For the last 16 years, in some form, the Battenfelder family has been hosting an off highway vehicle (OHV) event. On June 1 to 3, the family held its latest version of what is now called affectionately, the Henry Battenfelder Memorial ATV Rodeo at Batt Traps Recreational Area near Camp Creek.
Mike Battenfelder, organizer of the event, said his parents, Henry and Marg, started the event in 2001 with the help of his brother and cousins to give ATVers and other OHV enthusiasts a competitive outlet.
“Before then the ATV riders in the area really didn’t have a place they could go and take part in a friendly competition,” he said.
The rodeo has four different team events, in both the men’s and women’s divisions — a two-wheel-drive ATV cross-country race, the drag and pull, the chariot race and the open category cross-country race. In the drag-and-pull competition, each team of four riders are required to connect their quads to a bucket with ropes connecting to one common drag bar. The teams must then pull an object through an obstacle course.
For the chariot race, one ATV is attached to an empty chariot and leads the other three quads around the course, which are marked by large metal oil barrels. The remaining three quads, called ‘out riders’, have to pick up the mail (a small board with a rope attached) to complete the course. After they do that they must then follow the chariot once again through the course, and return the mail to the barrel. After returning the mail, the three out riders then help the chariot back into its own individual corral before racing, on foot, and touching the fence.
In the cross-country event, racers compete in a timed event over a large course that includes a number of different types of terrain.
Riders race over a two-kilometre course, with more than 50 different corners, before going through a mud pit to the finish line. The winner is the one with the best overall time.
The last day of competition is reserved for the drag race.
