Madison Team Building Bike For National Competition

GETTING REVVED UP FOR A NATIONAL COMPETITION. IT’S CALLED THE BLUE COLLAR BIKE BUILD OFF. AND AS KELOLAND’S KELLI VOLK EXPLAINS, THE LOCAL GROUP OF BUILDERS HAS TO BE EXTRA RESOURCEFUL. THIS GROUP WANTS TO PUT THIS MOTORCYCLE ON THE ROAD TO VICTORY. THE FALLING ROCKS IS A MOTORCYCLE BUILDING TEAM IN MADISON. “I LIKE CREATING SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING AND WATCHING IT GROW,” SCHOLL SAID. IT’S ONE OF 25 TEAMS IN THE NATION SELECTED TO TAKE PART IN THIS YEAR’S COMPETITION AND THE ONLY ONE FROM SOUTH DAKOTA TO EVER COMPETE. BUT THEY HAVE TO BE SPEEDY. THEY ONLY GET 30 DAYS TO COMPLETE THE CHALLENGE. HERE’S THE OTHER CATCH: THEY CAN’T SPEND MORE THAN $1,500. VOLK: IS THAT DIFFICULT? SCHOLL: NOT REALLY IF YOU MAKE EVERYTHING YOURSELF. TEAM LEADER ROCK SCHOLL SAYS MANY COMPETITORS START WITH DONOR BIKES, BUT THIS TEAM STARTED FROM SCRATCH. “WE GOT SOME SHEET STEEL AND SOME TUBING AND WE MAKE EVERYTHING BY HAND,” SCHOLL SAID. “YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO OUT AND SPEND $20,000 GO BUILD A NICE BIKE. YOU CAN SPEND $1,500 AND STILL TURN HEADS,” EWER SAID. THIS IS THE BIKE THE GROUP TOOK TO THE COMPETITION LAST YEAR. IT WON 3RD PLACE IN THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE CATEGORY IN LAS VEGAS. “IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE. KIND OF SURREAL, PEOPLE MADE A LOT OF COOL BIKES OUT OF NOTHING SO IT’S NICE TO BE A PART OF THAT,” SCHOLL SAID. IN JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS, THE TEAM WILL FIND OUT IF THIS BIKE RACES TO TOP. IN MADISON, KELLI VOLK, KELOLAND NEWS. THE TEAM OF 4 WILL TAKE THE BIKE DOWN TO LAS VEGAS FOR THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE CATEGORY. THEN, SCHOLL WILL DRIVE IT TO WESTERN ARIZONA FOR A PANEL JUDGING. YOU CAN SEE THE COMPLETED BIKE BEFORE IT LEAVES AT 38 ROADHOUSE LATER THIS MONTH. WE’VE INCLUDED MORE INFORMATION IN THIS STORY ON

Written by Raul Dinwiddie