC explained that the Las Vegas BLM was wonderful to work with but they had never issued permits for a jamboree such as this before.
“In fact, only the Elko office has done that,” McAllister said. “So something relatively common in Utah turns out to be quite new in Nevada!”
The trails were all located in federally designated Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) for protection of the tortoise. So all of them required a permit. According to the regulations surrounding ACEC, only 4 permits for this may be issued a year which goes very quickly.
“So PIC learned a great deal about the permitting process and the very unique circumstances we have in Clark County,” McAllister said.
It took efforts from many organizations to make the Mesquite Off-Road Event possible. They include Adventure Glide, Partners in Conservation, Awesome Adventures, Extreme Powersports, Edge Powersports, Kathy Lee with City of Mesquite for marketing, and Eureka Hotel and Casino.
