The story of how the Meteor Motorcycle Club was formed and how the Sandy Lane Enduro came about.

From the Beginning 1928 to 1934

Story by Cale Davidson

In 1928 a sixteen-year-old Glendora Youth, looking for a motor for a boat, found a 1913 Harley big twin cycle and bought it for five dollars. By trial and error he learned to handle this " Iron Horse". It had no lights and no title, so experience was gained in motorcycling by riding backcountry roads. In 1929 this youth turned seventeen, and purchased a 1925 ex-police 74 Harley for fifty dollars. It was street legal, so he purchased his license took to the highway to enjoy his new found two-wheel freedom. His younger brother often accompanied him on the tandem seat. He helped hold the cycle while the "pilot" worked the controls. In 1930 his brother bought an old Harley, fixed it up, and purchased his license. This started his career in two-wheeled motorized sport. Before long, these two Davidson brothers had met two Runnemede youths who became interested in cycles. Eggie Showalter acquired a 1928 Harley, and Al Volz an Indian Scout. Now there were four "Iron Horseman" riding around together and eager to start up a club. Soon three more riders from Osage, Al and Ed Crompton and Larry McCleary joined with us the first meeting of the club was held December 15th, 1930 at the Davidson Home in Glendora. Our first problem was finding a suitable name and sifting through some titles such as "Rough Riders"--"White Caps"--"Ramblers" and "Idlers." We settled on Meteor Motor Cycle. We were soon to get new members in our group. Hale Carpenter from Ashland, Ray Winter from Stratford, and Joe Walters from Glendora. Now we were to get first taste of competition playing Motorcycle Polo. We practiced among ourselves, and then played against the Newton Brothers and friends from Gibbsboro on farmer¹s fields. We soon learned the problems of playing on stock street machines, so we built our own Polo Cycles. The Meteor Motorcycle Club joined the Eastern Polo League and competed against teams from clubs in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Meteor quickly grew and in 1931 we signed up Walter Brown, Tom Gallagher, Harry Alexander, Fred Deveney, Ed Mowry, Jim Berardelli, Leo Batdorf, Charlie Schmincke, Dave Chambers, Harry Gransden, Joe Ritchie, Don Williams, Frank Bolton, plus seven others. The club had several Secret Time Runs and many Polo meets. In the early years, the club was very active, meeting every week at a member¹s house, and taking trips on the weekend to historic places such as Valley Forge, Lakehurst, Mauchunk, Conawingo Dam, and several shore points. Gypsy tours and fields meets at Wilson Lake and Fries Mills were always a highlight of our events. We also went on doggie roasts, watermelon parties and skating parties. Individual members had been joining the American Motorcycle Association, so the club decided to apply for a charter as an A.M.A. club. Number 0173 was received in the fall of 1931. The club followed most A.M.A. sanctioned cycle events such as Polo, Hill Climbs, and racing. Some more daring members tried their skill at T.T. (Tourist Trophy) racing at ridge farms, Penna. and Night Speedway Cinder Track at Yellow Jackets Speedway in Philadelphia, Penna. In 1932 we signed up Fred Schmidt, Harry Staller, Charles Fewkes, Harry Palmer, Frank Maloney, Leo Leman, Frank Worts, and many more. The club continued doing much of what they had done in the pervious years. In 1933 Frank Bolton went to Lansing Michigan and rode the "Jack Pine Enduro". When he returned home, he started making plans for a local event of the same type. We signed up more members, Elwood and Bill Stillwill, Howard Bateman, Rudy Thielman, and Bob Kuehner, and more. In 1934 we moved into a clubhouse on the Black Horse Pike in Bellmawr. In October the club was incorporated. In November we held our first official " Night Run", or better known as the Sandy Lane Enduro. The date was November 28th, 1934, and what has happened since then would fill volumes.
 

The Sandy Lane Enduro.
The Early Years 1934 to 1948
Story by Frank Bolton

The Sandy Lane Enduro was started in 1934 because two Meteor members were enthusiastic off-road riders. They had been reading, dreaming about the Jack Pine. This was a two-day, 500 mile National Championship Endurance Run promoted by the Lansing Motorcycle Club of Lansing Michigan. At that time there were no endurance runs in the east, and Michigan was a long way to go. So we decided to bring the Jack Pine, or a reasonable facsimile there of, to South Jersey. Being long on enthusiasm but short on experience, Tom Simmons and I spent a lot of time reading the A.M.A. rule book and accounts of the Jack Pine in the Motorcyclist and the Enthusiast. Neither of us have ever seen an endurance run, except in our imagination. We knew we would need an appropriate name, a theme, and a date that would be popular and easy to remember. Sandy Lane was chosen because much of our terrain was deep sand. The pioneer theme was represented by the Wagon Wheel Trophy. The decision was to start at midnight on the eve of Thanksgiving. In spite of our grandiose plans, we were a little "chicken." We decided to run it as a closed club event. This allowed us to reduce the 225 mile minimum requirement. We had been exploring back roads, sand trails, etc., for months, and the layout was just a matter of connecting them together. Friends, family members were checkers. So far, so good, but the toughest job was to sell the idea to enough riders to make it worthwhile. The event started at midnight as planned. Riders missed markers, became lost, took spills and bent their 500 pound street machines, checked in early and late (never on time), and straggled in to the finish on a damp, cloudy Thanksgiving morning. Most of them were less than enthusiastic about their latest motorcycling experience. However, the tough course and hard work were soon forgotten, and we applied for a sanction for the 1935 Sandy Lane. Due to the length of the 1935 event (225 miles ), the starting time was moved up to 10 p.m. on the night before Thanksgiving. It was a wild night ride with only four riders reaching the finish. You should have heard some of the excuses! All thought this event was great great for the finishers, we couldn¹t get enough riders to do it again. So for 1936, we changed to a daytime run, and moved the date forward a few weeks. This was better all around, and we established it as our regular format. By 1939, we felt we were ready to put on a "National." Up to that time the National Championship had been determined by a single event, the Jack Pine. We started to campaign for the big event by: hounding MISTER A.M.A., E.C. Smith, writing to the competition Committee, showing Sandy Lane movies at the A.M.A. meetings, etc. The sanction for the 1940 National was granted to Columbus, Ohio Club. This action gave us some encouragement for the future. We continued to prosper in 1940 and 1941 until W.W. II halted competition for the duration. The 1946 winner rode a BSA, the first win with a foreign bike. Claude Goulding was the 1946 National Champion as he had also won the Jack Pine that year. Finally. In 1947. the A.M.A. granted us the National. This called for an all out effort for Meteor and all our friends, including the Mid-Atlantic Dealers. The entire spring and summer were needed to layout the 500 mile course. Entries came in from near and far. Some from seasoned veterans, and some from riders entering their first National. From the drawing for riding position the night before, through two days of the numerous details of the run, and scoring on the second night, everything went like clockwork. And, now that was all over. Meteor could be proud of its first National. In 1948 we returned to a one day, 225 mile event, and a group of club members lead by Paul Brumfield decided to let me enter the Sandy Lane for the first time. (Club Members could enter the event, if they did not help with the layout ) The day of the run was beautiful, the course was great, my score wasn¹t too good, but I finished. Thanks fellows. Paul did such a good job on the 1948 Sandy Lane, and I was soooo tired, that I was glad to have him take it from there.

Inside the Sandy Lane Enduro
Hertfelder's version 1928 to 2005
By Ed Hertfelder.

Hundreds of riders have ridden the " Lane " for their first salty taste of competition and, years later, nailed their boots to the garage wall with arms heavy as lead after a final bout with the sugar sand, cedar swamps and those little bastards 220 volt honey bees who seem to thrive on sweat. Other hundreds, faint-hearted and candy assed, have ridden it once and sworn "never again" in the soft voice that follows ten minutes spent hacking up a half-ounce of nicotine and lung while praying to god to keep their faces out of mud and other riders off their legs. No other Enduro has the so many of the "why, I remember when" brand of overstatements and downright lies heaped upon it. Like winters that grow fiercer in the retelling, and fish that lengthen, even multiply. After death; we must separate the wheat from the chaff. And the chaff from the horse shit. The Meteor Motorcycle Club, nee Idlers, Rough Riders, was formed near Camden, New Jersey, in 1931. For two years their main interest was motorcycle polo, a form of mayhem most of us have never seen but it sounds like it might be a good idea to make sure your legs are intact before stopping the motorcycle after the game. Every one of the 20 members aspired to riding the Jack Pine Enduro but Michigan then was further away than the moon is today. There were no concrete freeways or toll roads, just frost-heaved asphalt and your rear suspension was covered by your pants. To compete in the Jack Pine meant two days of hard riding to get there, two days to ride the event, and two days to ride home. Add that up and you¹ll find Americans have been riding six-day events long before they entered the ISDE ranks. In 1934 the Meteor club decided to lay out their own endurance event, based, without apology, on the Jack Pine. 1934 was when folks would run out of the house to see an airplane flying over; and the airplane had two wings. The wet blanket of Depression was unfolded more than halfway and Prohibition was just ending. This meant you were not only depressed but you had to STAY depressed. Certainly there was some alcohol available but it was dubious and being blind drunk became cause for some reason concern. Slim Lindberg was the second most respected man it town. The MOST respected was the neighbor who jumped the moving train and threw down 40 pound lumps of coal he¹d crowbar red out of the frozen gondola car. If you picture this fellow heaving mound, you¹re wrong. The cars never more than half full and the coal had to be lifted six or seven feet. Hard times ; hard times. You had to be damn fortunate to own a motorcycle in 1934 and a man would be very, very, proud running a 1922 frame and a 1919 engine. Frank Bolton and Tom Simmons laid out the 34 Sandy Lane. They knew from the AMA rulebook that it had to be 225 miles, they knew it had to have an arrow every two miles and they thought it would be nice if it had a name. Just about every road in South Jersey was a sandy lane and Bolton lived on Sandy Lane ( until the township got uppity and renamed it Browning Road ; after the poet not the gun ). The first two Lanes had a key time of midnight ; Bolton figured that starting it at that hour would eliminate all hassles with traffic ; which it did. And running it he night before Thanksgiving would give the riders a day to recuperate from the sub-freezing ride. Sounded good, but the wives and the families started to bitch ; they didn't enjoy the turkey dinner with old dad slumped snoring in the cranberries. In 1936 they petitioned for, and got a late September date. It might be wrong to attribute the success of the event to the invigorating Fall weather but it sure didn¹t hurt none. In memory of the midnight runs some riders set their clocks to a key time of 12:00. Now that¹s what they TOLD me-and I think there is some chaff mixed in it. Frank Bolton didn¹t know the riders should get route sheets, and had no money to get them printed anyway, so he typed up 3x5 file cards for each rider. The first card got you to the first checkpoint where they gave you a card to direct you to the second check and so on. By 1936 they had made enough profit from the fifty cent entry fee (times 20 riders) to get the route sheets mimeographed. The best card holder was a stockroom type clip board hose-clamped to the handlebars-the hot set up was a rubber band to keep the cards from blowing around. The first three events were won on 74 cubic inch-that¹s over 1200cc¹s motorcycles called, in South Jersey, Holly Davison's. 1934 Harry Staller HD 74cc 1935 Edgar Mowery HD 74cc 936 Grove Davidson HD 74cc.These were the largest machines to take the wagon wheel trophy and, because the factory was nice enough to put his name on the gas tank, Davidson came back to win it three times. Only one other man, Penton, has won it three times and factories painted HIS name on tanks also. Grove Davidson's brother, Cale, is the oldest Meteor member today. Another member, Pete Epley, won the wheel with a smaller machine and he and Grove had the thing locked up for a few years.

1937 Pete Epley HD45

1938 Grove Davidson HD45.

1939 Stanley Dennis HD61.

1940 Pete Epley HD45.

1941 Grove Davidson HD45.

We became embroiled in the War Two a few months after the 41 event, scattering contestants all over the uncivilized world, exposing many serious enduro riders to the agile, quick-shifting, British motorcycles with less than half the tonnage of the American anvils.

The first major enduro after the war, was the 1946 Jack Pine, was won by Claude Goulding on a BSA. This was considered a one-in-a-million shat at the time as everyone KNEW those Limey jobs wouldn't hold up like a Holly! The Meteor club, almost as a gag, sent Goulding a telegram to COME WIN SANDY LANE. Claude loaded the BSA aboard one of his excellent Goulding sidecars, drove from Michigan to New Jersey, and did just that. He proved two things; the limey machines didn't break and it took the best rider in the country to win Sandy Land.

For years the Meteor club had been petitioning the AMA for a National sanction and it well may be that Goulding's win gave them the nod. The National was a 500 mile two-day event and the Jack Pine had been it for so long there was talk of resentment: there was none at all. In fact, Oscar Lenz himself, the Old Jackpiner, RODE the 1947 Sandy Lane National-the first to use a same start/stop point for both days. The club was fortunate to gain the use of the YMCA building just outside Camden. This building today is an extremely busy hot-bed motel and probably frequented by many of the Young Christian Men. The key time was a frightening 6 a.m. and 78 riders entered.

1947 National Julius Kroeger Triumph The 46 winner; Goulding, came back aboard a HD sidecar and brought the kids along for the ride and they demolished the holy contested sidecar division. Goulding took first, his daughter Dot came in fifth, two places down from her husband Earl. Oscar didn¹t take any trophies back to Michigan but he did take the National sanction and he kept it until the AMA decided to run a series of Nationals to determine the championship instead of just one event a year. If you wonder how they ever got those sidecars between the trees be advised they had SIDECAR ONLY trails around the really thick lumber.

1948 Rod Coates Matchless.

1949 Julis Kroeger Triumph

1950 Dorney Wood HD

1951 Renick Parkey Triumph

1952 Les Parker Triumph

1953 William Penton BSA. The first appearance of a familiar name here- Bill Penton won it with a 988, the highest ever scored until then. His little brother, John, BSA also, totaled 986 for second highest score; he gets better later on.

1953, Sal Scripo, the last Lane competitor still wearing a helmet he could fold up and put in his pocket, was the last to ride the big twin Milwaukee iron. Strangely enough, a Harley side hack is still the first machine over much of the Sandy Lane course each year. It's called "Brumfield's Hack" and was used by Paul Brumfield to lay out the course after Bolton switched to referee and scoring. This rig is now owned by Mel Downs who, along with John Boone and others, arrows the run today. The frame of this beast is 1946 but the side hack sheet metal and frame have been replaced. Mel once attempted to go around both sides of a sizable pine tree propelling this writer, rather rudely, out the front of the hack, banana peeling the sheet metal and destroying the wooden frame- a fragment of which is still permanently enshrined under the skin of my right thigh. I swapped seats with Mel after the incident, understandably, and discovered that driving an 80 inch hack deep sand was about the same as bull-dogging a large recalcitrant moose through a forest fire. It would be fair to call Frank Bolton the father of Sandy Lane and Paul Brumfield the stepfather. It is difficult for two men to lay out an enduro. Where one man would arrow out tough sections early in the run to weed out incompetents and make the check crew's job easier, another might lay out so everyone gets a reasonable ride and takes his points toward the end of the event. Bill "Training Wheels " Schemel worked with both these men as did Eggie Showalter and Bob Hanselman but it gradually became Brumfield's show. It might have been due to the vast amount of responsibility Brumfield assumed, but at Sandy Lane time Paul's disposition was somewhere between that of a Parris Island D.I. with hemorrhoids and Attila the Hun on a bad day. He once summoned me to appear before him in his Gloucester apartment, seated me next to a large dog who yawned a lot with a mouth like a crocodile, and wanted to know what the HELL I thought I was doing laying out an enduro in HIS woods. It was obvious he might have considered the rest of the country part of New Jersey : I never found out. The enduro in question, Curly Fern, was sanctioned exactly six months from Sandy Lane and I thought it would be nice for riders to use their motorcycles more than once a year. He was a true dictator: obstinate. I admired him.

1954 Edgar Kaufman Zundapp

1955, Don Pink HD

1955 was the first year the entries went over the 100 mark. In those days you could travel to nay enduro, anywhere, and meet the SAME 40 or 50 riders. There are those that say these were the best of times; when riders would help each other out of mud holes. We ran just one a minute then and you could ride for a long time and not see anyone. If you were running early you might stop after a bad spot and even go back and help the next guy just to hear a human grunt. And there is something to being stuck that brings out the best in profanity.
Don Pink was the last to win on a Harley V-Twin. He placed first in A class in 51, 52, and 53 and was accused of whipping a dead horse until his back-to-back wins.

1956 Don Pink HD.

1957 Jim Fennell Triumph 1957 Ed Elliott BSA..Your reading it right; two winners. Both riders had identical scores and if you think it couldn't happen twice, Don Pink and John Penton tied for second in A Open.

1958 Dewey Hoffman Triumph

1959 Dewey Hoffman Triumph. The second set of back-to-back wins and there will be more : apparently, winning it once is the best way to get charged up to win it again. After almost endless petitioning for another National sanction the Meteor club began a series of twelve in a row. The first one almost didn't make it-hurricane Donna flooded the course so badly that only 16 of the 138 entries finished.

1960 John Penton NSU.

1961 Jack Wright Triumph. Wright, like Goulding in 46. was fresh from a Jack Pine win. When you read Triumph it means a 500cc machine except for Wright's exception : a 200cc T20 Cub.

1962 John Penton BMW. A BMW ?? Sure was. A 250 single. Shaft drive and all. The thing had BSA front forks and sidecar gearing. John rode it " because it was available." This BMW had a route sheet holder that was just a beer can with a long bolt through the center. Penton cut his route sheet into strips and wound it around the beer can, tearing off the strips as he went. " Well, if you need beer can to win Sandy Lane then let¹s get a beer can," said the 117 guys who scored below Penton. I can tell you that N.J. Route 206 is normally lined with beer cans but on the night the beer can won Sandy Lane I had to drive along the shoulder of that road for six miles before I found one and almost got rear-ended by a guy with Michigan tags who had twig eyes out for beer cans and none out for traffic. The beer can was a great improvement over taping the route sheet to the gas tank but mine rotated constantly until I got another look at Penton¹s and saw the valve spring over the bolt pushing against the can.

1963- I was working a Lane checkpoint when Penton came in with an early, and expensive, computer hung on his handlebars. The thing lit up with the correct time, mileage, temperature, the next high tide and when he should eat his granola bars-I couldn't help but wonder why he went to all that expense when all he needed was a old beer can.

1963 Bill Baird Triumph. This is Baird's only win despite being National champ for eight consecutive years it's heart breaking to read the old result sheets and find Baird missing it by one or two points year after year.

1964 John Penton BMW. Here's a good example of the luck Baird had. He scored the same as john a 988. The tie was broken be an emergency check-something like FIVE SECONDS difference. Because the emergency check has always been so important the puts it¹s best hands there. Mr. Sandy Lane, Frank Bolton, busy as he is helping Bill Wollerton with scoring, usually manages to spend sometime there during the event. In the past they have set this check on a steep downhill, three or four feet will do, with the flag at the bottom. An early rider "accidentally" fall, but, unless he's got a fast opening parachute on the motorcycle, it won't help much. Time is taken, you see, as the front wheel of the motorcycle crosses the flag they don't care WHEN the rider staggers in.

1965 Gene Esposito Triumph

1966 Gene Esposito Triumph. The first five rides Gene had in the ΠLane he broke; crazy things like a wheel, a shock, the frame. Gene enjoys mud and water and Brumfield was adding more swamp year by year. Now a Sandy Lane is not just something they arrow into to drown people, mostly it's part of a real road that is under water when it rains. All of them are under water after a heavy rain in the pines, most go under water when it rains ANYWHERE in New Jersey. And some go under water when it rains in London. A flooded road presents no problem to a well-prepared motorcycle: what presents a PROBLEM are places where a jeep has gotten stuck-a stuck jeep is just a four cornered excavator. And Esposito is an expert in staying in the center of a road that is under the lake he is riding across. The first year Gene won they said it was because he had an early number. He won it the following year with a very late number-and no one said a word.

1967 Jack McLane Honda. Jack came all the way from Michigan to put a Japanese bike on the Wagon Wheel trophy-a 305cc. Jack was the only rider to zero a section of Pope's Branch Creek, an underwater corduroy road slippery as hell. McLane had put steel studs in his tires, now outlawed, and motored right past a lot of us. He left toothpick-like splinters in his wake. That year they had so-called "free time" into the finish to keep riders from speeding. It didn't work-some clowns flew in faster than ever. I went to the finish after our checkpoint closed, walked out on the course away from the crowd and there sat McLane killing time. "It's free territory", Jack, I said "They¹re not checking time in. "I know, " McLane said, "but I am."

1967 was the last "Lane to start and finish at Pic-A-Lili inn, a spacious restaurant bar where it wasn't at all unusual for a finisher to down two mugs of beer then ask the bartender for some water to quench his thirst. A pack of street riders tore up the place weeks after the enduro and motorcycles lost their welcome. The WORST thing the enduro guys ever did was put junior's pet goat in a side hack and scare one of the horns off him. Unable to use them, Brumfield cast around for another location. Paul knew just about everyone in the pines and he went to Chatsworth, where he'd frequently scheduled gas stops, and was fortunate in obtaining the use of the firehouse for his sign-up, trophy presentation and haranguing area. The folks in Chatsworth probably own more motorcycles per capita than anywhere on earth and they have a lady in the Auxiliary who takes a chocolate layer cake I would kill for.

1968 John Young BSA

1969 Bob Fusan Yamaha. Brumfield got aggravated at the way the contestants spun wheels off the start line in 69 and vowed to slow them down. He did. He turned the start chute so that it was FACING the Jersey Central tracks ten feet away : two feet of stone ballast, ten inches of wood tie and eight inches of track on top. It must have looked like an Armco barrier to the new guys. The old hands had no problem but they were sure going a lot slower than last year. Watching some of the inexperienced riders was enough to give you stomach cramps until your minute came up and you had to sit there and eat that stone ballast fusillade while Brumfield stood off to one side saying ; how do YOU like it?

1970-Buck Wallsworth Ossa. First victory for a Spanish machine. Ole! Riding on the same number as Wallsworth was Spike Griffin on a Yamaha he had ridden from Florida on a BMW the day before and he was 63.Spike had come close to winning the 1948 event.

1971 Bob Fusan Yamaha. Brumfield died this year and his layout almost took the "Lane with him". It was rideable by ordinary mortals right up to 96.4 miles where it took a left into the biggest bowl of chocolate pudding you ever saw. It took the heart out of a lot of riders; I know it took the soul out of me. The rider outery was terrible to hear and , except for the time they laid out the Reading run with a submarine, it was the worst piece of trail I'd ever seen at an enduro. It cost them the National sanction. Some said that Don Pink was only representing the riders at the AMA and he had a stack of written protests he had to honor. No, Pink didn't kill it ; it was the pudding at 96.4. John Boone and Mel Downs vowed to make the 1972 event the MOST ride able enduro EVER and Boone boasted he could take a full dress HD over the entire course except for the railroad crossings. Someone, me, called his bluff and Boone actually DID ride a Harley over the course! Someone entered a three-cylinder Kawasaki street model with bald tires and finished easily.

1972 Dave Meade Triumph. Meade finished with a perfect score, very unusual at nay enduro, and we¹re not sure just who named it Candy Lane nut it sure was.

1973 Alfie Henrich Honda. The Meteor club was given back it's National sanction for 73 and while it wasn't the cake walk the 72 was, it was a big improvement over a "swamp run" 1973, Warren Beetle was made trail boss for the 1973 event and promised he'd get rid of that "Candy Lane" title and, at the same time, no one would have to carry his motorcycle. He ran the thing in heavy brush and we haven¹t heard "Candy Lane" since.

1974 Alfie Henrich Honda. For some reason the Meteor club didn't apply for a National sanction and 74 was just a club run. Alfie, as so many others before him, chugged his 350 single to a back-to-back win. There are those of us who feel that when the day comes that the whole world is all urban sprawl, enduro riders will load their bikes onto rocket ships and compete in Sandy Lane on the far side of the moon. " One of the best Sandy Lanes ever run" said Boyd Reynolds of Cycle News

in 1975. Trail bosses were Mike Borrelli Sr, and Jr. and John Boone. They set out a course with lots of variety and terrain. Les Bowne, of New Jersey, won this 150 mile National on a Can-Am.

Bill Harris III, riding a Maico, won the 1976 Sandy Lane. This was a non-national, 100 mile run.

1977 marked Meteor M/C's 40th anniversary of the Sandy Lane. Meteor had four antique motorcycles start the enduro on number 40. The riders were wearing riding gear typical of the past. The event was a 125 mile National. This was won by Charles Stapelford of Delaware. The riders machine, Ossa. New Jersey riders got their act back together and have won each Sandy Lane till the present.

1978 and 1979,Riding KTM's, Bill Geier and Roy Cook won the 100 mile and 125 mile Lanes in , respectively.

1980, Husky Motorcycles started a dominance, winning seven Lanes in a row. Frank Vanaman started the ball rolling. This was a fairly tough run, and dry as a bone since it hadn't rained for weeks. Bruce Kenney, riding a Kawasaki, won this year's 100 mile event Bruce lived in Great Meadows. Dave Harris was the trail boss.

1981 to 1983, Meteor switched to a trail committee system. Henry Braaksma held the title "trail boss" but Russell Hancock, Doug Benson , and Henry worked together in preparation for the event. Their first event produced the Sandy Lane "hare scramble". There was lots of woods trail, but no resets put the riders back on time. Jack Lafferty Jr. of Millville, out raced the other riders to claim his first of two Sandy Lane overalls. The following year was similar to the previous. Lots of woods, some real knuckle-busting tight trail, and Mr. Lafferty as a winner. Resets were also introduced with excellent results.

1984. The team just keeps getting better. More woods trail, more tight, good speed changes averages, and a increase in rider turn out. Sandy Lane was gaining a reputation as a tough enduro, nut definitely worth riding. Donnie Tomlin, also of Millville, won the 100 mile Lane that year. Trivia time. Donnie has won the Sandy Lane overall three times. His wins are also all in a row, 1984-85-86. Donnie is the only rider to do this. John Penton has also won the Sandy Lane three times, 1960 62 and 64.

1985, there almost wasn't a Sandy Lane. A hurricane blasted the South Jersey area the Friday before the enduro. How bad was it? UPS wouldn't deliver the Jart charts. That's BAD! Meteor worked overtime Saturday, Sunday night, and Sunday morning to get the trail in riding order. The hard work paid off with another successful Lane. 1986, event was one for the record books. Held in May, the temperature climbed to the low "90"s. It was also very dry., with a high chance 0f forest fire. Meteor received special permission from the park rangers to run the event. There were two reasons for this. The first was the excellent track record of endures, the second was each check was equipped with a walkie-talkie. These were manned by the members of the Amateur Radio Squad. If there had been a problem, all the riders could have been removed safely from the woods.

1986 was also the Squad's twentieth anniversary for working with Meteor M/C at the Sandy Lane. The squad was needed. The enduro was an A.M.A. regional event. This was in preparation for our 1987 national enduro. The enduro was stopped at the three-quarter mark. Not by heat, although all the riders thought it was a gift from heaven, but because of a land permission mix-up.

1987, Meteor held it’s 50th Sandy Lane Enduro. It was an AMA National enduro and after 150 miles Kevin Bennett from Millville New Jersey was the winner. Trail boss for the event was Doug Benson with assistance from Henry Braaksma and Russell Hancock.

1988 was the 51st running of the Sandy Lane Enduro and was the last year that the event would start in Chatsworth, NJ. It was a 100 mile enduro and was won by Kevin Bennett from Millville New Jersey. New trail boss for the event was Dale Freitas with assistance of Henry Braaksma.

1989 was the 52nd running of the Sandy Lane Enduro. The Enduro Moved from Chatsworth fire hall to the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 100 mile enduro and it was won by Rich Mollingkoff out of Toms River, New Jersey. Trail boss for the event was Dale Freitas with assistance of Henry Braaksma.

1990 the 53rd Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 90 mile enduro and it was won by Chris Smith out of Stanhope, New Jersey. Trail boss for the event was Dale Freitas with assistance of Henry Braaksma.

1991 the 54th Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 80 mile enduro and it was won by Michael Lafferty out of Millville, New Jersey. Trail boss for the event was Dale Freitas with assistance of Henry Braaksma.

1992 the 55th Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 80 mile enduro and it was won by Donnie Tomlin out of Millville, New Jersey. Trail boss for the event was Dale Freitas with assistance of Henry Braaksma.

1993 the 56th Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 80 mile enduro and it was won by Jack Lafferty Jr. out of Millville, New Jersey. Trail boss for the event was Dale Freitas with assistance of Henry Braaksma.

1994 the 57th Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 80 mile enduro and it was won by Michael Lafferty out of Millville, New Jersey. Trail boss for the event was Dale Freitas with assistance of Henry Braaksma.

1995 the 58th Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 80 mile enduro and it was won by Jack Lafferty Jr. out of Millville, New Jersey. Trail boss for the event was Dale Freitas with assistance of Henry Braaksma.

1996 the 59th Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 80 mile enduro and it was won by Richard Lafferty out of Millville, New Jersey. Trail boss for the event was Dale Freitas with assistance of Henry Braaksma.

1997 the 60th Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 80 mile enduro and it was won by Fred Hoess out of Stanhope, New Jersey. The club had a new Trail boss for the event and that was Rudy Egbert with assistance of Henry Braaksma.

1998 the 61st Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 80 mile enduro and it was won by Richard Lafferty out of Millville, New Jersey. And the club had another new trail boss for the event was Keith Mahon. 1999 the 62d Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 80 mile enduro and it was won by Jack Lafferty out of Millville, New Jersey. Trail boss for the event was Keith Mahon.

1999 the 62nd Sandy Lane enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Greenbank N.J.. Nice weather, Great turnout, cold but just right.

2000 the 63rd Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 80 mile enduro and it was won by Fred Hoess. out of Stanhope, New Jersey. Retired Trail boss Dale Freitas was asked if he’d handle layout for the enduro. His response was that "It was only temporary and that the club would have to develop a committee of assistant Trail bosses so that one day one of them could take over the layout duties”.

2001 the 64th Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 65 mile enduro and it was won by Aaron Kopp out of Bayville, New Jersey. Trail boss again for the event was Dale Freitas and the club went to an all Start Control/Checkout style enduro. The weather was nice and we had close to 500 riders.

2002 the 65th Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was a 65 mile enduro and it was won by Aaron Kopp out of Bayville, New Jersey. Trail boss again for the event was Dale Freitas with the assistance of Mike Barr. Again the weather was nice and we had close to 470 riders.

2003 the 66th Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was another 65 mile enduro and it was won by Aaron Kopp out of Bayville, New Jersey. Trail boss again for the event was Dale Freitas with the assistance of Mike Barr. Another nice and event, but the course got harder. Rider turn out was close to 460 riders.

2004 the 67th Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was a 65 mile enduro and it was won by Fred Hoess out of Stanhope, New Jersey. Trail boss again for the event was Dale Freitas with the assistance of Mike Barr. Weather for the event was nice, but the course layout was more demanding on the riders. Rider turn was still good with close to 450 riders leaving the starting line.

2005 the 68th Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro gun club in Green bank New Jersey. It was an 85 mile enduro and it was won by Michael Bradway out of Millville, New Jersey. A light rain fell through the day and that might had something to do with the low rider turn out. Some 300 riders left the starting line, but C-rider turnout was low. Dale chalked the low turn out on bad weather and the Sandy Lane was getting a reputation for being a tough event again. This was the last year for Trail boss Dale Freitas as he planned to retire after this event. Course layout was assisted by Mike Barr and Bob Deveney.

2006 the 69th Sandy Lane Enduro started out of the Interboro Gun club in Greenbank New Jersey. It was a 65 mile enduro and it was won by Michael Bradway. We saw rain all day the riders were in some pretty nasty conditions. Keith Mahon has taken over as Trail Boss this year, and has put together one old school enduro, with check in and outs. Not like mastermind Dale Freitas of old, with start controls. This year even though with the rain, we still had a great turnout. 450 wet riders despite all the rain.

2007 the 70th Sandy Lane Enduro also started out of the Interboro Gun Club, It was 70 miles of trail, two track roads, and fire cuts. This year the only thing that was different, it iced and snowed the Friday before the event. As far as anyone could tell, if you where not in the Chatsworth area, you didn't know the storm completely missed Chatsworth and the Green bank area was spared! Riders coming as far as Vermont drove in 14 inches of snow to come to the Sandy Lane Enduro this year and telling us, they couldn't believe it when they got to Chatsworth not seeing any snow put a smile on these guys faces. It made for great traction, the ground was compact and ready to go. We saw King Richard Lafferty take this event with a low number to second place Michael Bradway of last year. Another fine meteor event had by all. Keith Mahon trail boss, with Anthony Tomasello, as co-trail boss and master time keeper, Bob Deveney as referee. Over 490 riders show us that nor rain, sleet, hail, or snow, would put a stop to a tradition now going on to it's 71st running next year. Our president Brett Mutschler dubbed this years event as " Snowy Lane". 350 rider turn out

2008 The Sandy Lane Enduro was held at the Interboro Gun Club. We had no less then 70 miles of good two track trail and fire cuts mixed in with some prime fast woods. Another well layed out event by Keith Mahon, with the same group as last year and his hard working trail snakes. This year was starting to look like years of past events. a well thought out course that saw rich lafferty taking the overall, with john burgard jr. placing second, was the low scorer of the event. no snow this year but a steady light rain most of the day gave way to perfect traction all day. with over 340 pre-entries, and another 100 the day of, meteor came out on top look pretty good this year. Meteor once again gave the boys and girls something to talk about. Another fine Meteor event as the saying goes. Just perfect!

2009???