This week’s Monday Gate Drop is brought to you by the fine, patriotic people at DeCal Works. There is still a lot of riding left in the 2015 calendar year so it’s never too late to treat yourself to a brand new set of custom graphics. All you have to do is log on to www.decalmx.com and within minutes you can design and order your very own set of personalized graphics. Here is a very cool photo of DeCal Works owner Ron Joynt’s son Tallon paying tribute on Friday to the heroic firefighters who died on 9/11/01.
I trust everyone had a great weekend doing whatever it was you did. We’re approaching the official first day of Fall and with that comes some of the best riding of the year. I know my track is in absolute pristine condition and the temperatures have been perfect for riding. Although I do love riding in the Spring, those are always my first rides of the year and I’m tired after three laps. At this time of the year, I feel as good as ever on the bike and I can actually enjoy it. Also, it’s definitely a little extra motivating knowing that in a month’s time it will more than likely be too cold and wet to even bother getting the bike out. I guess what I’m trying to say is get out there and make the most of the best riding conditions of the year.
We saw these awesome conditions put on display yesterday at Moto Park as the third round of the CMRC/AMO Provincial Series took place. Although the temperatures were a little on the cool side, the action on the track was hot!! For the first time, the 50cc classes were allowed to race on an abbreviated version of the big track, and man the kids were pumped! Just like at Walton, to see these kids ripping on the same track as the big bikes was truly an awesome spectacle. All of these 50cc kids are so good now that racing on the main tracks is just what the doctor ordered. Most of these kids practice on big tracks anyway so letting them race on the big boy tracks is a great test for them, and obviously satisfying. As my son and I were watching the final motos of the day yesterday from the hill behind the starting line, he pointed out with a tremendous amount of satisfaction that Tanner Ward was taking the same line as he did in one of the back corners. For the young kids of our sport, this is what it’s all about.
Austin Watling is one of the fast Ontario kids who plans on racing the new Canadian National AX Tour next weekend in London, On.
So all in all, it was a good day at Moto Park and it was great to see so many people out. As I said, the racing was awesome, and right now in Ontario we have a case of history repeating itself in the Schoolboy class. If you remember back to the late 1970s the class to watch at the local Ontario races was by far the 100cc class. Back then there were a group of kids like Doug Hoover, Frank Watts and Jeff Sutherland (to name a few) who used to battle every weekend on these 100cc rocketships. The racing was intense as all of these kids were buddies off the track, but they didn’t give an inch to each other on the track. Well, yesterday the final moto of the day was lining up, and the present day Schoolboy class consisted of Austin Watling, Tanner Ward, Nick Denniston, Jake Tricco, Sam Gaynor and Kobe Cox. These next generation kids all have trainers and are all wise beyond their years, and it proves to me that the future is very bright for Ontario motocross. If you throw in Marco Cannella to that mix, you have a very talented crop of riders that are battling every weekend with each other and in the process making each other faster. They’re also, as I witnessed with my own son, inspiring the next group of young kids to be even better. This is exactly how sports are supposed to work and it’s great to see it working in ours. Next weekend the CMRC/AMO Provincials continue as Round four is at the Gully Mor track in Alvinston, Ontario.
Out in Calgary, the Red Bull Rocks and Logs event went off in perfect fashion as 4000 spectators jammed into Wild Rose MX Park to watch this unique event. The Red Bull Rocks and Logs race is basically like an outdoor Endurocross race, and because Red Bull was behind it, some pretty big names like Taddy Blazusiak and Cody Webb attended. In the end, Cody Webb took the victory and by all accounts it was an awesome event. Here are a few photos from the 2015 Red Bull Rocks and Logs courtesy of the Red Bull Content Pool.
Well, that is it for me this week. As I said, I hope everyone gets out and enjoys these last few weeks of nice riding weather. Soon we will be into Arenacross season in Canada as the new Canadian National AX Tour kicks off in London on September 25th and the Future West AX Series begins on October 2nd in Armstrong, BC. With two very exciting series to follow, pro and amateur riders are in for a real treat when it comes to indoor racing. Have a good week and we’ll see everyone on Sunday at Gully Mor.