Posts
119
Joined
10/13/2015
Location
Gastonia, NC, USA
Edited Date/Time
12/26/2017 12:53pm
Hi, I'm certainly sadden to hear about tnt motorsports owner's, Barbara's passing. I hate I missed the memorial service. She always provided a good family atmosphere and will be missed.
Does anyone know what will happen to the riding park? I'm assuming it will be put up for sale? Thx
Does anyone know what will happen to the riding park? I'm assuming it will be put up for sale? Thx
I didn't make the memorial either but was fortunate to say goodbye to her in person a few days before she passed. I had been riding there since 1999 and it will never be the same without her.
Ivan
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
also club mx and club mx practice track
I went down there to pick up some water storage tanks and the road and parking lots were almost unrecognizable.
Barbara worked so hard but she had really been struggling since about 2005. She was making sacrifices just to keep the gates open.
It is sad how quickly it can all go away.
Unfortunately, building an off road facility is hardly ever an improvement that can increase the value of rural property. It can actually make it harder to sell.
I would be surprised if it ever reopens, even under new ownership.
She had been struggling for a long time to keep it open and I think one of the things that she cut expenses on was health insurance.
It is unfortunate but I suspect that by the time everything is settled there may not be much left.
Barbara truly loved the sport and gave it more effort than anybody else I have known.
Pit Row
Our friends without bikes wanted to try it out and take a couple laps, so we let them take them out on the SX track, where they proceeded to roll everything, lol. We were all 18 at the time I believe, and I didn’t really make the connection that what we were doing was theft, given that they didn’t pay admission. In hindsight, it should’ve been pretty obvious to us, but I’m sure you’ve been young and dumb before.
Sure enough, Barbara comes down to the track and tells us to meet her at the concession stand, because she was going to charge us with theft. My friends decided to argue with her that it wasn’t theft (idiots), and things get heated. Barbara threatens to call the local state trooper.
Now, I had been to TNT numerous times so I knew Barbara pretty well, and I also realized that what we did was definitely theft, so I pulled her to the side to calm everyone down and explain ourselves in a little more level-headed manner. I told her we let our two friends ride our bikes because they wanted to see what it was like and if they would want to buy some bikes of their own.
She started to tear up a bit and explained that what we were doing wasn’t just simply letting our friends ride dirt bikes; we were stealing from TNT, and more importantly, we were stealing from her. Taking money out of her pocket. God, did I feel terrible. Once I saw it from her perspective, I felt like such an asshole, and apologized for what we had done.
This is where it gets funny. She accepts my apology and tells me she’s not going to have anyone arrested, but she was still going to call the state trooper just to give my friends a scare, and she asked me to go along with it. I walk back to the truck and give my friends the bad news; they were going to be arrested and charged with trespassing/theft. They’re now freaking out a bit, I tried my best to keep it together until the trooper arrived and told my friends how lucky they were that they weren’t going to be arrested, and how grateful they should be that Barbara didn’t press charges. Told my buddies on the ride home that I knew all along, but the point definitely got across to all of us that day that what we did was not a victimless crime.
Later down the line once I had heard about her passing and the financial state of the park, this story came back to mind. Barbara cared a lot about that place and the people who came to ride. Glad to hear such good memories about her from others, she really was an awesome person.
I always wanted to do a collection for materials and a bunch of us put i bathroom for her.
In addition to the Porta potties there was an outside shower stall.
It was all a sacrifice she was willing to make.
She was a dental hygienist for years and would come home and work at the park.
I guess about 8 or 10 years before she passed there were some parents that came up as darkness approached worried that their child hadn't returned.
She hopped on an atv to sweep the trails. She ended up hitting a tree and injuring her hand badly enough that she could no longer work. If I remember right the kid had tried to play a joke.
She rolled with it.
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