Who needs horses when you have ATVs.
For three days starting on May 21, quad ATV enthusiasts from across the province descended on the Batt Traps Recreational Area near Camp Creek to compete in the biannual Battenfelder Quad Rodeo.
The annual event was started, by the Battenfelder family to give quad riders an opportunity to not only ride, but compete in an unique event.
Mike Battenfelder, current organizer of the event, said before that there wasn’t really a competitive event for quad riders.
The first rodeo was just a one-day event with six-teams and 24 riders.
“It has really grown since then,” Battenfelder said, adding the event has continued to grow every year.
“Today we have 16 teams and 60 riders,” he said, adding that included in the 16 are four women’s teams.
Over the years the events have changed, depending on the number of participants, but they all have some connection to a conventional rodeo.
This year’s rodeo had three different team events, the drag and pull, the chariot race and the relay 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 the bucket through an obstacle course.
“A lot of teamwork is required,” Battenfelder said. “They must pull the bucket though the course without getting their ropes tangled and wrapped up together.”
The second event is the chariot race and it is a combination of the traditional rodeo chuckwagon race and the old pony express.
In the chariot race one ATV is attached to an empty chariot and leads the other three quads around the course which is 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.
“It is really something to see with all the teams on the course at once,” he said.
Due to weather, the organizers of the event had to change the cross-country race at the last moment.
“Usually we have all the teams race at one time, but since it is so dry and dusty it’s causing a visibility issue for the riders so we are going to start them 40 seconds apart and base it on their times,” Battenfelder said, adding that safety is the most important factor for staging the race. “Our main purpose is that everyone can go home at the end of the event in the same condition they arrived, but have a big smile on their face.”
Randy Grossenbacher, a team member of last year’s overall champion team, the Green Bastards, said he loves the event and would encourage any quad rider to participate.
“I think I have been to every rodeo but one,” he said, adding that it has become a family affair. “I have one daughter racing for one of the ladies teams, and my son is on another team, and my brother races for another team. Out of the Grossenbachers we have people racing against each other on five different teams.”
