Read this article. This is great ! I just hope he doesn't plan on coming to Florida, he will be charged with a 1st degree Felony. LOL
We should join him !
So this leads us to the 1st ANNUAL PORTLAND TO PORTLAND ATV RUN. Jim Bergren of Moline, IL decided to be the first person to transverse North America on an ATV. “I think I bought my first machine in 1985 and have been hooked on riding since then. This sport first suffered from the somewhat unsafe three wheelers that were introduced many years ago. It has now changed with the advent of very comfortable riding four wheel machines with suspension similar to that of your automobile.”
The first phase of planning this trip was a three month exercise in calling every sheriff and Forestry officer that had jurisdiction in designated areas. This was done in an effort to see if the trip was even possible. Jim says, “You can imagine the logistics of putting this route together.” It could not
have been accomplished without the great response and help from these people dedicated to the sport.
According to Jim, “Riding a motorcycle, bicycle or walking across North America is somewhat easier because you can just follow highways, city roads etc. I don’t mean that bicycling or walking is physically easier, but using highways is much simpler. He adds, “However, legal usage of an ATV is another matter.” Bergren says “You have to be on dedicated forest trails, county roads in states that allow riding on these roads and on snowmobile trails that allow ATV riding in the summer months.”
Once Jim knew he had put the trails together, it was decided that this should be a charity ride for a worthy organization. Enter the Nascar Foundation. This foundation was just formed in January of 2006 and oversees approximately 15 worthwhile charities, most of which are sponsored by NASCAR drivers. Jim reports, “Once I discovered that this foundation donates every penny it receives to these driver charities I knew I had made my decision.” Each person who participates in any portion of the ride will be asked to donate $25.00. However, no one will be turned down from riding if they cannot afford to contribute as it will be on a volunteer basis.
At this point, only Jim will be riding the entire trip, however each state ATV Association is organizing local clubs and members to participate in any phase of the journey. According to Jim, “We don’t expect people to be able to ride for the entire anticipated 45 to 50 days of the trip, but we already have a few hundred riders that will participate in each of their own states.”
In what has become known as “The Mother of All ATV Rides” riders will be signed up at the start of each day or as they join along any portion of the ride. There is a calendar on the official web site which indicates the starting cities for each day. The state ATV associations will be updated on the exact location of the starting point in each city and we would ask that individual ATV’ers contact their local clubs or state association for those locations as the starting date draws nearer.
The starting date is June 27th, 2006 in the community of Lakeview, Oregon. The ending date is somewhere around August 2nd, 3rd or 4th in a yet to be determined city in Maine. Bergren says “We called this trip the
1st ANNUAL PORTLAND TO PORTLAND ATV Run to indicate that we are riding from Oregon to Maine, but it’s a bit of a misnomer as there are no
actual trails in the city of Portland, Oregon. We are however, crossing the entire state of Oregon.”
The route is through Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, upper pennisula of Michigan, Ontario, Quebec and finally Maine. Jim will also have a transponder on his machine so anyone going to the web site can watch real time progress of the trip. The web site is
http://www.atvwithjim.com. Daily photos will be uploaded to the web site along with a comment or two on the events of the day.
“We have a calendar and we are trying to be as accurate as possible as to the length of time spent on the trail. The anticipated average speed will be 25 miles per hour”, according to Jim. He adds, “Foul weather could present some problems, but we will ride in the rain to try to keep on schedule”.
At this point, it appears that all ducks are in a row and they are ready to shove off on the 27th of June. Jim says now his biggest concern is that the support vehicle/trailer will be able to find him for designated gas fill ups and moral support. His long time friend Rod Rochholz also of Moline, IL will be driving the truck/trailer and be responsible for making motel reservations and getting food and gas to isolated areas for parts of the journey. He will also ride his ATV on some portions of the journey.
