Up, up and away

Just seven miles north of Malta, there's a group of young men reaching the stars...almost literally.

If you have ever happened to drive north of Malta on Highway 191 on your way to Whitewater, and noticed plumes of dust and motorcycles shooting through the air and ripping around the hills, then you are familiar with the Malta's Outlaw MX.

Unofficial leaders at the track are Malta's Shane Carnahan and Travis Rhoads and on Saturday afternoon the two jumped on their bikes and proceeded to fly them through the sky, launching themselves off the course's nine foot high, 23-feet long metal ramp.

"It's a great way to clear your mind from the daily grind," Carnahan said after about 15-trips off the ramp.

Though the wind would eventually whip through the prairie and force the two from any more ramp launches, while they were jumping, Rhoads and Carnahan were rocketing 35-feet into the air and crossing nearly 70-feet of land after hitting the ramp.

"There are only a couple of us who use the ramp," said Rhoads. "But as you can see, there are plenty of people out here riding."

The original Outlaw Motorcycle Track was located near Alan Crowder's house, west of Malta, near the spot where Kid Curry and the Wild Bunch famously robbed a train in 1901. Rhoads said that circumstances out of the club's control led them to find a new spot for the racetrack – and eventual ramps – so that today the motorcycle riding spot is seven miles north of Malta on land owned by Gary Anderson.

"Gary and his wife, Barb have been really good about letting us use this spot," said Carnahan. "All's they ask is that we keep it clean. We also ride out at Mark and Ronna Holman's place."

Sometimes, when traffic is heavy on the highway, Rhoads and Carnahan will step up the hot-dogging for the people passing by.

"Yeah, we will speed up and hit the ramp a little harder," said Rhoads. "It's always more fun with an audience."

Freestyle riding doesn't come without its bumps and bruises. Rhoads said he has broken ribs on more than one occasion and Carnahan has taken his fair share of spills. The two said that getting hurt comes with the territory of the sport, but added that almost all sports can lead to injury.

"It's inevitable," said Carnahan. "Whether you are racing, ramping or walking across the street you can get hurt. You can get hurt out here the same way you can get hurt on a basketball court or football field, but you have to put that in the back of your mind in any sport."

On the most crowded day at the track, there will be 15 riders along with their family and friends. On a less populated day, you might find only Rhoads and Carnahan at the track, following each other up and over the ramp.

"Even if you don't have a bike, come out and watch everybody else ride," said Carnahan. "Sometimes we will be out here riding and cars will be lined up along the highway watching."

Though Rhoads and Carnahan – along with Malta High School Student Collin Holman – are the main ramp riders in Malta, motocross continues to grow in Phillips County and on a busy day at the track, most of the riders will be high school age or younger.

The sports of motocross racing and freestyle motocross are a family affair in Malta. Rhoads's son Braydon, a second grader, rides with his father as often as he can and Carnahan's son, Titus, just two, can't get enough of motorcycles.

"We had him on Travis' kid's bike one day and we had to literally peel his fingers off of the handlebars," Carnahan said. "He wouldn't let go and he was mad when we made him get off."

Titus' mother, Amanda Starkey (who used to also ride dirt bikes) is all for her children participating in the sport.

"I love it," she said. "Our seven-year-old daughter (Lazada) rides my brother's bike. Bikes and cars are in our family. It's a great way to spend time with the family."

Ashton Weston, a fifth grade student, said he has been riding motorcycles for about a year. He said he also plays basketball and football, but added that those sports pale in comparison to motocross.

"This is better than all of them," he said. "Every time I am out here I'm trying to get faster and trying to not be afraid of the bigger jumps and not face planting and breaking my face."

Weston said he doesn't think he will be going off the ramps anytime soon...but added that maybe in 30 years he might think about it.

"You never want to do anything you aren't comfortable with and right now I am not comfortable with that," he added.

Weston said that his father, Jay, will often load the family and the bikes into the truck and head to the sand dunes, or maybe Zortman or Landusky, for a day of riding.

"We have a lot of fun," added Weston.

As the wind picked-up on Saturday afternoon, the ramp jumping died down. Carnahan said that when the weather at the local track won't cooperate that the crew often heads for the hills.

"Usually on days when it is windy like this, we will go find a spot in the hills, shovel some jumps and just free ride," said Carnahan. "For the most part, we have kind of gone away from ramp riding and back to the roots of free riding and freestyling."

"It's more fun out in the hills," said Rhoads. "You can get more creative and there are bigger jumps out there."

"If you have skills in the hills, you can pretty much ride anywhere," added Carnahan.

At the age of eight, Rhoads – now 32 -- went door-to-door selling greeting cards and used the money earned to purchase his first motorcycle from Malta's Nick Oxarart. Rhoads became enthralled with motorcycles from then on and on his 15th or 16th birthday, his brother gave him a bigger bike as a gift (which he proceeded to blow-up in the matter of a few weeks.)

"At that point, my dad knew that a monster had been created and we went out and bought a few more bikes," Rhoads said. "I've probably had 10 or 15 bikes since then."

When Rhoads first got into riding dirt bikes, he spent most of his time racing. Over the years, he has gotten away from motocross racing in part because of the competitiveness and desire to win in that sport.

"You end up trying to kill your friends on the track for a $3 plastic trophy," he said. "There are some great off road racers in Phillips County. Bill Pankratz still does a lot of racing and is still bringing home trophies every weekend ... but once I hit my first ramp (2001) I fell in love with it."

Carnahan, who has been freestyle riding for the last six years, said he enjoys the camaraderie of the sport – both locally and from afar.

"It is such a tight knit world," he said. "There are guys all the way down in Las Vegas, California and Arizona that we have never really met in person, but if you ask them any question they are more than willing to help you out. You see the same thing in moto (racing) but it seems like there is more of a brotherhood in freeriding. Moto racers are all friends, for the most part, but they are all out to win. In freestyle, we all want to help each other."

Carnahan and Rhoads agreed that their favorite hobby wouldn't be possible without help from the community.

"We are so lucky and fortunate to have so many people helping us out," said Carnahan. "Most of the farmers and ranchers out here know that we are just trying to go out and have a good time with our families. They let us know where we can and can't ride and are really nice about letting us ride on their land. I can't thank Gary enough for letting us come out here."