Frid'Eh Update:Presented by Royal Distributing
JUNE 13, 2008
By Danny Brault
Hello everyone, and welcome to Frid’Eh Update #24. This edition is beginning quite a bit earlier than most. It’s Wednesday and Chuck Mesley and I are driving through Northern Ontario on our way to Morden, Manitoba for Round 3 of the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals. We’re not taking the “all Canadian” route around the lakes—it’s too long, bumpy and dangerous with those giant Moose galloping all over the place (not to mention the polar bears). We’re going to cross the border between Sault Ste Marie and Michigan and then head up through Minnesota into Emerson, MB.
Mesley almost backed out of our road trip at the last minute (which includes Morden, Regina and the Western Canadian Amateur National in Raymond, AB), after his mechanic, Damon Allen, pulled out due to work obligations. But after reassuring “The Mez” that I could help keep his Morgan Racing CRF450 in one piece and man the pit board, we were back on track. Mesley then handed me a set of 2-inch long tire irons, a bottle of dish soap, and told me to get to work.
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The Mez and I are on a western road trip. |
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photo: Brault |
With minimal seat and racing time, Mesley isn’t going for gold in Morden or Regina (I’m sure he’ll still “go for it” though). Instead, he’s using the next four weeks as preparation for the final three rounds in Moncton, Sand Del Lee and Walton. The Mez should be in pretty good shape after racing two nationals, defending his Plus 25 title at Raymond, and then hitting up the Eastern Canadian Amateur National at SDL. It’s going to be a busy summer!
Speaking of the ECAN, I talked with MX101’s Kevin Tyler at their Provincial last weekend and it sounds like it’s going to be quite the event. The ECAN begins on Wednesday July 2 (practice) and ends on Saturday July 5. Red Bull will be out in full force; one amateur racer will walk away with lessons from Jean-Sébastien Roy at the Georgia Practice Facility; Factory Connection Canada is holding a suspension seminar on Tuesday night; Phat MX is sponsoring a Mini Bike race on Thursday; Friday night is the Ogio/Red Bull Guitar Hero contest, and everyone gets to ride the full national track layout.
Like the TransCan, the ECAN features a three-moto format and anyone is eligible to enter. There are no regional qualifiers and pros are more than welcome to race Plus 25, Youth or GP Pro/Am. Check out www.eanmc.com for full info. We’re planning daily coverage from the event with photos, results and race reports on www.racerxcanada.com, and Mike Davis is helping out with video updates. Stay tuned!
But before everyone starts thinking about the Eastern Amateur National, there’s the Western Canadian Amateur National in Raymond, AB that kicks off June 26-28. I spoke with Top End Promotions’ Heather Nelson earlier this week, and she says they’re already pushing 500 entries—300 more than they had last year. New to the event this year is a round of the Alberta Endurocross Series that coincides with the WCAN on a separate track, south of the starting area. It’s the opening round of the National Endurocross Series, and you can bet the best in the west will be in the house. What else is going on? Well, 661’s Rick Sheren will again present the rider earning the most points with the Gaerne Bronze Boot, Team Faith’s Josh Snider is holding devotionals on Thursday and Sunday morning, there’s free swimming at the Raymond pool on Thursday and Friday night, and there’s a pancake breakfast on Sunday morning. Thanks to support from Lethbridge Honda/Suzuki/KTM, we’ll be posting regular updates from Raymond with flawless photos from the lens of James Lissimore and informative (and sometimes funny) reports from me.
I’ve been attending Raymond for the last two years, and it’s just a good time all around. Even though it’s an amateur national, everyone seems so relaxed and they’re just happy to be racing. It’s where my eyes were opened to amateur motocross outside of Ontario. I was introduced to western stars Ryan Millar, Spencer Knowles, Missy Hackett, Cole Varty, Luke Firth, George De Graaf Jr., Dustin Hayes, Todd Sewell, Shane Wiebe, Ryan Bissenden, and many more. Most of these riders are all grown up now and some of them are doing well at the pro level.
Royal Distributing: Enter to win a 2009 KTM 250 SXF!
Hopefully I’m in a bit better shape this year because that track gets rough! Top End’s Gerry Nelson doesn’t really groom the track much over the three days and it definitely separates the cowboys from the cowpokes. He’s still undecided which direction they’ll run the Temple Hill track. For complete info and details on the WCAN, visit www.cdnmx.com.
Heather also informed me that Lorne Gaudet is doing well after suffering serious facial injuries at the Lethbridge Arenacross in February. He has a titanium nose now, but Heather says he’s the same guy he was before and is riding again. Good to hear!
This Saturday is the grand opening of Team Powerhouse Honda of Milton (Mesley’s sponsor). There will be tons of giveaways throughout the day and a Red Rider program for the kids. If you’re in the area, stop by the Milton shop and check out all of their Honda products.
Last weekend’s Royal Distributing CMRC Ontario Provincial Presented by Motovan.com featured another great battle between Kyle Keast and Tyler Medaglia. Suzuki’s Medaglia holeshot the first MX1 moto, while Keast worked his way through the pack and into second. Keast was about eight seconds back of Tyler but tipped over in the back section. I don’t think it mattered anyways, as TM had a good lead and was showing no signs of slowing down. In moto two, Keast jumped out front early with Medaglia hot on his heels. It looked like fans were going to witness another great battle between the two, but then TM had to go and fall down and ruin everything. The mistake allowed Keast to check out and claim the win and overall.
In MX2, it was Tyler’s younger brother, Jeremy Medaglia, going toe-to-toe with Keast. The 18-year-old shot out front in moto one and put some distance on the field until Keast worked his way up to second. Keast eventually passed Jeremy towards the end, but the Suzuki OTSFF rider stayed within striking distance. Keast pretty much rode away in moto two, while Kerim Fitz-gerald claimed second after Jeremy went down. Other pros in the mix at Sand-Del-Lee were Label It’s Jason Burke and Davey Fraser, Mesley, Kyle Stephens, Kory Snelgrove, Alex Gauthier, Ryan Gauld, and Kenny “Rambo” Clark.
Keep an eye on the Medaglia brothers and Keast in Morden. All three are riding with a lot of aggression right now and are taking every lap, every moto and every race with pride, even if it’s only a provincial.
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Check out that hour meter. It's not cheap to travel the Canadian nationals. |
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photo: Brault |
Has anyone else been wondering what’s up with Edge Performance Kawasaki’s Kyle Stephens? I know I have after he “rode” around at Ste-Julie and didn’t even make it to Gopher Dunes. From what I’ve heard, Stephens was landed on by another rider in practice in Ste-Julie and hasn’t been the same since. He showed signs of brilliance at SDL, catching up to, and passing, Mesley for fourth (I believe) in the first MX1 moto, but then fell down and didn’t come out for moto two. Hopefully the kid can regain his confidence or whatever it is, because it’s always a pleasure watching his smooth and effortless riding style. Remember, Kyle: it’s just dirt bikes.
Kory Snelgrove, who played second fiddle to Stephens throughout much of their amateur career, looks good in his first year as a pro. Riding the #88 Honda, Snelgrove is trying hard to get in the mix and he led the first Youth moto over Keast and the Medaglia brothers at SDL on Saturday. Snelgrove is focusing on the Provincial series as the national head west, but he will be at the final three Eastern rounds.
We finally made it to the border crossing in Sault Ste Marie, and, as you can guess, we were pulled over by customs officers. How could you not be a little curious when you see two young men traveling in a Chevy diesel pick-up truck, towing a 40-foot Toy Hauler with four dirt bikes and thousands of dollars worth of gear, parts and equipment inside? Fortunately, after an officer checked out the racerxcanada.com website—and admired the Troy Lee Designs Fan of the Week archive—he saw that we were legit and sent us on our merry way. Now it’s dark and I’m scared. It’s okay; I have a few episodes of the Trailer Park Boys on my laptop to take my mind off things. Yes, I know, I watch that show a lot … hey, it’s better than the rest of the reality crap on TV these days.
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Here's a rider to watch this weekend. One half of the twin brother combo of Jared and Parker Allison. I believe Jared set the 5th fastest time in practice at Morden last year. He broke his collarbone just before Calgary and was unable to finish the MX2 West series. Hey, check out that lucky number (Villopoto, Stroupe...) |
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photo: James Lissimore |
I can’t wait to arrive in Manitoba. Along with the national this weekend, we’re going to tour around to some practice tracks next week and really take in the MX scene in Manitoba. I spent a week in Manitoba last year with Ignition Racing’s owner, Justin Moore, and his rider, Johnny Silegren, and we had a blast riding at the Millar family’s farm and the old national track in Grunthal. FXR’s Aaron Wiebe has promised to show us some new tracks this year and a host of pro riders are planning to stay out west between Regina.
Rumour has it that snocross ace, Tucker Hibbert, is going to be racing two western rounds. I’m not sure of which ones, but I’m predicting that we’ll see Hibbert in Morden and Regina, as those have to be the top two tracks in the western swing, he’s ridden both of them, and they’re closest to his Minnesota home.
Lethbridge Suzuki’s Dustin Hayes just checked in with us. “I’m not going to be in Morden this weekend,” he says. “I’m focusing on the Alberta Provincial series this year and really want to do well in that. I’ll be in Regina though and I’ll probably race Raymond; it’s always a good time.”
That’s too bad we won’t see Hayes in Morden. He rode strong in the mud bath there last year, finishing 10th in MX2.
The locals will be in full force this weekend, especially RTR Performance/Orange Motorsports KTM’s Ryan Millar, who finished seventh overall at Gopher Dunes. Along with Millar, I’m sure we’ll see Brady Breemersch, Adam Pfeiffer, Josh Penner, and Michael Harms. Maybe even old Earl Reimer will make it out to Morden!
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Local hotshoe, Ryan Millar will be tearing up the track this weekend in Morden. Remember his Destroyer Films video from last year? It was a good one. Click here to view it on MySpaceTV. You can find links to most of the RXC Factory Rider videos on there. |
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photo: James Lissimore |
I had a chance to visit mxforum quickly before I left and there is a good debate about who should represent Team Canada at the 2008 MXoN. Kyle Beaton is getting the lion's share of support for the MX2 candidate. Always a fan favourite, Kyle does a good job of promoting himself over there and even runs an mxforum logo on his jersey. We included some MXoN options in our Machine Racing poll. Enter your pick on the main page and send your comments to letters@racerxcanada.com. (Or just sign up for the pink palace and let hammertime have it!)
The camera continues to roll in Morden for the Racer X Canada/Destroyer Films Moto Show. We’re having a lot of fun producing these online shows and look forward to bringing you coverage from every round. If you missed the Ste-Julie or Gopher Dunes shows, click here. This is not only something new for Canadian motocross, but new for us as well, so expect each one to evolve and improve. We’re still working out a few bugs and our hosts (Dan Stenning and I) are getting more comfortable behind the lens. Ryan Gauld is sharing the hosting duties with me this weekend, so that should be fun, and FXR Racing has signed on to sponsor the Morden episode. Next weekend in Regina, we have Schrader’s Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki on board and Steve Matthes will be adding some colour to the show. Thanks for your help, guys!
And don’t forget to tune into the Racer X Motocross Show on live.motocross.com. Our buddies down south do a fantastic job taking viewers through the major happenings of the Toyota AMA Motocross Championships, and Matthes has a pretty funny bit on there called “The Bottom Line.” Check it out!
Speaking of Matthes, let's check in and see how things are going in the US of A.
And here we go! I'm writing this from the 84th floor of the palatial Racer X Illustrated offices. I've come out to Morgantown West Virgina for the 4th round of the AMA Nationals which are going to be held at the legendary Mt Morris track. I was thinking that it's too bad that Canada doesn't have a track that's held nationals for so many years. It's cool to go out and look at a track and have the old timers tell you where Stanton and Bradshaw went at it in 1992, or where Johnny O and Wardy slammed each other and got into a shoving match in 1984.
Anyways, just rambling. So far this season it's been a green show with Kawasaki winning each and every moto this year but one. (That other moto was won by Satan's child, otherwise known as Jason Lawrence.) There has been a ton of moto message board talk about the shenanigans by J-Law and his buddy Josh Hill of Factory Yamaha this past weekend in Texas and you have to be careful to sort through the ridiculous posts and banter but it boils down to this: the actions of the two young riders happened at an AMA event, unlike almost everything else they've done before. This means that the AMA has jurisdiction on the matter and I hear that this weekend there might be some additional discipline handed out beyond the fines that Yamaha has already imposed. I guess we'll see, I know the new AMA management is tired of getting railed in the press for their "non-actions" in the past and I think they'll do something this weekend. [Ed. note: the AMA just issued a press release outlining their additional fines. Read the press release here.]
These two guys are clearly not "getting it" and now you have to try to make them "get it." They are professional racers that are being paid a lot of money and therefore, unfortunately for them, are held to a higher standard than you or I when we were kids. There's a lot of money being spent on them and a lot of responsibility given to the riders so we simply cannot write it off as kids just being kids. Besides, these two have been doing things off the track that haven't been reported for a long time.
I think that a lot of the blame for these guys being the way they are should go to the riders’ agents, team managers and basically any of-age adult that lets them do these things. They obviously cannot judge for themselves how a professional rider should act, so you have to revert back to all of our childhoods when our parental figure would "judge" how we should act and dish out punishment accordingly. Do I think they should be spanked? No, but maybe just figuratively they should be.
Ok, enough about that. Have you checked out the "Bottom Line" mx show that I do each week from the nationals? What? You didn’t watch it this week? That’s because the cameraman Rob (who is a big NJ Devil fan, which explains a lot) forgot to "dump" the footage onto the hard drive and he ended up erasing the whole show! That's too bad, I think we had some funny bits that I'm not sure if we can do them again. Anyways, check it out this next week on live.motocross.com.
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Dusty Klatt had to toss his goggles in the first MX1 moto at Gopher Dunes. He wears contacts and contacts and sand don't mix! Look for a great battle this weekend between Klatt, Medaglia, Facciotti, and more! |
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photo: Lissimore |
I asked for your rider nicknames in Observations this week because I think the current guys just don't have any cool ones—just slapping the initials on the rider's ass shouldn't cut it. What about Canadian guys? There's not a lot there either. I like KD Beets and T-Dags myself, but that could be 'cause I made them up. Here's the best email I got this week about that subject from a reader. these are pretty funny and I might end up stealing some of them and calling them my own in the next few weeks.
Holy crap.... you want some nicknames??? Hmmm.… let me give it a
shot....
Austin "Chicken Noodle" Stroupe
Ryan Villopoto: "Vpo Man"
Ryan "Dung Heap" Dungey
Jake "Whiner" Weimer
"Dandy" Dan Reardon
Andrew "McFast Lane"
Jason "Low Rents"
Tucker Hibbert needs no nickname in my opinion. That kicks ass!
Here's a two-parter for the Alessi Brothers, if they want to pull in some beer sponsorship:
Mike "Aless-filling"
Jeff "A-Tastes-Great"
Timmy "The Tooth" Ferry
Andrew "Too-" Short
Matt "too" Boni
Nick "Express-Wey"
Shaun "Lynard" Skinner
Ivan Tedesco: "iTed"
Josh "Gin-Summey"
Jason "Doubting Thomas"
There has to be something for the Blose brothers....
Maybe Michael could be "The Wind", and Chris could be "Thar She" Blose.
In the "never should be used" category: Broc "Jock Tickle".
I don't know what else to add.
~Rob LaBo
Dallas, TX
Send me your Canadian rider nicknames to matthes@racerxcanada.com and we'll print the best ones next week.
Thanks Matthes and enjoy the Mt. Morris AMA national in PA!
Oh, and for the riders heading into Morden this weekend, you might want to pack your galoshes and extra tear-offs as there is rain in the forecast!
While it’s tough to stay awake reading most of the press releases we receive, it’s never boring reading Suzuki Canada’s off-road guru, Guy Giroux’s self-written PR’s. Here’s his latest piece of literary gold. (We had to make a few mods, he’s French Canadian, obviously, and we’re still not sure what “chipmucks” are.)
Hey there everybody! This week I’m feeling serious! So I will do this like a real press release … here it goes.
This week was Round 2 of the FMSQ Provincial Series and Team Giroux was ready. A lot of effort was put into training this week. As the team rider, I spend most of the week either riding or jogging. The team plan was a little changed when a friend of the team dropped off his two kids (10 and 12 year old racers) at the team headquarters on Friday, adding “babysitter” to my list of chores and team duties. The team plan was to get a little riding in on Saturday, so we left early in that direction of a little trail on our way to the race. Everything went well; the trail was nice and the team rider put in a nice little training.
When Team Giroux showed up at the track, instructions were clear to the young riders (friend’s kids) to stay close to the trailer and drink water (over 30 degrees with humidity), as the rest of the team (owner, manager, truck driver, cook, mechanic, PR guy, and rider—all me, of course) and photographer (Tiger) went for a walk of the course. The trail was long, rough, muddy, rooty, and rocky—everything was in there, and the team rider felt confident after the cook (me again) prepared his now famous diet. The rider felt great enjoying another new luxury in the team rig: the AC, wow! Another change happened in the team plan when the owner of the two chipmucks in my trailer didn’t show up. So the team manager decided to make a bed out of the table and have them sleep there, as Tiger was designated to split the big bed with the rider.
On Sunday morning the owner of the kids finally showed up, and it was now time to race. Tiger went off in the morning race, but never came back. He stopped after a lap, feeling the aftermath of a bad chicken on Friday night and the crazy heat. It was over 35 with humidity now.
By one o’clock, the team rider was ready and already sweating like a "pig,” but the team manager kept telling him to drink more. After a few stressing moments with the team’s communication system, everything was fine and I could hear clearly in my helmet. What a start the team rider put in; four kicks and everybody was gone, except one guy. So as the team objective of leading every lap this year, the rider job was clearly to pin it. After a few curves the, team rider figured out that one guy on the team didn’t do his job right; the engine technician had screwed up on the jetting, making the bike sputter in midrange like an old piece of sh!$!
"Trying to control traction and pick lines was incredibly hard,” said Giroux after the race. Anyway, after the first lap, only one tire mark was left in front but as the team communication system was already out of order, Giroux didn’t know who was leading, and he kept pushing, after two laps and two minutes behind. After three more and three minutes behind, the signal on the board said number 711 in front. Who the hell was 711? Then the rider asked the guy at the scan, who the heck is going that fast today? The answer came with a little strange face, Jason Thomas from England. Aw!
The opposition had flown in a guy to kick our rider’s butt and he was doing a good job at it. (Jason is the next David Knight; he can podium the XC2 in GNCC. He’s a really fast and nice kid who lives in Alberta, waiting for his USA visa.) At that point the rider asked who was third. After receiving the four-minute lead on third, the team manager decided second was going be good and surviving this race in second was now the plan. As the rider kept quitting, the new plan was to drink everything the rider could grab. On every lap, water was put in—and on—the rider to try and keep the body temperature down. “My feet began to burn in my boots at one time, and by experience I know when this happens I’m overheating big time so I slowed down and drank as much as I could,” said Giroux. But even by slowing down, the gap to third kept getting bigger.
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"No Tiger, just get me some water!" |
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photo: Jean, photo dude |
Team Giroux finally finished second, a good eight minutes behind the wonder kid from overseas, but a good seven minutes ahead of the closest championship contender!!
I guess KTM did a good job of hiding my competition all weekend, but they also hid him from everybody else! I'm pretty sure they would have made a bigger impact by telling everybody who was the flying Mate. Whatever, that’s just my opinion.
So this morning the team engine technician is now downgraded to team cleaner; he will wash the bikes, gear, trailer, truck, and maybe next time he will do his job like he’s supposed to!
Next week for Team Giroux will be a few MX schools and then a regional race on Sunday.
A big thanks to this week’s new partners; Scott @ AXIS for dressing me like a kid and Brendan @ LimeNine who will dress my bike soon.
P.s. Just in case you got confused:
Team owner: me
Manager: me
Rider: me
Stupid engine technician: me
Tiger: Jean, photo dude. The pic where I’m coming around with one hand, I’m trying to tell Tiger to "forget the pics and gimme water dumbass!” but as professional as he is, he took the pics.
Over and out!
Guy Giroux
All right folks, we’ve finally crossed the border into Manitoba and it’s time to shut’er down. Thanks for reading!
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We're back in the homeland. Morden or bust. |
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photo: Brault |
