Blog archives for August, 2009

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!

MONSTER ENERGY UNADILLA HIGHLIGHTS

CMA Hare Scrambles Round 6 Ohsweken

By Jeff Pillon
Round 6 CMA Ohsweken, Franks Cantin and myself were the only two club members to race this round we arrived to course that was in perfect condition allot like our club track with just the right amount of moister in the ground and the morning class or at least anyone that finish very close to the 2 hour mark had a perfect course to ride but at about noon the race gods decided the afternoon class would not get off so luck the sun went back behind the dark clouds and a thunderstorm followed it dropped a good 2 inches maybe 3 and even knocked a few trees/ branches down on the track, the club hosting the event decided after a while that they would go ahead and run the race as soon as they could clear and re route the track. The conditions were as bad as it gets with like much less than half the field dropping out or break there bike before the 2^nd lap was over, I managed to make it 4 laps finishing in 6^th  this puts me in 7^th place in the points in the pro class and there is still 2 races left, this was by far the hardest race of the year so far Frank had stopped after the 2^nd lap as he had pulled a muscle he finished in 7^th place and still has a demanding lead for 4^th place and is only a couple points out of 3^rd in the expert class.   

  St.Thomas is this Sunday and is the closest race so come on out and bring your bike! I am sure it will be a great event as they have a nice MX track and some fun trails, Macker is planning to ride this one as well as Frank and I have even been told that Renee Freeman will ride and I am excited as I am sure she will be very competitive as she carries a lot of speed in the trails and will excel on the mx track portion, I am also hoping to see Payton & Victor Gagnier back out as well.