Grab another cup for this week’s Monday Morning Coffee column where we talk about some of what happened in Motocross over the weekend and more…
By Billy Rainford
We woke up to -15C this morning here at the DMX World HQ in London, Ontario. It doesn’t look like we’re at any risk of having a green Christmas in these parts. The problem is that the 3 or 4 snowstorms we’ve already had this fall took away our mountain biking much earlier than we’ve seen in recent years. November and into December are usually good for cycling as long as you’ve got the proper gear for it. 5-8 C is fine and means you can carry your fitness further into the year. Not this time.
I feel like my cycling fitness has been dropped off a cliff! Sure, I have a gym member ship where they have ample bikes, upright and recumbent, and we have 2 fancy stationaries in the basement, but it’s just not the same.
I have a hard time getting motivated to sit on a non-moving bike for any length of time. Yes, I’ll force myself to do it, but a simple 1-hour ride feels like a 6-hour slugfest. I know it helps keep you in reasonable off-season shape, but there’s nothing that compares to being out on the road or in the trails.
Not to mention, we should have been able to hit local motocross tracks throughout November and into December, but this weather has put an end to that, too. Ah crap, all this talk of weather reminds me I still need to wedge myself into our crawlspace and turn off the outdoor water. Emily? How flexible are you feeling?
I hope everyone made it home from the Mini O’s safely or to whichever training facility they’re lucky enough to be riding at through the winter months. I know some of our younger, fast, up-and-comers are spending more time down south and doing online schooling.
Speaking of the Mini O’s, I still have to post up ‘Faces at the Races‘ from a long week of racing. I’ll get to that as soon as I can. ig thanks to Mitch Cooke over at Callus Moto for sponsoring this year’s content.
Round 4 of the 5-round FIM WSX series took place in Stockholm, Sweden on Saturday. Unfortunately, the SX1 class has taken a big hit as far as top competitors go. No Ken Roczen, Eli Tomac or Haiden Deegan left it down to a battle between Jason Anderson and Joey Savatgy with El Hombre able to get it done in some very soft and challenging conditions.
The series heads to its final round in Cape Town, South Africa this coming weekend.
We’ve got Cole Thompson and Noah Viney to cheer for as Canadians in the SX2 class. Cole admitted he wasn’t happy with how it went in those outdoor motocross-like conditions and he was an uncharacteristic 10th when the night finished. He sits 6th in points with the one round to go.
Noah seems to only get mentioned on the broadcast when when Ralph Sheheen has something negative to say. Sure, he’s not lighting the world on fire in the series but he’s the youngest on the line and continues to pick up valuable experience and seat time that should help him advance as a Pro rider.
Max Anstie finally lost a SX2 race but still took the overall and looks to be a shoe in to reclaim his World Title when we leave Africa next week.
SX2:
- 99 Max Anstie 1-1-3 40
- 16 Enzo Lopes 8-2-1 37
- 1 Shane McElrath 2-6-2 36
- 460 Michael Hicks 33
- 69 Coty Schock 27
- 43 Cullin Park 25
- 64 Robbie Wageman 21
- 141 Maime Desprey 19
- 5 Alex Larwood 19
- 2 Cole Thompso 18
- 62 Kelana Humphrey 11
- 110 Kyle Peters 9
- 11 Kyle Chisholm 8
- 39 Noah Viney 7
SX2 Points:
- 99 Max Anstie 175
- 69 Coty Schock 134
- 1 Shane McElrath 131
- 43 Cullin Park 115
- 16 Enzo Lopes 114
- 2 Cole Thompson 98
- 460 Michael Hicks 90
- 110 Kyle Peters 78
- 141 Maxime Desprey 69
- 64 Robbie Wageman 52
- 11 Kyle Chisholm 51
- 39 Noah Viney 32
SX1:
- 21 Jason Anderson 2-1-1 44
- 17 Joey Savatgy 1-2-2 41
- 28 Christian Craig 3-4-3 35
- 29 Henry Miller 25
- 45 Colt Nichols 22
- 911 Jordi Tixier 20
- 200 Ryan Breece 20
- 319 Ander Valentin 20
- 88 Devin Simonson 19
- 98 Austin Politelli 19
- 719 Vince Friese 17
- 99 Jorge Zaragoza 12
- 4 Luke Clout 9
- 20 Gregory Aranda 0
SX 1 Points:
- 21 Jason Anderson 126
- 17 Joey Savatgy 126
- 28 Christian Craig 125
- 94 Ken ROczen 122
- 29 Henry Miller 65
- 98 Austin Politelli 62
- 200 Ryan Breece 59
- 911 Jordi Tixier 53
- 88 Devin Simonson 46
- 20 Gregory Aranda 46
Final round: December 13, Cape Town, South Africa
Watch on RevTV in Canada.
Shelby Turner posted on Instagram that she’s leaving GasGas but staying with the same team:
Brett Lee sent over this YouTube video from the 2005 Future West Arenacross Championship at Chilliwack Heritage Park in Chilliwack, BC. He asked if I thought this was the peak of Canadian MX. I think it was definitely the height of Canadian AX racing! It was broadcast on TSN with the rest of the 5-round, cross-Canada series.
I was actually there that night and have the mostly blurry photos to prove it! I drove my used 1993 Dodge Minivan that I bought for $2000 out to Chilliwack from Kits in Vancouver for it.
Side note: I remember knowing it was a really good deal on the van and that they were notorious for blowing transmissions. When we went to change to ownership over, the clerk asked why it was so cheap. I quipped “Because the transmission is about to go” and whipped my head over to the previous owner who was shaking her head and giving me a sheepish smile. It was definitely about to go.
It made it for a couple years to Tofino, hockey games, and Whistler, and even got me back to Ontario when I moved back in 2007!
And then the tranny went and my mechanic “friend” said he’d get it towed and give me the money for whatever the wreckers gave him for it. I never heard from him again, but that’s another story…
I was the “Moto Hunter” contributing for Racer X Canada at the time. I think I had just upgraded from one of those silver automatic Sony cameras to a Canon Rebel. It was a big step up for me and I had yet to get a grasp of what it took to shoot photos in these tricky lighting conditions.
Have a great week, everyone. I’ll get to work on Faces at the Races. I went over to check out Disgusteen at a Toys For Tots fundraiser Sunday afternoon. They’re a Teenage Head tribute band and do a great job of it. I’d just like to see a little more dark eye-liner on the lead singer. Lol IYKYK
Recognize anyone on stage here? His son, Max, is singer and lead guitar for Full Throttle but he was on stage earlier in the day in an Alice in Chains tribute band. I didn’t see them but am told he does a pretty amazing Layne Staley!
Well, we’ll let Mike McGill say it this week: “See you at the races…“
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