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Once again friends thanks for climbing aboard another wide open winter vacation version of the ‘Friday Flight.’ This week in the column’s namesake of ‘Flight’ I have learned some very cool things that sees San Diego as the birthplace of one of the most historical flights in aviation history. More on that in a little bit. As many of you already know by now, my wife and I have been on the road for just about a month. With the two Supercross rounds that we attended now behind us, there has been no letting off the throttle of Moto related excitement. On Tuesday, I did, however, for about the third time in the last week, check google maps for the driving distance to the site of this weekend’s race in Arlington, Texas. After staring into the screen of my iPhone for longer than someone who has already logged over 5,000 kilometres in their vehicle should, my focus forward soon became the huge flat screen TV on the wall in front of me. Yes, you guessed it, Fox Sports One and Two is the norm here in the U.S. with most cable packages. These people get it. In arguably the hottest Moto ‘Hotbed’ of the world, Southern California, they even had Supercross highlights on the local news channels Saturday night after the race here in San Diego. Petco Park, six days removed from the action, is once again looking like a baseball park as the hometown Padres will take the field shortly. If anyone ever queries as to the cost of such events like Supercross and other professional sports in these types of venues, let me add this: We have been in this condo looking into the park now for three weeks, and almost every moment of every day and night there has been a crew hard at work around the clock. I guess in this day and age there is truly nothing that money can’t build, right? I just thought I would add this tidbit as the time lapsed tape I am playing back right now in my head is pretty amazing to comprehend.
When you’re hanging out a track during the winter in California, you’re bound to run into a few Canadians.
The other thing that has been beyond amazing here is the weather! If you are reading this and you have been enduring a dose of ‘real winter’ please bear with me – I am not trying to rub it in. The temperatures this past week were almost 20 degrees above seasonal values. That’s right, 20 degrees! We headed out to Pala Raceway on Monday and spent some time with Ryno Power Canada’s Trevor Unger. Trevor, who hails from Langdon, Alberta, is south for a while with his sons Tallon and Tyler, wife Stephanie and another young rider, Luke Del Grecio. It was a beauty at Pala, and the statutory holiday of Presidents day saw many flock to the well groomed facility and spin laps in the 90 degree heat. I always enjoy my time at the race track with Trevor as he and I share similar values. Trevor grew up in Manitoba and was a top road and super bike racer. He now rides for fun but his main focus is the development of his two sons who have a lot of natural talent. Getting back to the common denominators of our Moto unity, 1 – Fitness and 2 – two-strokes. All four bikes that came out of his cube van were two-strokes, one of which was a sick looking 2004 RM 125. Trevor’s boys are both YZ-125 and YZ-250 two-stroke mounted riders for the upcoming season. I really think that more riders could benefit from what these types of machines offer in their developmental riding years! Tyler was a Silver Sprocket winner at last year’s WCAN in Raymond, Alberta. He will ride the Intermediate class this season contesting the Western rounds of the Rockstar Nationals on a two-stroke. Tallon, who finished 3rd last year in the West of the first ever KTM Super Mini Nationals, will contest the season as a Junior on a 125cc Yamaha. The other thing that I love to see as a race fan is how seriously up and coming riders these days take their fitness regimen. In a sport that the only edge you often get is the one that you can give yourself, I know these kids are doing everything they can. I also mentioned that Trevor Unger is behind Ryno Power Sports Supplements and I know that many riders, including Cole Thompson, are using these products. I use these products and believe in them. The Hydration tablets along with the motivation are a couple that personally help me through a long day at the races. I also know scores of riders who have tried the products and are super impressed with the results. www.rynopower.ca is the place, and remember that edge I was talking about.
It was cool to see a group of Canadians taking over Pala Raceway. Look at those big Canadian smiles!
On Tuesday, I texted my buddy Donk, who is the man behind the wrenches of Cole Thompson in the West and Vicki Golden for the East. I wanted to get a feel for where and which rider he would be out and about with on Tuesday. Early AM he told me that he and Cole Thompson would be at Pala later that morning. I figured it would work for us as we had to head up to Orange County, almost two hours away, to pay our Toll Bills. Yes, there are a lot of Pay the Piper routes down here. When we made the trek last week from Lake Elsinore to get the The Seven Deuce Deuce’s truck and dog back to his place in Huntington Beach, we found a few! I have since found out that you can turn these toll routes off on your GPS. Who knew? All good things being equal, we tried relentlessly in vain to figure out how to pay online, etc. So it was off to doing things the old fashioned way, not wanting to be confronted with myself or Adam getting some preposterous bill in the mail or any type of negative credit hits. After this was successfully done and more miles were added to the growing odometer here in So Cal, we elected to have a beach day. We hit three major beaches Tuesday including San Clemente Oceanside-Carlsbad and then back to Mission Bay in San Diego. By days end and in the searing heat and feeling a full wheel short of a safe ride, it was back to the condo. Tuesday’s temperature broke the previous record here in San Diego by 8 degrees. It was a whopping 89 degrees in the bay front city at ‘Lindbergh Field.’ I was not only happily impressed but a little intrigued. My inquisitive nature had me wondering what the Lindbergh Field they speak of and keep referring to. I know most major cities gauge their temperature mediums at the airports, right? So with the committee of demons in my head now in overdrive, I had to find out more about San Diego’s Lindbergh Field. Did San Diego somehow have a connection to one of the most historical aviation feats of all time? You bet it did, and thanks to my digging, this story impressed me enough to share it in this week’s Flight.
It turns out that in 1927 Charles Lindbergh came to San Diego and commissioned Ryan Airlines to develop and build his historical plane. You got it, the Spirit of St. Louis was built right here in San Diego and was done so in only sixty days. Lindbergh’s plane was modelled after the company’s M-2 Monoplane but had a significantly increased wingspan to facilitate the fuels and engines needed for his New York to Paris flight. Lindbergh’s historical journey would start here in San Diego and then make stop two in the home of his financial backers in St. Louis. The plane was aptly named after the town of the financiers – The Spirit of St. Louis. From there it was off to New York, then successfully landing in Paris, a date with history as we now know it. This successful feat catapulted revolutionary excitement and interest in the aviation world locally and abroad. The local interest here in San Diego, as the place where this whole feat took flight, was no exception. In 1928, a bond was passed that led to the construction of the municipal airport, in which Lindbergh himself lent his name. This was rare as Lindbergh was reluctant to lend his name to anything. To this day Lindbergh Field stands serving millions. I also found it very intriguing in an effort to relate this to Moto that The Spirit of St. Louis had no windshield. A fuel tank was mounted forward of the cockpit and a small periscope was mounted for forward vision. Lindbergh most often navigated visually out either side of the plane. I am thinking he wore goggles but this was likely a day or two ahead of tear offs, right?
After Brent’s injury a few years ago, he could’ve went in a number of different directions with his life. However, he decided to chose the path that has aloud him to walk hand in hand with the sport that he loves. The passion that he shows for motocross is unmatched in this industry and we’re all very thankful for that.
Getting back to Moto, I have some cool plans here this week to be trackside no less than twice. There is no shortage of Canadian riders down here currently spinning laps (Some under the radar). I am hoping to be able to watch some Canadian National, high profile sponsored riders in action along with MX101’s Dylan Wright. I have been texting back and forth with Dylan, and he has promised to let me know if and when he will get behind the gate again. I am already starting to get pretty excited about getting back to work in Canada for the outdoor season. Both the MX2 and MX1 class battles at the national level promise to be great. I saw Trans World Motocross posted the first unofficial – official words from Mike Alessi on coming to Canada this year to race for Monster Energy Kawasaki. In the Trans World interview, Mike stated that he was very excited and never thought he would again have a ‘factory ride opportunity.’ It also stated that the deal is a two year deal. I conducted my own interview with Mike Alessi, one on one, this week in San Diego. I will wait for official word from those paying the bills before repeating anything publicly. I can say this for fact, Mike Alessi feels like he learned a lot about the Canadian game from his season in 2014. He had a lot of fun, once again winning races and battling with Colton Facciotti for that title. This race fan is ready for 2016, are you?
Cole Thompson’s biggest fan stares out at the Pacific Ocean and reflects on what has been an incredible trip to California.
The other thing that as a Canadian race fan I am very excited about is the Motocross of Nations announcement. I have not had a chance to weigh in on the recent developments yet so here goes. Personally, I think this is great news for Canadian Motocross and its race fans that we are going back. This effort is necessary regardless of the politics, results, naysayers, and propaganda, whatever…………… We need to bethere, period. We have some great talent in our country on the track right now. We are getting better and better on a global level and need to be competing in this great event. It is next level and a true mettle test of our world Motocross talents and abilities. I also believe Kourtney Lloyd is a great choice to manage this team. Kourtney is driven to win and that drive will only amp up with fuel from the country rallying around here. Kourtney is very well connected in the industry and knows what it takes to win. I also know that Kourtney lives, eats and breathes being successful in this sport. Everyone loves a winner and Kourtney, in my opinion, is a winner and she loves to win. I remember sitting outside of round one of The Future West Arenacross series two years ago in Armstrong and Kourtney was trying to convince then Team Manager to have her on as an associate manager. I knew at the time Kourtney was half joking giving him a hard time but the other part of me knew she was serious. Hope you don’t mind me telling that story Kourt, and if so, too late. The good news is that this is your deal and I know you will do us all proud. Friends and race fans, let’s help this 2016 Motocross of Nations team effort by purchasing one of these $100 tickets. There are three great prizes that include an all-inclusive trip for two to the Monster Energy Cup. Kourtney is easy to get a hold of and most major races in the country will have these tickets. E-mail Kourtney@cyclenorth.com, she will e-mail you out a numbered ticket. Two Thumbs up Kourtney!
– Until next Friday’s Flight ‘Airmail Out’………………………………….
