Mini Bike Races Aren't Just for Kids

Burned rubber, alcohol fuel and nitromethane are not odors you would expect to smell on the waterfront property of the , but on Sunday, dozens of grown men gathered to pull burnouts and race down a mini dragstrip on their altered mini bikes to support their local car club.

"Their age is probably the best part of this whole thing," a wife of one of the racers said. "Most of these guys are in their 40s, 50s, 60s... and they spent the week working on the motors in these kid sized bikes to race down a drag strip. Its hysterical."

Rhode Island's Leadfoot Car Club President Geoff Keller says that the idea for a mini bike race came from reading an article about a group from California that hosted extravagant mini bike races.

"It looked like a lot of fun so me and the vice president, Dave Ise, who owns the yacht club, decided we would do it," Keller said.

The annual race started as a true, illegal road race through the streets of East Providence on Halloween. It worked well for two years until the cops caught on.

"Driving through the town was great but the last time we did it, one of our guys cut off an ambulance," Keller said. "The ambulance wasn't on duty or anything, it was actually pulling out of a coffee shop, but yeah, the cops weren't too happy after that."

Despite toning the event down to a 100 foot drag strip on a private road in front of the yacht club, Keller says the event gets more successful every year.

"It gets bigger every year," he says. "It helps when guys like the Helger brothers bring fast bikes because no one actually believes that they can have a mini bike that runs on alcohol and nitromethane. It is just stupid fast."

Cody Helger, 19, of Little Compton, took the "unlimited" class race title for the past two years and this year, he was awarded a bucket of beers for his victory.

"I won beer and I can't even drink," he said laughing as his father and "crew members" guzzled the beers. "This isn't about winning, its just a lot of fun, for everyone."

So fun in fact, that 58-year-old had to go out and buy a mini bike of his own and give it a whirl.

"It's fun to watch, but it's more fun to actually do it," he said.

Berghman got knocked out in the first round of eliminations, but said that with a little help from his friends, he'll be back at it again next year.

"I got some alcohol [fuel] from the Helgers," he said with a sly smirk. "Now I'm ready to run next year with my new secret weapon."

For more information on the Leadfoot Car Club and their future events, visit the group's Facebook page.