It all started several years ago, when Dirt Rider magazine called the Blue Ribbon Coalition and wanted to create an award program to say thanks to trail advocates who donate over 24 hours of time per year to maintain trails, send letters to politicians, make phone calls, etc. After hearing about the efforts of The Colorado Off Highway Vehicle Coalition (COHVCO), Ken Faught, Editor in Chief, of Dirt Rider Magazine, extended to Corey Corbett of COHVCO, an invitation to put together volunteers from Colorado to join with other volunteers selected by the Blue Ribbon Coalition (BRC) to participate in this year's famed Dirt Rider 24-Hour torture test at Glen Helen Motorsports Park in southern California.

Don Amador of the Blue Ribbon Team visits with some COHVCO volunteers during a stop on his "pit rounds"

Dedicated volunteers from Colorado were invited to solicit sponsors to help cover transportation costs, bring their bike, ride with the test crew (but not on their bikes), and join in the fun. In the process of doing this, we all got to "hang around" with the likes of off road legends; Malcolm Smith, Scott Summers, Dick Burleson, Larry Rossler, Johnny Campbell and Fred Andrews. More champions included; Ty Davis, Mike Lafferty, Mike Kiedrowski, Rodney Smith, Shane Watts, and that new guy to the "Off Road" scene, Jeremy McGrath, (yes, he was there too). Other racing heroes such as Scot Harden, Danny LaPorte, Jeff Emig and Mike Metzger were there as well.

Corey Corbett, COHVCO Vice Chairman is interviewed by Speed Channel for Bike Week program to tell how COHVCO volunteers got to attend this epic event.

ESPN and Speed Channel, were also on hand to document the event and to tape this year's Sound Test Module run by BRC staffer, Don Amador, Forest Service law enforcement officer Ray Kidd, Trails Unlimited representative Keith Ginn, Scott Sinclair a wildlife biologist from Off-Highway Solutions, and Dirt Rider's Dick Burleson and Bryan Nylander.

For 24 Hours, eleven different off road motorcycles were test ridden by the bevy of World Class riders and the Dirt Rider staff. This years course was laid out by Dirt Rider's Karel Kramer, it included a small part of Glen Helen's REM Motocross track and sections of tight, technical trail with lots of 2nd & 3rd gear trail, combined with little-used single-track weaving through Manzanita brush, providing an Enduro/GNCC-type 11 mile loop.

"It was incredible, I will remember this for the rest of my life", said Lonnie Bauer, of the Rampart Range Motorcycle Management Committee, one of the COHVCO team volunteers.

Colorado Volunteers Kris Brunson, David Pearson, Lonnie Bauer, Mike Troast and Corey Corbett, hung around with stars like National Enduro Champion, Mike Lafferty (in orange coat)

Our first of five days was spent mostly driving 18 hours straight through, from Denver, CO to San Bernardino, CA. After a stop at Motorcycle Accessories in Grand Junction, CO to pick up a Cannondale Demo bike for us to ride, we arrived at the venue of many a National Motocross Race and Endurance event, the famous Glen Helen Raceway.

With no real sleep yet, we are already into our second day, and none of us can wait to get out and ride right away. So, we volunteer to help the crew finish laying out the course by staking arrows and attaching ribbon at the turns and intersections. Then, with our ride fix satisfied, the pit all setup and our bikes all ready to go, we headed back for Mexican food and a sound nights sleep.

The clock struck 10 am on our third day of this adventure and the ride has just begun. The day was filled with great riding, rubbing elbows with all the luminaries and checking out the coolest bikes. Everyone was pacing themselves for the long night to come. The riding and sleeping shifts continue throughout the evening, with a short 1-hour Lasagna dinner break while the test bikes are fitted with Baja Designs Halogen lights They were so bright, that later in the night, you could see the trail of lights streaking across the mountainside from our pit in the valley below. It was an awesome sight.

Mike Troast, President of the Front Range Trail Riders, checks his helmet lights in preparation for the night riding segments of the Dirt Rider Magazine Torture Test.

By 1am, the crowd has thinned to just a few dedicated souls huddled away from the chilly, So Cal, 40-degree night air. Then by around 3am, even the "Conga Line" (the crew that keeps the test bikes running all night) was looking for some help. By that time, the only other riders still out there were the Colorado team. Yes, you guessed it, we actually got to pen our names on the same rider board as McGrath and Summers and take a lap or two on the official test bikes. How cool was that?

At sunrise, as viewed from the top of "Mount Saint Helens", a high point above the Glen Helen Raceway, a feeling hits you as you realize that your energy is drained from lack of sleep?. again! You feel tired and sore from riding, yet there is the warm satisfaction of having just accomplished something that you have never done before in your life?. and would never have believed that you could. Except for a few more laps, it is almost over. Yes, we did it!! In total, our group had ridden for 24 hours straight and had logged at least 92 laps for a total of just over 1000 miles.

Its now 10am on our fourth day and the test is over. Ken Faught is off to the hospital to have his broken foot mended, the COHVCO pit is packed up and we head North for 4 hours to our destination for the night?LAS VEGAS. A quick, cheap Casino buffet and its off to bed for most of us. Nobody stayed up too late; we were all too tired to try any serious gambling.

The next morning, while leaving the Nevada desert on our fifth, and final day, we hear that back home the forecast is for a high of only 17 degrees. Nobody cared, we are ready to drive straight through with a stop in Grand Junction, CO to drop off the Cannondale at Motorcycle Accessories (thanks again guys). Then dinner at Starvin' Arvin's and on to home and in bed by 2:30am.

Those of us from COHVCO would like to send our thanks to Dirt Rider Magazine, the Blue Ribbon Coalition and to all those that helped make it all possible. We all had the time of our lives and will never forget it: Lonnie Bauer, Kris Brunson, Kory Brunson, Corey Corbett, Jayson Corbett, Dave Pearson, Jeff Sardella, Joe Shedron, Joey Shedron, Kenny Stutzman and Mike Troast.