Monday Gate Drop

Good morning and Happy New Year to everyone in this fine industry that we call motocross. Is it just me or maybe where I live, but so far does this winter seem like an old school one? Even in places like Toronto and Hamilton, that usually doesn’t get a lot of snow, they have a ton, and every week another storm blows through. Once I’m done writing this I will be heading outside, firing up my snow blower and clearing our driveway for the 20th time since mid-November. Mother Nature, if you’re reading this, we could certainly use a reprieve.

As everyone knows, this past weekend saw a lot happen in the two wheel world. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday there was the motorcycle show at the International Center in Toronto. I was there all three days and talked to a lot of moto people. It’s always nice to see familiar faces this time of year and talk about the upcoming season. With the cold weather outside, it always makes you feel like spring is not that far off. I was around the Kawasaki booth for most of the show. They had Brett Metcalfe’s championship winning KX450 on display, so a lot of talk was about Brett and the upcoming 2014 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals. With Metcalfe, Chisholm, Facciotti and Kiniry all confirmed for the MX1 class, there sure is going to be some exciting racing. All in all, the show was good. One thing I will never get tired of seeing is excited kids sitting on dirt bikes. I remember doing that when I was a kid and the feeling I had. This weekend there sure was a lot of smiling kids.

After the show on Friday we headed to Hamilton for the extremely popular Nitro Circus Show at Copps Coliseum. While I’ve witnessed a few small freestyle shows in my day, I’ve never seen anything close to the magnitude of the Nitro Circus Show. From the tricks that the dirt bikes were doing to the BMX guys, it was a plethora of excitement for everyone that jammed into Copps. Of course, you can’t talk about Friday night’s show without mentioning Bruce Cook and his unfortunate crash while attempting a double front flip. While the extent of his injuries are only known by a few people, I think it’s safe to say that he’s in very rough shape. Our prayers and thoughts are with him. I find it appalling and sad that the mainstream media have picked up on this story simply on the fact that Bruce’s crash was so bad. Had he not crashed and got injured, I doubt you’d even hear anything about the show on CTV or CBC, or the incredible athletes that performed Friday night. I guess it’s the way things are in this world and it will never change. Bruce, from all us at MXP, get well soon and all the best in your recovery!

Here is a cool Bruce Cook video from the pit party at the Toronto SX. Get well Bruce!!

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Now, we move from this cold country to south of the border and the opening round of the 2014 Monster Energy Supercross Series from sunny Anaheim, California. As always, Angel Stadium provided the perfect backdrop for the opening round. While the track looked a little basic, the racing was anything but and all the top riders had their good moments and a few sketchy moments. The eventual winner of the Supercross class, Ken Roczen, had to go through the new semi races to make it to the main. The extra track time he got must’ve helped him once the gate dropped for the main because his speed was amazing. Chad Reed looked good in his first race on a Kawasaki, although I think that at his age he could also benefit from going to the semis once in a while to get more track time. We’ll see as the series goes on. I’m predicting that if Reed does have to ride a semi, he will contend for the victory that night.

Two riders that surprised me were Ryan Villopoto and James Stewart, both for the mistakes that they made in the main. I didn’t expect Villopoto to crash and I thought that with Stewart’s newfound maturity he would’ve settled for second place and the 22 points that came with it. Instead, he crashed and is now down at least 18 points to Villopoto and his main competitors. James will have to takes some chances and maybe push even harder to make up those points. We all know how that strategy has worked for him in the past. I guess it’s only round one and anything can happen in the next few months. In all of this, we shouldn’t let it overshadow just how good Ken Roczen rode to take his very first 450 win on US soil. If this kid can keep the ball rolling, he will be tough to beat in 2014.

So that was the two wheeled dominated weekend for myself and MXP. Motorcycle Shows, Nitro Circus and Supercross. For a motocross fan and journalist, it doesn’t get much better than that in the middle of winter. Please keep checking this website all week as we’ll have photo reports from the Motorcycle Show and Nitro Circus, as well as a really cool video from Nitro Circus. Also, if you live in Ontario, don’t forget about the CMRC Banquet this Saturday at Dave & Buster’s in Vaughan, Ontario. It will be a great afternoon of games and prizes as we celebrate our Ontario Champions. I hope everyone has a great week. Be safe and stay warm