Monday Morning Coffee

Monday Morning Coffee

By Billy Rainford

I hope everyone had a great weekend and either feels completely worn out from a hard weekend of riding and racing or you feel well-rested and ready for another long work week. I can remember the days when I’d show up for school on Monday and be nursing some sort of bruise, twist, or tweak for the better part of the next week. Do kids still wear their race jerseys to class these days?

I can remember the first day of grade 9. We were doing something in class and I had my hand up (apparently answering a question for some crazy reason) and the teacher looked my way and said, “Yes…you with the shirt.” The shirt I was wearing was a MS Racing Kawasaki race jersey. My mom was so good at keeping whites white that I could wear a race-worn shirt out in public and it would look like it had never seen a race or practice track!

This little story really begs the question: Why aren’t some of our main sponsors laundry detergent companies???!!! Does that not make sense to everyone? Yes, I remember ‘Team Tide’ and the others but why didn’t they stick around in moto? That’s it, as soon as I set this article live I’m getting on the phone and email machine and trying to contact some of these bigger detergent companies. I don’t care if I have to sell my soul to a ‘Moonie’ or some other crazy thing (Google it, Bowker!)

Tyler Medaglia – GNCC of New York

We had a Canadian to cheer for down south of the border over the weekend. Parts Canada Thor Husqvarna rider, Tyler Medaglia, took his Freedom Cycle Husky to Round 6 at Tomahawk in Odessa, NY. Unfortunately, Tyler was unable to finish the race after blasting out to the holeshot and leading the first half lap.

We spoke with Tyler this morning as he was treveling back home to Nova Scotia here he said that even though the selling has gone right down in his ankle he will still go get it checked out. Here’s how Tyler described the incident:

He was riding a Husqvarna TE300 2-stroke from Freedom Cycle with his mx suspension and a pipe – the rest was stock. The forks were obviously a little too stiff for off-road. He’d been riding the bike for about a week-and-a-half prior to the event.

He knew he needed a good start if he wanted to try to run the pace of the top guys (which is exactly what he wanted to do last weekend). He wanted to “see what [their pace] was like.”

Leading up to the event, he rode a sand pit and at Pleasant Valley a few times. Can you believe he said they still have some snow in the woods out in Nova Scotia?! Wow, that’s a tough spring they’ve had!

He said the track was pretty cool and he went out and grabbed the holeshot, like he wanted. Andrew Delong got past him at the half lap point but Tyler quickly got back around him. When they hit the first trail section it was really dusty and he knew they’d have an advantage over the riders behind dealing with terrible visibility so he wanted to make a nice gap on them there.

He went through the river bed cleanly and then headed up a hill and through a new section that was added that day for the race. They didn’t really know where they were going and he described it as “bush-wacking” for a while. Kailub Russell got by him but Tyler was able to hang with him for around 10 minutes or so.

As they went don a steep hill and into a tight corner, they were sliding all over the place on slick rock and Kailub missed a turn and went off course. Tyler put his right foot out in the turn, bent his ankle and managed to run over his own foot. He described his body language as “flailing all over the place” in that tricky section.

He felt his ankle “pop” and said it reminded him of the time he broke the same one at Ste. Julie a few years ago. Once that happened, he “sat up and rode out of the woods to the pits and pulled the pin” on the day. His dad, Randy MacLeod and he figured there was no sense pushing it for 3 hours on an ankle they don’t how badly is hurt just 2 weeks before round 1 of the Rockstar Energy MX Nationals begin out at Whispering Pines in Kamloops, BC.

Tyler said the ankle is still sore but that the swelling has gone right down. He will head to see the doctor when he gets home but doesn’t think it’s broken. He also said he wants to hit the last couple rounds of the series after Walton, so we have that to looke forward to at the end of the summer.

Here’s Tyler Medaglia on the podium receiving his holeshot award in Odessa, NY this past weekend. – Freedom Cycle photo

Results:

We had a bunch of women competing in the WXC Class, too.

Congratulations to Quebec’s Felicia Robichaud on her 7th place finish.

Let’s give Walter Pope some recognition for taking 2nd in the oldest age category there! Great job, Walter.

Full results can be found at www.gnccracing.com

Jeff McConkey sent this photo of Women’s East Championship co-organizer, Leah Clarke, sharpening her skills at Sand Del Lee over the weekend in preparation for the series that will go from Gopher Dunes to Sand Del Lee to Ulverton.

Women’s East co-organizer, Leah Clarke, at Sand Del Lee over the weekend. – Clarke photo

Kyle Keast Motocross School and Training Camp

OPEN FOR BUSINESS: Be the FIRST to experience a ‘Race Camp’ at the Kyle Keast Motocross Training Facility in Lindsay, Ontario. A 3-day, All-Inclusive training camp that includes on and off bike training with personal support with from top professional racer, Kyle Keast, and Fitness & Nutrition Expert, Shandell Pryzbilla. An excellent way for any serious amateur or professional racer who wants to better their game.

We’ve been working hard the last few weeks to have the Keast Camp (track & fitness centre) ready to ride prior to the Motopark Cup race this coming weekend – and we’re happy to say it’s looking mint. Please join us this week to help break it in!

The very first Keast ‘Race Camp’ begins this Tuesday May 12th and runs until the end of Thursday May 14th (3 full days, riders are urged to come down Monday night or Tuesday morning by 8am). This is a perfect primer for amateurs and pros competing at Moto Park Cup, and also the fast approaching Parts Canada TransCan Grand National Championship Motocross. Get your program dialed before it’s too late!

The cost per rider is $350, which includes accommodations, meals, track time, personal motocross & fitness training over 3-days. We also have mechanical support & bike wash station. Please email keastmotocross@gmail.com to register. There are limited spots, so please reserve asap. (If you can only attend 1 or 2 days, please specify in your email, thanks.)

We look forward to having you out!

MMRS KTM Canada Provincial Series – Round 3 at Thunder Mud

You can check out all the results from the action that took place at Thunder Mud in Lindsay, ON over the weekend HERE.

Check out Quinn Amyotte getting creative with these paper plates to help deflect the roost at Thunder Mud. – Mitch McColl photo

Quebec Supercross Series – SXQC

Montmagny Pro Results

1. Logan Karnow

2. Tim Tremblay

3. Karl Normand

4. Dave Ginolfi

5. Ryan Lockhart

6. Dave Blanchet

You can check out the series at there website: www.supercrossquebec.com

Dylan Kaelin Injured?

According to Devil’s Lake MX rider #8 Dylan Kaelin’s Twitter account (@dylankaelin22) it sounds like he’s gone and “popped” a knee again. I’m reading between the lines, and he states there will be an official Press Release coming sometime today, but when a guy with a knee history like Dylan’s says “#pop” in his Keep your eyes peeled for a PR tomorrow from devilslakemx and myself. #Pop #photoshootlove #thissucks tweet, it doesn’t sound good. And you don’t release an official statement to the media unless it’s more than a slightly bruised body part.

We’ll get in touch with Dylan as soon as we can for his side of the story so stay tuned for that. Sorry to hear this, Dylan, and I hope it’s not as bad as all that.

OK, have a great week, everyone. I’ve got a ‘To Do’ list as long as my arm to dig into before heading west for round 1 at Whispering Pines in Kamloops, BC May 30-31 so we’ll leave things there. Off I go to buy a van, print-tee shirts, get graphics done, replace my lost passport…

See you at the races… – Bigwave photo