A Tribute to the Blues Brothers and Blues Babes of Mt. Laurel Skiers

Since 1972 the Killington Access Road was the scene of a Trike Race in July.  For many of the later years the team to beat was Mt. Laurel's own Blues Brothers and Blues Babes.  The shot above was taken in 2001.

This page is a work in progress and will attempt to trace the history of MTL's participation in that event and others.  Scroll down for a listing of everyone who has donned the outfit to uphold our club's lofty reputation.  Undoubtedly some names are missing.  Please let me know who should be added!  Also please share your memories of this great event so we can post them here. 

Neal Fisher has started us off with a history of the first two years, 1994 and 1995.  It  was the start of a great tradition!

    Here are some excerpts:  "I pushed as hard as I could and sent Andy on his way, the race at this point being very close. Andy started the first turn and the trike EXPLODED into what seemed to be a hundred pieces! He skidded uncontrollably to a stop. The rear wheels came off and were rolling away in opposite directions (we were lucky no spectators were injured or seriously killed). Bearings, washers, bolts, technical stuff, were all over the race course. I was running hard behind Andy so that I could assist at the transition area. I stopped dead in my tracks, completely unprepared for the carnage that I was witnessing."

" And Ledoux was examining which parts had critically failed. I saw him on his hands and knees, searching the racetrack for that defective cotter pin, the washer that cracked from the heat, the bearing that was infected by an errant grain of sand, dooming the trike to failure. Later, after several more beers, Ledoux was as determined as ever and made up his mind that we were coming back, faster, sturdier, and smarter."

"Neal opens a beer. “I thought the rules said we couldn’t modify the trike?”  Bob reassures him that no one will be the wiser, that he knows the other teams have done the same, and he begins to recite the friction coefficients of stainless steel versus ceramic ball bearings. As he ignites the oxy-acetylene torch he smiles and says, “They will never know what hit them”. And thus was born the trike that the Blue Brothers would carry forth into battle that sultry Sunday in July of 1995."

"A spectator, amazed at the speed of a child’s toy, yelled in excitement “Look at how fast he is”.  Hubris can be a terrible enemy. Smiling from ear-to-ear, supremely confidant of putting another trophy on the shelf, Bob heard the woman’s exclamations and looked back over his shoulder as a conquering Caesar returning to Rome. He leaned backward trying to see who the admirer was and the trike tipped backwards as his weight shifted. That alone was no problem but the modified seat had been extended beyond the rear axle and it dragged on the ground. The resulting leverage applied enough force to the seat to break it in half and it detached from the trike. "

Read the complete hysterical summaries.  A big thank you goes out to Neal Fisher for submitting these.  He's a gifted writer with wonderful sense of humor (and a terrific memory!)

1994 Blues Brothers Trike Race - The First Year!

1995 Blues Brothers Trike Race  - Second Incarnation

The very first appearance by MTL's Blues Brothers.  Here's a shot of Neal and Bob Sunderhauf in Ocean City in 1989!

From 1994 - The First Year of the Blues Brothers and Babes at the Trike Race!

This news clipping from 1998 shows Bob Sunderhauf wiping out in the 1996 race.

From 1995?

From 1996

From 1998

Here are a few shots from 1999

From 2000

From 2001

From 2002

And more!

Past Participants:

www.trikerace.org (now a dead link - it was created to revive the trike race)

www.koolkinetics.com Home website of Dr. Phrogg - one of the organizers (pr@microdaq.com Philip Reeder)

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