Sliding Doors With Sierra Roth

Change is Good

So here’s the thing, I have been blonde for most of my life. Well, as my life is drastically changing for the better over the next few years, I decided to change things up. Yes, I dyed my hair dark… like really dark. Now, if you read my first post, you all should know that I work at a school as an EA. The kids I work with were feeling quite uneasy about this sudden change as they were so used to me being blonde. Actually, if I remember correctly, one kid was definitely put out that I changed my hair colour when blonde apparently looked just fine on me. He described my new appearance as “witch looking.” At that point I was tempted to show up to school with a broom in hand because clearly, these students were not a fan of Miss. Roth anymore. My mother, for those who know her, was just as much put out. According to her, if I am not blonde, we don’t look like sisters anymore. To me this was a huge bonus, but to her, well, I guess it hurt her ego a little bit. So anyways, here I am, rolling out of the salon, feeling like a whole new woman, thinking I just made the best decision ever, only to be shut down by a bunch of twelve year olds and my mother. Well, guess what people? As Pinterest quotes tell me, “Life is like underwear, change is good!”

So how does this have anything to do with motocross? Well, lots of reasons actually. The CDNWMX Series has seen many changes over the years and I can definitely say, it still has a lot of drastic changes ahead. After the fall out in 2011 with our series, Denaye and Camille took it upon themselves and did everything possible to keep it alive. We have all heard the story many times of where we started and where these women have brought the series. As many have said, these women brought our series to a whole new level. An exciting announcement you have all hopefully seen by now is the addition of a fourth round for both the east and west series. Denaye and Camille both worked extremely hard to obtain this, but never were able to do that. I think with Mark Stallybrass allowing a fourth round this year, shows how much this series has changed and will be changing for the better. Thanks again Mark!

With the west series getting handed over to Kristi Moore and myself, honestly, we are a little nervous on what to expect this year. With the dollar being as poor as it is, we are experiencing the trickling effect with many sponsors not being able to support us, as they are all getting cut down with their budgets. So with that, we have had to think outside the box on how to raise some money for the series purse, to make it worth going to each national for the women who are able to attend. With that being said, if any of you haven’t seen, this year the west series is offering riding schools in three provinces that will be run by the 2015 top 5 riders. This is not only to raise money for the series purse, but we are hoping this raises awareness to many women out there on what our series is all about. We are noticing that a lot of our top girls are in their final years of racing the series, so we are going to have to begin developing the next generation of girls. I figured this would be the perfect way to do just that. I am grateful that the top 5 girls are willing to give back to the sport and volunteer their time to do this. So, if you haven’t registered for one of our riding schools, please do so by heading over to our website and clicking on riding schools at the top of the page in the menu bar! It will definitely be an amazing experience for all that attend.

If attending a riding school isn’t your thing, but you want to know how else to help out, we are selling t-shirts at $25 each as well. You can contact me through the website to find out how to get your hands on one. We are hoping to have a few auction prizes to advertise soon too, so please keep your eye on our social media accounts and our website for more details. While at local races, Kristi and I will be collecting bottles as well, so if you have any bottles you would like to donate, please contact us! We are pretty friendly people, so if you still don’t know how you can help, contact us!

The podium celebrations are always alot of fun at the CMRC Women’s Nationals. Photo by James Lissimore

The east series has also been experiencing the same trickle effects and Leah Clarke is needing some major help too. If anyone doesn’t know, Leah is trying to balance way more than the normal human being by working two jobs, finishing her last year in University, and a few other projects on top of organizing the east. Hats off to her because I don’t know how she is doing it all. With that being said, the east girls need to step up to the plate and get in contact with her on how to help out. Without the support, Leah will not be able to do it on her own, it just isn’t a one man job anymore. She had an update a few days ago on our Facebook that stated the following, “EAST COAST LADIES! Your help is needed in finding sponsors for YOUR 2016 Women’s East series! Please, if you have sponsors, or have an idea, I (Leah Clarke, lclar017@uottawa.ca) encourage you to send me their contact information in order for me to contact them for potential sponsorship. I’m looking for sponsors to help with draw table prizes, podium awards, and special awards. Also, I’m looking into doing a riding school to fund raise, so please let me know if you’re interested in helping. This is your chance to make YOUR series the best it can be!” With that, I am telling you, you won’t find anything more rewarding than giving back to the sport we all care so much for. Leah also asked me to mention that she will have a batch of t-shirts for anyone who would like to buy some over on the east and a riding school is in the making, so please keep your eyes out for updates on that.

Although all this may seem like a negative to the changes that are happening in our country and in our sport, I believe this series will be stronger than ever with the sponsors that are on board (update to come) and having four rounds on each side. I encourage all women of any skill level and age to attend as many national races as you can. I promise you, you won’t regret it and you will walk away this year with a handful of memories, as we have proven over the last few years. After all, change is good!