Sliding Doors With Sierra Roth

The 2015 Small Town Champ

As weeks go by, we are getting closer and closer to race season and I think it is safe to say that everyone is getting anxious for the up and coming year with having four rounds. In the next few weeks, I will be able to release some more exciting news that the CDNWMX Series has been working on. I can definitely say that the future of motocross for women in Canada is looking bright.

I was able to sneak away for a few days a couple weekends ago to fly over to Fort St. James, BC to visit the 2015 West Women’s Champ, Sara King. For any that don’t know where Fort St. James is, well, google it because I didn’t know where it was either when I first met Sara. Basically, it is a small town about two hours north of Prince George that lies along the shores of Stuart Lake. I have been lucky enough to be there a few times during different seasons of the year and honestly, it is spectacular. For being such a small town, it is a wonderful place to be to just wind down and relax. It probably helps that I have good company when I am there as well.

To give you a little background, Sara and I started racing against each other roughly five years ago. To put it bluntly, we use to hate each other as competitors. It didn’t matter what happened to either of us on the track, whether one of us crashed or had a bad start, we always seemed to find each other during a race. In 2012, it probably didn’t help that we were the two youngest girls in the mix of the top 10 women riders in the west. Despite all this, off the track, we got to know each other and actually became pretty good friends. We see this in the motocross scene all the time, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

After my accident in 2013, Sara took it upon herself to keep the friendship we shared in previous years and kept in touch pretty much every week. Her family came to visit with me in the hospital and helped my family when they were up for the 2013 CDNWMX series in Edmonton. They helped with renovations that had to be done for when I got home, they planted my Mom’s garden for us, and Sara rode with my brother before the next race. Total strangers one year and then great friends the next, exactly what I love about this sport. The King family has been close to my heart ever since and I don’t think I could ever thank them enough for all that they have done for myself and my family. They truly are a wonderful crew.

With all this, my family decided to take Sara with us to California for Christmas in 2013. The best way to describe her when she was getting ready to go down to California was like a little kid in a candy shop, literally. California for her was definitely a dream come true. Little did she know was that my family would take her under their wing and push her to limits she didn’t know she could reach. I don’t think she has ever gotten so much constructive criticism on her starts and corners in her entire life. Sara knew my family believed in her. Even when she would get upset, she would still go out on the track again until she a got a thumbs up, with no further criticism. A girl who hated to run decided to hire a trainer for the 2014 year as well. At that moment, when I got the text about the news, I knew this girl meant business and she would one day put it all together to be a champion.

As we all know her now as the number one plate holder, Sara soaked up everything she was ever taught in her ten years of racing and pushed herself to new levels that ultimately won her a championship. I couldn’t be more proud of the girl. Sometimes, however, when I read what others have written about the CDNWMX series in 2015, I am disappointed. The controversy on Kennedy Lutz and Sara, on who would have won if Kennedy didn’t get hurt, really, in my opinion, isn’t fair. A champion is more than just someone who wins each moto because they are the fastest. I believe a champion is someone who can stay healthy, who is mature enough to put in the work, who is willing to sacrifice everything, and someone who pushes themselves so far just to see how great they can be. I have nothing against Kennedy, I know she is fast and more than capable to be a future champion not only in Canada but in the USA as well. In fact, I’ve seen Kennedy ride since she was on 50s when her and my brother would race against each other at the Western Canadian Amateur Nationals in Raymond, Alberta. The girl has a great support system backing her, the skill, and still has many years left in her. However, in 2015, I believe Sara had what it took to stay healthy and quite frankly had more fire in her than most will ever have. Sara worked all winter, went to California on her own to train with just her teammate, Summer Knowles, and I, and then went to each round on her own where her parents would meet up with her. With all that work put into only racing three weekends, I honestly don’t think anyone should take that from her.

I got a chance to talk to Sara’s parents about the whole racing scene and I think it speaks volumes as to who our number one plate holder is this year for the 2016 CMRC Western Canadian Women’s Nationals. I asked Kathy, Sara’s mom, what her favourite memory has been in the past ten years. She told me a story of when Sara was racing in Kamloops at the age of 10.

“She was on her 65 and on the last lap she went over the bars and was slow to get up. She got back up, got on her bike and finished the race. We could tell she was hurt but didn’t know how badly. She went back to the pits but we ended up taking her to first aid where they told her that she may have broken her collarbone. Not a tear was shed; until that moment when she realized that her racing was done for the year. Her dedication and love of the sport was evident at that moment.”

When we started talking about what it was like to see Sara finally put it together in Calgary in 2015, her parents laughed. For anyone that knows Kathy, she is the last person to watch a race at a national. For those who were there, weather conditions didn’t really permit anyone to see what was going on. I don’t even think the girls racing knew what was happening in front of them. Kathy explained the day well by saying “I was listening and pacing in the rain, cringing every time the thunder rolled. As the weather cleared near the end of the race and the announcer stated that Sara had the race well in hand, I did watch her go over the finish line…. with great relief. Later I was informed of the pass on Shelby Turner, jumping over her on a jump in the wind and pouring rain. Needless to say Sara earned every bit of that championship…. hard work, dedication, perseverance and staying healthy. There were so many emotions that day, but to put it simply, we were and are proud.”

Couldn’t have said it any better myself Kathy. We also talked about what this sport has done for all of our families, how over the years we have gained so many new friends from all over, friendships that will last a lifetime. We ended the conversation with me asking them if they could give a new race family advice for the future with their kids in the sport, what would it be? Don King, being the guy that he is, replied with “Rob a bank, you’ll need it!” Kathy, of course, had a sincere reply of “Stay true to who you are. Don’t let winning or losing change who you are. Do it for the love of the sport and everything will fall into place.”

Not only am I proud for Sara and her family but I think Sara’s title win speaks for itself on what our series is all about. It is one big family to all of us and I couldn’t be more excited for what is in store for this group of women in Canada.

So what has our west champ, Sara, been up to? Well, she is back working at the Sawmill in Fort St. James, doing some upgrading to help her in her near future in a career path she is starting to plan, and helping myself out with getting the series organized. I asked her what the plans are for this year, she didn’t have much to say and just laughed.

“Unfortunately I won’t be able to do a big California trip again,” she says, “or have the time to train as much as I would like to. The plan is to just have fun and stay healthy.”

So there you have it, the champ hasn’t really changed in character whatsoever. The only thing that has changed about her is the number that will be displayed on her bike proudly by not only herself, her friends and her family, but the entire Cycle North crew, who has put in countless efforts to get her to where she is today.