www.rockymountaindirtriders.com
February 2011
NEWS
Swap Meet Our Annual Club Swap Meet goes 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3, at the Capitol Hill Community Hall, 1531 21 Ave. N.W., Calgary. Only current members can register as sellers, while everyone else is welcome to buy. You can purchase your membership at the door and sell your stuff. If you plan on selling, go to the GENERAL TOPICS forum and put your name on the seller’s list.
IN THIS ISSUE: Bike Show Rider Profile ChevMack Guided Rides Director Joe “Giant Joe” Franklin checks out the Trailblazer.
2011 BIKE SHOW BONANZA Calgary Motorcycle Show brings out riders of all shapes and sizes to the club’s popular display booth With a Morrison Trailblazer on display and great schwag to give away to potential members, the RMDRA’s display booth at the 2011 Calgary Motorcycle Show was a huge hit with visitors. Thanks to club Promotions Director Allison Parsons for coming up with a CYCLEWORKS gear bag full of stuff to raffle off as part of our Bike Show display. We also had maps, magazines, brochures, a video display of guys riding trails -- you name it. It was a multi-media extravaganza.
Best Bike Show yet. We sold dozens of memberships and planted the seed in the minds of hundreds more riders who stopped by our booth to check us out. After all, this is a grassroots (treeroots?) movement. A huge thank-you to all the volunteers who manned our display and to guys like J.D. , Aaron and the booth set-up and tear-down crews. This only works because of the dedication of enthusiastic club members who donate their time and energy. Thanks!
For just $40 you’re good to go If you’re viewing this newsletter for the first time and are considering joining us for the 2011 season, get on it. With a club Swap Meet scheduled for February, a club race in August and an ambitious Guided Ride season planned, now’s the time to join. Go to rockymountaindirtriders.com/membership or e-mail members@rockymountaindirtriders.com and get your membership now. It’s just $40 for the whole family. And if you don’t ride responsibly, don’t ride at all.
The folks in the photos (Clockwise from top left) Our booth draws quite the crowd over the weekend; Zeal and Claude go with GAS GAS: Alicia and Allison work the CYCLEWORKS desk; Dylan shows his TRUE COLOURS; BOW CYCLE’S Brad Lindy pitches a fastball for Gang Green.
Definitely something for everyone at the 2011 Calgary Motorcycle Show
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RMDRA NEWS
HELLO, CHEVMACK IS MY NAME The fifth in a series of Chev’s re-introduction to dirt bike seduction By Chev Mackenzie (Continued from Part 4 in January, 2011, RMDRA eNews)
I watch him for a moment. The opportune time shows itself as he comes from the side of his vehicle and my presence is optimal. I introduce myself, he does the same. Simple small talk leads to MX park layout and education, of which I am now an expert after 2 hours. We agree to go to a medium-strength track for a few laps to get his legs back. When we get to the track entrance I am ecstatic that I have a ride partner/mentor. I tell him I'll hang back and he can go first. Motion ensued and things were going exactly like my pomposity dictated for me to feel any self-worth in this place. About a quarter-lap into our secret communion, I am struggling to keep up with him. What is going on? By the end of the lap, the man on the rusty Husky can be seen, but not even close to reached. I am about to have a little breakdown. In medieval times, farmers who lost entire crops, and are uncertain about their future know what I'm on about. How could I have spent so much energy all winter loving something I clearly have no talent for? Defeated by everything in my universe, I retreat to my headquarters for an emotional regroup. A few minutes later, the man that wrecked my vibe comes putting up. I asked him how his laps were. He noted that he had lost so much of his feeling since he raced on a national level. Thank gawd. I don;t suck as much as I thought! Still, this man has talent. Now the roles are reversed, I watch the way he rails the corner ruts to maintain speed. Or how, if you have no brakes, you can slam down a couple gears to do a sort of power slide. Later that day we parted ways. I missed the
tailgate on my truck while loading my bike and had a small hernia trying not to fold my body in half. Note to self -- leave enough energy in system to load and unload bike. Enough of this MX stuff. I need to feel like I stand a chance. Trails, what my bike is meant for. After much deliberation of playing Russian roulette with having no registration and how I can dodge the bush police, I decide for my financial future it is a good investment to play by the rules. It is a Wednesday. At home while I'm loading the gear and bike, I did my usual misunderstanding of how much time it takes to actually get out to the riding area. I dropped my sweet wife mid-sentence to race towards a gloriously free-of-normal-life adventure. Thankfully, I wasn't so daft this time as to not look which staging area people are going to meet at. I popped in my favorite music cd and headed down the road. The feelings I had when I arrived at the staging area came flooding back. This magical sensation of having something that work politics could not pollute, family duties are as distant as times when gettin’ bored from lack of responsibility in any capacity was a daily event. Like my 3 1/2 year old would say: “My only only.” Now it’s time to put on my game face. Men are around and its no time to be all touchy-feely about things. The art of putting gear on with minimal time spent in underwear is truly a science. When a person wants to be as manly as possible, to not show weakness, having a chicken-white bottom is one of the most difficult of things that cramp a fictitious dominance. Once I get geared up I scan the area for club members. There is another club in the area. I find Jerry and Eric to ride with. The eventual Gong-Show predictably ensues.
Meet Chev Mackenzie, a club member whose on-line ride reports are drawing rave reviews. Here’s Part 5 of his six-part series. We decide to go exploring at 6 p.m. in the middle of a work week. This would be a mistake that would affect all of us profoundly. Not 500 feet from the truck, I hit a small jump not knowing what was on the other side. I didn’t have time to even get scared when that massive puddle swallowed my bike. I managed to use my gyro-physic balancer skill. It’s really easy. It’s that little voice that screams, “Don’t hit the deck, meat head!” This was impressive to the father and two sons who were watching from the side of the trail. Unfortunately, the G.P.B. skill does not tell you when you are out of harm’s way. As I got cheers for surviving the puddle, I took one hand of the bars of life to give a thumbs-up to them. In a typical-self moment, I did my usual high-side, cartwheel-to-bum-drop. This leaves you sitting upright facing the front tire of your bike. Because of this particular type of crash that I am accustomed to, I hear gasps, and an “Oh my gawd!” from the sideliners. Man, this is not how I wanted to start the day. I'm wet and muddy five minutes in. I give another thumbs-up and a verbal confirmation that my body is in good order before I work towards the riders now waiting up trail. ( Part 6 coming in March)
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RMDRA NEWS
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RIDER PROFILE: CLAUDE GIGUERE The lowdown Name
Claude hits the gas on his Gas Gas
Claude Giguere “Cladoo”
Game Member Rocky Mountain Dirt Riders
Joined RMDRA One of founding members in ’03
Rides Gas Gas EC300, an ’84 Venture and a pile of 1970’s 2-smokers
First Rode A Keystone Minibike in the backyard when he was 14
Places he rides McLean Creek, Indian Graves, Racehorse Creek, Ghost/Waiparous
Favourite tire Trelleborg Ten Masters
Favourite machine Gas Gas EC300
Currently on the iPod ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s; almost anything but rap or country
Dream ride 2011 GAS GAS 300 SIX DAYS
When he’s not riding he’s Busy Photo by MarkVFR
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rmdra news
Not content to just look at bikes, Andreas found a really cool lightweight trailer to lounge in at the Bike Show
TRAILBLAZER UPDATE The RMDRA Morrison Trailblazer project is now nearing completion in Trail Maintenance Director Aaron Bauer’s workshop. The dark green, single-track trailbuilding brute is just awaiting some hytraulic hoses, reassembly and other
2011
February
finishing touches before being commissioned for trail work some time this spring. Our “Green Machine” is expected to provide serious help on trail-building and maintenance projects this year at McLean Creek and the Ghost. For photos and more info, visit our MORRISON TRAILBLAZER FACEBOOK PAGE
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RMDRA NEWS designed, assembled, written and edited by club V-P Brendan Nagle. All material, except that credited to outside sources, is property of the RMDRA. Reproduction and redistribution of our stuff without our permission is a serious transgression and puts you at the top of our roost list.
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