By Billy Rainford

I’m not going to lie, I’m starting to get a little stir crazy. Usually, at this time of year, I’m happy to spend some time at home because I’ve been out in California for 5 or 6 weeks, I’ve been to a few Supercross races, I’ve spent time at my friend Brendan’s (KDEAM) place in Palm Coast, Florida, driven back and forth from the Daytona SX, the RCSX, the GNCC in Palatka, and the odd trip into Daytona to people watch at Bike Week. This past year, I’ve done none of that.

Fortunately, we’ve finally got weather around my Southwestern Ontario area that has allowed tracks to open and people have been loading up and getting out to ride.

I spoke with Kenzie Hennessy of HMX Moto Co. this past week and he mentioned that he and Kyle Snelgrove would be holding this week’s MX School at a private track near Aylmer. I Googled it and it was only 40 minutes away, so I decided to charge my camera batteries and check it out.

As soon as I backed out of my driveway and took a sip of coffee, it felt like I was in heaven. It’s amazing how much I miss the road. As soon as I’m on my way somewhere for moto my heart fills and I feel great. I’m not sure if everyone feels like this or if it’s something that was handed down to me from my parents and grandparents.

I know for a fact that my English grandfather (my dad’s dad) was a traveller and a story teller. He has the most amazing story from WWII that I still plan on compiling into a book that should really be put on the big screen. It’s crazy…and true!

Anyway, as I headed southeast out of London, the traffic disappeared and I was on some backroads that I’d never been on before. The sun was shining and I had the music going as I cruised into the sandier area that lines Lake Erie.

I’m not going to say much more about the day because I will be posting a story on its own later today, but let me just say how good it felt to be at a practice track watching people do what they love.

Kenzie and Kyle did a great job with the two groups of 10 riders and I think everyone had a great time. We’re still in weird pandemic times with regulations so let’s continue to follow the mask and social distancing rules. It was great to see everyone doing what was necessary to comply while still enjoying time “with” friends and riding.

We’re lucky that Motocross is a sport that can be done without having to be too close to anyone else, so we should be able to continue riding as long as we follow the rules to avoid being “narc’d” by some so-called do-gooders. Let’s not forget what happened last year.

If you’re interested in riding with these guys, contact Kenzie through his Instagram. They cap it at 20 riders, so you need to get your name on the list.

Amsoil Snow Bike Final Standings

Rider	Hometown	Sled	Points
1	Jesse Kirchmeyer	Arcade, NY	Polaris	778
2	Troy Horbaty	Tyndall, MB	Other	693
3	Keaton Ward	Bozeman, MT	Other	634
4	Jacqueline Riess	Eden Prairie, MN	Other	494
5	Jorgen Dahl	brookings, SD	Other	412
6	Austin Radinzel	Houlton, WI	Yamaha	370
7	Troy Weakley	Cold brook, AK	Other	354
8	Robert (bobby) Pagel	Eau Claire, WI	Yamaha	218
9	Nick Kraeger	Constableville, NY	Honda	181
10	Canyon Ashley	Meridian, ID	Honda	123

CSRA Snow Bike Series Ends Early

Pro/Am Snowbike

1 53 Yanick Boucher HUS 95
2 259 Taylor Ciampichini KTM 82
3 28 Sam Gaynor GAS 80
4 630 RJ Marnoch KAW 78
5 729 Ryan Hunt HUS 68
132 Seth Hughes KAW 68
7 120 Justin Brazeau YAM 65
118 Connor Henshaw HON 65

GNCC Round 4 – Camp Coker, SC

Canadian Shelby Turner raced on a 2-stroke this weekend.

WXC
Place	Nbr	Name	Hometown	Brand	Laps	Elapsed
1	001	BECCA N SHEETS	CIRCLEVILLE, OH	YAM	4	01:47:07.890
2	650	RACHAEL ARCHER	NEW ZEALAND, //	YAM	4	01:47:52.579
3	713	TAYLA JONES	AUSTRALIA, //	HQV	4	01:49:48.438
4	417	RACHEL GUTISH	TERRE HAUTE, IN	BET	4	01:50:37.639
5	444	KORIE STEEDE	BELOIT, OH	KAW	4	01:51:47.219
6	637	SHELBY A TURNER	CANADA, //	KTM	4	01:53:18.417
7	777	JOCELYN BARNES	EQUINUNK, PA	KAW	4	01:57:26.239
8	205	PRESTIN RAINES	TRAVELERS REST, SC	YAM	4	02:00:23.814
9	715	MARINA CANCRO	HUNTINGTON, NY	YAM	4	02:01:31.973
10	864	EDEN NETELKOS	JACKSONVILLE, FL	YAM	4	02:09:42.370

POINTS

WXC – Bike – Class Points	RND 1	RND 2	RND 3	RND 4
Place	Make	Nbr	Name	Finish	Finish	Finish	Finish	Total Points
1	YAM	001	BECCA N SHEETS	2	1	2	1	110
2	YAM	650	RACHAEL ARCHER	1	2	1	2	110
3	BET	417	RACHEL GUTISH	3	4	4	4	75
4	HQV	713	TAYLA JONES	5	3	5	3	74
5	KTM	637	SHELBY A TURNER	4	5	6	6	64
6	KAW	777	JOCELYN BARNES	6	6	7	7	58
7	YAM	205	PRESTIN RAINES	7	7	8	8	54
8	KAW	444	KORIE STEEDE	11		3	5	47
9	YAM	864	EDEN NETELKOS	10	9	9	10	46
10	YAM	715	MARINA CANCRO	12	8	10	9	45

XC1 Open Pro – Bike
Place	Nbr	Name	Hometown	Brand	Laps	Elapsed
1	514	STEWARD BAYLOR JR	HODGES, SC	YAM	7	03:03:27.670
2	114	JOSH V STRANG	AUSTRALIA, //	KAW	7	03:03:30.958
3	003	JORDAN ASHBURN	LIVINGSTON, TN	HQV	7	03:08:00.950
4	530	BENJAMIN M KELLEY	HARWINTON, CT	KTM	7	03:09:17.417
5	314	GRANT BAYLOR	HONEA PATH, SC	GAS	7	03:10:29.570
6	206	JOSHUA M TOTH	WINSTEAD, CT	KTM	7	03:12:43.099
7	739	TREVOR BOLLINGER	MORGANTON, NC	HQV	7	03:16:58.899
8	543	BENJAMIN HERRERA	CHILE, //	SHR	7	03:19:00.890
9	212	RICKY A RUSSELL	DUVALL, WA	GAS	7	03:20:17.677
10	121	CORY BUTTRICK	LOGAN, OH	BET	7	03:29:43.900

POINTS

XC1 Open Pro – Bike	RND 1	RND 2	RND 3	RND 4
Place	Make	Nbr	Name	Finish	Finish	Finish	Finish	Total Points
1	KTM	530	BENJAMIN M KELLEY	5	1	2	4	86
2	KAW	114	JOSH V STRANG	3	2	7	2	83
3	GAS	314	GRANT BAYLOR	1	4	4	5	80
4	HQV	003	JORDAN ASHBURN	4	3	6	3	70
5	YAM	514	STEWARD BAYLOR JR		8	1	1	67
6	KTM	206	JOSHUA M TOTH	8	5	3	6	57
7	GAS	212	RICKY A RUSSELL	6	6	5	9	50
8	HQV	989	THADDEUS DUVALL	2				25
9	YAM	523	LAYNE MICHAEL	7	7	13	11	25
10	SHR	543	BENJAMIN HERRERA	10	9	11	8	14
11	HQV	739	TREVOR BOLLINGER			12	7	9
12	KTM	902	TYLER D MEDAGLIA	DNF	12	8		6

Full results HERE.

Next round:

RD 5 – TIGER RUN

Location Big Buck Farm – Union, SC

Time April 17, 2021 – April 18, 2021

Connor Stevenson LLAQ in Colorado

Canadian Connor Stevenson won both the 250 B and 450 B Limited classes at the LLAQ on Saturday at Thunder Valley MX in Lakewood, Colorado.

He was back in action Sunday for the Mod classes. He was 3rd in 250 B Mod (fell) and 2nd in 450 B Mod. His dad, Craig Stevenson, said he was a “little under horsepower for a mudder at Thunder Valley.”

From MMIC:

February 2021

More bikes and ATVs sold! How long will this trend continue? A key factor in prolonging the trend will be to ensure that all of these new riders are informed, educated and trained.

Informed can be as simple as letting new riders know about local clubs, associations, training and gatherings. If you are a dealer perhaps you could put together a grab bag of brochures or invite the new riders to a “Newbie Night”. Welcome them to the riding lifestyle. “Hey there’s a meet up at Johnny’s Burgers every Thursday night” or “there’s a club ride starting at the Old Coach trailhead starting a 8am Sunday mornings, newbies are welcome”. 

Educated can be providing the basics of riding. “Hey did ya know it’s heels before wheels, always yield to hikers, horses, etc when you’re riding your ATV” or “cold tires are slippery, take extra care until you have a couple kilometers on the bike every ride” or “try to avoid painted lines, especially in the wet”. 

Training, is there any substitute? On road or off road it is the best investment a new rider can make. Why learn the hard way?

Ultimately it’s up to us to keep the trend going. The pandemic is not a business plan. Things will return to normal and if we do the little things the new normal will involve riding.

Casey Keast Tells the Highway Accident Story

In case you haven’t listened to Casey Keast tell the story of his terrifying crash on the highway on the way back to California with Kevin Urquhart, here it is:

OK, I hope that got you through a cup of coffee to get this Monday going. Be sure to check back later. Have a great week.