By BRIDGET SCOTT
NOT much has changed in 14 years.
The Van Vliet brothers from Narre Warren North are just as passionate about riding today as they were when they appeared on the front page of the Berwick News in 1999.
The major difference now is as the boys have grown so too has their talent, and the size of the bikes they ride.
Next month, the brothers, Mitchell, 21, Jake, 19, and Harrison, 17, will gear up for a big Queen’s Birthday weekend as they prepare for the Finke Desert Race on their quad bikes.
Unfortunately for younger brother 13-year-old Cooper, he is still too young.
The big race, which begins in Alice Springs, stretches across 230 kilometres, and sees 500 entrants race from Alice Springs to Finke, then back to where they started.
The competitiors race across approximately 460 kilometres altogether, and are on the bikes for about four hours each way.
Two of the Van Vliet boys are no stranger to the race, with Mitchell getting a podium finish in his class last year when he came third.
Jake also had great success when he came sixth in his class.
But for Harrison this will be the first time he has done the event.
Father of the boys Robert Van Vliet takes full responsibility for getting his sons involved in riding, each of whom are now well known within their field.
Jake, who began at the age of four, said he usually races motocross, and there is a lot of intense training involved to prepare for this endurance race.
“It’s fairly intense,” he said.
“We do a lot of training on the bike and do PT (personal training) every night.”
There is no doubt that the boy’s are fit for the race, and the third time competitor said racing against his brothers pushes him further.
“It’s a good challenge and we’re always trying to out-do each other,” he said.
When asked why he enjoys riding in general, Jake said it’s the environment.
“I love the atmosphere, it’s like a big family,” he said.
Finke, as the race is commonly known, is one of the biggest sporting events in the Northern Territory and runs across two days.
Jake said there are often times when riders are alone in the middle of nowhere but he said: “You still see a lot of people out there.”
