Hello there MXP readers, my name is Hailey Larson and I am from Northern California. I came up to Canada last year to race and had such a good time that I came up again! I have been racing for a while now and have made my way to a number of different races and events all across North America. After all those experiences, I must say that hands down Canada has been the most fun. Now it’s always more fun when you win, but I think I had just as much fun off the track as I did on it!
Last year I came up with my friend David Gassin. The two of us got a ride up in Canada and just did the three women’s rounds on the west coast. When we got home all we could think about was how we were going to get up there again for this summer. Luckily we have some pretty good friends, check that, we have some of the best friends anybody could ask for. One of our best riding buddies at home, James Southwick, got nothing but an ear full about how much fun we had in Canada. It didn’t take much convincing to get him to go to Canada…and to take us along for the ride!
All winter the three of us rode together and worked as much as we could to save up for the summer. David and I both had pretty rough winters with injuries, but luckily we were both able to get it together just in time to leave (David still can’t really walk that great, but you wouldn’t be able to tell when he’s on the bike). Also, the rig that we are in just barely got together in time to leave! James’ family got a sweet new set up for this year and got a stacker trailer just a couple weeks before we left. The day that we were set to leave was the first day that we actually loaded all our bikes on the lift inside the trailer. As it turned out, six bikes was a bit too much for the platform. Luckily James’ dad is a very crafty fellow and was able to reinforce the platform and add some more supports. So we were off and running; only about 36 hours later than we had planned!
Larson dominated on all the tracks in the West, proving that she can race in all different conditions.
We are doing all nine rounds of the Canadian series this year. I was only able to do the west coast women’s rounds, but I will still be able to ride amateur days on the east coast in other classes. Nanaimo was the first race that I have ever gone to where you had to go on a ferry to get to the track. Man was I scared. For some reason, I thought we were going to be driving onto a barge-type boat, using straps to tie down the rig and be out on the water, ready to capsize at any moment. Luckily the ferries are pretty much giant ships and we drove into a huge garage-style thing inside the ship. I was still a little scared, but I controlled myself and made sure I didn’t look like a wimp on the ferry ride.
After that we were off to the three women’s rounds of the series. I was really excited to get things going but at the same time I was nervous to be running the number one; that thing adds a little pressure! I am super impressed with the women’s class up here. I’m sure by now everybody knows that Denaye and Camille are the ones that made it all happen, and they did an awesome job. Everybody had a great time and it was cool to be the main event on Saturday. After the races are cool too; they got a lot of sponsors for the series and there was a big raffle for all the girls at each race. I really enjoy the racing up here. It’s a little more relaxed than at home, people seem to be having more fun, it’s not like everyone is just goofing off, and it just seems like a good balance of taking things seriously and still having a good time. At home everything seems to be more like a business. Up here it’s more like a family.
I am excited to do the rest of the series this summer and hopefully come up again next year. I feel like I fit in pretty well up here and I have met a ton of great people. I was going to say that up here in Canada all the families have been the best and have taken us in while we are on the road, but looking back to when David and I traveled to some AMA races, all those families took us in too. I guess when it comes down to it, no matter where you go, moto families take good care of each other…however, I’d still rather come up here again! I love being home with my family, but I’ve got to get my Canadian fix in!
Hailey and all the Women riders were all smiles at the Western Nationals. Larson is now looking forward to riding the Eastern tracks.
I want to thank everyone at CMRC for everything that they have done, and obviously I’ve got to give a huge shout out to Denaye and Camille for making everything happen. They put in a lot of time and effort just for us to race, and they were both injured this year. I also want to thank the Stelter family for giving us a Canadian home for over a week, and everyone that helped us out with riding spots and parts at the track. Thanks to all my sponsors; Marin Bikes, Haeseker Racing Engines, Asterisk, Kali Protectives, Oakley, Fox Shox, Dirt DNA, Troy Lee Designs, Mach 1 Motorsports, Acerbis, Works Connection, Yoshimura, RK Excel, Hinson, Gaerne, Swiss Garage, Tam Bikes and Screenprintingdone.com. (And a shout out to Shelby, just for being Shelby)