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Jason Thomas |
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VERONIQUE DOUBLE FOR JASON THOMAS.
Jason Thomas again dominated the FMSQ Double-header event held last weekend at Ste Veronique,Quebec,Canada,taking a win in both the Time-Card Enduro, held on Saturday,& the 3 hour Cross-Country, held on Sunday. Riding his ELKA-KTM XC250F he pushed hard in both competitions, which were held over the same superbly prepared circuit near Montreal. The weekend saw a mixture of brilliant sunshine & torrential rain, especially on Sunday, which made riding conditions very testing for many of the 200+ Competitors. Jason would like to say thank you to Allan & Ann Lachapelle,for everything they did to to help him over the weekend,also to Patrick Beaule from KTM Canada, Everybody at ELKA Suspension, Any Lavoie & Fanny Germain, the whole team from FMSQ who staged the event,& a special thank you to Ricky Mair for playing a major role in all the cool things that have been happening recently! Stand by for a major announcement from Jason later this week! GNCC VICTORY FOR JASON THOMAS. Jason Thomas celebrated his return to GNCC Racing with an impressive win in the XC2 Lites class at Round 8 of the series. Competing against many of the Worlds fastest Off-Road riders on his ELKA-KTM XC250F, he finished 8th overall at the Elka Yadkin Valley Stomp,held in Yadkinville,North Carolina, U.S.A. The Rider was assisted in the Pits by the other half of 'BadBoys Inc', Mr Ricky 'Nightmair' Mair, who is currently in the United States helping Jason with his mental preparation for these grueling events. Later this week the pair will return to Canada, where Jason will be taking part in Round 3 of the Quebec Provincial Cross-Country Championships, being held near Montreal. Jason would like to say a big 'Thank you' to all the people who have been helping him since he returned to America, particularly Tim Taber at Funmart Cycle Center, Everyone at KTM & ELKA,&,of course, Ricky Mair, for being his bestest friend. 'He Who Dares Rodney'!! Results JOHNNY'S RACE. It has been two years now since Johnny Sochor left us on that foggy February morning on his way to work. John knew he wasn't going to make a living as a racer, he had other career ambitions. His Dad did some Road Racing back in the former Czechoslovakia before the family moved to the County of Barrhead in 1986.In the last couple of years Johnny rode casually whenever he had time between work, travel, having a house built & making wedding plans with Jill. It's hard to accept that it all had to end & that it ended in such an uncharacteristic way-we all miss him a lot. But, there are a lot of good memories to look back on. This race is dedicated to him. Jason lives in his camper van across the Railroad tracks on the Miners Memorial campground in Coalhurst, 8 miles West of Lethbridge. We had a 350 mile drive to This weekends race, which was round 3 of the CMRC Provincial series, being held at Barrys Ultra Motorsports Park, near Busby, 40 miles North of Edmonton, Alberta. We arrived in Busby late on Friday night. I read a road sign which said "5th Parallel Highway ", I don't know if it was, but it could have been. We were certainly a long way from home. Busby is a quiet country town, set in rolling, heavily forested countryside, not unlike the New Forest. Barrys Ultra Motorsports Park was exactly what it said, a superb off-road motorsports park covering several hundred acres & owned by the Barry family. From the vintage Bultaco on top of the entrance ticket booth, to the detached timber house being used exclusively for signing on & lap scoring, we could tell that these people were all about running this event to the highest standard. And so it proved to be. They even had the support & presence of the local Mayor for the entire weekend. How often do we see that in this sport? They really had made an inspired effort.
We hope we did our best for You Johnny, Thankyou for letting us carry Your name to the Chequered Flag. THOMAS WINS ALBERTA ENDUROCROSS Jason was back in action again on Sunday at the second round of the Alberta Dirtriders Endurocross series, held at the specially built Corner Grass circuit near Compeer, on the border between Alberta & Saskatchewan, Canada. Jason reports that the track had been superbly prepared & some rain on Saturday just helped to make the tricky obstacles even more fun! Jason was once more riding his KTM200XC,which is proving to be the perfect machine for this type of event. He gained the victory after a great battle with Luke Firth in the qualifier,& then went on to take a comfortable win in the main race. He was followed home by the hard charging Jason Schrage (KTM) in 2nd & the very fast Luke Firth (YAMAHA) in 3rd. Jason would like to congratulate the organisers of the event on the very high standard of track they had achieved, & he would also like to say a big thank you to Nick & Jason Schrage & ,of course, Alf Gurr at Lethbridge KTM. Jason would also like to pass on his congratulations to Paul Bolton for his superb 3rd place at the Erzberg Extreme event, well done Paul! There will be more reports from Jason very soon.
Following Jason's success at the recent Alberta Endurocross he was invited by KTM North America to take part in the gruelling 12 hour Endurance event held at La Tuque, 180 miles Northeast of Montreal,in Quebec, Canada. For Jason & me this was an opportunity we had both dreamed of since the days when we first used to throw his Puch Magnum in the back of my Skoda Estelle & head off in a cloud of smoke to the races. We decided this was something we just had to do together. Jason arrived in Montreal from Calgary on Wednesday 14th May & was met at Trudeau airport by Patrick Beaule, who would be his team-mate in the coming event. Together they visited KTM North America Headquarters at St-Bruno, where they collected the KTM250XC that Patrick had spent many hours preparing for this race, an event which he had also won in 2007. After a night at Patricks house & an opportunity to practice on the bike, they loaded all the gear into the van & headed up to La Tuque ready for the coming weekends activities. I set off from London Heathrow on Friday evening,&,after a 6 hour flight, arrived in Montreal still on Friday evening! Montreal is 5 hours behind the U.K. There was to be a tyre changing competition in La Tuque on the Friday night to decide grid positions for the LeMans style start the following day, followed by a big party in the town. I knew I wouldn't make the tyre changing but I was determined to get as far as I could that night, so through the darkness I followed the St-Lawrence river East to Trois-Rivieres & then headed Northwards for La Tuque, following the gorge of the St-Maurice river. I got as far as Riviere-aux-Rats, about 20 miles from La Tuque, & here I got my head down till the following morning. I awoke at 6am & was immediately stunned by the absolute beauty of the surrounding countryside, craggy mountain sides covered in Pine trees coming right down to the banks of a very wide, slow flowing, crystal clear river, just like you see in the movies! The river banks were still sparkling with frost & a light mist was drifting across the water, I wished I had brought my fishing rod with me because it looked like a perfect spot for an Atlantic Salmon! I would have loved to stay by the river for a while, but I had get a move on. I arrived in La Tuque at 7am.The town nestles in the valley beside the St-Maurice, it is about the same size as Newtown, Powys, & was originally established as a fur-trading post. The fur-traders were gradually replaced by lumberjacks & huge rafts of timber were gathered here for the river to transport downstream to the St-Lawrence. During the late 20th century the area became a centre for numerous Hydro-Electric power schemes & many of the construction workers made their homes in the town, & remain there to this day. There is also a huge factory here which produces wood pulp for the paper industry. I arrived at the event site & was amazed at the size & scale of what was happening there. The town get right behind this whole spectacle,& also support it financially. Everything was so well organized, two seperate tracks, one for the quads & one for the bikes, a helecopter service to take spectators out over the forests, a G.P. standard paddock, an awesome array of trade stands & refreshment services, flags flying & a full-facility sound system worthy of of a rock festival! Awesome! KTM were very well represented at the event & I soon found Jason & Patrick parked in the bike paddock. They told me that they had won the tyre changing competition, which had been held in the main street of La Tuque the previous evening in front of all the spectators, so their bike was 1st on the grid. The bike was now in the Parc Ferme so I went to have a look at it. Patrick had certainly done a great job of preparing the machine, which had its own graffics specially for the event provided by PG graffics Canada. Elka suspension, who were major sponsors of the event, had provided units for the bike which Jason & Patrick both said were superb. Accessories on the KTM had been supplied by LRP racing products. The team was running a stock tank & using a KTM quickfill in the pits. We then went for a walk around the Enduocross section of the track, which contained a large number of technical obsticles, including a 100 meter rock section, a van which competitors had to ride over, a section containing hundreds of split logs, lots of concrete drainage pipes & multiple log piles which everyone had to negotiate. Jason & Partick said there were also about 10 minutes of woods riding out in the surrounding forests & through several deep sandy sections, not unlike Matchams Park. The regulations surrounding the event were very strict, only one mechanic per rider, no working on the bike outside the pit area, no helping other riders or teams & no opportunity to do any work on the bike except during the race itself. There was a real buzz in the air as it drew closer to the start of the race, the 7000-8000 mostly French speaking spectators obviously having a great time in the warm sunshine. At 1pm there was a tremendous roar as the quad bikes set off for their 1st four hours of racing,& at 1.30 Patrick removed the KTM from the Parc Ferme & placed it on the start line ready for the bike race. Jason was going to do the 1st leg of the race,& I was to be his assistant, Patrick would be taking over after 2 hours & his girlfriend, Any Lavoie would be his helper. Any's Brother, Stephane, would be out in the woods for the whole race with the pitboard & walkie-talkie giving the riders feedback & updating the pit crew.
By the end of the race team KTM/ELKA were back in front & we all cheered him over the finish line. The time was after 2am, we were all tired, wet & hungry, it had been a very long day. Patrick's girlfriend, Any, comes from La Tuque & her Parents, Roger & Louise, had very kindly offered to put the team up at their lovely house for the night. They had also prepared a wonderful supper for us, which was exactly what we needed after the our days exertions. After our meal, sleep came quickly, but in no time at all it was morning again. Louise & Roger were up before us & had a superb breakfast ready on the table when we got up, which really set us up for the day ahead. Back at the track, after the riders meeting, we made ourselves ready for the final leg of this marathon event. Patrick had arranged for both riders to get a very reviving massage before the event began,& this was taken care of by another local girl, Fanny Germain. For some as yet unexplained reason, Jason's massage ,which took place in the back of Allan & Ann LaChapelles camper, lasted for over an hour. The rain had moved on & the weather looked set for a perfect riding day. The quads got away for their final race at 1pm,still going flat out as they had been all weekend. At 1.30,Patrick brought the KTM to the startline for the final time,& at 2pm the flag dropped for the start of the last race. Once again Jason got the Holeshot to give him his hat-trick of flying starts,& he soon settled into a routine of fast laps, pulling ahead of team 3 who were having a real battle with team 5 in 3rd place. As everyone was getting more familiar with the track, the lap times began to get faster & the teams would all have to fuel sooner. Jason signalled that the KTM had gone onto reserve after just over an hour & a halfs racing, so into the pits he came for a re-fuel & change of rider. We had to return the bike to its original condition before the end of the race, so we took this opportunity to take off the light & put back on the front number plate.
Thank you Patrick. Thank you also to Any, Stephane, Roger & Louise Lavoie, Allan & Ann LaChapelle, their team-mate in team 3, Michel Metcalfe, Alex Hetu, Fanny Germain,& also the guys from team 5, Dan Martineau, Guillaume Pronovost & Dominic Cantin. A special thank you for all their help to Andy White at KTM North America, Martin Lamoureux at Elka Suspension,& Alf Gurr at Lethbridge KTM.
Jason Thomas thought practicing with the Schrage cousins in the Porcupine Hills, a few Kilometers Northwest of Fort Macleod, Alberta, would be a great idea, but when he saw the signs for 'Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump', he began to wonder quite what he had let himself in for! It turned out to be exactly what it said on the sign! At this World Heritage Site,5000 years ago, the native North American Blackfoot Indians used to round up vast herds of Buffalo & drive them over a cliff into a deep gorge, killing the unfortunate animals & providing the Indian Tribe with mountains of meat, hide, bone & blood from which they were basically able to completely sustain themselves until the next herd arrived! The site is so well preserved that even the white rocks which marked the way for the Indians as they drove the Buffalo to the cliff top are still there! Jason says they all had a marvellous day riding hard through the forests, streams & rock-strewn slopes of the Porcupine Hills which are actually a section of the Rocky Mountain foothills,& lead from Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump to the Frank Slide, on the Crowsnest trail. The Frank Slide is the site of a tragedy which took place on the 29th April 1903,when a huge slice of the Turtle Mountain broke away after heavy rains followed by a severe frost,& swept down the valley burying the coal-mining town of Frank & killing 70 of its inhabitants. Today, all that remains of the disaster are the enormous piles of rock scree, which are actually part of the mountain high above, but which now hang over the sides of the Crowsnest Pass Highway as it snakes its way along the valley floor. Jason will actually be taking part in a 3hour Cross-Country event over some of this area next weekend, which he is looking forward to very much as it will be his 1st opportunity to ride in the tough Canadian forests under racing conditions. He says his KTM200XC worked really well through everything he encountered this past weekend whilst practicing,so he is feeling confident for the coming event! He would like to say a big thankyou to Jason & Nick Schrage for letting him go practicing with them,& he would also like to pass on his congratulations to all those riders who took part the GBXC event at Monmouth. More news from Jason next week! TEMPLE HILLS MOTOCROSS With the Hare Scramble event at Sharples, in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, cancelled due to the depth of the winter snow still remaining in the valleys not exposed to the sun, Jason decided to try his hand at the Southern Alberta spring motocross at Temple Hills,Raymond. This is the event that was cancelled due to the freezing conditions last weekend. Jason cant believe how quickly the weather can change on the high Canadian plains, this week the sun has been shining & the temperature has been up in the high 20s Centigrade! The weekend was in two parts, Saturday being given over to practicing for all classes & Sunday being race day. Jasons KTM200XC is perfect for the woods, but not really the ideal bike for MX1 or MX2 Motocross. Alf Gurr,from Lethbridge KTM, was kind enough to provide Jason with a KTM450F for the MX1 class & a KTM250F for the MX2 race. The Temple Hills circuit had been very well prepared for the event, Jason said he found it similar to some of the Motocross tracks he has ridden in the U.S.,full of massive jumps & high speed whooped out sections, tough stuff! On Satuday he crashed heavily over one of the table-tops,knocking himself out briefly & giving himself a few cuts & bruises. He found it hard swapping from one bike to the other for the different groups, so decided to concentrate on the MX2 class on the 250F. He says Sunday was some of the hardest racing he's done for a long time,& certainly the fastest racing he's ever had to do on a 250F. Racing the Pro class, he was very happy to finish 3rd overall, Luke Firth taking the overall win on a Yamaha, followed by Jared Allison on a Kawasaki. Jasons friend, George De Graff, got 4th overall on his Yamaha. Jasons next event is a Hare Scramble in the Porcupine Hills in two weeks time. He is off to the mountains to practice this weekend with Jason & Nick Schrage. Watch this space for more news! JEZZA & RATBOY GO WEST Report & photos by Jeremy Thomas This is the story of how two wild & crazy guys left the old country & set out West. Why would we do this? well, we couldn't think of too many good reasons not to basically. Anyway, here goes Jezza with the tale of our journey. As the wheels of the plane left the wet tarmac of Manchester airport on the last day of March this year I was filled with my usual mix of feelings, looking forward to the challenge ahead, hoping that everyone at home was going to be o.k., wondering what this new country of Canada was going to be like. As director of Rat adventures its my job to do lots of the old leg work, plan the route, deal with all the legal stuff to make sure we do these trips properly,&,of course, keep Ratboys bank account in credit. For me, the opportunity to be a part of his often eventful & never dull career makes all of the sacrifices worth while. Its like being a roady for the sex pistols! I flew via Philadelphia where David Bowie played the tower theatre in 1974 then onwards via Chicago to Moline, Illinois, home of John Deere tractors & Funmart cycle centre. It was late evening by the time I arrived & collected my bags, the girl on the car rental desk must have realized I was a sex pistols roady cos she hooked me up with a brand new Mustang! ideal! As I pulled off the car lot I became Steve McQueen for a while & I do admit to burning some rubber off the tyres in his memory. That guy could race a bit as well. I met up with our great friend & supporter Tim Taber on the carpark at Funmart & we headed for a cool bar on the Mississippi. Tim is one of the hardest working guys I know, but he always has time for his friends. He has represented the U.S.A. at 6 days twice so as a racer himself he knows the score. After a few beers it was time for me to get some rest, I had some big days ahead! Next day I was at Funmart bright & early. Funmart is based in Moline, one of the quad cities, the others being Davenport, Rock Island & Bettendorf. The mighty Mississippi flows west between the cities & is joined there by its tributary, the Rock river. I had much to do. Ratboy had a brand new YZ250F stored at Funmart from 2007, his camper & trailer were also being looked after for us by another well known local racer, Don Raschke, just out of town at Geneseo. My 1st job was to put the Yamaha back to stock so we could exchange it for a KTM200XC from Tim. We didn't have much of an idea what the terrain would be like in Canada & , with a limited budget, we had decided that a 2stroke would be the best way forward. KTM offer the best range of off-road bikes & they have the back-up through their dealer network to keep you racing so they were our 1st choice. Ratboy loves the 200 because its fast & will cope with anything out there on the trail, so that's the bike we went for. Mike Delathouwer, Funmarts service manager, pulled two crates out of their warehouse & I set to work building the bikes up.We needed some items from the KTM hardparts range to make the bikes more suitable for the woods & Ashley Cady, Funmarts parts manager, soon had them sorted. With the bike job well in hand I took off in the Mustang to Dons to check on how the camper & trailer had faired through the cold Illinois winter. All was well, Don had carried out a service on the camper, the trailer needed a new tyre but that was about it.I hooked up the rig & set off for Farm & Fleet in Moline to sort out the tyre. Everything sorted it was time to meet up with Tim at the Captains Table restaurant beside the Mississippi for a superb meal & a few Coronas!
One of the best things for me about racing in America is travelling the country. This is the land of dreams. Hanging out with Ratboy has taken me all over the United States, from Daytona Beach on the east coast to Los Angeles on the west. from the Rocky Mountains of Idaho to the Panhandle of Texas. I've seen snow on the Great Salt Lake & tried to go the wrong way down a one way street in Manhattan. I've felt like I was following in the footsteps of Elvis & woken up in bed with Madonna. No matter what Ratboy & me have had to sacrifice & how much garbage we've had thrown at us, when we hit that road together its all been worth while. How else would I ever have had the opportunity to do all this if I hadn't been blessed with a kid who could ride a motorbike? I've always played Sal Paradise to his Dean Morriarty,& I guess I always will. From Moline, Illinois, I headed west into Iowa then north on 61 to Dubuque where I crossed the Mississippi into Wisconsin. Wisconsin is famous for its cheese. Americans love cheese & they have it on everything. Wisconsin is a beautiful state, rolling river bluffs,forests & quaint farmer towns. 61 took me up to Sparta where I crossed highway 90 & continued on to join highway 94 at the Black River Falls. I headed North for Minnesota, passing through Minneapolis & St.Paul on my way to Fargo, where I was planning to spend the night. The land round Fargo is flat like East Anglia but vast, plains as far as the eye can see. I had seen snowdrifts beside the road gradually getting bigger the further north I drove, but here it was the biting wind which made sleeping in the camper pretty cold. On the road I don't stop much, just for fuel & a Subway or Ruby Tuesdays, I usually spend the night at a rest area or on a Walmart carpark cos the guy, Sam, who founded the company, was big into R.V.ing so you're always welcome to park there. Next morning I woke early & took highway 29 north from Fargo through Grand Forks to the border crossing into Canada. Everything went smoothly through the port of entry at Pembina & there I was in a new country! The Canadian province of Manitoba was immediately different from the state of Minnesota, the towns I was passing through on my way towards Winnipeg had a different feel to them, more of a European flavour, the road signs were bilingual, reflecting both the British & French influence on the recent history of this country. At Winnipeg I took the TransCanadian Highway west towards Regina., it would be this road that I would remain on for the next couple of days.
Next morning I was on my way early again, I plannad to end the day near to Calgary so that I had plenty of time left to get parked & sorted at the airport before Ratboy arrived.I drove all day on the TransCanadian Highway, crossing into Saskatchewan from Manitoba,& passed by Regina, Moose Jaw & Swift Current. At Swift Current it was time to stop & do some laundry. Here I discovered that Loonies & Toonies were required to get the washing done. I also took on more fuel for the camper here, alarmed to find that it was around 40% more than in the U.S.!Late in the afternoon I crossed the border into Alberta, stopping for supper in an English-looking fish & chip bar in Medicine Hat. I could sense that I was entering the Wild West, the road had been climbing steadily for hundreds of miles & I was now on the High Plains, wonderful grain fields & cattle pasture, the people looked different too, big cowboy hats & pointy boots, nothing like Birmingham but ideal for the Bullring! I ended my day at Brooks, half way between Medicine Hat & Calgary. Next morning the sun was up early & it was a beautiful morning for driving. I was feeling on top of the world & looking forward to my 1st glimpse of the Canadian Rockies,& then suddenly, as I crested a low line of rolling hills, there they were! stretching across the horizon from north to south, crested in snow like a long, white, Toblerone bar, the most famous line of mountains on the planet. It was a perfect moment. As I drove on towards Calgary they grew in size & by the time I parked up at Calgary Airport,I knew Ratboy & me had to go & get a proper look at them. ENTER THE RAT.
Next day we decided to take highway 93 through the Rockies to Radium Hot Springs in British Columbia. Driving through occasional snow storms in the mountains with no phone signal, we were glad to reach Radium & headed south for Cranbrook & the Crowsnest Pass. This was perfect riding country, small river flats edged by thick pine forests leading upwards to the rolling foothills & then the bare rock & snow slopes of the skyscraping moutains. Just before Cranbrook we turned east onto highway 3 for the Crowsnest Pass. This is one of the areas Ratboy will be racing in while he is here, so we wanted to take a good look at it. We drove through Fernie, Sparwood & onwards. The land looked perfect for cross country & enduro events, Ratboy was well impressed. Leaving the great landslide at Crowsnest Pass itself, we at last came out of the mountains to Pincher Creek. Our plan was to reach Lethbridge, where Ratboy will be based, by nightfall. With the pedal to the metal, we pressed on through Fort Macleod towards Lethbridge,still on highway 3. Lethbridge was a coal town which grew around the drift mines on the banks of the Oldman River. With the arrival at the start of the 20th century of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, the high quality coal produced by the miners found a more economical means of transport to the huge North American market. The town grew, up out of the river valley & onto the plains. As the world has changed, Lethbridge has found itself in a perfect location to offer many services to the local agricultural community, which is the basis of the surrounding economy. Ratboy & me rolled into town as dusk fell like Clint Eastwood & John Wayne, Packing our 200s & looking for action. Sometimes in life you have to roll the dice & take a chance. This was one of those times. Here we were in a town we had never been too, in a country we had never been too, not knowing anybody & 5000 miles from home. Nice. But the dice fell good. Very good Next morning we made our way to the local Motorcross store, Lethbridge KTM. Here we met Alf Gurr, who just happens to be the very best guy you could meet in such circumstances, a real gentleman who understood immediately what we were all about. In no time at all, Alf introduced us to Ryan Roth, a local racer who had also spent some time on a student exchange programme in New Zealand, so he knew all about being a long way from home. Alf pointed us in the direction of an excellent local motocross track just out of town at Raymond, & Ryan got us sorted with a mobile phone & directions out to the 1st event we would attend at Barons. People couldn't have been more friendly & helpful. We headed for the motocross track where we met another local rider, Don Lewis, who did a few laps with the Rat & helped us jet up the bikes properly. Lethbridge is at 3400 feet above sea level & its pretty cold right now, so settings were a lot different to back in Illinois.
Next day, after another trip to the Temple Hills circuit at Raymond, we headed out to the venue for the race on Sunday at Barons. Here we were met & greeted by Trevor & Renee Turner, two of the nicest & most helpful people you could wish to meet. They were the organizers of the Endurocross race Ratboy was entered in for the Sunday,& it had been through Renees emails to us that we had 1st learned of this exciting series. Trevor was hard at work watering the track ready for the event. He had designed & built a superb course on his own land which contained some very challenging obstacles, logs, tyre walls, concrete pipes & rock piles, plus a very tight brush section, a motocross track, a creek crossing & an excellent special test section out in the cornfields. Perfect. The Turners hard work didn't just stop at the track though, they had the local T.V. company coming down to film the event & interview the riders,& they had the local radio station bring down an awesome P.A. through which they were going to do a live radio show at the event! These people were getting the job done!
Jason Schrage is an excellent rider & has represented Canada at 6 days, so he was going to take some beating. Ratboy got the bit between his teeth though & took 1st place at the flag. Alf & his wife, Joyce, came along to watch the main event & there was a definate buzz of excitement amongst the crowd as George De Graaf raised the start flag. Ratboy, swapping to the other side of the grid, got the holeshot & was off on a mission as they came out of the stubble field, followed by Jason Schrage, Shane Cuthbertson, Nick Schrage & Luke Firth. Returning to the fields from the bush section, Jason had passed Ratboy after a crash on the dreaded tyre wall again, but the Rat was on form & got past him again as they scorched around the special test. Thats the way they stayed for 3/4 of an hour to the chequered flag, with Luke Firth claiming 3rd spot by the races end. What a great day! Afterwards everyone gathered for the awards ceremony & an ice cold beer amongst new friends. My time in Canada was running short now. For Ratboy, it was still the start of his High Plains adventure, but for me it was time to head home. I said my goodbyes to everyone &,with Ratboy snoozing in the back,I headed off back to Calgary airport, where he took over the camper & headed back to Lethbridge,& I headed back to the wet tarmac of Ringway, via Phoenix & Philadelphia, just for fun!
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Saturday was taken up with 2 hour cross-country races for the junior
riders, everyone having a great time in the warm sunshine. In the
evening there was to be a " Big Dog Harescramble " I wasn't
too sure what this was all about. I had been watching the Barrys
Labrador Dog digging huge holes on the track all day,& had assumed
that he was just helping to make the racing a little more challenging,
untill I saw him emerge from one hole with an unfortunate Gopher between
his teeth. Maybe a " Big Dog Harescramble " was going to be
something to do with this. I was way off the mark. It turned out to be a
2 hour race for Pit Bikes around the same track that the Junior riders
had been using earlier,& it proved to be quite an event! It seems to
stay light much later in the evening here in Canada,& after the Pit
Bike race, there was still plenty of daylight left for everyone to enjoy
gathering around barbecues & having a good time. It was very much a
family weekend. The social side of the Canadian race scene is a big
attraction to the sport for many of the competitors,& there are
classes for everyone to race in. Its great to see so many guys my age
still out there having fun, & the Ladies classes also attract a good
entry,& an excellent level of competition.
Sunday morning soon came & we were all up early for the riders
meeting & signing on. There was to be an extra loop out into the
thick Birch scrub for todays race, none of the riders, like Jason, who
had been helping out as sweepers for the Juniors on Saturday, had seen
these trails, but everyone was given a sighting lap so they could
familiarize themselves with the course. It was to be a dead-engine,
hands on head, shotgun start,& it was a real shotgun! at 12 o'clock
the starter pulled the trigger & the race was on! Number 841, Frank
Barry ( above Honda ), the son of the owners, got off to a great start, hotly
pursued by number 807, Jason Paradise (Honda ) & number 48, Kevin
Pelletier ( KTM ).Ratboy was charging hard as usual, on his trusty
KTM200XC,& by the end of the 1st lap, which was 25 minutes long, he
had opened up a 40 second lead. I decided to leave the pits for a while
& watch the proceedings in the woods. I've lost track of the number
of times I've watched old Ratty race, it's certainly been a good few,
but I have to say, I've noticed a change in his style this year. He
seems to combine a delicate poise with raw, ruthless aggression on the
bike these days,&,even though he is my son, it is a joy to watch. I
think he's certainly found the machine which enables him to give of his
best with the KTM. Back in the pits there was a major panic when Avery
Turner, the 14 year old son of our good friends 
Trevor & Renee
Turner, came in with a siezed kickstarter, I was running around like a
headless Chicken as usual, Trevor (right) was out in the race himself &
Renee was doing the lapscoring, but Avery's 12 year old Sister, Shelby,
saved the day by sprinting to her own bike & removing the kickstart,
then sprinting back & fitting it to her Brothers machine! She was so
cool, absolutely no panicking at all, an awesome performance! I
immediately offered her the position of Ratboys Chief Mechanic! She
actually has a great future as a rider herself, she finished 3rd overall
in the Saturday race, this Girl is well fast! Back on the track Ratboy
had opened up a 12 Minute lead by the time the last lap board went out
at the 2 1/2 hour mark,& thats the way it stayed until the chequered
flag. The final result was 1st, Jason Thomas,( KTM ) 2nd, Frank Barry, (
Honda ),& 3rd, Jason Paradise, (Honda ) with Kevin Pelletier, ( KTM
) only a few seconds behind him in 4th. It had been a superb & very
memorable event, one of the best organized that I've been to for a long
while, with a really good family atmosphere. We would like to
congratulate & thank everyone who made the event happen, especially
Wendy & Lawrence Barry for their warm hospitality. Thanks also to
Trevor & Renee Turner, KTM North America,&, of course, Alf Gurr
at Lethbridge KTM.
Allez
Vite, Jason Thomas
As the starter gave the riders the 10 second warning, the crowds in
the spectator stands all went silent, we were ready to race! When the
flag dropped the competitors all ran for their machines, Jason got the
KTM fired up 1st kick & leapt off the line for the hole-shot,
closely followed by Michel Metcalfe with Dan Martineau in 3rd. Because
Patrick had been a member of the winning team in 2007, our bike carried
the number 1 plate. Michels team had the number 3 plate,& his
team-mate would be Allan LaChapelle (pictured below with Patrick), Dans team were wearing number
5,& his team-mates would be Guillaume Pronovost & Dominic
Cantin,up to 3 riders being allowed in a team. Jason pushed hard for 3 
laps & had built up a 1 minute lead when disaster struck! The team
had decided to use a heavy duty tube in the rear tyre instead of a moose
to speed things up during the tyre changing competition & now Jason
had a puncture! he got the bike into the pits & changed the wheel to
one with a moose in it & handed the bike over to Patrick for his 1st
stint on the track. Patrick got back into the race in 6th place &
had managed to fight his way back up to 3rd over the next hour. After a
quick rider change & re-fuelling, Jason took over again & rode
the KTM hard, getting back to the front of the pack by the end of his 2
hour shift, then he came back into the pits for more fuel & to fit
lights on the bike for the next 4 hour leg, which would be run entirely
in the dark. Patrick finished off the last half hour of the 1st race
& consolidated the teams lead, giving them a lap advantage over team
3 & a 2 lap advantage over team 5 by the chequered flag. We had made
a good start but there was still a long way to go.
The night race was something else. Watching the quads battling
through the dust under the floodlights, with their headlamps blazing
& the crowd cheering them on, whilst the sound-system filled the air
with heavy rock, made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck! Then,
just as Patrick brought the KTM to the line again, I saw the 1st drops
of rain falling under the spotlights. This was at 10pm & we had 4
hours of racing to go! Suddenly I understood why everyone had said this
event was going to be tough. The flag dropped & the riders sprinted
for their machines again, Jason yanked another hole-shot & the KTM
with its huge front headlight blazing disappeared into the forest. I
said a silent thank you to Steve Ireland back in the U.K. for putting on
those night events which have given us the opportunity to gain
experience under conditions like these,& waited with fingers crossed
to see who would get back to the arena 1st.I knew by the brightness of
the light & the howl of the engine that it was Jason long before I
saw him. The rain was falling steadily now but Jason had got the measure
of the track & by the rider change & re-fuelling he had a 14
minute lead. Patrick took over & steered the KTM through the pits
& up onto the track at the lap-scoring check,& I headed off to
get Jason a burger, th
en another disaster! Patrick had been stopped by
the clerk of the course because one of the team had roosted the lap
scorers with mud! They were to receive an immediate 15 minute time
penalty, Patrick wasn't going anywhere! I think that 15 minutes must
have been the longest of Patricks life, we could do nothing to help him,
we couldn't even go & talk to him, he just had to wait. The other
teams came past, team 5 were now leading, team 3 in 2nd place, still
Patrick had to wait. I could almost feel his frustration from the
signing line. At last he got the ok & was off at full throttle,
lights blazing into the trees. I think he will remember the way he rode
that KTM through the next 2 hours for a long time to come.he really is a
very good nightime rider,&,through the darkness & pouring rain,
he pushed himself & the KTM to the limit.
Patrick put in another great ride before he too signalled that the
bike had gone onto reserve, at which time he came into the pits for the
final fuelling & rider change. Jason took the faithful KTM out for
the last 3 laps of the race & took the chequered flag for the final
time amidst scenes of great excitement amongst the crowd. Team 3 finally
won the battle for 2nd,with team 5 hot on their heels in 3rd. After the
race there was a prize giving ceremony for the competitors, with
speeches by the officials & sponsors. Champagne corks popped &
cameras flashes flashed,& we all agreed that we couldn't wait to do
it again next year!
Afterwards the team all went for a superb meal in La Tuque,& then
it was time to say our goodbyes & head for our various destinations.
It really had been an awesome event,& for Jason & me something
that we were very grateful for having the opportunity to take part
in,& something I'm sure we will both remember for a very long time
to come. It wouldnt have been possible without the tremendous efforts of
Patrick Beaule, to whom we are both deeply indebted.
RATBOY
DANCES WITH WOLVES!
Next morning was spent licencing & reinsuring everything ready
for the roadtrip, Ashley & I cruising around town in the Mustang
trying to make sure we got the holeshot at all the traffic lights, Jezza
does love America! by early afternoon I was ready for the off, bikes
loaded in the trailer & a full tank of gas. It was time to say
goodbye to all my friends & the Mustang in Moline & hit the
road. I had allowed 3 days for my journey, I figured I could drive
around 600 miles a day & Ratboy wasn't due into Calgary until midday
on the 6th April. Calgary looked about 1800 miles from Moline, but not
having the benefit of sat nav to tell me exactly, it could have been
further. Anyway, away, away!
Driving in Canada was quite different to the U.S., gone were the
sweeping right turns at the highway intersections, the junctions in
Canada seemed to be entirely based on the crossroads system, with many
of the more rural ones not even having any traffic lights, even on the
main highway! As I headed west the ground was gradually rising through
dense Birch woodland with rolling hills all around. By the time I
reached Brandon I was feeling pretty tired again so I decided to stay
over there. Whilst searching for somewhere to eat I was delighted to
come across a 2nd world war Bristol Bolingbroke aircraft on a Mcdonalds
carpark. The aircraft was a memorial to the many brave Canadian, British
& New Zealand Airmen who recieved their training in this part of
Canada before setting out to fight,& in many cases perish, for the
Allied cause during the conflict. I was moved to think that without
their sacrifices Ratboy & me would never have had the opportunity to
live in this world as we do. My night in Brandon was the coldest I'd
experienced for a long time. It was seriously freezing.
As I waited in Calgary airport for the arrival of Ratboy there was a
power cut. It was like a message, a deliverance, the Rat had arrived. We
wasted no time. To the hills! to the hills! Banff looked like the place
to be but Lake Louise shares its name with my daughter, Louise, so that
was where we headed. The drive through the mountains was awesome. A
perfect blue sky with the sun glinting on the crisp, white snow slopes
dotted with tall pine trees & surrounded by jagged rock outcrops
& pinacles. We made for the piste. Everyone had gone home & the
lifts were all shut. Perfect opportunity to test out the KTMs on the
slopes! deciding discretion was the better part of valour, we headed for
the frozen lake itself & set off across the ice to test our skating
skills on the outdoor ice hockey rink. It was a world of dreams, a place
you want to stay for ever, surrounded by the echoes of travellers from
the past, winters filled with snow & log fires, a place away from
reality. We stayed there the night & vowed to return.
Once we had the KTMs working good, we headed back into Lethbridge to
stock up with food from the local Walmart. Here we met another well
known local rider & all round nice guy, George De Graaf, George
(right) is
one of the main motocross riders in Alberta,& a super guy for us to
meet, he & Rat arranged to meet up to go practicing the next day.
Things were going well.
Race day dawned bright & sunny, signing on, noise testing &
the riders meeting were over by 9am & we were racing for the 1st
time in Canada! All groups got 3 laps to practice the track &
everyone was having fun! the tyre wall & a long section of tyres
proved to be the hardest obstacles on the course & there were bikes
going everywhere for a while in some of the classes. After practice came
the qualifiers for grid positions, top qualifiers would start the main
race from behind one log, lower qualifiers would start from behind two.
In Ratboys qualifier, he grabbed the holeshot, closely followed by Jason
Schrage, Luke Firth & Nick Schrage. Ratboy ploughed into the tyre
wall, allowing Jason Schrage past him, then crashing again, Luke Firth,
another talented local motocrosser, got by him too. Luke took the lead
but crashed out over a huge log letting both Jason & Ratboy go by.
The race was on.