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Honda Canada Racing Presents the Monday Gate Drop

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Good day and welcome to this edition of the Honda Canada Racing Monday Gate Drop. With Christmas now less than 24 hours away, for everyone it’s either relax time or time to make one more push before the big day. Whatever situation it is for you, I hope today is a good day as we prepare for Santa’s visit.

As I mentioned last week, once again my family and I are spending our Christmas in Fort Mill, South Carolina just south of Charlotte. Fort Mill is a beautiful, easy paced town where almost everyone you meet has a smile on their face. We spent last Christmas here and enjoyed it so much that we decided to do it again. As long as Santa finds you I guess it doesn’t matter where you spend Christmas.

The JGRMX Suzuki was in perfect condition today for the team to resume their testing.

Since we are just 30 minutes away from the JGR Suzuki Race HQ I decided to reach out to their media director last week to see if I could get a tour. I didn’t know it at the time but the JGRMX race shop, as well as the Joe Gibbs Racing complex, is open during the week to the public for tours and merchandise sales. If you’re ever driving through Huntersville, NC and you have some time to kill, touring these two race shops is a great way to kill a few hours. We spent almost four hours walking from room to room in both shops seeing each and every part of their racing operations. It was very impressive to say the least as we were able to see the birth of one the Joe Gibbs Racing Team’s Toyota race cars. From the welding shop to where the main cage is put together, to the decal room where five guys work long hours to make the decals for all of the motocross and NASCAR teams. From there we went through the machine shop, the engine dyno room, the mock pit area where the team practices pit stops, and of course the gym where the riders and staff train every day. It was an amazing day, and perhaps the best part was when were just getting ready to leave and in walked Chad Reed. I’ve always been a big Reed fan so it was cool to be able to chat with him for a moment. For my son, who has only met Chad once when he was about three years old, it was amazing for him to see Chad and shake his hand. If that wasn’t enough, today we’re heading to the SX test track to watch the team ride for a few hours. This is definitely one of the best Christmas Eves I’ve ever had.

Watching Chad Reed ride today certainly helped make this the best Christmas Eve ever.

In Canadian moto news, more and more photos and videos of Jess Pettis ridng his new KTM have come out during the past week. Jess looks to be getting very comfortable on his new orange bike, and in talking to him late last week, he said that everything is going great. For Pettis, the change isn’t just with his new bike but also with his helmet, boots and clothing. These days all the gear is amazing but it can feel drastically different when you’re on the bike. For me, the biggest things I notice when trying new gear is how the boots feel on the foot pegs, as well as how the helmet feels. Those two things are always important, and for me they sometimes take the longest to get used to. Jess told me that he’s taking everything slow but that everything feels great. He also mentioned that for the first time, when he arrived in California to get ready for SX, he’s already in race shape. With less than two weeks until Anaheim 1, Jess Pettis is ready to race.

Anaheim 1 is now just over a week away. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Well, with it being Christmas Eve I don’t think too many people have time to sit and read one of my long columns. So with that in mind I’m going to say good-bye for another week. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and I hope you all have a safe and joyful day. Thank-you for reading and most of all, Merry Christmas!

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