Monday Maniac #47

Monday Maniac #47

By gauldy107

Brought to you by Yamaha Motor Canada

Godspeed #JG96. That is the hash tag for the young racer Jantz Grodziki that succumbed to his severe injuries sustained at the 2012 Gatorback Florida Mini O’s. His family will be taking him off life support today or tomorrow because he cannot live with these injuries. I am so saddened by this result and for the sport of motocross. Yes it is dangerous, yes there are risks involved, but death? Why does that have to be on the table? I’m personally having a hard time dealing with the news. I have seen this happen before to friends and other racers. Maybe it’s my age now and realizing how tough this sport is but being at the race where some poor kid dies just doesn’t seem right. Well, it’s not right and it’s something that very rarely occurs, but apparently it’s part of what we do. RIP #JG96

I have to keep this sad trend going now with a very good friend of mine, Johnny Montes. He was in a bad car accident last week and at this very moment is still in the hospital in an induced coma. Things are looking better each day but it’s still very early for Johnny. I have seen many of you pray and share all over Facebook  so hopefully all these good thoughts will help him get back to the way he was: A good dude. I remember the first time I met “The Spanish Fly”. It was 1998 when he and Alex Langevin were driving across Canada in the CMRC cube van to the nationals. We used to make fun of him so much for being so home sick and chatting with his GF everyday for like 6 hours. After that trip we became pretty good friends over the years. Let’s just hope this is a small bump in the road for Johnny and he makes a full recovery back to being the “The Spanish Fly.”

I finally made it back home from the Florida Mini Olympics. I mentioned before that it was the 15 year reunion for me at Gatorback Cycle Park. I had a blast with the Scott family and Ward crew. There were moments, just like on any trip, with six dudes living in a 30 foot space. I would have loved to strangle Tanner and Hunter, although they felt the same way at times. I kept telling Jim being with his kids was like birth control. Hahaha Of course I’m kidding and I loved hanging with the crew in the dirty south. Jim is a strong man to deal with the stuff he did down there and I earned even more respect for him than I had before. It’s tough being a parent of a Motocross racer. From the outside looking in, it seems like there is never anything good enough from the parent to the kids or the kids to the parent. I realized a lot on this trip about how families survive and deal with big events like these. I’m not sure why so many are at the races when it seems like nothing but a tough situation or an argument. I’m not sharing this from my own pits but from what I saw on this trip. I cannot wait to have a kid, and if I’m lucky enough that he likes racing, I’ll try to be a better parent than 80% of the families I witnessed at this race. Life just shouldn’t be that way, in my opinion, especially if you’re racing dirt bikes. But as I said I am an outsider looking in and maybe don’t have the whole story behind what goes on, but what was in front of my eyes was tough to swallow sometimes. The Americans treat racing so much differently than we do. It’s scary sometimes. The sport looked as if it was huge and full of health at this race, but if you saw some of the things I witnessed then you would wonder why some of these people are even doing this. It was crazy in that sense.

As far as the Canadians go, well, we didn’t send our best riders down there but what we did send was a typical Canadian athlete. Tough, all smiles, and ready to do battle in whatever class they rode. Myself, tanner Ward and Kennedy Lutz were the only racers to crack into the top 6 in any of the classes. I really liked the way Tanner Ward handled himself down there. I mentioned it in my final photo report that you can see HERE (add link). I really feel like this kid; he could make a good run in this sport. Whether or not it will be in Canada or the US, I just like the riding skill he has. The heart he shows on the bike and the toughness to roll into a big event like this and not be phased by any of the US racers with all the fancy bling was good to see. It’s a long road with many dollars spent and countless hours riding but if he wants to make it I think this kid can.

I received some emails from some fans regarding a post on MXforum about why I was never mentioned in Canadian media (Only MXP and DMX were down there and it was hard to take a pic of myself while riding. LOL) It really is no skin off my back and when I did chat with Billy Bigwave of DMX, he informed me why and I said “Ok.” Then apparently the post on the MXForum was yanked for no apparent reason.  The wild world of Canadian politics in motocross. Maybe newly fired TO Mayor Rob Ford can get involved now. Hahaha

Now over to some gossip in the Canadian moto scene. Look for a big announcement concerning the KTM team in the coming weeks. The final team list is set and they will be making the announcement shortly.

Plus I chatted with Cole Thompson down in Florida. He came to visit some of his buddies racing. We had a nice long chat about his 2013 season ahead. Cole has some really good things going on for SX as he will line up for the east coast again. It seems that the rumours of him signing with Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki were a little premature. Details are still to be ironed out for the Cole Thompson to race in Canada for 2013.

Well, that’s all I have for this Monday. We are finalizing our latest issue this week and I am way behind with my stories. Just to finish off, I want to say thanks one more time to Jim Scott for letting me tag along to the Mini O’s. It was one hell of an experience.