Archives for the Club category

CEC Enduro’s Round 5&6 Labelle Quebec – Round 7&8 Parry Sound

By Jeff Pillon
Labelle kicked my butt!!! That is the best way to describe the loop in Quebec as it took just under 2 hours to complete a lap and you had to do 3 laps Saturday and then the same again on Sunday & the entire loop is made up of trails thru the steep rocky hills. These races are styled after the world enduro’s each lap is made of 3 test, an extreme test in this case it was a sand pit with some rock piles and logs to cross on the way in and then up and down steep wall in the pit, the 2nd test was the cross test FUN open grass track with some rolling hills, the 3rd was the enduro test and this was tight trails with a lot of rocks and was not very forgiving. Many of the best riders from all over Canada were there and the talent level was high, I was on the leader Bobby Prochnau min I did not see him too many times after the start that guy is fast. I managed to keep it together and finish both days I rode the E2 class and finished near the bottom of that but had a great time my results Sunday were a bit better finishing about 24th out of 37 pro’s.

Parry Sound was fun allot of fun, I truly enjoyed this event even though the test were a harder and longer the trail was shorter and it just did not seem to beat you up as much as the long loop in Labelle, we had to do 4 loops on Saturday and 3 on Sunday, the extreme test was in an old stone quarry the same area used for the world enduro’s a couple years ago, I managed to keep it on 2 wheels until the last lap when I crashed in a transfer section and hurt my knee I sucked it up and kept going as if I quite my wife would have made fun of me and was not going to have that. I was on the same min as Guy Giroux and enjoyed following him for as long as I could, it was a great experience to ride with the top riders from all over Canada and these events were as well run as any events I have attend in Canada or the US.

Blain Amlin also rode he managed to finish 3rd both days in the C class and earned a couple really cool trophies that were made from real Canadian timber, Blain rode a great race and look confident coming thru the extreme test a few more years and he will be pushing me to go faster.

There are some great pictures and video’s on the Direct motocross website.

Labelle Quebec photos

Parry Sound Photos

Round 7 CMA Hare Scrambles – St Thomas

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By Jeff Pillon
Well I had hoped it would not rain and it would be sunny and I got my wish, 98 degrees and humid, was not exactly what I had in mind but it would have to do.
It was great to see so many Erie Ramblers turn out for this event, Renee Freeman 863 (520 CMA#) made her 1st hare scramble of the year and did it in style taking the lead off the start and never looking back, she rode a great race even in less than perfect conditions with the heat effecting many riders, she had over a 4 min lead by the 2nd lap and getting the win. She did seem tried at the end but I think see enjoyed the race and hopefully we will see her at a few more next year. Greg Freeman 401 also raced competing in the competitive Nov A class finishing 16th out of what looked like some 30 riders in that class, Greg finished just ahead of Bill Amlin 380, Bill was last off the line having to kick his bike several times to get it to fire but he pushed the entire 2 hours fighting his way thru the back of the pack in the Nov A class to finish 17th.. Blain Amlin 418 who’s wife had just given birth to their 2nd son Jason William Amlin ( Congratulation on the new baby!)a few days earlier , also raced in the Nov A class with his best finish of the year. Blain seem to be on fire and looked like he was ready for a couple more laps at the end of the race, not many riders were feeling this way after riding in the heat, Great ride keep it up! Yansee82 made it out and for the 1st time this year, did not get the hole shot but did got 3rd off the line and had fun battle with Frank Cantin. The two passed each other a couple times with Frank finishing just ahead in 4th place in the expert class and Yansee taking 5th, Frank was feeling rough do to the heat but sucked it up and finished, sometimes you just have to ride thru it. Payton Gagnier also raced in the expert class and stopped about half way thru as the heat got the best of him he was among many in the afternoon to not finish do to heat. Macker 64 showed up and kicked my butt, he’s been due to kick my butt for a while now as we have had several good battles this year and I had been catching some lucky breaks, but this week Macker was determined and he caught me on the 2nd lap and we had a great battle for most of that lap, you can see in one of the photo’s that he was not far behind me at 1 of the 4 water crossings, I pulled in to gas early thinking this way if I pushed hard I could hopefully get back by him when he stopped for gas but I never did see him again as he was putting in some good lap times finishing a very impressive 5th place in the pro class I finished in 7th in the pro class, St Thomas was a great track to ride and they put on a good event.
Other local riders included Dennis Imeson finishing fifth in the Vet class, Dennis rode hard and pushed thru the heat as well as some pretty bad blistering on his hands as wet gloves do to water crossings and holding on to tight will get you. Jeff Taylor finished 7th in the vet class and Jeff Golden finished 9th in the Super Vet.

Walton – Canadian Pro National

By Brad Dixon
I was really happy with my speed here but there were a lot of fast Pro`s that
showed up to race and I missed the main event by 2 seconds! They
announced that this was the biggest Pro turnout they have ever had in
there 17 year history. The track was mint!!! I could have beat a bunch
of racers that made it in the main event but they only needed to turn one
fast laptime in to make the main event. It just sucks because I know
some of the racers can`t run that pace the whole race which I can, so I
was alittle bit dissapointed. Oh Well, will get them next time! Lol!

Brad Dixon Competes At Gopher Dunes Pro National

By Brad Dixon
The races went really good at the Gopher Dunes Pro National!  There was about 50 450 pro`s that showed up to try and qualify. There were 2 timed practices and I qualified 34th so I made it into the main event.  I finished 27th in moto1 and moto2 and finished 27th overall.

Brad Dixon Rides Red Bud

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By Jeff Pillon
Erie Ramblers were well represented at RED BUD! By our very own Brad Dixon #464

 RED BUD!!! I heard that allot Friday night and all day Saturday day as people walk around the pits and camping area all day and all night yelling it as loud as possible.
The action on the track started early Saturday morning and Brad was in the 1^st heat out, the qualifying is based on fastest lap times I do not have any lap times but I can tell you that Brad looked to be keeping pace with the majority of the racers out there. There was some racers that were definitely a step above everyone else out there leaving only a few positions for the main event open for the other pro’s. Brad finished somewhere about 90^th out of over 125 pro’s that were trying to qualify when you consider the level of talent in the AMA pro ranks that’s assume. Brad says that it was a great feeling to be riding in front of 25000 fans and mentioned a run in with J-law, in the 1^st heat J-law pushed Brad out of his way, would have been great if Brad could of taken J-law out that would be a great story.  The main event was action packed with Josh Grant taken the overall and Chad Reed losing out on 2^nd place to Ivan Tedesco by a half a tire length and in the 250F class Ryan Dungey won in style the 1^st moto but crashed hard the 2^nd moto to finish 8^th and end up with a 5^th overall leaving the door open for Jake Weimer to take the overall ,the best part of the day had to be the 2-stroke invitational with Ricky Carmichael – Jeff Stanton – Jeff Emig – Todd DeHoop – Kelly Smith -Josh Woods – Josh Lichtle – Kenny Keylon – Matt Crown – Victor Sheldon – Ryan Valade – Matt Maximoff – Jay Wagner, racing in between moto 1 & 2 of the main event, not hard to guess that Ricky clean that up in great form and sound very pumped to be out there, it was cool to see the GOAT out there on a 2-stroke.

Red Bud Video Recap Here http://www.racerxonline.com/article/monster-energy-redbud-recap-video.aspx

CMA Hare Scrambles – Burnt River

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Race 3/ Burnt River- once again we had great weather for a race and we all knew that Burnt River would be a challenge as the course runs thru trails that are covered in rocks and there a some really challenging up hills on Hamburger hill & the trails in the lower levels are full of water at some points likely 2 to 3 feet deep but this is what makes Hare scrambles fun and we were all looking forward to the challenge.
The Eire Ramblers had not only the usual suspects including myself (Jeff Pillon) pro class #15, Macker pro class #64, Franck Cantin expert class #104 we were joined by Victor Gagnier Intermediate class and Payton Gagnier expert class and they were both ready to put there off-road skills to the test. Bill Amlin Nov A #380 ( working on becoming a Rambler ) was unable to attend due to injuries from last week’s race but hopes to back for Vienna this week, Blain Amlin ( also working on becoming a Rambler ) Nov A #418 was there and road a great race he was in the top 5 at times during the race and unfortunately there was some problems with the course as so many of the morning riders were getting stuck they changed the course to cut out the deep water but when Blain went thru that area as there was no one there to waive him past and others were taking the road next to the trail and passing him he seemed a little angry at the end of the race but he finished 7th and will be back this Sunday.
I had the best the race of the year so far my 2009 KTM250xc worked great in these extreme conditions and I got off to a good start I like to pit early and with ½ hour lap times I came in at the end of the 2nd lap and as I did not have anyone there to help in the pits it was not the fastest pit stop of the year and Macker and Payton soon went by as I was pitting I got back out there behind them and the 3 off us chased each other for a couple laps exchanging positions and about ½ way thru the 4th lap Macker decided to try to break from the group and he turned it on I followed closely behind and he was on the gas unfortunately he did not have gas (in his bike that is) to make it the complete lap and this was a major setback as he had to borrow a bike to get back to the pits and get his gas can, it was a lot of fun to be see the 3 of us chasing each other and pushing each other, at the end of the 2½ hours I came thru at 2:25 and had to do a 6th lap I still felt great at that point likely the best I had felt all day and I turned it on the last lap, I managed to catch and pass 2 riders in my class that lap and the 2nd I caught one corner before the finish line and charged so hard to the finish line that I took out one of the barrels and was hooting and hollering as I went thru the crowd at the finish line loved it you would of thought it was for 1st place the way I was yelling and charging but it was for a hard earned 8th place.
Macker also rode a great race and as I mentioned above was pushing me and Payton for much of the race if it was not for him running out of gas I am betting that it would of being a 3 way battle in that last corner, Macker still finished 13th even with running out of gas.
Frank Cantin ( also on a 2009 KTM 250xc) rode a great race finishing 4th in the expert class, Frank said he rode a smooth racing and sort of took it easy as he did not want to crash at this course as a fell at Burnt River will hurt, he enjoyed the steep hill climbs and will be ready to go this Sunday.
Victor Gagnier raced the intermediate class and had a pretty ugly looking cut on his big toe from earlier in the week and I am sure this did not help his efforts but he toughed it out and finished in 8th place, good riding and we are hoping to see Victor in Vienna on Sunday.

Payton Gagnier was on the gas and adapted to the extreme conditions of Burnt River quickly and looked smooth, he had lead the Expert class for much of the race but had a fall on one of the steep hill climbs near the end of the race that cost him a position leaving him in 2nd place in the expert class not a small feat, Payton is planning to race at Vienna and I think the expert class may be in for a battle as Payton is surely going to wick it up for this one.

There were also other local riders there including Dennis Imeson & Jeff Golden see Dennis Imeson’s race report below.

Again race day started out pretty good for me, off to a slow start, but work my way into 3 rd place. After 1 hr of racing through the rocks and water I drown out at the longest water crossing, pretty sure sucking water through my vent hoses, and just plain going to fast through the water. Totally my own fault, but a lessoned learned here. I proceed to start the bike, but no luck! I tip the bike upside down on its seat pushing the kick starter down to drain the water I sucked up. Still, the bike won’t fire. Air filter out, gas cap off trying to get some air flow here….still not starting! I’m here in frustration for 20 minutes…finally we have fire. Back on the race track I try my best to finish with a positive attitude, not giving up rewards me with a 6th place finish and 5 more points to add to my season. I must admit it was tough to see the nice trophy’s pass me by on this one, as I believe I had 3rd place in check. I’m now ready and prepped for Vienna next week!
On a side note here, my riding partner and travelling companion Jeff Golden, had the opportunity to camp at the race track the night before. Here we had a chance to hang out with some of the other riders and their family’s over a friendly drink by campfire and listen to some great conversations/stories…there are so many benefits from this sport/hobby that I continue to enjoy, in short a fun filled pack weekend!!!
keeping it on 2 wheels……..Dennis
One last quick story I came across this week is Cory Graffunder getting 5th at Red Bulls Erzberg Enduro this is really cool to see a Canadian in the top 5 of such a major international event.

See the link below for the story about Cory Graffunder Takes Fifth at Erzberg!

http://www.directmotocross.com/news/features/2009/06/track-cory-graffunder-takes-fifth-erzberg