Grab another cup to end this long weekend with some Monday Morning Coffee stories about Motocross and other things
By Billy Rainford
OK, lots to talk about for this Monday Morning Coffee, so let’s get right to it.
This weekend marked the 3 in a row that I hopped into the DMX Van and drove to a Supercross in the north eastern USA. All my friends think I’m crazy but I tell them that there’s a LOT of driving in the sport of Motocross. They are also very quick to ask me about the border crossing experience.
So far, these past 3 crossings have been the best and quickest I’ve ever had in my life! I’m serious, there are very few people crossing over these days due to all the political stuff, so it makes the line-ups small and so far it has made the border patrol very friendly.
In fact, last week a trainee showed too much emotion, I’m sure, when he told me as I was about to drive away and his instructor was just out of ear shot that he wishes he could cruise around and check out motocross races. Haha.
This week, I had a gentleman in his 60’s start telling me about his first dirt bike – a 1977 Suzuki RM125. He kept talking about racing and moving to newer bikes. I literally said that we should get this crossing moving and he sent me on my way.
I have one more week to cross this same entry point so I hope I haven’t jinxed the crap out of it!
As I was cruising along the toll road, I eventually had to stop and post up the Cole Thompson interview for the Frid’Eh Update. They have state run stops along the way, so that’s where I went. I sat at a table and then when I was done I took a look at the food offerings. A single burger meal was $20 USD. Nope.
I hopped in the van and took a look at the gas price. $3.34/GAL. Nope. Off I went.
A little farther down the road I saw a sign for at least 5 or 6 hotels so I knew there would be food and gas there, outside of the toll road’s influence, so I turned off.
As it turned out, they were all a few miles down the road in a small town called Geneva, in the Finger Lakes Region. No problem, as soon as my GPS caught up with my change in course, the time to MetLife Stadium actually came down!
I grabbed some food at normal prices and some gas at $2.89/GAL and continued on this new route that took me right into the heart of the Finger Lakes. It was beautiful.
After a while, I entered the picturesque town/city of Ithaca. It’s a well-known college town that sits on a lake and in the mountains. It’ really nice!
On my way out the other side of it, I started to think that this all seemed vaguely familiar to me. I was pretty sure I’d been on this road before…
I pulled over and decided to type something new into the GPS: “Broome Tioga Motocross.”
Well, it turned out I was literally about 5 minutes away and the entrance to the track was on this actual highway, HWY 79. No way.
Sure enough, there it was and memories started turning in my head. Yep, I had raced the 1986 New York State Championships at Broome Tioga. Wow.
Check this out:
But wait, there’s more! Here’s the flyer:
I remember seeing one other Canadian there that I raced in Ontario. I think it was either Brown or Stevenson but I’m not sure. Anyway, we raced on Saturday and the faster riders were on Sunday.
A story that always sticks out in my memory was after practice. I came in and was talking to someone about how it went and what I thought about the track. I told them that I was having a bit of a tough time nailing the downhill double in an S turn that cut very close to a sprinkler head protected by some tires. The response was something like, “Ya, that’s because nobody else is doing it!” I remember being so happy that I didn’t have to keep nearly killing myself every lap, but I also remember a sense of pride that I still feel about this ridiculous little moment in time nearly 40 years later!
Long story long, we had to wait around for hours and hours before our final moto. I think we must have been the last race of the day because it was starting to get dark and also starting to rain. I knew it was going to be awful but I didn’t think it was going to be as bad as it was. I got taken out in the first turn and was dead last.
We had driven so far to have that happen. Although he didn’t show it, I’m sure my dad must have been pretty disappointed with the way all the effort to get there had turned out. But like I said, he never showed it to me.
We hopped back in the van with the trailer behind us and then blew a wheel bearing at the border and had to fix it at the side of the road. It’s one of those adventures I wish my dad were still alive to talk about to see if I’m remembering it correctly. I know for sure it was one of my worst experiences at the races, and I’m sure he would say something very similar.
There were a few people there riding when I stopped in and I shot some video with my phone that I will post up on our Instagram page later this afternoon. One of the faster guys was on an old Honda CR250 2-stroke, so it will sound good, at least!
I won’t talk much about the New Jersey Supercross in this MMC column, but I do want to mention that our thoughts are with #77 Jerry Robin and his family after his awful crash.
From our Instagram page:
Our hearts go out to #77@jerry_robin77 and his family as he sets out on the long recovery from a crash at MetLife Stadium for Round 14 of the 2025 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series.
We took our crash sequence post down out of respect, but of course Jerry himself has since posted video of the crash. Motocross racers, what are you gonna do?!
Here’s what he said on his Instagram page:
“Well this is a tough one to write. Had to get T3-T9 fused yesterday after that crash. The 3 into that rhythm was huge and no room for error and unfortunately when I was putting my foot back on the peg the tip of my boot caught my rear brake pedal just barely. Was enough to not make it and with how steep the transitions were it threw my forward, landed head first into the next 3 footer and instantly went paralyzed.
“As of now I’m belly button down paralyzed, surgeon was able to completely straighten my spine which is a huge positive and there was some fragments that they got out of my spinal cord and they had some they had to leave in there.
“We will see what this journey brings im hopeful I can walk again, going to be a hell of a tough road and I’ll just have to stay as positive i can, thank you so much to everyone that reached out I really am thankful for all of the love and support.
“Tough to make a tiny mistake like that and have my life change in the blink of an eye. Was riding really good this year but unfortunately it’s part of the sport.”
Future West Moto Round 1
Round 1- 2025 Future West Moto Championship Series – 4/19/2025
Kelowna Dirt Bike Club
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Overall
In moto 1, Kaylie Kayer had a 44 second lead. In the next, she was up by 45. Kaylie’s name is on the short list of riders looking to take over where the now retired Eve Brodeur left off.
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Full results HERE.
AMO Round 1
AMO Round 1
Gopher Dunes
Courtland, ON
Sunday, April 20, 2025
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#22 Brandy McLarty is also trying to put her name on the same post-Eve Brodeur list. She had a 40 second lead in moto 2.
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Dylan Wright came through with a 56-second lead in moto 1 and then a 40-second lead in moto 2.
Full results HERE
2025 2-Stroke World Championships at Glen Helen
I hope everyone had a nice long weekend. The weather looks pretty good here the next few days, so I think I’ll be heading over to Gopher Dunes to ride some new gear on the Jeff McConkey YZ250 2-stroke. Have a great week!
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