They say that a man has three big milestones in their lives: becoming a father, when their own father passes away, and when they turn 40. Tomorrow I will be striking number three off my list as I will be turning the big 40. While forty is not what it used to be years ago, it is still a point in a person’s life when you’re forced to stop what you’re doing and look around. When this happens the first place we usually look is back into our past. We kind of take stock of what we’ve experienced and we wonder why time has gone by so fast.
I am no different. The last few weeks I’ve been thinking back to the last forty years and trying to piece it all together, like the new Facebook timeline, but in my head. I think when you’re involved in a youthful sport like motocross you have no choice but to try and stay young. While the sport may make you feel old some days (like when you wake up and can’t move) it does keep you feeling young. Since everything keeps changing around us in motocross, it forces you to either adapt or fall behind. Anyway, I have given some thought to a few of my most interesting motocross moments of the last 40 years and I’d like to share them with you since today I am feeling a little nostalgic.
Favourite Rider: It has changed a few times over the years. When I was young it was without a doubt Johnny O’Mara; I just loved his style. Since then it has gone from him to Jeremy McGrath to Chad Reed, and even JSR in the mid 2000s. Now my favourite rider is for sure my son Ayrton. I know I am little biased but I can stand (and I hate standing) all day and watch him ride.
Favourite Track: When I was a teenager my dad used to take me to Michigan to race. My favourite track then was Iron Mustangs. They don’t race there anymore but back then it was awesome. In Canada, I would say it’s a tossup between Moto Park and St. Apollinaire, QC.
Favourite Bike: This one is easy – my 1996 Machine Racing Honda CR250 was awesome every time I threw my leg over it. I think my results in 1996 proved this.
Favourite Motocross Trip: While a few stand out, Gauldy and I going to Florida in 1997, a lot of my family trips to races when I was a kid, but my favourite was when Carl Vaillancourt, Mike Haist and I went to Monterrey, Mexico in 1994 for a Supercross. It was only for a few days but I just remember the race being really cool and the entire trip was a great experience. It was also my first time to get paid to go and race a supercross, so that was cool.
Best Year: This is a tie between 1989 and 1996, although for different reasons. In 1989, I was 16 and thought I couldn’t do anything wrong on or off the bike. In 1996, I was fully aware of what could go wrong as a few years before I had fallen to the bottom of the sport and worked my way back up. It took me a few years to learn how to work at racing, but I did and I’m proud of that.
Best Race: I have been lucky enough to have seen a few beauties over the years. I was actually sitting in the stands in Anaheim in 1996 and got to see that great battle, but the best race I have seen was the Montreal SX in 2007 when JSR won for the final time. I don’t know why, but I just remember sitting there in complete awe that he was able to pull that off at the tail end of his career. It was 15 laps of sheer determination.
Worst Motocross Moment: There are two that stand out. The first is the entire summer of 2000. This was the year that I fully realized that the sport at the top level was passing me by and I was too burnt out to do anything about it. At the time I was 27 and had been racing for 20 years. I was over it. With the new format in the National series in 2000 and some new money and teams involved, the future of the sport in Canada had never been brighter. I desperately wanted to be a part of it but I knew inside that my time had come and gone.
My next worst moment was when Blair Morgan got hurt in Montreal. He crashed right in front of me. While I didn’t know the extent of his injuries, I knew it wasn’t good. Later that day when his team manager told me that he didn’t have any feeling in his lower body, I went to a quiet place and cried like a baby. Even though he was from out West, he raced in Ontario quite a bit from 1996-2000 and he was close to all of us. He was Superman. Someone like that isn’t supposed to get injured like that. It was such an important moment in this sport. I remember going to the US Open a few weeks after and everyone there was talking about it. He was bigger than the sport of motocross back then, and he will always be one of the best. It’s great to hear that Blair is doing well and looks back at his career with little regret.
Biggest Influences: I left this for the end because it’s the toughest
one. I’ve been lucky enough to have a few people who motivated me to do things I never thought possible. My Dad was the first person to help me achieve my goals. We spent a lot of time travelling to races as a kid and he did everything possible to make sure I had whatever I needed.
Another big influence on me was Ross Pederson. I was lucky enough to get to know Ross well when I first turned Pro and he really helped me see what it took to be a top rider in this sport. Although it would take a few years to sink in with me, watching Ross work at motocross is something I’ll never forget.
My final influence was Jon Cornwell. In the winter of 1994 a friend took me to Jon’s shop to visit him. I barely knew Jon but when we arrived and started talking he just unloaded on me about racing and what I wasn’t doing. He basically told me to get my head out of my ass and start working. I remember leaving his shop and for some reason something clicked. I got up the next day, started working out and came out swinging in 1995. I also want to say thanks to John Nelson. While some of his motivational styles are a little different, when he was happy, I knew I’d done something well.
So that is my list of a few of my interesting moments. I have many more but I feel like I’m already starting to ramble on like an old man. Time really does fly by, and as a motocross racer you really need to make the most of the sport while you’re young. For all the riders who are lining up in Nanaimo this weekend, just give it everything you have this summer because in the blink of an eye, you will be doing what I will be doing tomorrow – trying to blow out a hell of a lot of candles on a cake.
In closing, I want to give a big shout out to Ontario rider Chloe Metcalfe. She was severely injured on the weekend racing in the USA and her recovery is going to be a long one. Get well Chloe! Her Twitter name is @cmetcalfe196 if you want to send her well wishes. I hope everyone has a great week. See you at the races.