Frid’Eh Update #41 | Ryan Derry | Brought to You by RP Race Performance

Frid’Eh Update #41 | Ryan Derry | Brought to You by RP Race Performance

Week #41 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update belongs to Ryan Derry from Thornhill, ON and is brought to you by RP Race Performance.

By Billy Rainford

Welcome to Week #41 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update brought to you by RP Race Performance. It’s nice to be home and sitting in my office this week. Unfortunately, when I looked at the flight attendant wearing a mask on my flight home from England Monday, I thought to myself, “Hmm, maybe I should have worn one on the flight…” Well, I’ve got a nice post-flight illness brewing right now. I thought it was going to be mild but it seems to be progressing nicely.

On the upside, it may get me out of apple picking with family this weekend!

But is it going to stop me from getting some miles in on the bicycle? Nope. Funny how that works…

Ryan Derry was #41 for the 2024 season. I’ve known Ryan and his dad, Peter Derry, for a long time now and theirs is a pit that’s always on my list of ones to stop by for a chat and a coffee whenever I’m at the races.

I still laugh about the time I went into their trailer to sit and have a coffee and without realizing where I was I started snapping my socks to let the dust out of them…IN THEIR TRAILER. Oops. I’m still sorry.

Ryan went to University and got an Engineering degree and still races our Canadian Triple Crown Series MX nationals full time! He’s been as high as national #19 in the past and still enjoys training and racing.

Here’s a look at his 2024 season:

We grabbed him for a conversation this week. Here’s what he had to say when we contacted him:

Direct Motocross: Hey, Ryan. I haven’t spoken to you in a while. Where have we found you today and what are you doing?

Ryan Derry: Hey, Billy! I’m sitting at my desk burning my eyes in, getting a “monitor tan.”

I’m always fascinated by the fact that you work a full-time job and still race the Pro Nationals every weekend. Just remind everyone what it is you do for work again, please.

I’m an Engineer that specializes in energy simulation, specifically for buildings.

You drove out west for the first 3 rounds with your dad, Peter Derry, this summer, right? Is he still “Dad,” or has it become more like a friend/friend relationship at this stage of the game?

We drove out in 2023, but this year we connected with Peter Knoop at Priority MX and he took my bike, plus more out west. We flew out to each round and pitted with the Priority MX crew, which was stellar. 

I’m really close with my dad. We have so many great memories racing that it seems to all blend together. He’ll always be “Dad” but these days he just likes to be involved in any way possible and enjoy. 

Did you guys take any time to do some sightseeing or was it all business? 

Unfortunately, not much sightseeing this year, schedule was tight with work during the week.

Let’s talk results. How did the western swing go for you? I don’t think it went as well as you would have liked with scores of 0-19th-20th, but take us through it.

Competition was tough this year! I came in at an all-time high fitness level, with more riding time than usual but never could find the flow state. 

What did you think of Lethbridge? Would you like to see us go back there?

I liked the track, it was nice to race something different. I’m not sure, it might be too remote, these races need more spectators. 

And then we headed east. Your finishes are: 23-0-19-0-0. What happened? I saw your comment on your Instagram for Riverglade was “Circulating.” That doesn’t sound good.

I had some moments of feeling good out there, riding a bit looser, but It never translated to anything on paper. I believe I’m riding better than ever but the finishes don’t show it. I’m looking back on lap times over the years and trying to draw conclusions. But it’s tough with moto, there are way too many variables i.e track prep, weather, entry list etc.. There are only a few markers you can gauge. 

What have you been doing since the series ended back in mid-August?

I’ve mainly been enjoying the late summer weather and shifting my training around to more shorter, fast-twitch muscle stuff. 

And what are your winter plans?

Stay fit and try to get away somewhere sunny.

How old are you now, anyway?

I’m 31.

Will you keep chasing the Nationals in 2025? 

Ya, I think I’ll still race, whether it’s a round or two or the whole east coast, I’m not sure yet.

What else do you do for fun when you’re not on the bike?

Lately, I’ve been getting back into running fast and jumping high, the odd round of golf, and late night scooter rides to the convenience store for treats (not in that order).

Did you watch the MXON? What did you think?

MXON was madness. It was a gangster performance from (Eli) Tomac, that was fun to watch. Our guys rode awesome too. That track looked diabolical.

Let’s end this by making sure everyone knows that the shirt Dale Doback (John C. Riley) wears in the movie Step Brothers is of your dad on a street bike. Sum that story up for us again, will ya?

That’s a hard one to capture here! Would require too much typing to do it justice. There must be something on DMX’s archives. 

[Yep, I found it]

The Story Behind the John C. Riley Motorcycle Tee-Shirt in Step Brothers Movie

Unless you’re the one person in the world who hasn’t seen the movie Step Brothers starring Will Farrell and John C. Riley, you’re familiar with the scene where Riley’s character, Dale Doback, comes in wearing a Kawasaki road racing tee shirt.

I remember watching the movie the first time and being like, “Hey, cool, he’s wearing a motorcycle shirt!” It’s kind of like the scene in Ghostbusters II where Bill Murray appears with a 100% sticker on his construction helmet. But the even cooler thing about the Step Brothers tee shirt story is that it involves a Canadian.

You may have heard that it’s actually a photo of Peter Derry, but let’s dive into the details. Here’s what Peter had to say about it:

“The actual original photo is of me racing to a win at Mosport (Photo credit to Flair Photography). The photo ended up all over the internet not long after and I guess someone thought it would make a nice retro-looking shirt for John C. Riley to wear during this “Did you touch my drumset?” scene. 

(Note: You have to click the “Watch on YouTube” link to view the scene)

“The movie was highly recommended to me to watch…in fact I was shocked about how many people had seen it and laughed their asses off. So, one Friday night in the dead of winter, Robyn and I got the movie. When this scene came on, I yelled, “Hit pause!” I grabbed the photo and held it up to the TV and we were stunned. It was funny how we stumbled onto it. 

“I never really did anything about it for a couple of years and then the story intrigued an entertainment lawyer who insisted on pursuing the case.
And…I bought a Kawasaki after that one. One can never have too many motorcycles!

Here are a few details on the actual motorcycle in the photo:

“So, the motorcycle in the shot was a 1982 Kawasaki S1 Superbike (Factory Kawasaki, only 30 made) and was originally ridden by the Canadian Superbike Champion, Lang Hindle. I was an amateur at the time this bike was campaigned. 

“I was asked to race the bike in 2002 for a collector and went on to win several races and break the all-time vintage lap record in the Vintage Road Racing series, twice. I had a good run on the bike until 2005 when it was finally retired from competition. I got a lot of press and so that’s probably how the photos were discovered.“

So, there you have it. That’s how a photo of Peter Derry road racing made it into the movie Step Brothers and now lives in Canadian Motorcycle Racing folklore.

*** By the way, if you’d like one of these tee shirts for yourself, give Peter a DM on his Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/peterderry96/ ***

OK, thanks for taking some time with us this week. Good luck with everything and who would you like to thank?

I want to thank my dad, Richard at Josef Gas/Welders Helper, Jerry from GP Bikes, Mountain Sports Distribution, Greg Poisson,  SevenMX Canada, Ryan Lockhart and Peter from Priority MX. Thanks!

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Video | Team Canada at the 2024 MXON

Video recap of Team Canada MXON‘s experience at the 2024 Motocross of Nations at Matterley Basin near Winchester, England.

We had sunshine and decent temperatures all week leading up to the racing on the weekend. It hovered around 16-17C with a chilly breeze, but it’s October in Great Britain so I don’t think we’ll complain. 

Saturday was bluebird for qualifying and then Sunday was overcast with a slight mist showing up from time to time. It made the track moist, tacky, rutted, and challenging. As soon as the racing finished and the podium was celebrated the sky opened up and we got actual rain. The timing was perfect.

The one really crappy part about Sunday was the fact that a cop or security guard got hit by a vehicle right at the entrance/exit to the track, so they had it closed as it became a crime scene. 

At first, someone told us there had been a fatality, but then we were told that was just an exaggeration but that a person had definitely been hit and injured. 

They ended up diverting us all to a different exit and we headed back down the roads that are barely wide enough for a single vehicle with only 5 minutes of actual driving time added to our journey. 

Big thanks to Brad “Automotoco” Nemeth for taking the driving shifts. We may have laid into him a few times about his somewhat “jerky” driving, but we made it and the rental car place took the van back without any scratches or dents. Plus, I didn’t hear anyone else volunteering to drive! I refused after my experience over there back in 2017, so we’ll take that as a win.

As I’m sure you all know by now, Team Canada finished 15th overall when the day came to an end. We all know we had a team that was capable of much more than that, but until you line up and they drop the gate you just never really know how these Motocross of Nations events are going to go; so much can happen, good and bad.

I said the weather was decent, but that doesn’t mean the track wasn’t completely gnarly! As soon as you walk onto the grounds and get your first look across the “basin” you get a sense of how big, fast, and rough this track is. This place isn’t for the faint of heart.

On Friday night, we had our VIP’s dinner in the banquet room at the hotel we were staying at. I sat with a couple of them and it was like a trip down memory lane. 

Steve Buliovsky was one of them. I’ve known Steve since we raced Hully Gully House League back in 1983! With him were Brad Coles, Ric Wilson, and Dave Marcella. Dave was another rider who shows up in my old motocross album many times, as we were rivals in that same year. 

I was happy to talk about 1983 all night long because I think that was the only year I was faster than both of them. Lol. After that, I had a weird knee injury and also made the worst motorcycle choice anyone could have made in 1984. Yes, I was one of the poor souls who fell for the catch phrase and advertising slogan: “Can Am Unleashes a Storm!” 

I won’t bore you with more than to say Dave admitted he had a friend who also had one and when he tried to ride it he understood just what we were up against. I’ll sum it up how one of my friends did when I made them try mine to prove a point: “That thing is like riding a pull-out sofa!”

In hindsight (and with my parents’ money) I wish we could have gotten rid of that damn thing and bought a Japanese bike from any of the 4 brands going back then.

Anyway, we bench raced during dinner, which was amazing (unless you weren’t involved and had to listen to us), and had a great time. It’s amazing what you can remember about racing no matter how much time passes. We talked about some Ontario CMA races from 41 years ago like they happened last weekend. 

I don’t know if you already know this, but Steve is the only rider who won both the Junior and Senior (Intermediate) classes in the same year! Unfortunately, circumstances made it so that he wasn’t able to continue racing into the Pro classes, but he would have been good on the big #217. 

Dave just had about one of the worst crashes anyone can have…and way too old to be having it!

I won’t get into details, but he ended up unconscious in the trees at The 15, and broke too many bones and wrecked too many internal organs for me to list here. He’s lucky to be alive and probably only is because a young rider went by and wondered why there was a bike in the trees and went back to the pits to tell his parents. It was great to see him and catch up on things. 

Flight home story: I was sitting in a chair at Heathrow Airport thinking I had until around 3:00pm before I had to make my way to the gate for my flight back to Canada. James Lissimore was on an “earlier” flight than I was, we had a coffee and some lunch and then he headed off to board his flight. 

As I sat going through photos and typing some things, I received a text from James asking me if I was sure of my flight time because they were paging me down near the gate he was at. I got the last call page and they closed the flight and were removing my bag from the plane. 

I’m not supposed to run anymore because my right knee’s best days are way behind it, but when he told me it was a 10-minute walk to the gate I headed out at a rather lame jog with a heavy camera backpack over my shoulders and a laptop bag (which had one Converse shoe in it to keep my checked bag just under 50 pounds). 

I knew I was starting to sweat and that it wasn’t going to make the first few minutes very pleasant if I even made the flight, but off I ran for the first time in 7 years. It didn’t feel great, let me tell you, and I knew it would feel even worse the next day. 

I got to the gate and the counter and they asked me my name. I told them and they asked for my passport and boarding pass. One of them made a call to tell them to stop trying to locate my bag for removal. Of the five Air Canada staffers standing there not one of them cracked a smile. I don’t think your reasons for being late are ever good enough to make them laugh, and I know mine wasn’t, so I kept it to myself and just let them do their thing as the sweat began to pour down my forehead. 

I ran onto the plane and got that look we all know so well. Yep, it was my turn to be the one who held the plane at the gate for an extra few minutes and it didn’t feel great. 

Fortunately, there was still room in the overhead compartment by my seat for my camera bag and there were even 2 empty seats beside me again for the flight home. Sweet! 

I made up some story for the lady sitting 3 seats over that made it sounds like it wasn’t at all my fault. “I didn’t book the flight and I was told….” Blah, blah, it was someone else’s fault, blah. I think I pulled it off. 

Nations Classification MXGP

Pos Nr Rider Nat. Fed. Bike Race 1 Race 2 Total 1 25 Gajser, Tim SLO AMZS Honda 1 1 2 2 22 Tomac, Eli USA AMA Yamaha 2 3 5 3 52 Herlings, Jeffrey NED KNMV KTM 5 5 10 4 4 Lawrence, Hunter AUS MA Honda 8 4 12 5 16 Seewer, Jeremy SUI SWISSMOTO Kawasaki 7 6 13 6 7 Forato, Alberto ITA FMI Honda 9 7 16 7 19 Prado, Jorge ESP RFME GASGAS 4 14 18 8 10 Roczen, Ken GER AMA Suzuki 10 10 20 9 46 Lopes, Enzo BRA CBM Yamaha 15 11 26 10 1 Febvre, Romain FRA FFM Kawasaki 3 34 37 11 70 Pettis, Jess CAN CMA KTM 24 22 46 12 28 Searle, Tommy GBR ACU Kawasaki 23 25 48 13 13 Van doninck, Brent BEL FMB Honda 14 39 53 14 115 Fredsoe, Mads DEN DMU GASGAS 28 27 55 15 109 Horgmo, Kevin NOR NMF Honda 20 38 58 16 34 Pumpurs, Mairis LAT LAMSF Husqvarna 30 29 59 17 124 Stauffer, Marcel AUT AMF KTM 19 40 59 18 43 Polak, Petr CZE ACCR Yamaha 29 33 62 19 31 Krestinov, Gert EST EMF Honda 33 35 68 20 37 Durow, Cameron Anthony RSA MSA KTM 37 32 69

Nations Classification MX2

Pos Nr Rider Nat. Fed. Bike Race 1 Race 2 Total 1 53 de Wolf, Kay NED KNMV Husqvarna 6 5 11 2 35 Reisulis, Karlis Alberts LAT LAMSF Yamaha 12 8 20 3 11 Laengenfelder, Simon GER DMSB GASGAS 18 3 21 4 116 Haarup, Mikkel DEN DMU Triumph 13 10 23 5 23 Webb, Cooper USA AMA Yamaha 17 9 26 6 5 Webster, Kyle AUS MA Honda 11 19 30 7 2 Vialle, Tom FRA FFM KTM 22 12 34 8 20 Oliver, Oriol ESP RFME KTM 26 13 39 9 8 Adamo, Andrea ITA FMI KTM 21 20 41 10 44 Mikula, Julius CZE ACCR KTM 25 17 42 11 38 Mc Lellan, Camden RSA MSA Triumph 16 37 53 12 17 Tonus, Arnaud SUI SWISSMOTO Yamaha 27 29 56 13 32 Leok, Tanel EST EMF Husqvarna 31 30 61 14 47 Eto Tiburcio, Bernardo BRA CBM Honda 32 33 65 15 110 Agard-Michelsen, Sander NOR NMF Yamaha 35 31 66 16 26 Peklaj, Jaka SLO AMZS Husqvarna 34 36 70 17 71 Benoit, Kaven CAN CMA KTM 36 35 71 18 125 Sandner, Michael AUT AMF KTM 38 34 72 19 14 Coenen, Lucas BEL FMB Husqvarna 39 – 39 20 29 Anstie, Max GBR ACU Yamaha 40 – 40

Nations Classification Open

Pos Nr Rider Nat. Fed. Bike Race 1 Race 2 Total 1 6 Lawrence, Jett AUS MA Honda 1 2 3 2 3 Renaux, Maxime FRA FFM Yamaha 4 9 13 3 21 Fernandez, Ruben ESP RFME Honda 2 12 14 4 24 Plessinger, Aaron USA AMA KTM 7 8 15 5 30 Mewse, Conrad GBR ACU KTM 6 19 25 6 27 Pancar, Jan SLO AMZS KTM 15 16 31 7 15 Geerts, Jago BEL FMB Yamaha 11 20 31 8 54 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED KNMV Fantic 18 15 33 9 9 Bonacorsi, Andrea ITA FMI Yamaha 16 18 34 10 72 Wright, Dylan CAN CMA Honda 23 13 36 11 45 Teresak, Jakub CZE ACCR Husqvarna 21 23 44 12 12 Nagl, Maximilian GER DMSB Honda 25 21 46 13 33 Kullas, Harri EST EMF KTM 22 24 46 14 111 Toendel, Cornelius NOR NMF KTM 14 36 50 15 39 Purdon, Tristan RSA MSA Husqvarna 24 28 52 16 36 Bidzans, Edvards LAT LAMSF Honda 28 26 54 17 18 Guillod, Valentin SUI SWISSMOTO Honda 38 17 55 18 48 Aparecido dos Santos, Fabio BRA CBM Yamaha 26 30 56 19 117 Skovbjerg, Nicolai DEN DMU Yamaha 32 31 63 20 126 Kratzer, Michael AUT AMF Honda 27 37 64

Canada finished 15th overall this year. No, it’s not a result that’s going to blow anyone’s socks off, but racing is racing, and it’s what keeps us coming back. As racers, we’re always looking for that elusive “perfect race.” 

I won’t talk too much about the actual racing here, I plan to do that in its own column, but if you look at the results, a few better places and we were knocking on the top 10 door, no question!

It was really nice to see our chef friends from The Hungry Pig again who helped us out last year in France. The food was fantastic and it was really nice for the entire team to have meals together. Now we just need to figure out how to get them to Indiana from Ernée, France (where they live) next October. Lol 

Anyway, from an execution of the planning portion of the trip, it was spot on once again. 

One day we’ll have a great day in Europe and we’ll all say, “See, I knew it! I told you we could do it!” And looking for that day will keep us going back to Europe to wave the maple leaf.

And I’ll be there.

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Team Canada at the 2024 ISDE

Next up is the 2024 ISDE in Spain. We’ve got a strong contingent of racers over there getting ready to do battle. You can follow along with them over on the Canadian ISDE Instagram page.

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Preston Boespflug Signs with Partzilla PRMX

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Have a great Thanksgiving weekend, everyone. I hope you get the chance to eat turkey with family.