Frid'Eh Update #51 Presented by BlackfootDirect.com

Hello everyone! Thanks so very much for clicking on this fifty-first edition of the DMX Frid’eh Update, we appreciate it and I know that Blackfootdirect.com appreciates it. Y’see, they’re the sponsor of this thing and they make it all possible. We need to thank them and we all need to buy things from them.

Just to make it easier to pull the trigger on actually purchasing things, the boys down there have made it so that you can punch in “DMX” in the offer code section when you’re ready to check out and you’ll get an extra 10% off your order. Yeah, I said that. If you hurry you can still get your crap in time for X-mas.

"If you don't order from Blackfootdirect.com, Dusty's going to poke my good eye out!" Ok, that's jacked up and I'm sorry but if that's what it takes for you guys to order from BFD, then I'm gonna do it. By the way, this is actually Dusty's Pug named Chole. I have photos of all the real Klatt Pugs and will be running them from now on. Thanks Kayla!

Remember shipping is just $20 anywhere in Canada and free for any order over $500. Which means that snow-plow you ordered can be shipped to you for free. Please, I urge you to check out blackfootdirect.com for everything and anything snow and dirt related.

Speaking of snow, I just got back from Winnipeg and although there wasn’t much snow on the ground, good god it was effing cold! Like minus 40 almost every day I was there. The windchill ripped right through to your bones and made me really think about how anyone could settle there back in the day. Wouldn’t the massive mosquitoes that populate the air in the summer scare you to move south in the summer? If they didn’t then for sure the ice flows and polar bears trying to eat you would make one think that they need to get the hell out of this place ASAP.

This is looking out my mom's front door.

I guess not though as that’s where I’m born and raised and all my family (except for Pops who beat it out to the west coast) are there as well. Winnipeg is a cool city, kind of down home feeling but there is one thing that gets me every time I go back.

Nothing changes.

It’s like I’m in a time warp of my childhood when I visit the city. There doesn’t seem to be much progression or change. Sure there’s a new big-box store or whatever but the roads are the same, the buildings are the same and the strip malls seem to just forever be there.

Maybe I’m spoiled living in Las Vegas where it seems there are new casinos being built everyday as, after all, a casino is a casino right? Anyways, it was nice to be back and although my streak of not wearing pants is now up to a year and two months, I kind of wish I broke it this past weekend. I have one pair of jeans and one pair of funeral/wedding black pants and I couldn’t find the jeans before I left. So I was out of luck and had to run the shorts everywhere I went in Winnipeg and I certainly got some strange looks when I walked around with a Slurpee in my hand but hey, whatever right? My philosophy is that if you think it’s cold out, then it probably is. If you think it’s warm, then you will be warm. Just call me Matthesfucius.

Here's her neighbor, he smells like fish.

I was able to pick up last season’s Trailer Park Boys season though so that was awesome. No Cory and Trevor though.

As this is the fifty-first edition of the update, we’d like to dedicate this to CMRC national number 51 and that’s none other than Nick Wey! Yeah, that’s right the Michigan Mafia member that we all know and love down south raced one national last year at Sand de Lee and earned a fourth place overall. That earned him enough points for 51 and, thanks to our web ninja techno-geek Marty (who went to the midnight showing of Avatar last night in case you’re wondering how big of a geek he really is) we can see how Wey would’ve looked had he run his CMRC number.

Wey with his "CMRC" number on at Bercy.

I went with Nick to that national and he was a good sport about the whole deal. He never once thought that he was going to clean house and even after he was the fastest guy on Saturday, he wasn’t overly confident. On race day, he never got the start he needed to run with the top guys and they gapped him pretty easy. As a former mechanic I know he didn’t have on a pure sand tire and that hurt him, I know his practice bike had some serious time on it and actually blew up the day after the race and I know that he had the drive up there and all that to contend with but he never took any of these lifelines given to him. He just raced hard, tried his best and got beat. Then the next weekend he finished fifth overall at Millville so that should tell you all you need to know about comparing Canadian nats with USA nationals. They’re just different ok?

Here is Wey last year at SDL. James Lissimore pic

Anyways, we had a good time up there, everyone was real cool and it was a win-win situation for everyone. I even did a feature story in Racer X about the experience and that goes along with the feature that Pingree and I did this past summer at Walton. Who am I going to bring up in 2010? I dunno but a good guess would be my buddy Ferry, if only for a race or two.

He’s definitely interested in coming up to Canada and racing but it has to make sense financially and I’m not sure if anyone can pay him what he needs to make. At this point, he doesn’t really need to prove anything to anyone but I think if he did come up and race this summer, he’d give it his all and let the chips fall where they may.

Congrats to Spencer Knowles on his Leading Edge Kawasaki ride! Man, Clearbrook Yamaha is just a breeding grounds for teeny, tiny fast BC riders. LIssimore shot

Let's check in with James Lissimore who just squeeked this in to me right before hitting "publish."

 

First off, thanks to everyone who's ordered my book so far. The response has been great and I'm excited to see that people are stoked on it. If you haven't checked it out yet, you can catch a preview of the book here and if you like what you see, you can order it through my site, www.lissimorephoto.com

Also, if your heading to the Nex-Trax arenacross this weekend in Chilliwack, I will have copies with me.

Speaking of Chilliwack, this Saturday marks Round 5 of the Nex-Trax series. This weekend is only a single night round so everything will be on the line. Will it be another Blackfoot battle between Dusty Klatt and Kyle Beaton? Can anyone else step up and challenge them? Possibly the Leading Edge duo of Brady Sheren and Brock Hoyer? Or maybe incoming Leading Edge rider, Spencer Knowles in one of his final rides on the Clearbrook Yamaha? We will find out tomorrow night. One rider who won't be challenging is RTR KTM's Eric Nye, who broke his collarbone. I talked to him this week and he may be at the next rounds in January but his main focus is healing up to take a run at reclaiming his MX2 title. Heal up soon, Eric.

The other news this week was Spencer Knowles signing on with the Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki team. This had been in the works for a while now but with the motorcyle industry being on such shaky ground these days, budgets really have to be finalized before any moves can be made. It's a good move for LE, they get one of the top up and comers in the country and he's got a good presence at the local BC races as well. I'm sure it won't hurt to be teamed up with reigning champ, Teddy Maier as well. He'll probably pick up a trick or two.

That's it for me this week, stay tuned for updates from Chilliwack.

Thanks James!

 

It looks like the Hungarian Warrior, Kornel Nemeth, will be making another run at some selected Canadian nationals. Andy White, the head honcho at KTM, confirmed that he’ll be back at some races. I was worried that we might see the big lunk at the races as a list I saw of confirmed teams for the GP’s contained his name and I was thinking he had a deal to do all of them and not Canada. Judging by his reaction to free OGIO gear bags last summer, I’m sure he wants to be back and get more free stuff. Nice guy, great rider, shitty starter.

 

Oh and Andy White and Ryan Lockhart have entered into an official contract and everything for the 2010 season. Nice to know that the DMX pressure got to Andy!

Still looking for that special x-mas gift for the moto fan in your family? There’s still time left to get some official DMX wear! That’s right, as the lovely Kait shows right here, we have something for everyone!

Ho, ho, ho- get your official DMX wear right HERE. Easy Kuli, hands back on the keyboard please. Photo by Stenning

The DMX poll question is just about to be closed and I have to admit that the results surprised me but they show Blair Morgan with a commanding lead on everyone else. Good to see Superman still in everyone’s thoughts and they want to hear from him. Second place is John Nelson from Machine Racing and I actually called him yesterday to see if he would do one. He first said no way because he figured I’d trap him into talking about things that make him go off and then he’ll get in trouble. Once I mentioned that certain topics would be avoided as to not get him wound up, he seemed more open with a “I’ll think about it..” and then he had to go as there were actual customers in the shop. So I’ll keep trying to get The Moaner on the show. Maybe I’ll just call him up, hit record, and get the show that way.

Just kidding John!

Another thing that surprised me was little Danny Brault trailing the pack with only 8% of the vote. Poor Danbro. He’s the one who started the whole DMX site and now no one cares about him? Weird, I thought for sure he wouldn’t get last but that should show you what I know. I asked Danny to give me his opinion on the whole debacle and he wrote this:

WTF?? How in the heck am I sitting last place on the DMX Poll? Seriously, only 8 percent of you wanna hear me talk? Would you really rather listen to Alien Arms Facciotti mutter a total of 36 words with such mind boggling comments as "Yeah, Blackfoot is great and working with JSR is good .... " "The bike is good ... " "I feel great ... " "Just gotta keep working hard, ya know ..." Or hear "The Moaner" ramble on about how kids these days just don't get it and listen to him recite his favourite lines from "Winners Take All?" I can understand and appreciate a podcast with Blair, but my goodness. Don't the readers know who started DMX??? I thought I was a big deal .....
 
I'm hurt, buddy. But you know what? I've been a loser my whole life. I've never won anything ... except for a couple of bush league hockey rings and two Pro Line tickets. So I guess I shouldn't expect anything more from your poll. Merry Christmas to the 8 percent who voted for me, and as for the rest, I hope Dasher and Prancer take a dump in your stocking.

Thanks Danny for that. I think. Anyways, if you voted for Danny I would absolutely love it if you wrote me at steve@directmotocross.com and told me why you thought Brault would make a great podcast guest. All submissions from Corey Brault will be ignored.

Danny then followed up with this contribution to Update:

Matthes, would you mind tossing in a link to our Facebook Photo Contest? We're trying hard to reach the crowd on these "social" sites and launched a very bountiful Photo Contest yesterday. Basically, people become a fan of our corporate Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/YamahaMotorCanada), upload a photo of them and their Yamaha and wait to see if they win. The contest ends on February. As images come in, we'll post them on the contest page under the main header. Best pic wins a $5000 Yamaha Shopping Spree. Not too bad, eh? You should sign up and send us your best Yamaha pic. Maybe one of you and Timmy each holding a grip? Cute.

On to Dan Paris and his contribution to the update

 

Lemme see what’s happening in the woods this week.

I got an email from Renee Turner saying that Kermaxx Performance Accessories has signed on as title sponsor of the 2010 Alberta Provincial Off-Road Series. We are working toward getting regular updates up on DMX as that series progresses.

Ice racing is really fun if you're warm and have a set-up bike. If not, it's hell.

Speaking about Alberta, Corner Grass Racing Team (you know, the Husaberg guys) are busy getting ready to defend their 2008 and 2009 AEIRA Ice Racing titles aboard a big honkin’ Husaberg FE570. When the snow melts Shane Cuthbertson will again race the Canadian Enduro Championship for CGRT, this time on a Husaberg FX450. CGRT is all about ‘Extreme Enduro’, and not only will the team be contesting every Extreme Enduro in North America in 2010, they are also at work planning the first-ever Canadian Extreme Enduro race. Exact details are forthcoming, but the event will take place in Alberta.

 

The WEC and CMRC are still finalizing dates and venues for the new Ontario Cross Country Series, taking care to make sure the dates don’t conflict with motocross dates to make it as easy as possible for riders to race both series.

Kymco is now a sponsor of the Enduro Nationals.

While I am talking about the WEC, I should mention that Parts Canada has taken on a major sponsorship role at the Enduro Nationals. The series will be known officially as the 2010 Royal Distributing Canadian Enduro Championship, presented by Parts Canada. I’m working on a story about this right now, so you’ll have to wait a few days to get all the details. Kymco, known for their scooters and small motorcycles, has also signed on as a CEC sponsor and will award the overall series champion with a cool new scooter to putt around on!

At the Toronto motorcycle show last weekend I was really stoked to see so many people are reading my drivel on DMX. Your comments hyper-inflated my ego to Zeppelin proportions. I used my new Hindenburg-head for lift and floated upstairs at the convention center, where I charmed the Nazi she-wolf security guard on duty into letting take this blurry photo of the show through a crummy window.

The Toronto show was buzzing with activity. Dan Paris was their golden god.

Anyway, I also want to thank my Harley friends over at Motorcycle Mojo for beer-ing me up Friday night at the World Enduro Canada party across the street from the bike show at the Overdraft pub. The joint was packed with industry people and riders from the enduro and motocross world, with Sean Wiesner’s band ‘Johnny Rev and Pushrods’ keeping the place hopping.

The internet and airwaves are buzzing with rumours about teams for the CEC this year. Husqvarna brass hinted they would be introducing a couple more riders to the Feeding Performance Husqvarna/ZipTY racing team shortly. Husky dealers are also busy working out the details on support programs for their own riders.

What will see at the CEC's in 2010? Stay tuned...

The other manufacturers are also working out the details for their CEC teams right now. I’m not going to say exactly who will be where, because I don’t know for sure, but I do know that they are all fishing from the CEC Pro talent pool to pull in riders. There will also a couple of very well known Canadian motocross racers making the plunge into Enduro and off-road racing this season. I’ll let you know who as soon as it’s official. See, this is an awkward time to be a journalist…everybody wants to tell me stuff, but off the record. So I’ll be tight lipped and just say ‘Stay tuned’. 2010 is going to be the biggest year for Canadian off-road racing yet. By far.

 

Thanks Dan for this and all your hard work on DMX informing all the off-road kooks about what’s up. And I say kooks with all the respect in the world. I’ve raced a couple of GNCC’s and you guys are gnarly. If it wasn’t for Dan and DMX, there would be virtually no Canadian off-road news anywhere and I appreciate it. I got an email from my buddy CTI Trevor and he really enjoyed the off-road updates and looked forward to reading them every week. A new off-road fan is born!

Got a note from Siert at Orange Motorsports about their brand new, re-designed and bitching website. They now have on-line shopping where you can get everything and anything related to KTM’s plus other stuff with there. Check out orangemotorsports.ca for all the cool stuff on there.

And now something from Chris Pomeroy:

Hey everyone, Merry Christmas!  I just wanted to let you know that last weekend Chuck Mesley broke his leg while playing hockey. Myself, Chuck and Luke Downey all play for the Shelburne Muskies in the WOAA Senior A Hockey league in Ontario. Well, during a game in Drayton, Ontario last Sunday Chuck got his skate caught in the boards and broke his Fibula. In true Mesley fashion, he didn't fall down on the ice and delay the game, a game that we were winning 6-2 at the time. Instead he made it to the bench and simply told all his teammates the he broke his ankle.

Canada's rolling tank, Chuck Mesley broke his leg playing hockey. Get well soon Chuckles! Lissimore photo

I spoke to Chuck on Thursday and he had this to say, " I went to the Doctor yesterday and he said I broke my Fibula. Lucky for me it was a clean break and I won't need surgery, just 5 or 6 weeks in a air cast. It was such a weird thing, I just get my skate caught against the boards and rolled my ankle over. With all my weight on my foot, I guess something had to give.  I think I'm done for the season, but we'll see".  Here's hoping Chuck heals fast and gets back on the ice for another long playoff run.  If not, I'm sure he will be ready to defend his Ontario Championships in the spring.  That’s all I got, Merry Christmas everyone.  I hope everyone has a safe holiday.

 Thanks Palms, we got this from the Walton Trans-Can Facebook page. Sign up if you’re a geek and into this type of stuff:

Hey fellow group members and fans,

It's James here letting you know that http://www.facebook.com/l/07bde;MotoPicks.com has officially launched for the 2010 Monster Energy AMA Supercross!

We have two exciting Fantasy Leagues available, one each, for the Supercross and Lites classes. Play to win sweet motocross prizes!

** Gift Cards Now Available **
If you know someone who would love to try Fantasy Motocross, why not give them an official  Fantasy Moto Gift Card for the holidays. Gift cards can be redeemed for both Supercross and Lites series. Just be sure to correctly enter the redemption code during checkout.
Don't miss the first round, January 9th 2010. Sign up now and start picking your teams! Have fun!

Ready, set, GO!

http://www.facebook.com/l/07bde;www.MotoPicks.com/

** What the Heck is Fantasy Motocross? **
Let's face it, like it or not, at some point we are all couch racers, and what better way to earn bragging rights than to manage your own race team and prove it once and for all!

MotoPicks.com makes it easy for you to create and manage your very own Pro race team. Each round, you are given $1,000,000 fantasy dollars to hire riders from the AMA series rider list. Be careful though, each rider has a price value so you want to pick riders that give most bang for your buck. Your team can have as many riders you can afford.

After each round, http://www.facebook.com/l/07bde;MotoPicks.com takes the AMA results, and applies the points earned, to the riders you choose.

As the series goes on and your riders win points, you will either move up or down in the series standings, your goal is to win the series and come out on top and win the #1 plate!

 

That’s it for the Frid’eh Update and thanks for reading. Lay off the eggnog and see you next week!

The Sweeper in all his glory. Nice 'stache.