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Email Story to a Friend June 2, 2006 Brandy DeSimone goes airborne on her mini moto bike. DeSimone and her sister, Crystal Sheid, ride the little bikes in competition, a relatively new recreational pursuit that's gaining a following nationally. (Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli) Southern Oregon's mini moto sisterhood Siblings Crystal Scheid and Brandy DeSimone are making a name for themselves in this relatively new sport with adult competitors riding souped-up children's motorbikes By DON HUNT Mail Tribune Just in case anyone thinks that sisters Crystal Scheid and Brandy DeSimone can't cut it in mini moto racing, consider these particulars: On April 22, on the family's practice track near Jacksonville, Scheid crashed in front of her sister. DeSimone flew over the handlebars of her bike, caught her right hand in the back wheel and sprocket of Scheid's bike and ripped up her ring finger enough to require a trip to the hospital. Two weeks later, with her hand still black and blue and a fingernail missing, DeSimone finished eighth at a national event in Las Vegas, Nev. Scheid rode her mini racing bike until she was six months pregnant, then jumped back on it less than two weeks after giving birth to her son, Ryder. Scheid took 13th at the national event. The sisters are up-and-coming stars in the relatively new sport of mini moto racing, where adults take motorbikes built for kids, soup them up with bigger engines and other custom parts and race them over the jumps, bumps, humps and hills that make up mini moto venues. "It's addicting," says Scheid, 23, a former volleyball star at South Medford High when she was known as Crystal Peterson. "It's backyard fun. You can literally ride these bikes anywhere, and the races are a huge rush." Medford promoter Tim Clark is on the cutting edge of the recreational pursuit. He and fellow promoter Eric Peronnard of New Smyrna, Fla., host a national event at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas. This year's race, held on May 5, featured 563 competitors from 21 states and 10 countries. It packed in 6,900 spectators. Advertisement Clark, 52, also promotes an enduro race in October at the same site. "We've found a niche that is extremely popular," says Clark, who also publishes a magazine called Mini Moto that is sold in bike shops. "This is a sport that's exploding. There are races springing up all over the country." Clark says the mini bikes, which he calls "pit bikes" because of their popularity with car-racing crews, are easier to ride and more affordable than bigger motorcycles. A smaller bike costs about $2,000, and a beefier one can run $6,000 or more, he says. Of course, when you add racing components, the price tag shoots up. "In this area, you see people riding pit bikes on their property or out in the country all the time," Clark says. "The bottom line is, they're just fun to ride." And race. Scheid and DeSimone, 21, began competing a little over a year ago after their father, Brian Peterson, built a dirt track on his property along Poorman Creek Road outside Jacksonville. The girls, their husbands and friends can be seen tearing over the track on weekends. "We rode quads when we were growing up, and this is just another fun thing to do," DeSimone says. "My husband Joe bought a bike a couple years ago and we were riding trails on John's Peak. "But then we started to jump over random piles of dirt at my parents' house and the whole thing just grew from there." The accident occurred on the first day DeSimone was racing her new $10,000 Kawasaki KLX 110. The girls were practicing their starts along with a female rider from Seattle. As the trio raced through a series of rollers called a "whoops," Scheid veered to miss the third rider and suddenly went down. DeSimone slammed on her brakes to avoid her sister but went flying over her handlebars. Somehow, her hand got caught in the back wheel of her sister's bike. And gravity was not kind. "I thought I'd lost my finger there for a second," DeSimone says. "But hey, when you race motorcycles you expect to wreck once in a while. It goes with the territory." Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations --> online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Entertainment Guide --> Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy Advertisement s Advertisement