Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
With Round 3 in the books, my family and I packed up and kept heading east to Regina for the final western race of the 2017 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals.
Everyone told us how the drive was going to be flat, bare and straight. Boy, were they right. The drive from Calgary to Regina started off straight and took us for what seemed like a day to travel 20 miles, but later down the road there were some elevation changes to rolling grassy hills, which always helps make the trip feel shorter.
As I was looking out the window, I saw this strange object in the distance and got curious as to what it was. The closer we got, there was more to see; paved bicycle paths from all directions leading up to this object, it looked like a giant teepee. My family and I were all trying to guess what it was and none of us had a logical guess as to what this mysterious landmark was. We finally saw a sign that invites everyone to come see the “World’s Largest Teepee”, called the Saamis. It stood 65 meters (215 feet) high and was built for the 1988 Winter Olympics. Located in Medicine Hat, Alberta, it was a pretty cool thing to see.
We definitely saw a few very cool things during our visit to western Canada.
As each race is getting closer and closer to the middle of Canada, we started to see animals we were more familiar with, such as deer, rabbits and the common geese and sea gulls. On this journey from Calgary to Regina, we’ve discovered only one new animal that was very different from what we see back home, and these things were everywhere.
Here is one of the many new friends we met in Canada.
These little guys are called Prairie Dogs, they live underground and look a lot like a traditional squirrel we know back home. The first time we noticed these small creatures, we were at a gas station and my dog found their holes. It was like watching a little kid play a game of whack-amole as they would pop their heads up, then our dog Moji would pounce like a deer and shove his nose into the ground having no luck getting one. I didn’t get the chance to capture that moment or the animal at the time, but luckily they live all through Saskatchewan and I was soon able to get some on camera. They aren’t the fastest animal around, but they sure do know how to make a piercing screeching noise that makes the dogs, and even us, tilt our heads wondering what it was. Anyway, after getting entertained by one of Canada’s smallest animals, we continued on to Regina and the Moto Valley track.
The Regina track was an interesting mixture of hard packed dirt and tacky ruts.
With lap times just over two minutes long, Moto Valley Raceway delivered us the longest track of the tour yet! The track was very hard packed, but in a different hard packed way. The fast, clumpy, and yet top soil-like dirt was giving the riders a lot of varying feedback. The track was challenging for the riders as they tried to get into the rhythm during the race. But all in all, it was another very interesting Canadian track. One thing is for sure, if you want to race this Canadian series and do well, you sure have to know how to ride on all types of surfaces.
MX1 Top 3:
1. #377 Christophe Pourcel
3. #2 Matt Goerke
MX2 Top 3:
1. #1 Cole Thompson
Although the surrounding landscape in Regina wasn’t as cool as say BC, the scenery at the track was still pretty solid.
We now have a weekend off to let these Pros recharge before heading to what everyone is saying is the toughest track of the series in Gopher Dunes. I cannot wait to cross the border again into Canada and begin out trek east. Not only are we looking forward to the races and the tracks that await us, but we’re also looking forward to the new adventures that are ahead for the Denzler family as we continue our journey through Canada. Oh, and Happy Birthday Canada! I will definitely be thinking of you on July 1st .
Big shoutout to MXP Magazine for thinking outside the box with this journal, and follow my Instagram (@sdenzlerphotography & @summerdenzler) for behind the scenes race day footage and photos of this incredible journey. I cannot wait to see everyone at Gopher Dunes in a few weeks.
