MANKATO , MINN. -
Kato Cycle Club President Rob Vanderhoof says riding is in your blood. Either you have it or you don't. Vanderhoof says, "I'm not a stick and ball sports kind of guy."
Growing up, his friends played baseball while he took to the track. Vanderhoof says, "When I started we wore boots and a jean jacket."
He says the sport is much safer now, especially for beginner bikers. "The smaller kids honestly they're going so slow its kind of hard for them to get hurt. It hurts their feelings more than their body."
Kids as young as four bike at the Kato Cycle Club. Vanderhoof says, "Our club produces some of the best riders in the country."
Pro Hill Climber Jay Sallstrom says "Well when I was little we used to come out here from Fridays to Sundays and just camp out here and ride this whole area and that was just what we did as a family and we hold these events, we tried it and now we're hooked."
Sallstrom says, "So far it's good, the track's shaping up to be good ant it's fast so we're having a good time."
If the dirt is too wet or dry racers can slip around on the track. Today's conditions were perfect, nice and sticky. Hundreds of racers tore up the track. And even more friends and family come to watch. Vanderhoof says, "There isn't one person out here doesn't love what they are doing."
A dirty day of driving is another person's paradise.
