LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

HAYTER’S GAP – What a ride.

Paul McCartney and the Beatles must have had Hayter’s Gap in mind when they came up with "The Long and Winding Road."

On an exceedingly dark and quite rainy night earlier this week, the road to Hayter’s Gap and the home of the Chaffins went up, up, up and then down, down, down and all which way around.

In the porch light rested the large, off-road motorcycle of Kevin Chaffin and its much smaller counterpart of Chaffin’s son, Isaac. Father and son race motorcycles in what’s called hare scramble, a much more intense cousin to motocross. They participate in separate divisions within a statewide league, Virginia Championship Hare Scramble Series (VCHSS).

"We make a family event out of it every weekend," Kevin Chaffin, 31, said. "It’s real enjoyment."

Wife and mother Crystal Chaffin watches. She takes photographs of her twosome. And pride in accomplishment mixes with worry regarding them both.

"I’m scared to death from the start of the race until the finish," she said. "Other than that, I’d just like for them to have fun doing what they’re doing."

Scores of trophies rest atop and all around the family’s entertainment center. Some were won by Kevin and some by Isaac.

Friends and neighbors, Isaac Chaffin is only 5 years old.

HARE SCRAMBLE

No, it’s not a bunch of rabbits racing. And no, it isn’t a skillet full of fried rabbit, a la scrambled eggs.Hare scrambles are off-road speed and endurance events commonly competed within wooded areas. Open to men, women and children within litanies of divisions, hare scrambles are nationwide. Typically, the rider who averages the highest rate of speed within a given time or laps completed wins.

Courses feature all manners of terrain and natural obstacles contained within a wooded environment. Riders encounter fallen trees and brush, rocks small to boulder size and mud from puddle to near-pond size. They may even on occasion have to dodge a deer or possum, or yes, maybe even a rabbit.

"We’re out sometimes for two hours, dodging trees and stuff," Kevin Chaffin said. "It gets intense. We run in all conditions – rain, snow, mud. It doesn’t matter."

Depending upon the league, of which there are dozens around the country, skill levels usually fall within three categories labeled A through C within each division, with A being the highest and C the lowest. Categories may also be divided into engine sizes of the motorcycles.

Kevin Chaffin races in a C class, while son Isaac competes in a pee wee division.

RACING CHILD

By day, Isaac Chaffin is a kindergartener at Meadowview Elementary School. Like most kids his age, he’s an active little rascal with seemingly endless wide-eyed enthusiasm.

So you can imagine how he took to his first motorcycle, given to him by his parents at age 4. Well, then again, bet you can’t imagine.

"I told him, ‘Here’s your brakes, here’s your gas. Go to it,’ " Kevin said. "He just took off. There was no learning curve."

Now on weekends when possible, father and son race motorcycles. Not surprisingly, Isaac loves the grimier aspects of racing off-road.

"I like to jump in puddles," Isaac said. "It don’t matter getting real wet. I like to get muddy. I got more muddy than my daddy last time."

He entered his first race in April of 2007. That little speed demon was a tad tentative at first, though not for long. Fear isn’t part of his repertoire. "Sometimes, he goes at it a little too hard, and I have to tell him to slow it down," Kevin said.

Meanwhile, Isaac’s mother watched his first rip-snortin’ race nervously and couldn’t believe her little boy was racing. Consider that riders oftentimes sustain injuries, sometimes serious – broken bones and separations, deep lacerations, etc.

"I cried," Crystal said. "I was scared to death the whole time but happy."

Isaac finished a remarkable fifth in his first race. But he’s determined. In July, though barely 5 years old, Isaac actually won his first race.

"It feels good and fun to win," he said with a giggle.

For those who think that perhaps Isaac is far too young to race, bear in mind that he’s certainly not alone. Scores of children his age race motorcycles and go-karts. A few of those kids turned into champions, one of them four-time NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion Jeff Gordon, who raced go-karts as a child.

Isaac raced 11 times this year, and his father said that he will run 15 races next season. Neither of his parents expects their son to become a champion someday. However, they do see potential.

"The only ones beating him right now are the kids a year older than him," Kevin said. "Right now, he could go into the 7- to 9-year-old class and finish seventh or eighth. He’s got really good potential."

FAST FATHER

Kevin Chaffin said that he’s raced motorcycles in many forms for years. He’s tried motocross and four-wheelers, but there’s something about racing in hare scramble that especially appeals to him.

"It’s more of a challenge," Kevin said. "It’s more endurance."

He took up hare scramble racing in October 2006. Both he and his son ride KTM motorcycles – Kevin on a 250 XCW and Isaac on a mini adventurer. Since entering the sport, he’s experienced a staggering aspect – cost.

"We don’t have any sponsorships, so I have to buy everything for me and him," Kevin said. "When you have a young ‘un, it gets interesting."

Racing hare scramble mauls motorcycles. Kevin said that he has to buy two new tires at $80 apiece every other race for his bike. Oh but wait, about those motorcycles. They aren’t cheap.

"I’ve got $14,000 in bikes, not counting riding gear," Kevin said. "It costs about $100-$150 to go racing locally and about $300-$350 to go racing out of town. It costs easily $20,000 per year."

Now, Kevin won this season’s championship in his class. Trophies galore in his home attest to that. But he’s paid dearly for them, too.

"I’ve had two concussions this year, broke a bone in my foot and messed my wrist up," Kevin said. "That’s not counting all the bumps and bruises. I’ve been run over when I was on the ground."

And for winning races and the championship Kevin earned?

"Trophies," he said. "And I’ll go to a banquet for winning the championship."

But no prize money.

Professional football or baseball players, auto racers and musicians alike sometimes say that they would do that which they loved even if they earned nary a dime. That’s Kevin Chaffin.

FAST FAMILY

He knows well that there’s more to sports than money. He owns his own roofing and general house repair business, KCI Services – ("K" for Kevin, "C" for Crystal and "I" for Isaac). Long hours are part of the job. Stress, he said, comes with the job.

Racing helps alleviate that.

"My wife sometimes makes me go racing when I get cranky," he said.

Now, Kevin just won a championship and has raced in some fashion for years. However, make no mistake about who’s the star of the Chaffin family racing show.

That’s Isaac, all 5 years of him.

"When Isaac’s racing I’m rooting him on and hollering, trying to get pictures of him," Crystal said. "Who knows, maybe he’ll be really good and someday go pro."

Kevin couldn’t be more proud of his son. He actually marvels at his son’s knack for learning so quickly how to race and for his relentless charging on the track.

But racing aside, Isaac is his daddy’s little boy.

"When he’s ready to race," Kevin said, "I lean over, tell him I love him and tell him to do his best."

But so, what about all those trophies? Isaac grinned real wide and spoke right up.

"My daddy lets me have his trophies, and I let him have my trophies," Isaac said.

INFO

www.vchss.org

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at