Monday Maniac #39

by Gauldy107

Once the month of October hits the motocross scene in Canada, you know the season is winding down. The last big race is the sandstorm at Gopher Dunes but the Montreal SX really marks the end of the race year for all the super serious racers. For me the final two weeks of major events have been amazing. The way 2012 has closed out for me has been the best end to a year that I have ever had. My Newfoundland trip and this past weekend in Montreal really make me realize that I’m pretty fortunate to be able to do the things that I do, plus the friends I spent it with really helped the entire time. The show that I saw was at the same level as Cirque de Soleil or an amazing concert. This past weekend in Montreal was just the icing on the “how fortunate I am to get to do what I love” cake. There are moments when you want to run away for miles from this gig cause of the BS, chronic liars or budget cheapness, but then when you get to do what I did for the last two weeks, well all of those negatives seem to fade in the distance.

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If you haven’t seen this video above yet, meet Rod “the Bod ” Snelgrove. Dude was a hero on Saturday night at the after party. Hahahah This is why.

So I guess I should start this blog off with the biggest news that was let out of the bag just before the weekend. Long time CMRC representative Brett Lee has decided it’s time to focus on family and new ventures as he has stepped down from his role as Amateur Director for CMRC and will focus on Walton race track (which he is part owner) and the Parts Canada Trans Can (again which he is now part owner). It will be sad to not have the “Knub” laying his kumbaya guitar to save the day. I will miss the feet washing incidents after long days at the track, and his inability to wear a proper sponsor hat at any national. But all jokes aside, I will miss Brett’s leadership. I understand his decision and I respect it. I also know that just because he is gone does not mean the world ends. Just as he filled the shoes for CMRC years ago, somebody else will step in and get the job done but by no means will it be a smooth transition. Brett did a lot for Mark and Jan Stallybrass of the CMRC: mended fences, kept smiles on faces, stepped in when big steps may have been needed. So Brett, good luck! MXP along with myself will be here to support your new ventures. Maybe you will even get off your ass and do a blog for us again. I don’t know, maybe you won’t have enough time. Hahaha

Okay, now to the Montreal trip. I am going to break this down into categories: The road trip, the hotel, the event, the race, the peelers, and the after party. Braap!!

The road trip:

A big percentage of any adventure is the road trip. Flying is fun cause you get there but driving with friends to an event makes it that much more memorable. This was no different as I loaded the super van with great people and headed to Montreal for the Monster Energy Supermotocross. Frankie B, Sheps K, Mike W, Bermbuster, and Pay10 and I were all jacked to get the 4+ hour drive on the road. We all met at Brent Thur’s to load and head out. Right away Brent was as gitty as a school girl on the first day. You see the highlight for this guy is getting messages from POF nowadays, pounding out motos at RJ’s for 45 minutes and telling himself that he can win or beat anybody, even though the speed he has resembles a blind snail. LOL He literally went from wide open pumped to sad about his first love in Kingston when the song “Twisted” by Keith Sweat hit the radio, then to super mad at all of us for laughing at him for tearing up in the van over this song, to sleepy cause he was drunk after two drinks. That was the way there. The way home was much of the same as the Outlaw crew slept and watched footage in the back. Thur drank and explained that there was no way Jessica Patterson could beat him on a dirt bike. We all disagreed. Frankie was a zombie, Pay10 talked tattoos, and I just soaked in all the conversation. The cooler was empty in both directions. Awkward moments were made but some serious laughter was had.

 

The Hotel:

Night one was good. Rooms were nice and a good sleep was had by all. The only reason I even threw in the hotel was because on night two after the event it was quite the laugh from Frankie as he did not feel very well after the event and decided he would force himself to projectile vomit off the balcony to makes his guts feel better so we could all go out. He didn’t want to miss the after party. It was like a serious racer going for the win with a bad wrist injury, but not broken. He just taped it and ripped it in the main event. So the lesson learned here is – you can be hurt, but if you’re not broken, tape it up, or in this case go deep and force the fix. Hahhahaah Frankie B never misses a good time!!!

 

The Event:

Monster Energy Montreal Supermotocross just hit 35 years running. For the past few years the event has seemed to be lacking fan attendance. For year, this place can hold 50-plus with no problem whatsoever. People flocked to a show that put MX1 action on the top of the list as the best bang for your buck action that night. It delivered many times on all angles. Now from my vantage point, I don’t see that they have done less or more for the race. There was live coverage at one point for a few years, plus a few years with a radio show to tune in. They got rid of the buggies that were always a gong show of insane action that seemed to get the crowd on their feet. It’s now substituted for Side x Side. Freestyle has been great each and every year and was again this past Saturday night with Nate Adams, Adam Jones, Ben Milot, Paul Smith, and Bruce Cook to name a few headliners. The Super Final, the newest show change, was amazing this year. So…I’m rambling a little. The show was good again, but where were the people? My theory is this: Now I’m not sure when the good run of over 50 thousand people was or even when it even hit 40 thousand for that matter. I just remember in 2008 the place was full. It saw their French hero, JSR, win his 5th main event to tie Ross Pederson for the most from a Canadian racer. It also marked his retirement from the sport and what a way to go. For another rider, that same night, Blair Morgan suffered his career ending accident. Two heroes left the sport to which they have given us many memories and dreams. Now Blair was never as big as JSR in Montreal for Supercross, but as the Snocross racer he was an icon to the French. The Impact of all those events is my theory to why the Big O has not drawn the same type of numbers for the crowd as it once did. I thought of this the whole drive back. Such a crazy night in 2008, but since then it’s never been the same. Kinda deep for a Monday, but it made me think.

The Race:

I think the majority of the fans come for Supercross and Freestyle. The ATVs and Side x Side are cool and all but the action is with the dirt bikes. I also like to see the PWs out on the track. Showing the future of the sport makes any new fan in the stands see the youth of our sport aiming to become a pro. This year’s Supercross races were beauties from start to finish. The two MX1 heats were good with solid action. The MX2 Final was awesome for the first 5 laps or so with Cole Thompson and Jeremy Medaglia banging bars. Once Cole got control, he showed he was the fastest man of the night. J Medags rode good to grab 2^nd and Tim “Timbit” Tremblay grabbed third. Benoit should have been on the podium but a small tip over cost him a trip to the box. The first MX1 final started off with a near scare as Teddy Maier and Ryan Clark collided in mid air. It took Clark to the ground and Maier squirreling off the track. Once they sorted that out Matt Goerke, Bowers, Kiniry and Maier battled tooth and nail on every inch of the race track. Monster Leading Edge Kawasaki’s Matt Goerke continued his amazing 2012 and grabbed the main event win. The last lap saw Kiniry go from 2nd to 4th as Bowers stuffed him, which also helped Maier slip by. Then Maier didn’t double but Kiniry went for the leap and passed Maier by about 2 inches at the finish line. Amazing finish! The new SuperX Final that showcased the top 10 from MX1 and MX2 was the best race of the night. Matt Goerke once again proved to be untouchable this year. He made his way to the lead early by passing holeshot winner Tyler Medaglia and pulled away for the win. Kiniry also grabbed second early but had to hold off challenges from Benoit, Medags, Maier, Klatt, and Bowers. For 5 – 6 laps they were all swapping positions, jumping over heads, casing jumps, bobbling and smashing. Any exciting thing you wanted to see was happening. Once each rider found their spot the race settled and the best rose to the top. The race gave you everything you paid for that night. For those that missed it, well…….you suck!!! LOL

 

The Peelers:

Wanda’s…… enough Said.

 

The After Party:

I don’t think you can have a company like Monster Energy Canada dedicate so many good times to the sport of Motocross. We are very lucky to have these guys love our sport as much as they do. Yes they make millions but to have them be as passionate as us diehards is pretty cool. They showed us a great time on Saturday by giving all the people a great dance floor to let loose after a great race night. So good to see that many people all just laughing, dancing, and celebrating the action packed weekend. Throw a little falafel on top of that at 4am. It was a helluva good time, for sure. Hahahhahahahaahahah

Well that’s all I have for this Monday – lots of good talks and rumours for 2013 already. We’ll dig into those this week and I will spill it all next time!!