BLOOMFIELD - While most kids his age are more interested in "Sponge Bob Square Pants" than pistons and rings, Bloomfield third-grader Jacob Pyne is busting through woods, across fields and over dirt jumps on his 50cc motorcycle. The son of Brooke and Jarred Pyne will be riding this Sunday in a major event sponsored by the Hoosier Trail Riders and put on by longtime motorcycle racer Brent Dillman.

Dillman is expecting at least 200 racers and 300 or so spectators this weekend. Most people think of motorcycle racing as going around a large dirt track in some arena somewhere.

What Jacob does is called a "hare scramble." And, as its name implies the race is run through wooded, rocky areas on a sometimes-miles-long course. "They race through hills, woods and open fields," said Jacob's dad. "If there's a tree in the way, they have to ride over it."

If those kinds of obstacles were not enough, one has to keep in mind that Jacob is typically riding his KTM racing bike anywhere from 30-40 miles per hour while navigating the course.

"I can't watch the start," Brooke said. "The one time I did, he went over the handlebars and all I saw was this blue helmet rolling." She continued by saying that at that point her maternal instinct took over. "I started patting him making sure he was OK. He was crying," she said. "He just got up and grabbed his bike and off he went." The tears were from frustration at wrecking, she said.

"If you're not wrecking, you're not racing," Jacob smiles. And racing he does - having obtained the number one spot in the Mid-South tour of pee-wee racers, and the number two spot in the state of Indiana. He has won the last two races he has ridden in - winning one by three laps. Jacob said his uncle Shane Skinner got him started riding dirt bikes when he was five or so.

At age six, he started racing and has been eating up the competition ever since. To follow Jacob's success on the web, log onto www.suspensionplus.com/2006_team_news.htm. The Hoosier Trail Riders Hare Scramble is an American Motorcycle Association sanctioned event and is a points race for District 15. Gates at the County Road 110 E race course open at 8 a.m. on Sunday, July 16,with racing starting at 10 a.m. 

A $5 spectator fee is being collected at the gate, with proceeds going to the Greene County Sheriff's Reserves. For directions or more information, contact Dillman at 863-4242.