Brought to you by RP Race PerformanceWeek #49 belongs to Brendan McKee from Saskatchewan. | Bigwave photo
Welcome to Week #49 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update brought to you by RP Race Performance. Unless you live in Whistler, you wouldn’t believe the amount of snow we’ve just received here in London, Ontario! Seriously, we haven’t seen snow liek this in early December for as long as I can remember!
As always on these snow days, our day began by firing up the snowblower and proceeding to do 5 driveways on our crescent. We have some new people down the street who appear pretty new to all this and they were extremely appreciative to see me rolling down the street in there direction to get the pile from the snowplow at the bottom of their driveway.
We have another new guy a couple more doors down from them and he was out there yesterday with a shovel that was like a little plow with wheels and everything. I’ve never seen anything like it. It wouldn’t have been good enough for the amount we had to deal with this morning, but it was a pretty sweet little unit for maybe up to 5 inches of snow.
Every. Damn. time.
This is Olive the AussieDoodle‘s 2nd winter but this is the most snow she’s seen yet. She absolutely loves it but we hate letting her out in the back yard because it’s so much work getting the snow balls off her to let her back in the house. I’m close to initiating some sort of diaper situation or I’m going to shave her bald!
When I was driving home from the Mini O’s in Florida last Sunday, I got a call from a very old racing friend of mine named Al Strickert. Al and I used to race against each other way back in the 1980’s all over Ontario. I haven’t spoken to him in quite some time and never on the phone, so this was weird.
It turns out he’s having some sort of late mid-life crisis and was getting set to drive south to spend a few months in Florida riding and training. We spoke for 2 hours as I drove through Atlanta and up to Chattanooga, where I pulled over for the night.
I told him he should give us updates on the tracks he hits and the Canadians he bumps into while he’s down there.
“I departed December 3rd with a stop in London at Robert Q for a very little savings of 2% and overwhelmed by the snowfall already, preferably a green Christmas. Of course, a little inspection at the Bluewater Bridge, thinking it was the 4 months I reported and perhaps a bit jealous, as well maybe doing this on my own. A couple Planet Fitness stops on route to Monster Mountain MX in Tallassee, AL. High of 14 Celsius today. I’m just like a kid in the biggest candy store! Gearing up to ride shortly. It’s still cool and there’s some breeze. I’m pumped to say the least.“
He only lives about 45 minutes away from my place here in London, so he chose a very good time to head south!
Keep an eye out for Al on his mint 2002 Honda CR250 2-stroke! | Al Strickert photo
If you see Al down there in Florida, be sure to say hello. He’s riding solo in his van and would be happy to ride with some Canadians and hit the tracks that you think are the best ones down there. His nickname is “Spazz” but he’s mellowed out quite a bit since that was given to him, I think…
To end this thought, I went back into the old motocross album to find some photos of Al and me together from….a couple years ago.
That’s Al #128 on the white Yamaha and yellow gear. That’s me cutting across directly at him on the Kawasaki #145 and yellow rain pants. | Bigwave Senior photoAnd there’s Al grabbing a holeshot just ahead of #221 Lino Zecca. Don’t worry, the #145 came through and got the job done in his coveralls. | Bigwave Senior photo#128 and #145 beside each other at another muddy Hully Gully race. | Bigwave Senior photoBlurry photo of me, Al, and Jimmy Dickens getting our Hully Gully CKSL jackets. Rugby pants and DG hat for the win! | Bigwave Senior photo
Wow, that was a fun walk down memory lane, but where were we?
Brendan McKee is the rider who was #49 this year. He’s may be the friendliest rider you’re ever going to meet in your travels through this sport. He made some quick improvements the past couple years and was moving his way up, but then decided to step away and get his “real job” sorted out along with his future, so that’s what he did. We never saw him at the Nationals this summer, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t busy.
He’s apprenticing as a Millwright, working the family farm, and sledding in the winter. Here’s what he had to say when we got in touch with him this week:
Here’s what the friendly rider from Saskatchewan had to say when we contacted him this week. | Bigwave photo
Direct Motocross: Hey, Brendan. You did the western rounds of the Triple Crown Series in 2023 to earn #49 for 2024, but we never saw you running the number! Can you take us through the decision to step away?
Brendan McKee: I did some races earlier in the 2024 season but didn’t feel great on my bike so I stepped away. I have always loved working and just stepped away to work and get my apprenticeship hours so that I can complete trade school.
I was on your Instagram page looking to see what you’ve been up to but you haven’t been posting much! You mention trade school, what do you do for work these days?
I am working as an apprentice Millwright these days, actually in school right now for my second year of schooling for millwright. This fall I worked lots on agricultural equipment, then did lots of work on the farm in harvest.
He spent some time with our friends at Club MX to get ready back in 2022. | Bigwave photo
How has it been stepping away from moto?
I’ve been super happy since stepping away from moto and spent the summer at the lake and at the farm. Definitely a lot slower paced, often running around the country to race so have got to do some things that I have always wanted to do but didn’t have time.
It looks like your main adrenaline passion these days is mountain sledding. How does a guy from Saskatchewan get introduced to this?!
We have always had sleds in Saskatchewan then finally convinced my parents to let me go to the mountains with buddies!! The last couple years it’s been one of my favourite things to do. I got a new sled and going to be hitting the snow in the next couple weeks.
Where are you living these days?
I’m still in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, but the last 2 months I’ve been out in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for school.
Did you follow along with the series last summer? What are your thoughts?
Yes, I still followed the series and chatted with the boys when out riding. I thought it was great to see Jess (Pettis) get an overall championship and have a safe season.
Brendan won our Ryno Power Canada Privateer Performance of the Week for his ride at Gopher Dunes in 2022. | Bigwave photo
If you were to look back over your racing, what is the best thing you remember about it?
Probably winning Team Green Kawasaki Canada 4 years in a row and winning 95% of the classes in Saskatchewan. Then Gopher Dunes 2022 was my second round on the 450 and think I qualified 6th and had great motos going 11-16 for 14th overall and was crazy to have my mom as mechanic for the first time also!!
What do you do during the summer to burn off that motocross energy?
Spent time at the lake wake surfing with buddies and working on the farm with grandpa working with the cattle.
Is there a bike in your garage these days?
Right now there is actually not a bike in the garage which is crazy, but there are plans to get my last race bike back from a friend: my 2023 kKX450SR.
He says he has something up his sleeve, so we just might see him at the races out west in 2025. | Bigwave photo
What’s the deal with the Stark riding? Is this something you do these days?
I ride the Stark here and there. A buddy owns the dealership so whenever they have a demo day I like to go out and really push the Stark to the limit.
What’s the biggest difference between riding the two types of bikes?
The biggest difference would be the instant power from the electric motor and probably not having an engine brake on the Stark.
What will you get up to this winter?
This winter will just be working in Lloydminster and sledding in BC and probably get back into the gym and start training for next season because big things are coming!!!
What does that hint mean? Will we see you at any Nationals in 2025 or have you permanently turned that page?
I think I will be back on the track in 2025. Some news of a nationals being closer to home, so I will start training this winter and see how I feel closer to.
Awesome! OK, thanks for filling us in on what you’re up to these days. All the best in the future. Before we let you go, would you like to thank anyone?
I would like to thank my parents for always being there for me in my racing career and hauling me around the world to do what I love!! Also big thanks to all the sponsors over the years to help out getting me from race to race.
Tyler Gibbs Wins 2024 AMO Arenacross Championship
#22 Tyler Gibbs from Mission, BC. | James Lissimore photo
Tyler Gibbs from Mission, BC grew up racing at the barn in Chilliwack, so it seemed like he was destined to win a title eventually. It took him a bit longer than we thought it would but he got the job done this season and will run the #1 plates in 2025.
I gave him a call this week to talk about it and it sounds like the win didn’t come without some drama. In Arenacross, you can always count on some shenanigans.
It’s time to have a look at the champions from the 4-round 2024 AMO Orion Arenacross Championship amateur classes at Chilliwack Heritage Park in Chilliwack, BC.
I don’t know who is in charge of getting their highlight videos up, but there still isn’t an official one on the WSX Championship YouTube page. That needs to be better for sure.
We Had 2 Champions at the 2024 Mini O’s
I’ll get a post up of how all our Canadians did this year as soon as I can this weekend.
Entries are Open for 2025 TransCan at Walton Raceway
Welcome to the 2025 Walton TransCan GNC! Entries open on Friday, December 6th at 10:00am EST
I spoke with Brett Lee to find out more about the reasoning behind this change and what it means as far as racing goes at Walton Raceway.
No races at the track affects the 3 or maybe 4 races they had there before the TransCan last year. There were 2 AMO races, 1 TVR, and maybe 1 SCR. Brett said that they’ll be moving their racing focus to the TransCan and then to races in the fall.
They won’t be holding practice days but there will be some riding schools held at Walton, and they are talking to a pretty high level rider to lead them.
Among other reasons, they are trying to increase the prestige of the TransCan, more like how Loretta Lynn’s is run in the USA. Everyone who shows up to race the GNC this year will be on a perfectly level playing field.
We’ll leave you with the fact that it looks like we’ll be going to Calgary, Cold Lake, and Swift Current in the west next summer to start the Canadian Triple Crown Series MX Nationals.
Cold Lake MX:
Swift Current MX:
OK, have a great weekend, everyone. I think my driveway work is done for a while. It’s supposed to be 7 degrees in the next couple days.
We’re back in action in the AMA Arenacross series Dec 6 and 7 in Boise, Idaho.
Pro Points after 2 rounds:
Vince Friese 60
Kyle Peters 55
Michael Hicks 53
Kyle Bitterman 48
Ryan Breece 45
Robbie Wageman 43
Brandon Ray (just signed with Sherco) 33
Noah Viney 32
Austin Politelli 31
Luke Kalaitzian 30
X Pro (Electric)
Michael Hicks 30
Justin Bogle 29
Kelana Humphrey 28
Josh Hill 27
Trevor Stewart 24
We’ll let #630 Mason Murdy say it this week: “See you at the races...” | Bigwave photoCheck out RP Race Performance on Instagram.
No comments!
There are no comments yet, but you can be first to comment this article.