Frid’Eh Update #39 | Jyire Mitchell | Brought to You by RP Race Performance

Frid’Eh Update #39 | Jyire Mitchell | Brought to You by RP Race Performance

By Billy Rainford

Welcome to Week #39 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update brought to you by RP Race Performance. We’re now in what we call the “off season,” but things seem to be ramping up nicely as far as racing to cover goes. We’re between our Canadian Triple Crown Series and the upcoming Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series that will start up in January of 2025.

Speaking of Supercross, the 2025 schedule was just released for both SX and AMA Pro Motocross:

They’ve made spending 4 weeks in California look very tempting again!

I spent this past weekend at my first-ever Corduroy Enduro up in Gooderham, Ontario. It was the 70th annual and the calendar worked out such that it made being there possible for the first time, so I took full advantage of it.

I know there is surprisingly little cross-over between the two disciplines of 2-wheel dirt biking, but I think we should put an end to that. Brett Lee was talking to a long-time enduro rider and when he told him he ran the Walton Raceway facility the guy had no idea what that even was. What?!

And then I had a guy introduce himself to me and told me about the site he ran and I had never heard of it, so I’m also guilty.

The organizers of the event were super-welcoming to me and it was great to get the chance to chase the action around over the course of the weekend. I’d like to thank all the riders who let me get in their faces while they were trying to focus on the race. I posted a pretty long video of my experience at the event on our YouTube channel:

The weekend started with the electric-assist mountain bike race on Friday. It happened at the same time as the vintage race did, so I apologize for not getting any coverage of that. In my defence, I saw someone riding what looked like a 1985 Can Am and it immediately brought back terrible memories, so I’m not sure I could have brought myself to point my cameras in that direction anyway. Yes, I’m joking…a little.

Thank you to GasGas Canada for setting me up with the new GasGas G Enduro 3.0 for the event. I’ve only ridden E-assist a couple time before, so trying to go fast on one on some of the most gnarly trails I’ve ever seen didn’t come naturally to me.

I was up against JSR and Marc Dionne, and we rode the transfers together. In the end, that was the podium, too. JSR put it to me with his far superior moto skills that were desperately needed on this terrain. I wasn’t tired at all, I just couldn’t go fast.

I attached a GoPro to my helmet for it, so you can check that out here, if you’d like:

Speaking of my GoPro Hero 9, it let me down in the worst way after the Cord was finished and I did my Bigwave’s Walk and Talk brought to you by Race Tech. I spoke to most of the top finishers and then it froze up and I lost all the content. Let me just say I was a little upset about it.

I managed to re-format the SD card and went out to chat with a few of the top Pro Women racers, so at least I was able to get some stuff done. You can check that out here:

Here’s a look at the Pro results:

2024 Corduroy Enduro Results

Final results from the 2024 Corduroy Enduro in Gooderham, Ontario – the 70th annual of the 2-day enduro

Pro Men

1. Tyler Medaglia HON 260m 56s
2. Philippe Chainé KTM 265m 28s
3. Alexandre Gougeon HQV 266m 31s
4. Loic Leonard HON 269m 56s
5. Cameron Harris GAS 276m 52s
6. Owen McKill GAS 278m 5s
7. Loic Pigeon SHERCO 278m 11s
8. Jeremie Lanthier HQV 279m 16s
9. Aaron Wilkins BETA 280m 17s
10. Ryder Heacock BETA 280m 39s
11. Brian Dussault BETA 281m 41s
12. Theo Lepley HQV 281m 47s
13. Jared Stock KTM 283m 0s
14. Olin Daniels KAW 283m 12s
15. Aaron Henry HQV 284m 57s
16. Quinn Amyotte KAW 285m 49s
17. Boston Montgomery YAM 286m 39s
18. Justin Brazeau KTM 288m 53s
19. Duncan Ensign KTM 290m 26s
20. Adam Hartnagel KTM 292m 59s

Pro Women

1. Melissa Harten KTM 288m 19s
2. Kristen Broderick KTM 10th 293m 0s
3. Emma Sharpless KTM 298m 45s
4. Marie-Claude Boudreau KTM 327m 11s
5. Courtney Schmale KTM 344m 13s
6. Mary Ann Antoine KTM 349m 14s
7. Megan Sharpless KTM 368m 4s
8. Zara Bertram BETA 369m 44s
9. Rachel Sheney KTM 402m 3s
10. Megan Chapman KTM 422m 14s
11. Sarah Kallay KTM 258m 39s
12. Vanessa Cartwright BETA 185m 5s

Full results HERE.

Bermuda rider Jyire Mitchell warned #39 up here in Canada for 2024, but we never got to see him up here running it. I spoke to him before the series started and he was asking if he’d be allowed to race an electric Stark Varg up here. The answer was no, so he never came up. I asked him about the bike in our interview.

The friendly rider only raced the first 3 rounds in 2023 and finished 14-6-8 in the 250 class.

Those results landed him in 19th and earned him #39.

We got to know Jyire a few years ago when he came up to race our series with a new team. Things didn’t go well in that situation, but Jyire wasn’t phased and has been racing all over the place ever since. He went through a difficult injury recovery that kept him out of action for a while, but it looks like he’s back in form and looking to race.

Here’s what he had to say when we contacted him this week:

Direct Motocross: OK, Jyire, I haven’t seen you in a while and your Instagram has been pretty quiet, so we have a lot to talk about. First off, where are you right now and what are you doing?

Jyire Mitchell: I’m currently in Bermuda getting ready to get back on the bike soon. 

You earned #39 for the 2024 season up here in Canada. You raced the first 3 rounds and finished 14-6-8 out west. I was actually sort of surprised to see you up here. Why did you decide to head back up here to race?

I had planned on doing the east then last minute decided to do the whole series. So I left Bermuda, flew up to Canada, got maybe a week on the bike, sent it out west with SSR and flew out west with my pops. 

How did those races go for you? Were you happy with how you rode?

My riding was dismal. Being off the bike really hampered my comfort which showed, I think. To be honest, I think I crashed every moto outside of the 3rd in the moto of the first round, so that sums it up. 

But then we never saw you in the eastern rounds. Why not? What did you go and do?

I ended up breaking my ribs in practice at the last west round. I went home and kinda just watched the east rounds click off.  

You’ve been battling injuries for the past couple years. How is everything now?

I’m fully healthy now, but the scaphoid was a crazy road. 

I see you running #511 on a KTM last summer. What were you doing?

That was just a friends bike from Bermuda. 

And the latest posts on IG show you on a Stark Varg electric bike. How did that decision happen?

That was Matt Burkeen‘s bike. I was supposed to do 2/3 laps and ended up not wanting to stop riding. 

Do you enjoy it and have you been allowed to race it at places? 

The best way I think I could articulate the feeling is riding a peddle bike. It feels super light while riding it and the corner stability and free roll is insane. By far the best bike I’ve ridden. 

Where have you been living and what are you up to now?

I’m currently in Bermuda trying to have a race on an island and fly in some foreigners to race against the locals. 

What are your winter plans?

I’m gonna get on the bike soon and start riding SX this winter. 

Oh ya? What does that mean, exactly?

I want to do some east coast SX rounds next year and make a plan after that. 

You’ve always been a fast rider and I always enjoy chatting with you. Good luck with everything and I hope to see you somewhere soon. Is there anyone you’d like to thank?

Nice talking! Yes, thanks to South of the Border, OG’s gear & goggles, and Tim Titan.

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I’ll be heading to England on Monday for the 2024 MXON at Matterley Basin. We were there in 2017 with Colton Facciotti, Tyler Medaglia, Shawn Maffenbeier, and Team Manager Kourtney Lloyd. We sort of got hosed by the weather, and I really hope it doesn’t happen again. Hmm, England in early October. The chances for another mudder are high.

2017:

And thank you to everyone who purchased a Direct Motocross/Team Canada MXON t shirt this past week. All proceeds will go directly to the 2024 team effort. The shirt order has been handed in and now we’ll wait for production and shipping.

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No SMX Playoffs Finale in Las Vegas Last Weekend for Cole Thompson

Canadian Heartbeat Hot Sauce Team Solitaire rider #71 Cole Thompson was noticeably absent from the starting line-up at the final round of the SMX World Championships finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last week.

We didn’t know the reason either until we got in touch with him and were told that he actually had “no motor to run this weekend” for Round 3. He added that the SMX Playoffs “were a struggle” this year.

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I’ll leave you with this little riding clinic from my time on the 2025 Honda CRF 250 at Gopher Dunes last week. Watch and learn…

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I guess I’m saying it this week: “See you at the races… from the sidelines!“