Frid’Eh Update #19 | Ryan Derry | Troy Lee Designs
By Billy Rainford
Welcome to Week #19 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update this week presented by Troy Lee Designs Canada. Today begins my stay in Kamloops, BC to look after my mom while my sister takes a well-needed vacation. I can’t do a whole lot while I’m watching over her, but I should be able to get out to some tracks in the area and maybe snag an interview or two with some riders around here.
Actually, I’m going to be doing a podcast with Alex Parker from the Cobequid Mountain Sports Callus GasGas team to talk about all the exciting things they’ve got planned for this coming racing season and beyond. I’ll get that up as soon as I can. He’s about as far as you can get from being local to British Columbia, but I can do podcast interviews while my mom continuously asks me who I’m talking to. Lol.
Ryan Derry is #19 for 2022. We gave Ryan our ‘Most Improved Rider’ award a couple years ago, mostly due to the way he was picking up the Supercross game so quickly. You could literally stand at the side of the track and watch as he tried now things every lap and got more and more comfortable on the SX obstacles. We think it was a well-deserved choice for the award.
When Pennsylvania rider Logan Leitzel stepped away, Ryan got picked to fill the spot on Steve Simms‘ SSR TLD GasGas team on the 450 last season. It was great to see such a hard-working rider get a chance to enjoy such good support.
Let’s have a look at Ryan’s 2021 season before we get to our interview:
450 MX:
450 SX:
Direct Motocross: Hello, Ryan. We haven’t spoken in quite some time. Let’s first talk about last season. You finished 12th in the 450 MX Nationals and appeared to be improving as the season went on. Your best overall was an 8th. Can you sum up the MX portion for us?
Ryan Derry: Hey! Thanks for reaching out. Last season I was creeping into the top 10 which was my mission coming into 2021. I could feel myself gaining speed each weekend and I’m very happy with how it went.
You got that fill-in ride opportunity with the SSR TLD GasGas team. How did that come up and how did it feel to get that kind of support?
Steve Simms reached out to me Monday morning after the Gopher (Dunes) round. Tuesday I called in sick from work so I could put some time on the GasGas before the next round at Sand Del Lee. The whole experience was incredible. I’m very thankful!
In the SX portion, you looked like you made a lot of gains again after getting our Most Improved Rider Award the year before. How did that part go from your perspective?
It was actually a bit frustrating. I was dealing with a lower back/sciatica issue during the last couple outdoor rounds which progressively got worse. I managed and still sent it but could have performed better. I got an MRI done in November and it turned out to be gnarly! L5-S1 multi-level disc degeneration, multi level stenosis, end plate fracture on my vertebrae etc. Old age is going to be great!
You’ve got a full-time job in the Engineering field. How do you manage to do both things?
I don’t! It’s a constant battle of squeezing in riding when I get the chance and I often get myself in last-minute situations with deliverables for work. I might have to find a way to take summers off to sustain this.
What did you get up to over these past long winter months? Did you get to train anywhere?
I did nothing for a few months to get my back to calm down. We escaped the last bit of winter here with a moto vacation to Florida in March for a couple weeks. We stayed at WW Motocross Ranch for a week. That place was incredible.
You’re sort of out on your own for this upcoming season, right? Can you tell us your racing plans? How will you travel, etc.. Do you have a teammate?
We started our own team! Barrie Honda Weldershelper.com PDR racing. Our title sponsor weldershelper.com is passionate about motorsports racing and stepped up huge to help us get to all the Triple Crown MX rounds this season. Also, a big thanks to Stu at Barrie Honda for his major support. Travel plans to the west coast are still being finalized, but at the moment it’s looking like we’re sending a bike out there with another racer. It will be Dario Zecca and I racing the Triple Crown rounds in the MX1 class along with Greg Poisson racing select rounds and the TransCan in the Vet class. I would like to thank Greg for his effort on organizing some great sponsors as well. Official announcement with more details coming soon.
I had a mystery contributor help me out this week. Would you care to take us through a moment back on 50’s when someone didn’t tighten your gas cap? Bet you can tell who I was talking to…
It was at the OCMC mini track (an oval with two rollers) on a Tuesday night long ago where my dad could see me crying through my helmet mid-moto. I finished the moto (I believe I won) and rode over to the truck, pointed at my crotch, and my dad could see the gas cap wasn’t fully on. He stripped me down right there on the side of the track, rinsing the gas off….
Has he become a better mechanic over the years?
He’s definitely levelled up over the years. Every once in a while he’ll overfill my tank before a 30 but other than that he’s dialled!
What are you hoping to accomplish this season? You must be hoping for top 10’s?
I’m aiming to be inside the top 10 and most importantly be in the mix. I just want to keep the progression going and keep increasing the pace.
Are you looking forward to riding the two new tracks? Do you know anything about them?
Aside from the YouTube helmet cams, I have limited knowledge of the tracks. Drumheller looks like a set from Game of Thrones though. I’m really looking forward to racing the west coast.
What is your favourite track, anyway?
My favourite has to be either Deschambault in Quebec or Auburn Hills here in Ontario. Ulverton in Quebec was also really fun.
How much longer will you keep chasing the dream?
As long as I keep getting faster and keep having fun!
Last question: Who do you have taking the 450 and 250 MX titles this season? No pressure.
Dylan Wright takes 450. (Jake) Piccolo will be hard to beat but Ryder McNabb is on one right now…it should be fun to watch!
Well, thanks for the chat today and good luck this season. Who would you like to thank?
Thanks, Billy. I’d like to thank Richard from weldershelper.com, Stu from Barrie Honda, Maxima oils, VP fuels, Troy Lee Designs, Colton Facciotti SSS, Ride Engineering, Seco Seat covers, Matrix Concepts, Cycra Plastics, Caliber Products, Holeshot Designs, M7 Designs.
Riders/Teams List for Triple Crown Series 2022
250 Class
| NAME | TEAM | |
| 1 | Darien Sanayei | Not returning to Canada |
| 2 | Jake Piccolo | Red Bull Thor KTM (Full) |
| 3 | Tanner Ward | 450 – Thor Kawasaki Pro Circuit (Full) |
| 4 | Marco Cannella | MX101 FXR Yamaha (Full) |
| 5 | Ryder McNabb | GDR Honda Fox (Full) |
| 6 | Julien Benek | Partzilla PRMX (Leg) (Full) |
| 7 | Sam Gaynor | 450 – SSR TLD GasGas (Wrist) (Full) |
| 8 | Daniel Elmore | 450 – Cycle North Honda (Full) |
| 9 | Quinn Amyotte | Manluk Rock River Fox Yamaha (Full) |
| 10 | Tyler Gibbs | SSR TLD GasGas (Full) |
| 11 | Jamie Powell | MX101 FXR Yamaha Support (Full) |
| 12 | Guillaume St Cyr | Junior Mecanique Plus Peak KTM (Select east rounds) |
| 13 | Davey Fraser | 450 (Select rounds) |
| 14 | Sebastien Racine | Red Bull Thor KTM (Full) |
| 15 | William Crete | (Select rounds) |
| 16 | Jeremy McKie | Fox Oakley SMX (Full) |
| 17 | Wyatt Kerr | Guaranteed Comfort OGs Hudson (Full) |
| 18 | Seth Hughes | True North Motorsposrts Fox (Full) |
| 19 | Preston Masciangelo | Hudson Kawasaki (East rounds) |
| 20 | Zach Ufimzef | Valley Motorsport Fox KTM (Full) |
MVP Racing (Al Dyck) – Marcus Deausy, Blake Ashley (Georgia)
Cobequid Callus GasGas – Mitchell Harrison (Michigan)
450 Class
| NAME | TEAM | |
| 1 | Cole Thompson | (Local rounds) |
| 2 | Marshal Weltin | Not returning to Canada |
| 3 | Dylan Wright | GDR Honda Fox (Full) |
| 4 | Jess Pettis | Red Bull Thor KTM (Full) |
| 5 | Parker Eales | Holeshot Carlson KTM (Full) |
| 6 | Tyler Medaglia | Cobequid Callus GasGas (Full) |
| 7 | Yanick Boucher | Bailey Motorsports Huaqvarna (Full) |
| 8 | Ryan Derry | Welders Helper TLD Barrie Honda (Full) |
| 9 | Liam O’Farrell | Priority FXR KTM (Local rounds) |
| 10 | Shawn Maffenbeier | MX101 FXR Yamaha (Full) |
| 11 | Tommy Dallaire | CarrXpert Fox Oakley (Full) |
| 12 | Tim Tremblay | KTM (Local rounds) |
| 13 | Westen Wrozyna | MX101 FXR Yamaha (Full) |
| 14 | Davey Fraser | Carlson Callus Husqvarna (Select rounds) |
| 15 | Casey Keast | Not racing |
| 16 | Keylan Meston | (Local rounds) |
| 17 | Ethan Ouellette | Cycle North Honda (Full) |
| 18 | Taylor Ciampichini | (Local rounds) |
| 19 | Max Filipek | Safeguard TLD OGs (East rounds) |
| 20 | Donny Turner | (Local rounds) |
Manluk Yamaha – #61 Tea Perrott
Partzilla PRMX – Justin Rodbell and more to come…
I’ll cut this one off here and get the podcast interview with Alex Parker up right away. Have a great weekend, everyone.
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