From Motocrosser to Snowboarder

So the decision is in, and for the upcoming winter this blog is going to revolve mainly around the sport of Snowboarding. There may still be a couple posts Dirt bike related, including the OCMC award banquet, but the rest is going to be devoted to my other favourite sport. Since I am a snowboard instructor at Lakerdige resort I will start off with a few thoughts on there situation. I think that this year is going to be a great year in the lakeridge community. The majority of the staff there know at least a few others, and they all seam to be pretty friendly. As far as the mountain goes, I heard that they are going to be downsizing the park. Seeing as the park is the biggest and best attraction for this hill, the thought of a downsize gave me a big scare. After a few questions I found out that if they do downsize the park this year, they will still have there big jumps, but the majority will be medium size stuff. This is allot safer for the kids with the mentality that they can hit anything, but end up getting hurt and make the hill look bad. This idea might affect Lakeridge's battle with Dagmar for best park, but I think Lakeridge will still out perform. Other than that we can all pray for an earlier snow season, and I will be back with more updates in the snowboarder lifestyle.

Class book

This year in English class we are reading Death of a salesman by Arthur Miller. Usually I hate any class book given. Throughout my life The Hobbit was the only book that every interested me enough to read and even get into. This book however is not that bad, the story line may sound boring but because of the way we read the book it is very lively. The teacher this year took a great approach and decided to read the whole book in class, giving out different characters to different students to read. Not only does this force you to listen to the book, but it makes it a lively and sometimes fun activities. As far as the plot goes, it is a little tricky to fallow at times, but those times are usually when the teacher steps in to explain things. The characters are fascinating and I like the way it switches between past and present. Over I don’t mind reading this book with my English class, and I think thanks to this approach of learning I will do allot better on the test.

What's this world come to?

Halloween being only a few days ago, someone asked me if I had any favourite candies, old costumes etc. I would have to say that now days I’m more of a gummy candy fan as apposed to when I used to love everything chocolate. I think that candy goes through stages, at one point you like a type of candy so much then the next month you think you have had way to much of it(just like fast food). As far as costumes go, I didn't get the chance to dress up this year:( but I have always been a fan of creative costumes. Even though my favourite costume memory was my old superman costume with the fake muscles, I like to see what people can come up with. This leads me to wonder what the world is coming to. This Halloween I looked around at all the costumes and couldn't believe the amount of sex related costumes out there. Even thought I do find them creative and sometimes hilarious, Halloween is still centred around the younger kids and I can't imagine how some of those parents feel seeing the costumes out there. Is it just me or is it the new generation?

Reviews:

I have decided that from now on I will be posting reviews of things I have tried, so that any buyers out there can take a look and get an opinion on the product. I have recently purchased a new Step Child "Powder Sucks" snowboard and the APO expresso line bindings. I have not yet had the chance to test out my new set-up so stay tuned for that review. For today's review I think I will go back in time and review the different motocross rear tires I have tried. First of all as far as the size of your tire goes, it is entirely up to you. A 110 - 130 is a nice and wide tire that will give you tones of confidence dropping it into a corner, and will give u more surface area to get grip with. Unfortunately the wider the tire, the heavier it is, and on such an important part of your bike, it makes a big difference. Thinner tires still perform very well, but just have less rubber on them, so less contact. They are however a lot lighter witch results in more speed :). Personally I usually choose a 110/90 as a nice rear tire. As far as the make goes, again its up to your preference, different makes are totally different tires. For example: the Pirrelli tires, like the scorpion are an extremely tacky tire, but they are made with a softer compound and were very quickly. With almost every brand there are soft-medium tires and medium-hard tires for the terrain you ride. That is only a guide line, of there are a lot of rocks were you ride, you tire will were quickly no matter what. The bottom line with all the brands is usually, you get what you pay for. I have gone through many brands, they all seam to perform great, the Pirrelli was amazing at first, but wore down ridiculously quick. My next tire will be the harder compound Dunlop 757 because of the extreme size of the lugs on it. It will also be a 110:)

Boarding is here!

Ok so I was sitting there thinking that I wanted to snowboard and didn't want to wait anymore, when I remembered I had built a snowboarding rail last year. So after some though and a hand from a buddy we trucked over 3 truck loads of snow into my backyard from the nearby arena. After that we took out my 20ft. flat down flat rail and when my parents weren’t looking, buried it into the ground for stability. After setting up a in ramp and kicker, we strapped in to our boards a started snowboarding. It was still October! Even though the snow melted over the weekend, the weather is now cold enough that we can truck a couple loads of snow a week and always have snow. I can snowboard any time I like, it is a dream come true!

Winter time overhaul.

Winter time is a time for many dirt bike riders/owners to overhaul there bike. For my bike I plan a lot of work this winter season, and I just hope I can find the time, money, and motivation to get it all accomplished. I plan on giving my bike a complete clean, and a lot of engine and cosmetic work. If the funds support it I will be buying HOT-CAMS and a 290cc kit for a huge performance improvement of my bike. I will also be getting a new exhaust pipe and JD jet kit for a weight loss, and even better performance. On top of that the bike will be getting a new graphic kit and new grips and donuts to improve the look. It may also receive all new plastics depending on the amount of money I put into it. The bike will also receive its annual sprocket and chain changes, along with bearings if needed, and all moving components will be greased. This amount of work is the only way to keep up with the competition without buying a whole new bike.

No more riding ;(

Snow has hit the ground! Due to the early change in weather this year, motocross is over for most Canadian riders. Even though it is such a depressing time, if you have a winter passion then you are in a very excited and anxious mood. I know a few racers, including myself, which love to snowboard in the winter. Even though there is not enough snow on the hills to go boarding, we are all praying for a huge snow storm so we can get out and shred. Either way, it is now the season were we are all looking forward for our sports to come. As far as motocross goes, the last event I will be attending is OCMC's awards banquet on November 22nd. This is a dinner and dance, were we will watch a presentation, and get our trophies.

6 Hour moto

For most of the racers at OCMC there last race attempt was the Saturday of the 6 hour moto. This event was not a full motocross race, but was a motoscramble. What the officials did was make a race course using every bit of the property, and more. The race started out with someone holding your bike, and the racers had to have a foot race to there bike, start there bike, and then start racing. The race went through all types of challenges and environments. There was grassy fields, mud holes, tight tree area's, parts of the motocross track, and there ­­­­"shot cuts". Short cuts consisted of a 25ft hill straight up then down to the side, a 45ft teeter-tauter, a bridge over 6ft deep water and two cars. Even though this race was a brutal 6 hours long, the fact that you could do it with a partner helped out a lot. It was a great day and I would do it again in a heart beat. The only thing they could use improvement on is there scoring, they forgot, or miss-scored a lot of people. Make sure to make it out there next year, they are talking about having a school bus obstacle!

Lottery winner!

If I won the 30 Million dollar lottery there would be some serious lifestyle changes. I would stick with the sports and hobbies I have now, I would just be using the top of the line everything! I would keep the truck I have now, but use it just for playing around. I would buy a new truck and set it up to what I would like my dream truck to be, I would also have a rally vehicle, like the Subaru WRX, fully customized. I would also buy a new motorcycle, the Yamaha R6 and a new dirt bike, 2009 Yamaha yz450f. All those would be my instant purchases, after that I would think about old muscle cars, etc. I would also consider moving out, somewhere a bit north of Durham College, with some property for the motocross track I would build. That being said, I would still want to go to college, still get my degree and get a job. Without a job for at least a few years in my life I think I would definitely go insane. I would also invest 20 of those million so that I get about 150 000$ interest every year, in witch I could live off of without a problem considering I would have my debts and bills paid off, and still getting money from work. With thirty million my life would be on easy streak, I could afford what I wanted when I wanted, but I would try my hardest not to become a different person. I would keep my friends, hang out with friends and family, not show off my money (except for my toys of course), and still be a down to earth working man. Also, when summer comes along, I would probably work allot less, and race motocross at every event possible. It would be sweet!

OCMC's not dead!

So after looking into it the club has one more event that is grabing my attention. Saterday coming up they are hosting a 6 hour moto. This race will be ran on and off the track, going all over there property. They score you like normal motocross by counting the laps, but at the end of the day its just the team with the most laps that wins. Yes thats right, i said team. This race is aloud to be raced in teams! From what i understand it is like tag team style, you ride the same bike, just the riders can switch. This gives riders the chance to keep some sanity during a 6 hour race. That being said, there are no expert only teams aloud, and people do have the option to run the whole race by them self. I have not done a ride this long and I think a 6 hour race will be brutal, but alot of fun. I hope there is a big turnout and everything goes smooth. I will post how it went after the weekend.

Also, the 08 motocross bankuet is on november 22nd, just a reminder to head out if you want your trophy.

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Blu-Water

First of all thanks is in order for Burnt River off-road vehicle facility for hosting this event. There was not a huge turnout, but we did have a few club regulars, and a few visitors. The track held up pretty good and surprisingly kept some moist spots most of the day. I was extremely impressed by there organisational skills. Minutes after the last race the results were printed and posted, with points, and they were getting the trophy's ready, as apposed to other clubs that take weeks to just post the race results. I personally think that with the ridiculous price paid for racing now a days, that every club should be this organised and should hand out trophy's every weekend. It was definitely a great weekend and is run by a great club. I would for sure suggest giving Blu-Watermotorsports a try.
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So many Alcohol ads

In today’s society, everywhere you look there are ads. Promotional advertisement is were some company’s now a days spend most there money, but is it really that important to advertise? In the alcohol business there are so many laws and regulations to advertising.
Whether it be on TV, on the radio, etc, the majority of these alcohol commercials sounds the exact same, because they have so many rules in witch to abide. For example the most noticeable law is that they are not aloud to promote drinking or consumption of the product in anyway. If you watch TV, you can always catch a beer commercial or two,
Next time you’re watching, pay close attention and you will see that they never actually drink the product.
You may have noticed that not only is there a lot of alcohol adds lately, but there are a lot of adds to combat this. AA for example, also known as Alcoholics Anonymous, have numerous commercials out to try and combat this. They talk about how drinking affects you social life, your judgment, your motor abilities, etc. These ads are not to promote the product, but to bash it. Even though they are not bashing a product in particular they are surely lowering the sales of the other companies.
With all these different views on alcohol being sent to the public, in every different way imaginable, witch way is the public going to turn? Is this all really worth the money spent, or should these company’s invest more money into how the product looks, tastes, etc to get more sales. Personally I believe that there should not be any advertisement in any way about alcohol. If this were to be the case, life would be so much simpler. A lot of money would be saved, the smaller companies would have a chance on the market (those who may not be able to afford advertisements yet), and the public would be able to make up there own mind, not only on the product, but on the whole alcohol aspect.
Just a thought…

Blu-water sunday

So I’m a bit late, but I just recently found out about the race at Burnt river off-road facility (view links) being hosted this Sunday. This race is with Blu-Water motorsports (view links) and is all Sunday long. Now this is were it gets complicated, instead of the usual practice Saturday, Saturday is closed to the public but open to members, and members of the race there holding. Saturday’s race is a KTM organized event, so there might be some head butting as far as track time goes. That’s were the other problem comes in, there are some riders who are not members of Blu-water, but want the day pass to ride Sunday, they will not be able to practice Saturday. Everyone knows that racing a track you have never been on before can be VERY bad, so lets just cross our fingers and hope for luck and somewhat safe racing. As far as my weekend goes, I am not a member, but will be racing Sunday, luckily I have ridding the track before so I’m not that new, but they always make changes so ill have to just take it easy first few laps.
Thanks to Connie for verifying this info with me, and holding these events.

Tips for Sarah

Someone I know just had a baby, and out of curiosity asked a few questions. They asked questions like if you could give my new born any life advice what would it be? Or from your life experience what have you learnt in the sense of living a happy life. Even questions like what do you think she should do in her life by the time she reaches the end of high school.
To answer all these questions, and not ramble on for hours there were only a few big points I could come up with. I would have to say a huge factor in life would be to find your "happy medium" as a snowboarding buddy of mine once said. If you can balance all the aspects in life, you will sail through life having fun, and still succeeding, for example balance your school work with social life. I feel that it’s important to live a good social life, but leave some room for studying, in my mind straight A's are not the most important thing, buts that’s just my balance of things. The other pointer I would have to say would be: do not regret things you have done in the past. You make your decisions for a reason, and even though they sometimes seam wrong after doing them, they were right at the time, so live your life without regret and you will be so much more worry free! As far as what you should do by the end of high school, live life and have fun, you’re a child this is your time to enjoy life the most you can!

Last club race

OCMC's last race was a great one. Considering all the right last week, Tuesdays track was in great condition. There were a few rutted areas but over all the conditions were good, not to mention it was actually nice out!! There were a few riders who took the last race as excuse to show off, or joke around riding with suits but even with the all our mentality of some riders, there were not that many injuries. As far as the meeting at 4 seasons, the turn out was not as good as some expected, let’s hope we get a bigger turn out at the 6 hour moto in October! And finally about my day, what a great way to end the club season, my brother and I both took home 1st place in our classes!

Get well soon 911, good luck Sunday.

ocmc

The day has come. After a great season of 19 races, Tuesday will be the clubs final race. Last week was a very muddy race, and from the weather forecast and current weather, this Tuesday looks to be just as bad. After the race, there will be hose rolling and some prep. for winter. The night is rapped up with a invite to 4 seasons for whoever wants to go catch up with the other riders. After this race, the strictly motocross riders wont be meeting again until November 22nd at the awards banquet. Just remember guys the club always has room in hare scrambles and other events.

Hey guys

Welcome to Nearby Mx, were you can get all your local motocross info and updates. If at anytime you can’t find your own results, post your number and racing league and I will have them up asap. This is a new blog so give me a few weeks to get all the results, pics, links etc. up.