Out of the Blue presented by Schrader's

May 31 2010 - 12:41pm - Angie Parker

Out of the Blue presented by Schrader's Motors! Many thanks to Schrader's for supporting women in motocross. http://www.schradermotors.com/

Getting to Know…Any Lavoie:

Quebec resident, Any Lavoie took the win at 12 hours of endurance at La Tuque, QC, solo, May 21-23. While other teams took on the challenge with two or three riders, Any decided to race solo. I checked in with the KTM Canada powerhouse to find out more about her and La Tuque.

Any first rode a dirt bike when she was 20, started racing when she was 21 and now at 23-year-old, she is the current talk of the off-road ladies!

Photo courtesty of KTM Canada

Any Lavoie

Age: 23
Hometown: La Tuque, QC
Bike: KTM 144SX

DMX: What do you love most about racing?

Any Lavoie: I like racing because it’s an extreme sport which requires to stay in shape and who brings me to always be better and challenge myself. This sport develops self-confidence and makes me proud of what I can do. Off-road races usually last several hours and can sometimes be very difficult. At this moment we must be strong mentally and never give up. This mentality that I developed in my races can also be used in life. Finally, I like to be racing with lots of people who have the same passion. When I'm at university or at work I sometimes feel like an alien when I speak of my passion, my way of life. When I'm at the race we all have the same passion and we all speak the same language!

Are you all about the off-road or ride motocross or trials or street?

I just begin to ride a little bit in motocross and I like it, but I'm an off-road rider for sure. I like to race for a long time in tough trails. Motocross can help me to be faster and more aggressive in off-road race.

What races are you competing in this year?

This year I will race the FSMQ championship in Quebec (harescramble serie), the offroad Ontario Enduro Championship, and some others race like NETRA enduro (USA), the 12 hours of endurance of La Tuque (QC), a GNCC (USA) etc.

Tell me about the LaTuque competition?

This race is an 12 hours team race. 3 rounds of 4 hours, one during the night. It's a sandy track with an extrem section with cars, logs, tires, rocks etc. Between rounds the bike is in a close park, we cannot do mecanic between rounds.

Tell me about your experience this year at LaTuque?

This year I decided to race the 12 hours alone rather than in team. The disadvantage that I had were the other girls were 2 or 3 riders per team. They had two motorcycles and they could fuel up and do their mechanics while the other member of the team accumulated laps on the track. They could also change when riders were tired. While I had to do my mechanics during the round, for example, changing the air filter was unavoidable due to all the dust. So I couldn’t accumulated laps during this time.

I was the first girl to race the 12 hours alone and I enjoyed the experience. The first round was very good, but the night round was full of bad surprises. The race on Sunday was extremely hot and I preferred racing slowly to prevent heat stroke because I had eight hours of racing done and a lot less energy. I still finished with an advance on the second team and I’m proud to have held out for 12 hours. I would say the hardest part is the morale ... especially about the tenth hour of the race!

In 2009, Any raced the 12 hours for the first time in a team of three. They were the first women to race this moto event.

Photo courtesy of KTM Canada

What is the hardest part about racing off-road?

There are a lot of maintenance and prevention to do for the bike. This requires a lot of time on weeknights. During the races keep morale even if it is not always obvious. I must also learn to manage energy in order to finish the race and try to don’t break the bike during the race.

What is the most frustrating part about maintaining your bike?

I do not quite understand the mechanics, so if the bike is not going well or if it breaks I still do not know how to fix it and it can be very frustrating! Still I try to learn as much as possible and I am increasingly able to do maintenance and repairs myself. I still have quite a lot to learn!

Who is your motorcycle idol?

Maria Forsberg, she is so fast!!

What are your interests other than motorcycles?

I really don’t have time to have another hobby than racing motorcycle, because I’m a university student and I work. Motorcycle is a sport who take a lot of time weeknight (washing bike and gear, maintain and repair bike and prepare all the stuff to go at race) it’s a long time to do all that stuff each week!! I have difficulties to found time to practice in motorcycle so for sure I cannot have another hobby.

What is your favourite race and why?

It's a very difficult question ... I have a lot of favorite race!! I like race like the Corduroy Enduro (ON), the Snowrun Enduro (CT, USA) and some others because it's tough race, rocky, hilly, muddy etc. (all that with snow for the snowrun!!) I definitely like the tough and long race that you have to keep good mental to finished it. I think it's really important to never give up during a race!

Choose one: corners or logs?

A log in a corner!! haha, seriously I like both.

Who do you practice with?

This year I had just practice on a motocross track with my boyfriend Michael Bourassa, an MX guy. I'm looking to pratice every week with my 2 teammates, Patrick Beaulé and Francis Ouimette, 2 pros FMSQ riders.

Who would you like to thank?

I want to thanks all the people who encourage me to continue in this sport, my boyfriend Mike, my teammates Patrick and Francis... Patrick help me a lot so thanks a lot Pat!! my family, my friends and of course all my sponsors: KTM Canada Inc., KTM PowerWear and PowerParts, Kutvek Amerika, LRP, Flat Land, Enduro Engineering, ZLR goggles, Motovan, ELKA Suspensions, Bell Helmets, Camelbak, Trail Tech, EVS Sport, Motorex, Racing Radios and DP Brakes.

Motocross Nationals

The first round of the western series of the Royal Distributing Women's Nationals is just around the corner. June 6 in Kamloops, BC to be exact. Jessica Foster has recently decided to not race the full four rounds of the nationals. The elementary school teacher feels that she's not in "race shape" and the series conflicts with her teaching. She may be out for the Calgary round...if it stops snowing.

Denaye Giroux

Schrader's Motor's Denaye Giroux raced her first women's national in the States last weekend.

Photo by Lorrie Fisher

Here's her story:

Hey Angie

I just arrived back home from my trip down to Sacramento, California where I raced my first Big WMA National. Talk about intimidating! I was so nervous going down to the starting line racing against the girls that I look up to (Jessica Patterson, Tarah Gieger, Sara Price, and Ashley Fiolek) Our moto being after the MX1 and MX2 motos as you can imagine was a little more than rough!

The first Moto was up, and I got a really bad jump off of the gate, so I started in dead last, and worked my way up to 21st. These races aren't like anything back home, if you get a bad start you are pretty much screwed to get a good position because all of these girls are same speed, and faster than I am. I definitely wasn't riding like myself. I was riding tight and was just overwhelmed by everything. Moto 2 came around, this time I tried to not put so much pressure on myself, I got a good jump off the gate, but still ended up at the back of the pack. I felt a lot better this moto, working myself up to 20th, giving me 1 point and a 23rd overall.

Denaye and her dad at the Lucas Oil drop off.

Photo by Lorrie Fisher

Going in to this race I wasn't expecting to do anything spectacular, I had been around these girls when I was in California before so I could kind of set myself up for where I stood in that field. I wanted to go for the experience and to race with faster girls, and my main goal was to get some points…which I did! Now that I got the jitters out for that round, I know I am capable of much more for the rounds to come.

I also want to point out how awesome it is to see so many WMA women under factory rigs. There were at least 10 girls getting factory support down there. Out of all the people there, we were pitted right beside Ryan Lockhart and Eric Nye…It was good to be around people we knew.

Thanks to everyone helping me out this year: Schrader's, Yamaha, GYTR, Yamalube, Troy Lee Designs, Gaerne, Oakley, Pirelli, Perform X, Yorkton Dodge, Supertracs, Lime Nine Graphics, Orb Clothing, and of course, Dad!

Ève Brodeur

I received this update from Sylvain Brodeur, Ève Brodeur’s “father/trainer/motivator/mechanic/sponsor and Vet Racer”:

Ève Brodeur 10 years old from Laval, Quebec, in her fifth year of competition, spent part of the winter training for MX, 3 weeks in Florida at Christmas and a dozen days of riding in the interior dome at X-town.

She felt ready to take on the competition as the racing season started off with a CMRC arenacross in which she took 3^rd place in the ladies class.

Eve getting air at the indoor X-Town facility in Mirabel, QC

Photo by Sylvain Brodeur

Last week, May 22 and 23 was the first race of the provincial series in which she took 17^th place out of 35 women in the ladies GP class on Saturday and a 2^nd place finish (out of 26 girls) in the ladies Junior class on Sunday.

We had no clue what to expect from that new Ladies junior class and Eve is now very confident she can have a shot at the championship title. Not bad considering she is the youngest girl in that group.

Eve was 2nd overall in the Ladies Jr. class at St. Apollinaire, May 23

Photo by Sylvain Brodeur

Also in the plan is to make a second appearance at Walton. Last year was her first time at Walton and she loved it so much that there is no way she would miss it this year.

Ève would like to thank Motovan, Duroy Racing, Evo Engine, Pro-Tech suspension, Xsolutions Racing and KTM Canada for their support.

Getting to Know…Chantel Cook:

Meet 14-year-old Chantel Cook from Simcoe, ON who is leading the Southwestern Ontario Spring Series after two rounds.

DMX: What track would you consider your hometrack?

Chantel Cook: My hometrack is Gopher Dunes.

When did you start racing motocross?

I started racing when I was about six.

What’s your favourite thing about motocross?

It's hard to decide on a favourite thing about motocross. I love everything about it. I would never give it up in a million years.

Chantal started racing when she was six. She was 3rd overall at the Gopher Dunes opener in May and is currently leading the Southwestern Motovan.com Spring Classic.

Sean Bowker photo

What are your moto plans for 2010?

Well, last year motocross was just my sport; something I love to do. But for this year motocross is everything. I want to be the best I can be, and show it out on the track. Another plan for this year is to race all nationals to see what place I am in Canada, as last year I only raced two of them.

Who is your motocross idol?

I don't really have an idol. But I would love to be as good as Jolene and Jocelyn. Both girls I race against that are extremely good. I would like to be able to ride up there with them both!

If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would it be?

If I could trade places with anyone for a day, it would be Jolene Van Vugt, because she was the first girl to ever do a back flip on a dirt bike, and I would love to do them for just a day; it’d be awesome. Also, because she’s just so fast, and I would love to be that good.

Corners or jumps?

I prefer corners, definitely.

How were the first two Ontario Provincial rounds?

The first two Ontario rounds were great. It felt great to get back out there after the winter. The first round I got two fourths, along with a crash in the second race, thanks to a tire that got pushed onto the track. The second round, was just great; RJ’s is an amazing track. I came out with two seconds that day.

Who would you like to thank?

I would like to thank my parents for their time and money put into racing motocross, my brother, who helps me with everything, including my mechanical issues. I would especially like to thank Rynotech, as they help with my bike all the time and do a great job with it. I would also like to thank Ryan Gauld for helping me with riding in his motocross school, Barry Bezzo for letting me practice on his track twice a week, and McKee Sports for the help they give with my bike.

Thanks Chantel. Good luck this season.