Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

Page 22 text:

MADNESS Champion off-road racer informs others about racing world. RACE TERMS SQUID: a slow and or beginning rider WIDE OPEN: the throttle applied all the way ENDO: going over the handle bars TWO-STROKE: bike with a two-cycle engine, like a chain saw FOUR-STROKE: bike with four-cycle engine, similar to a lawn mower TABLE TOP: a jump that has a long flat top COMPANY BIKE COLORS: Suzuki: yellow Kawasaki: green Yamaha: blue Honda: red source: Michele Eidam Dirt biking champion Michele Eidam. freshman in chemical engineering, wears a typical racing outfit Feb. 1. Eidam said her bike weighed about 245 pounds. and she lifted weights about two times a week and mountain biked three limes a week to keep in shape during the season. The pure adrenaline in the beginning of a race is amazing. ' she said. ' I ' m thrilled and scared at the same time, and I Just keep thinking, ' I hope I don ' t break myself: Once I hit about two miles. though, I get in the groove and try to relax a little bit. I always remember what my dad told me. ' First you must finish before you finish first. (Photo by Steven Domingo() RACE TYPES ENDUROS: a 40-to-So-mile, three-to-five-hour. timed race through the woods; Riders must maintain an average speed for a set length of time or mileage; riders are penalized for being too slow or too last, one point for each minute late and up to five points if they are early HARE SCRAMBLES: five-to-20-mile course through woods and fields; racers complete as many laps as possible during the one-to-three-hour race ROAD RACING VS. OFF-ROAD RACING road racing takes place on asphalt with street bikes; off-road racing takes place on dirt with dirt bikes 18 student life

Page 21 text:

ir • ig • ca • • sez - 4 • 3 • must be a ho • Melissa Goering, NatigLhonght. irlinsinseepillamsnman2.214con. dancesIt to rnesrta2triepa Nrronitibst millibOr;ngshe had been to the first rim Ladies. • (Plato by Takiv a d George. sophomore break. Summer ancrrnOre in animal m°r Band senior talks with and • • --mor in George at animal frlorny going to ded lre bars to see sad she unro s. I go every ss I have Wed George sa a test on °ham (Photo by Steven George ger) v ladies night 17

Page 23 text:

racing off the BE1W ACK Dirt bike racers love of male-dominated sport challenges stereotypes, earns respect from peers, strengthens relationship with father. BY EMILY CHERRY While other 5-year-old girls marveled over dolls and kittens, Michele Eidam, freshman in chemical engineering, said she learned how to ride her shiny red Honda PW 50 dirt bike. My dad bought a dirt bike for me when I was bon, Eidam said. He started teaching me to ride when I was little, and I started racing when I was about 14. But Eidam did not just race. She won. After claiming the 1999 Missouri State Hare Scramble Series Champion title in the women ' s class, she emerged as a top female racer. She also won first place in an American Motorcycle Association National Hare ScrambleChampionship race and earned second at the 1995-1996 and 1996-1997 Black Jack Enduro Circuit. I get more respect when people know I do this since I ' m a girl and it ' s somewhat rare, she said. My goal, however, is instead of hearing people say, ' She ' s good for a girl, ' to hear them say, ' She ' s good. ' Eidam said while people initially acted surprised to find out about her hobby, her friends ' reactions tended to be very supportive. When I first heard she raced dirt bikes, I thought it was a joke, Ryan Dreiling, freshman in electrical engineering, said. Then she started bringing home trophies and I thought, ' Wow, here ' s this girl who rides did bikes, and she ' s really good. Eidam said she faced obstacles as both off-road racer and student. The season is March to November, Eidam said. During that time I race or ride about every weekend, which means leaving around 6 am. on Saturday and getting back here around 2 a.m. Monday. Alexandria Dunn, Eidam ' s roommate and freshman in mechanical engineering, said Eidam did not keep her dedication a secret. She told me she raced dirt bikes within 10 minutes of our first conversation, Dunn said. The neat thing is that dirt biking doesn ' t influence her personality, her personality influences her performance. Siam said she considered the close relationship with her father to be the largest benefit she received from riding dirt bikes. ' The bond my father and I share is unimaginable, she said. He ' s my teacher, my mentor and my companion. He tells me some of his proudest moments are when people see us ride and ask him if that ' s his son out there and he gets to tell them, ' No, that ' s my daughter dirt bike racer I 1