Greetings! I hope everyone of our incredible, hardworking Moto Dad’s out there had a great day yesterday. Most of us would not be where we are today without the love and support of our Father’s, so I’m happy that we were able to take a day and give them an extra bit of thanks.
After ten exciting and enjoyable days in Alberta, my family and I made our way home early last week, and did our best to quickly get back into routine. But, we also had a lot of preparation to do as we hosted a celebration of life for my Dad on Saturday. Sadly he passed away on December 10th. At the time we decided not to have a traditional funeral for my father (per his wishes), and the plan was made to have a celebration of life get together at our home in the country. The is the same farm that my parents built soon after I was born and they lived there for 49 years. My Dad loved this place so, it was only fitting to honour him there in front of numerous friends, family, and former work colleagues. Under bright sunshine and perfect temperatures, we ate, had a few drinks, and told a bunch of awesome stories about my Dad. It was an incredibly emotional day for everyone, but in the end it was a perfect way to honour and to celebrate my Dad’s 80 years on this planet.
After the party I had to jump on a plane to Lyon, France for the 2025 Sherco off-road media launch. In case you didn’t know, Sherco is a French manufacture of off-road and SuperMoto bikes, and in Canada they are handled by Guy Giroux out of Quebec. Today I spent numerous hours riding the new Sherco’s through muddy and rocky trails. At first the rain was annoying as it was making everything messy and hard to see. However, after a while I was soak to the bone, the bikes were a mess, and honestly, I quit caring. Overall though, the new Sherco’s work well and they were a pleasure to ride. If you’re in the market for new off-road bike, I would suggest checking them out. Tomorrow, I’m heading home and back to the grind.
So, with everything that was going on this past weekend, I obviously missed Round 3 of the Triple Crown Series in Pilot Mound, Manitoba. It was unfortunate, as I always enjoyed going to Manitoba for a Pro National, but this weekend I had other plans. I did however follow the events of the weekend on Social Media, and I was able to watch the second motos in my hotel room on the RydeTV App. Thankfully the track crew did an incredible job getting the track rideable after all of the rain that rolled through overnight. If there’s one thing that most of the tracks in Manitoba don’t like, it’s rain and, Pilot Mound received a ton of it as everyone slept on Saturday night. However, after a few delays the races went on and by the second motos, the track’s main line had dried out, and conditions were rough and rutted. It’s getting late here in France so I won’t go into too many details about the results from Round 3. Don’t worry, I will follow up on Wednesday with Gate Drop Part 2. But, what about Dylan Wright making one of the most astonishing recovery’s in modern day sports and lining up yesterday. I had spoken to his Dad earlier in the week, and he told me that there was a small chance that Dylan might race Round 3, but only if his recovery and physio went well. I was shocked to hear his Dad say this as I wondered what exactly Dylan could do to even be able to consider racing. I mean, obviously he’d want what every racer would want, which is to get right back on that horse. Well, by the sounds of it, once Dylan was released from the hospital, his thoughts immediately turned to trying to get ready for Round 3. I mean, as long as his head was okay, then I say good on him for giving it a go and trying to salvage some points. Any rider who has gone out and raced while nursing some serious injuries knows exactly how Dylan felt yesterday. His results were incredible given what he went through from Sunday afternoon on at Round 2 in Lethbridge. I know, there are multiple videos of his crash, so the entire world has now seen it. But to be there and see the crash, as well as the aftermath live, and then to see him racing yesterday, that takes some strength and determination. Now, he has a few weeks to rest and heal up before the Triple Crown Series heads to Gopher Dunes, a track that Dylan rarely loses at. Finally, it was great to see Josiah Natzke go 1-1 and get his first-ever 450 Pro Class win yesterday. In the past, Natzke has also been good at Gopher Dunes, Aaron Tanti will be even better after a few more weeks of training, and Jess Pettis is riding better than he ever has. I think it’s safe to say that Round 4 is going to be a good one without a doubt.
Well, that is it for my shortened version of the Monday Gate Drop. Right now, it’s 11:00pm in France and after a long day of riding in the mud, it’s time for bed. Thank you for reading this week and if you have any comments or questions, please email me at chris@mxpmag.com. As I said, I will have more on yesterday’s results from Manitoba on Wednesday.
