Special Mother’s Day gift means managing mud for Forreston mom

A couple of milk cartons, a big-block 496, and lots of mud made for a pretty unique Mother’s Day for a Forreston mom.

Sandy Wild, 57, thought she was just along for moral support when her son, Sawyer, asked her to go with him to the driver’s meeting at the Rock River Riders Motorcycle Club’s Mud Bogs on Sunday morning.

Turns out Sawyer had a much bigger plan.

“He registered me as a driver too,” said Sandy grinning.

After Sawyer, 20, took his 1984 Chevy pickup truck named “Causin’ Conflict” through the bog twice, he got out the milk cartons, put them on the ground by the driver’s door and helped his mom climb into the big orange truck.

She slid into the driver’s seat behind the steering wheel, waved to the crowd as her inaugural run was announced, and revved the engine once.

“Oh, I almost forgot my seat belt,” she said quickly reaching back to secure the restraint.

Sawyer climbed in the passenger side and Sandy revved the big-block 496 again, this time positioning the behemoth into position.

When asked if she was nervous she replied: “Not now, I am ready to rock and roll!”

With a thumbs up from the starter, Sandy put steady pressure on the gas pedal and maneuvered the truck through 300 feet of gooey mud in about 15 seconds.

She cut 6 seconds off her second run, completing the course in 9.682 seconds.

“This was my Mother’s Day present from Sawyer. He signed me up to drive and I didn’t know it,” said Sandy after the runs. “I found out at the driver’s meeting.”

How many times had Sandy driven the truck? “Not once,” she said. “He had to bring milk cartons along so I could step on them to event get in it.”

“She was pretty shocked,” said Sawyer. “She did great. Especially for her first time.”

“I was bouncing around in there like a little ping pong ball,” said Sandy. “That was a lot of fun.”

She ranked the drive as one of her “top three all-time Mother’s Day gifts”.

“Yeah, I might even do it again,” she said smiling.

Sandy and Sawyer posed for a photo in front of the mud-covered truck along with her family. Sandy, however, had no plans to help wash the truck she had helped muddy.

“I’m not touching it. That’s not my job,” she said laughing.

Upcoming RRRMC Events

June 20: Father’s Day Hill Climb

Sept. 19: Hill Climb

Oct. 3: Mud Bogs

All events begin at 11 a.m., sign up for participants is 9 a.m.

For more information, visit www.rrmc.org.

What is a Mud Bog?

The club’s mud bog races are held on the club grounds, located east of Polo on Pines Road, across from the entrance to White Pines State Park.

Participants whose vehicles stall out or get stuck in the bog, are pulled out by a pulley system powered by a large Ford farm tractor operated by club member Lance LeFevre, of Mt. Morris.

Competitors include those with muscled-up trucks and SUVs roaring through the man-made course tossing chunks of mud into the air. Runs are measured in feet and those completing the entire bog are timed to determine winners of each class division.

The event also includes a race for little boggers on their battery-operated toys and the ever-popular and especially messy “run the bog” race for kids and adults.

The Rock River Riders Motorcycle Club was founded in 1935 and was known for its hill climb event, held just southwest of what once was the Pines Drive-In Theater. When the theater closed, the club purchased the land it was on, and eventually added other events.

New Members Sought

The club is currently seeking new members. For more information on becoming a member, contact Chris Rasmussen at 815-347-7322.