Frid'Eh Update #18 Presented by Hindle Offroad

Sponsored by: 

 By: Kyle Carruthers, Steve Matthes, Stephen Shannon, Chris Elliott, Allison Kennedy

Photo's By: James Lissimore, Dennis Saulnier, Allison Kennedy, Sean Bowker and Stephen Shannon

It’s on! As Dylan Kaelin tweeted this week, it is officially 37 days till the gate drops at Kamloops and the Canadian National series kicks off. When that time rolls around, amateur racing will already be in full swing around the country, future Canadian champions will be taking moto wins at their local tracks and one of the best supercross seasons in the history of the sport will be wrapped up with the most deserving man crowned.

What a year 2011 has been already... No matter who wins that supercross title it is going to be a rider who deserves it. Just being part of such an epic title battle should be something that all four or at one point (before Carnard was injured) the big five should be proud of. Villopoto comes back after a solid run at the title last year before a broken leg put him out, Stewart has an up and down season while trying 100 percent to get Main event wins. Reed was the biggest underdog ever coming into A1 and now is in title contention on his own ride that his very own wallet funded. Carnard shows us as a rookie that he means business and Dungey carries the weight of the #1 plate and shows us why he deserved his championship last year.

One thing about this season from what I have personally seen is that it has brought new people into the sport. It made it exciting to watch again, drew bigger crowds and gave our sport and the “motocross economy” a little kick in the arse just like it needed and the best part is it is all going to happen again with the great outdoors on both U.S. soil and our very own Mother land “O’Canada!”

So let’s break it down, we have our home turf Canadian boys in both classes with two Canadians rocking the #1 plates between Tyler Medaglia and Dusty Klatt. Don’t forget about the guys like Keast, Burke, The Allisons, Maffenbier and my wild card pick, Shawn Robinson, just to name a few other Canadians who are going for it in MX1. Jeremy Medaglia, Kaven Benoit, Spencer Knowles, Richard Grey and Dylan Kaelin to name a few Canucks competing in the MX2 class. Bring in the field of imports between both classes like Matt Goreke, Liam O'Farrell, Bobby Kiniry, Micheal Willard,Teddy Maier, Austin Poletelli, Tyler Sjoberg, Josh Demuth (not yet confirmed), Mason Phillips, Kieran Leigh, Kris Keefer, Greg Durviage and a few others and your looking at a pretty awesome series full of some international competition! There are definitly more riders then I just named there from out of the country including one really fast Yank who is coming up who we can't talk about just yet ... we can't even tell you which bike he's riding. We have to leave you guys some mystery right? Add in a competitive womans class on both coasts and we will have some great racing on our hands!

The countdown is on to the start of the 2011 Monster Energy CMRC National season!

James Lissimore photo

Speaking of Yankee talent, this week's update goes out to Shawn Rife who rode for the Monster Energy Leading Edge Kawasaki team last season. Shawn came up and won more MX2 motos then any other rider. However some injuries made him miss a couple rounds which put him out of the title chase. I love watching this kid ride. His aggresive style and his abilitly to pull holeshots on his C4MX Kawi was something else. Allison got in touch with him so she will have the full details on his 2011 plans coming up.

Rife had blazing speed in 2010 in Canada. photo: James Lissimore

I am sure most of you have heard that Eric Nye will not be coming back to racing this summer for his own reason. We have an interview arranged with Eric for next week and we will let him give you the full details on his decision to sit the summer out. Either way we are going to miss seeing him around the track.

Nye had some great years in Canada. Let's hope we see him in 2012. photo: James Lissimore

Once again we would like to thank Hindle Exhaust for sponsoring this Update for the month of April. Hindle makes some amazing exhaust systems when it comes to the motocross market and we still have a full video of us testing one over stock coming up for your viewing pleasure. If you haven’t already check out www.hindle.com also if you missed the video tour we did of their factory you can check it out in last week’s update right here.

If you’re up in the Sand del Area this Wednesday May 4^th make sure you stop by the track between 2:00PM and 8:00 PM and take part in the first stop of the DMX moto Tour. Check this link here for full details but it is going to be a great day thanks to the support of MX 1010, SSS, Smith Optics, Ottawa Yamaha and Roost Clothing. You will also have a chance to demo some new Yamaha’s and check out the whole fleet on site!

DMX is also throwing some motocross schools this season with Pro Liam O’Farrell. The first one will be at a perfectly prepped Carruthers Ranch track north of Bowmanville and will take place on May 7^th. We have spots still open and all bike sizes are welcome! Check out the link here for full details.

Come learn from Liam O'Farrell at the Carruthers Ranch! photo: Sean Bowker

Now let’s get this over to Allison!

Hey everyone,

I wanted to start my part of the update by giving a big shout out to the Lee family for their recent win of the Huron Tourism Development Award.  It is awesome to hear about a motocross facility and a motocross family being recognized for all the positive things their event brings to the community. As a racer at Walton, you may have noticed all the extra effort the Lee’s put in to promoting and marketing this event across Ontario. They’ve gone the extra mile and made a huge effort to make the TransCan an event that is part of the greater Huron County community. You’ll see if everywhere at Walton if you look, from the minor sports teams who help with grounds cleanup, to the food booths and auctions that go on, it’s all about giving back.

“It’s kind of cool to get some recognition from outside the sport—for all of us,” says Chris Lee. “The audience for that award was a lot of county council, the planning department staff, our local municipality and even guests from Bruce and Perth counties, so there were a lot of decisions makers in the room who supported us.”

Huron County’s Economic Development Officer, Janice Hawley, was the one who initially nominated the Lees and the Walton Raceway for the award. You can read her reasons behind the nomination here

http://municipalityofhuroneast.posterous.com/help-in-nominating-walton-raceway-for-a-huron

She had this to say about what made the Lee's and Walton deserving,

“From an economic standpoint, this event is significant to the area’s fiscal viability. The impact is realized at many levels, from gas sales, to entertainment, to name only a few. Over the last two decades, the Lee Family has worked diligently to market, not only their own facility, but the entire county through ongoing promotions of Ontario’s West Coast. It’s tourism, businesses, and the many memorable experiences within. The Walton Raceway has been a valuable asset for putting Huron County on the map.”

Pretty cool stuff for motocross in Canada I’d say.

Walton and the Lee family earned the Huron Tourism Development Award this week.

Allison Kennedy photo

I also had a chance to catch up with former Leading Edge rider, Shawn Rife. After hearing rumblings that Rife might head North again this summer, I gave him a call to see what his plans were.

Hey Shawn. What’s happening these days and what are your plans looking like for summer?

Really, I’m just at a standstill right now. It’s been raining so much around my house. I don’t think I am going back up to Canada as of now. I talked to Leading Edge and stuff and they wanted me to ride for them but it was kind of… it just wasn’t what I wanted I guess. I am going to try and talk to Geico Honda a little bit because they have two riders that are hurt and I am good friends with Stinky and stuff so hopefully things can get worked out there. If not, then the Utter Motorsports team out of Cincinnati is buying a semi and I will do the outdoors for them. I figure if I can get a good motor and suspension and stuff and do well down here I would get more recognition, you know what I mean? That is pretty much where I'm at right now.

What did you do over the winter?

I stayed at Windham’s house all winter and rode with him and did the Supercross thing. It didn’t go how I planned. I was in a crash at Indy and Jason Anderson, his bike shut off on a jump and I landed on him and messed up my wrist a bit. So I decided to get ready for the outdoors. I would just get better and something would get wrong and my confidence wasn’t there. I’d take one step forward and two steps back.

What did you think about your time up here last year?

I had a great time up there. It was definitely an experience. I liked it. I thought everyone I met and talked to were really cool. I thought it was crazy how different it was from Kamloops to Walton. We drove and we met so many people from the West to the East. It was awesome.

You said coming North wasn’t what you really wanted. What do you want to accomplish down South?

I just want to prove myself down here. I think if I ride how I did up there then I should do pretty well down here. I don’t know, I rode differently up there. I don’t know if it was a head game or what, but I think that I figured, I’m under a semi; I have to do well. So I just sort of came out on fire, and that was cool. I just want to stay consistent down here and do the best I can and hopefully prove to some people that I can do well and get something for Supercross next year. If that doesn’t work out, I am pretty close to High Point, Red Bud, Steel City Budds Creek, I’m not too far form all of that. I won’t do Glen Helen or Hangtown.

Thanks and best of luck.

Thanks.

That’s all I have this week, although I do want to give some props to Matthes for his podcast with reigning champ Dusty Klatt. Klatt can be hard to get talking and if you haven’t listened to this one, find some time. Matthes did a great job of getting Dusty to revisit some less-than-stellar moments in his career and I thought it was great to hear Dusty’s perspective on his time down South. You can listen right here.

Thanks Allison and congrats to the Walton crew! Our Freestyle blogger here at DMX Chris Elliott has been on top of his game this year when it comes to covering the freestyle seen across Canada. Check out his blog if you haven’t already and read up on some of the latest riders on the scene. Chris also passed on this information for the update this week.
 

Permission To Land 2011 First Annual BACKYARD BASH is a Beginner and Amateur FMX Competition . It is a ramp to ramp competition set for 55 feet. Riders and spectators can sign up for their desired spots via the website at www.permissiontolandfmx.com
 

Are you a future FMX star? If so check this competition out!

PTL BACKYARD BASH is set for August 13, 2011. Rider check-in and registration will start at 1000 hrs. Warm up round will be from 1200 hrs – 1330 hrs. Beginner qualifying round will begin at 1400 hrs. and Amateur Qualifiers will begin at 1600 hrs. Finals will begin at 1800 hrs. Each rider will receive a complementary event T-Shirt along with a chance to win cash and prizes from event sponsors.

Competition Classes will be Beginner, Amateur, Best Whip, and Best Trick

Rider Registration is $35.00 and Spectator Admission is $10.00
 
FMXer Greg Hartman was injured at the Asian X Games and is need of your help, you can help Greg today by making a donation to the Athlete Recovery Fund. ARF has helped athlete’s after severe injury, granting over half a million dollars since 2008. ARF will be able to assist with negotiating through bills, grant money for the costs that insurance doesn’t cover, cover flights and hotel for family members and grant money for rehabilitation that will get Greg back to top form.  http://www.athleterecoveryfund.com/
 
I caught up with Kris Foster a while back to talk about the winter, summer and the FMX transition he has made! Kris, who was known as a talented motocrosser in years past, has started making a transition into the FMX world and is moving a bit quicker than most! Here is what he has to say.
 
Foster, How was your winter...did you have a job or school to keep you busy?

This winter was really long for me, I had a couple setbacks. I usually get up to the hill and get some skiing in but I had surgery on my wrist from a really old fracture. I've been riding the last 7 years with the tip broken off of the smaller bone in my right forearm. Once my wrist was good enough to do some cross training I ended up rolling my right ankle and tearing a tendon, so it was back on the couch for another month.

OK so let’s just get right to it...tells us about this FMX deal you've got going on!

Well I only got to ride ramps for a few months before winter hit, but I made the best of it. Once I learned to flip, it hit me, Jeff(Fehr) taught me to shifter hook and from there I learned nac flips. I've been having so much fun with it I just wanna keep learning and see what I'm capable of.

What or who got you into FMX?

Well, I caught up with some friends last summer down at Kyle Demelo's ranch and rode some ramps for the first time in 5 years. I ended up heading to Vernon a hand full of times to ride with Morgan Kaliszuk, Jeff Fehr and Reagan Sieg who all helped a ton with teaching me tricks, and perfecting the ones I already had.

Foster has been doing things his way lately! photo: Dennis Saulnier

As far as your MX career goes, are you happy with how it has gone and do you see yourself setting more career goals or are you over racing?
I'm pretty happy with what I accomplished in moto as far as racing goes because of the lack of training I did. I was always a fan of Supercross and Arenacross probably because if you could jump you had a better chance of doing well but I really wasn't a fan of the gym. I think with freestyle on my mind all my goals are set for that, but you never know. Maybe I'll hit up the west coast SX series in 2013 with my buddy KD Beats. Haha.

Back to FMX, where do you plan on taking it...do you want a career out of it or do you want to jump the odd demo on weekends?

I plan on taking it as far as I can. I have so much fun riding if I could make a career out of it that would be sick!

So what does the summer of 2011 look like for Kris Foster?

Right now it's looking like a lot of riding moto and mountain biking. I've been talking to Reagan about shows, so hopefully I'll be able to get in on as many of those as possible. This will be a big year of learning for me, this sport is evolving at such a fast pace I have to play catch up, but I'm sure it'll be a fun summer!

Thanks Chris and no matter what machine or form of riding Foster is doing, he is always entertaining to watch!

The KTM Ride Orange MX Tour will take it's second stop this Monday at the Fourwind's MX Park in Port Perry, ON. Presenting Dealers are Orange Motorsports and GP Bikes. This is an invite for people who are serious about getting themselves on a new KTM for the race season. Please Call Orange Motorsports at 1-866-288-2712 for more details or GP Bikes at (905) 428-8983 for more details. Big thanks to Siert from Orange for sending this info over.

Come ride the new KTM SX-F Line!

Looks like Stephen Shannon is checking in with our Offroad update ...

Hey guys,

 

Well, I’m still getting all the dust out of my eyes after checking out the Big Kahuna Hare Scrambles on Sunday.  Even though we’re still snowed in up in the mountains, the valley bottoms are already powder dry.  The GKMA did their best to tame the dust at the Whispering Pines motocross track, but anything short of running non-stop water bombers wasn’t going to do the job.  Despite the dust, it was a great day of racing with over 300 competitors coming out to do battle on the dusty course.  Brock Hoyer stole the show, though Bobby Prochnau and Geoff Nelson kept him honest.  For a complete report, check out this week’s Singletracks: http://www.directmotocross.com/news/offroad/2011/04/singletracks-big-kahuna-race-report and for some cool imagery to decorate your desktop, check out this week’s Offroad Mojo: http://www.directmotocross.com/news/features/2011/04/offroad-mojo-big-kahuna-hare-scrambles.

Hoyer was a crowd favourite!

 

Due to the unusually deep snowpack, we now have a three week break in the race schedule out here in BC.  With the Main Jet Hare Scrambles in Merritt cancelled this weekend, racing will resume on May 15th with round 1 of the Okanagan Hare Scrambles Series near Salmon Arm, BC.  

Xtinction is Knarly! Get Ready!

 

Out in Alberta, the Corner Grass Race Team has released the poster for Xtinction II.  The extreme enduro is taking place August 7th with a CMRC hare scramble the day before.  Last year’s event was absolutely incredible and things are already looking bigger and better with Red Bull sponsoring the event and rumours of some big name pros from Europe making the trip over.  For more information check out www.xtinction.ca.

 

In an effort to broaden my horizons, I’m trying to keep track of the happenings out in the East.  I just got word that the Beagle Bash Enduro and Dual Sport ride have been cancelled due to the storm yesterday.  Bummer, but on the plus side it was recently announced that next month Walton (yes, the famous motocross facility) will be hosting a round of the Ontario Cross-Country series.  With the World Enduro Canada crew at the helm, it should be a great race!  Speaking of the East, we (DMX) are currently looking for eastern off-road content.  If you’re a journalist or aspiring journalist in Ontario and/or Quebec and looking to start contributing to Canadian off-road media, please give us a shout!

 

Just another day at the office, right boys?

 

Well, that wraps things up for this week.  It sounds like the weather is supposed to be nice this weekend so with any luck I’ll get out of the office and spend it roosting in the hills!  Have a great weekend everybody!

 

I was talking to Leading Edge Head man Pat O'Connor this week. Word is that Matt Goreke will be ready to go and will be in Kamloops to start testing his new ride where Pat can help him out and keep an eye on everything. This is good news and everyone at DMX is happy to know Matt will be lining up in Canada.

 

Andy White and the KTM crew are getting ready to do some serious suspension testing down in New Hamsphire with Factory Connection USA. Head man from FC Canada Mike Haist will be in attendance also to get everything dialed for the team before round one.

 

Dean Thompson was kind enough to send over this update on the Blackfoot crew as well.

 

 

Tyler went back to Nova Scotia a few weeks ago as the weather is better so he is completing his training there. 

Dusty made his way back home from California last week and is now looking for some rougher tracks to get his upper body strength going.

Colton is the lone man still down in the hot Georgia heat slugging out motos. I give the guy credit as it is not the most exciting place in the world but he continues to do everything it takes and is always willing to make the sacrifices in order to be 100% prepared when the gate drops. 

 The Yamalube BlackfootDirect.com Troy Lee Designs Team:

Jared and Parker just finished up on exams this past Wednesday and are now focusing full time on getting their YZ450F's dialed in and have been putting

laps in at the Wild Rose MX track in Calgary.  They plan on racing this weekend in the opening round of the CMRC SOAB series in Taber to get their race faces on.  Bryton will join them on the YZ250F.

The boys have been also helping out many of the local racers in the Southern Alberta series putting on riding clinics with the help of www.blackfootdirect.com and the Wildrose MX Park.  They will continue to run the classes every Wednesday evening until the month of May.  A complete schedule is posted on www.wildrosemx.com.

Thanks Dean!

 That's it for me this week! Ill let the guys wrap this up! Thanks for reading DMX!

Matthes here-

Hello everyone and thanks for visiting DMX- the number one place on the web for all things Canadian moto. We have some big plans for this summers nationals and I’m looking forward to being a part of it. As a matter of fact, I was just checking out plane tickets to Ottawa and Moncton yesterday as those are two rounds that I can make it to.

We’re getting close folks, can you feel it? The start of the Canadian nationals is just a few weeks away and things are getting firmed up now. I’m looking forward to seeing how everything shakes out and I started getting the fires stoked a bit with my Ryan Lockhart and Dusty Klatt podcast. I always have time for the Newf even though he’s as frustrated with his involvement with the moto world as he’s ever been right now. Got a lot of good emails and tweets about that podcast (even though a certain Monday Maniac didn’t like it- he was too busy telling us how hard he works to really listen that it was just a joking conversation dating back to our last podcast) and this week I did one with the reigning MX1 champ Dusty Klatt.

I’ve always been in Klatt’s corner, I’ve liked the guy and tried to help out with him riding down here back when he was shopping his services around. Yes, I was frustrated with him (but I guarantee not as frustrated as he was with himself) when it didn’t work out for him down here with Star Racing but looking back on it, hey- at least he gave it a shot.

Anyways, Dusty’s a good guy and I think he’s as simple as it comes. And I don’t mean that in a bad way, he’s not a big thinker of what goes on outside of his control you know what I mean? He’s not worrying about other riders, tracks, the series or whatever- he just works hard and controls what he can. That’s as simple as it gets folks!

I do think that until someone steps up and proves differently, it’s a two-man race between Colton Facciotti and Klatt for this summer’s MX championship. Sure a Bobby Kiniry or Teddy Maier might get in there and get in the mix now and then but from what I saw last summer, it’s a two man race. The two Blackfoot Yamaha riders are much better than everyone else but let’s see what happens!

I’m also very interested to see if the new Canadian talent come up and get to the top. I feel, and have felt that we aren’t seeing any new Canadian kids coming up to replace the Klatt’s and Facciotti’s (although he’s still pretty young!). I want to see the Dylan Kaelin’s (although before getting hurt, he looked to be on the rise) and Richard Grey’s of the world come up and get after it. Trust me young Canadian riders reading this, the team managers in Canada want to hire you but you have to show them something!

Down here in the land of fried foods and guns, we’re picking the sx series back up in Salt Lake City (in fact, my flight is a mere four hours away as I type this) and it should be a great finish. Four guys enter the ring, only one leaves! Or something like that anyways.

I have given up predicting what is going to happen but all four deserve the title in some way, shape or form. I’m not sure who, if anyone, the week off favors but you have to think that it slows down Stewart’s momentum as he had won two races in a row in dominating fashion.

As far as the 250 west series goes, I like Tomac’s momentum right now, he should be tough to stop as the two riders he’s competing against, Broc Tickle and Josh Hansen just aren’t at a 100% right now. Hanny continues to take shots at his teammate and points leader Tickle in the media and I say once again, you stay classy Little Hanny! Always a gentlemen that #100…

The big news we got just this morning was Motoconcepts Yamaha signing Frenchman Christophe Pourcel for the outdoors. That’s an interesting signing for sure as the team manager David Vuiilemin and Pourcel have had an on-again/off-again relationship in the media and even going back to last summer when DV came to some races to help out his fellow Frenchman.

Anyways, sometimes money and desire trump all and MCY and DV wanted a top rider and Pourcel wanted the money and a marriage was born! Should make an interesting summer even more interesting if you ask me.

Thanks again for reading the Frid'eh Update!