Manitoba Dirt Riders Inc. (MDR) holds races across the province with hundreds of riders participating. Miniota Devil’s Drop held their enduro race on the first weekend in June utilizing the awesome terrain of the Assiniboine Valley, southeast of Miniota.
Enduro races are single track timed races made up of multiple downhill stages, uphill runs and obstacles.
In contrast, motocross events take place on short, closed circuits that have been purpose-built for dirt bikes. Mark Cosgrove’s Madesa track near Virden is one of those.
Miniota Devil’s Drop racers ride in the open countryside on existing trails cordoned off for the race. Instead of completing multiple short laps, riders might race point-to-point or complete fewer, longer laps. These races run between 30 minutes for the young, to two hours for pros.
A work party with some 40 volunteers helped to prep the track for the weekend. Aaron Ashcroft from Birtle coordinated the weekend of racing. He explains, “We cut our own trails to create our tracks.”
Ashcroft says this year, Miniota Devil’s Drop held their biggest race so far with 172 riders Saturday and on Sunday, 207.
It’s a sport for all ages. In the Manitoba club, the youngest member is 5, the oldest is 63.
“There was a little guy showed up with training wheels,” said Ashcroft.
MDR is going on 15 years since the idea first took hold. Local enthusiasts started the organization and obtained land for courses. Chris Jebb and Marshall Askew made contacts with Ted Morton and Dallas Louttit - and Miniota and Melita venues were secured.
In April of 2009, MDR had its first AGM. Keith Lillie, Pat Wickett, Greg Heinrichs, Zoey Jebb and Brent MacDonald made up the first Board.
The first race, in June at Melita, saw 48 racers participate. Miniota was run in September, and then the race went back to Melita in mid-October, “in the snow” according to history on the MDR webpage http://www.manitobadirtriders.com/.
In 2010 the Miniota track was further developed. It was 2012 when the first event at Oak Lake and Morden courses opened. Ron Routledge pioneered the scoring trailer concept with the Moto Tally system and it was considered a game changer.
In 2016, the Manitoba Cup was born. Riders come from across Manitoba, and some from Saskatchewan and North Dakota.
New courses have been added over the years. This year the race sheet consists of the April race that ran in Fischer Branch, and recently Miniota Devil’s Drop on June 3-4; then Melita Sandy Oaks on June 17-18; Oak Lake Dirt Drag on August 19-20; Brandon course on Sept. 16-17 and finishing up with the Cypress Snakes and Ladders River Run on Sept. 30 – Oct. 1.
“Each race tries to have kind of a theme. I guess that's why it's so special having the valley
hills,” says Ashcroft. Hence the name Devil’s Drop.
Manitoba Dirt Riders is dedicated to ensuring sustained off-road riding in a family-based atmosphere.
