Hundreds watch as motorcycle riders attack 180-foot hill

RURAL FORDVILLE, N.D. -- "It's pretty, isn't it?" said Mary Greicar of a pine-lined stretch of the Forest River at the bottom of a steep 180-foot hill slick with mud as roaring motorcycles struggled to climb it.

Hundreds visited this normally-secluded location Saturday for the 14th Annual Eagle Ridge Motorcycle Hillclimb.

Greicar is one of the original five founding members who organized the event.

"(The Eagle Ridge Motorcycle Club) used to have a hill climb many, many years ago," she said. "Then we quit for years, and then we started this one."

Crowds gathered in rows of lawn chairs in the shade to watch participants in more than a dozen classes attempt to ride their bikes over the hill in the shortest amount of time.

A tradition

Riders Tyler Johnson and Logan Cipala sat in the grass watching competitors attempt the climb as they waited for their turn.

"My dad would always come here when we were younger," said Johnson, who traveled from Wisconsin to take part in the Hillclimb. "We used to come here all the time."

Though Cipala had ridden at Eagle Ridge in 2006, he was surprised to see so many spectators. He first started riding motorcycles when he was 4.

"This hill is cool because it's hard," said Cipala. "And it's super steep and short, which makes it really tricky. But it's fun."

Despite cash prizes awarded to winners in each class, the love of riding is what draws Cipala to motorcycle events like this one.

"(Riding) is a great stress-relief. It makes me happy every time I ride, always," he said with a laugh. "It keeps you out of trouble too."

Spectator Ken Hoffman stood in the shade, crouching to see around a tree branch as his son Sean reached the top of the hill in 10.29 seconds to become one of the few contestants to actually make it over the ridge.

"He is competing in two different classes this year," said Hoffman of his son, who had first ridden at Eagle Ridge last year. "It's kind of crazy, I think, but he enjoys it. I'm very proud."

Fundraiser

The entire event was made possible by donations from sponsors, whose names adorned the fences along the hill. Their contributions make up part of the winners' purses.

"(The riders) make big bucks here," said Greicar as she filled in the leaderboard with riders' times and scores. "We guarantee a purse of $10,000. That's why we get all the riders here, because the payback is so good."

Additional funds raised in part by the $10 admission fee are usually given to the Fordville Fire Department and ambulance service.

"We're not out for the money," said Greicar.

The most honored prize goes to the rider who clocks the fastest climb of the day. Each year's fastest rider gets his or her name engraved into the Andrew Greicar memorial trophy beside the names of previous years' winners.

A motorcycle rider himself, 21-year-old Andrew Greicar was killed in an avalanche while snowmobiling in the mountains of Montana in 2003.

"He was a real nice kid," said Mary Greicar, a cousin of Andrew's. "We dedicated the trophy to him."

Behind the scenes

Even riders who didn't place were happy just to be able to participate.

During the first few heats, a voice on the public-address system announced that "there should never have been a hill climb here."

The torrential rain that fell over northeast North Dakota earlier this year caused a lot of damage to the hill and felled many trees.

But that didn't stop the Eagle Ridge Motorcycle Club.

According to Greicar, club members and their friends worked long and hard to make the hill ready for another hill climb.