| Going
south for motocrossers in Atlantic
Canada is pretty common these days and
one of the more economical ways to get
in some early riding and racing is to
hit the New England circuit, which
usually starts in late March.
There's several tracks in New England to
race including Bull
Run, Skowhegan,
Middleboro,
Central
Village, Jolly
Roger and others. But on track
stands out as THE place to be, that's Southwick. |
| This
year my Dad, Charlie and Levi Smith and
their Dad Danny and I all set off to
Southwick Massachusetts, home of one of
the U.S.'s best outdoor National MX tracks.
While we were there we hooked up with
Jamie and Mark Bird and their
Dad, Terry.
|
Danny
Smith, chief driver |
"You
think I'm gonna sit here and lie to you,
damn!" - Cinq's Mom in
TF06. "Charlie, rewind it
again!!" |
Southwick
is a fairly long drive (11 hours from
Riverview) so it helps if you bring
along some videos. We must have
watched Crusty 2000 and Terrafirma 06 a
thousand times. |
| We
left Thursday night and drove straight
through to Brockton Mass where we heard
we could some riding at a local
pit. The idea was to ride Friday
and Saturday and then race Sunday.
On the way down the weather was pretty
nasty, starting off in southern Maine as
wet snow, turning to full boogie rain
storm by the time we hit Brockton, just
south of Boston. |
Levi
has many interesting facial expressions |
They
even have the tricked out paint job
ones, like the McGrath and Pro Circuit
Bell's |
Brockton
Cycle Center
is owned by the Veracka's. It's an
impressive bike shop - it's pretty much
got everything you could ever want under
one roof. Want to try on different
helmets and sizes? They've got
them all. They're stash of Tech
8's (see pic) which was probably more
than all the Tech 8's brought into
Canada last year. Amazing.
Their sons race and tear up the Expert
and Youth classes respectively. |
| The
rain was so bad when we reached Brockton
that shopping at the bike shop was about
all we were able to do that day.
We checked out the "track"
(which is really just a large sand pit)
but there was water running between the
sand whoops. We must have gotten 4
inches of rain that morning. |
"Some"
Tech 8's at Brockton Cycle |
Look
at all that gear! |
We
eventually got to go riding, but it
wasn't until Saturday. There's
this pit behind Brockton Cycle which
seems to be pretty much open to the
public. Terry Bird told us about
it, but there's this Lenny guy at the
bike shop who gave all the
details. He was amazing... we just
dropped in from nowhere and he offered
us tons of help and advice. He was
really super and even introduced us to
the owner, Paul Veracka. If you
make it down to Massachusetts sometime,
this is the shop to check out. Ask
for Lenny in paaaahhts and he'll
hook you up. |
| Sunday
morning started early at 6:30 AM with
registration line ups. We had to
buy AMA licenses ($39 USD), NESC
licenses ($10 for day pass) and then
register for our classes ($25 each
class). On top of that, you have
to get your helmet and chest protectors
approved. Quite a hassle, but in
the end it's worth it. Just be
prepared! |
This
is what the track looked like before the
dozers did their work. The back,
treed portion of the track was closed
due to excessive snow on the
track. Imagine.
|
Jammin'
Jamie Bird is well known in New
England. And for good reason, he's
hauling! |
As
the first motos of the day got underway,
it was clear to everyone that Jamie Bird
and his brother Mark were dominant
figures in their respective
classes. Both Birds won motos
right off the bat. Mark hadn't
even ridden since Riverglade in the
Fall, but he looked good on one of
Jamie's 125's. Jamie raced the
Youth and Amateur classes. |
| 80's
were up soon after and it was a really
big class. They had 85cc A, B and
C running together at the same time, but
each class is scored separately.
A's are considered Experts in New
England, B's are Intermediates and C's
are Novices. Once you collect so
many points in one class, you get bumped
up to the next, etc. |
Charlie
rips a Southwick berm. Everyone
should do this before they die. |
This
tabletop is the finish line for the
National event. For local races
the finish line is at the end of the
long front straight, further down the
track. That's Charlie on the
Honda. |
Because
of the nasty weather they didn't race
and 50's or 60's, so Levi didn't get to
race. But considering the conditions, he
got to stay warm and dry all day long!
Charlie
adapted to the track quickly (it's a
hard track to learn in just one day) and
had impressive rides in the 85cc B
class. He finished fourth in his
class, 7th overall. |
| My
Dad got to race, too, in the 40+
class. That big 426 is a handful
in the sand but he did pretty
good. I think he got third in his
class in the first moto.
|
This
one came out a little blurry, but check
out those boots! |
On
the way back to the pits after the moto |
As
the day wore on frost began creeping out
of the sand and some parts of the track
got wetter. Even still, most of
the corners were dry and bermed up
really nice, just like usual. All
in all it was pretty good considering
there's still, like, three feet of snow
in Atlantic Canada! |
| I
raced the 30+ A class down there and it
was a real blast. Usually I race
the Expert class in New England and get
mired in mid-pack. Basically their
Expert class is as fast as our Canadian
National races. Maybe not as fast
nowadays, but very close. Remember
Treadwell? This time though I
decided to line up with the other
"old guys". |
That's
me on the outside. The guy with
the holeshot had a 1990 CR 500 motor
stuffed into his 2000 CR 250's
frame. Very cool! |
First
moto action before I crashed. Look
how clean my gear is. |
"Geez,
you ARE old." remarked Terry Bird
at supper. Yeah, thanks for the reminder
Terry!
The
track gets notoriously rough as the day
goes on. The first set of motos
are short (usually 5 laps) and are used
chiefly to determine your pick on the
start line in the second moto. I
crashed in the first moto while in
second and finished 5th. |
| The
second moto was set for 15 minutes plus
2 laps. "Great", I
thought, I've been riding for a total of
30 minutes in 2001, "I'm gonna
die". Despite the positive
thinking, I actually got second off the
start and held onto that position for a
few laps. The leader on the
modified 500 disappeared and there were
two guys closing in on me. We
caught up with some lappers and they
whizzed by me. |
Here
I am trying to stretch my arms into
long, stringy noodles. Those are
the dudes who were stalking me. |
 |
But
a few laps later one of these guys
crashed and I eventually passed the
other guy when he messed up over the
tabletop. It was my lucky day I
guess - I got second overall. |
| That
was it, we left for home as soon as we
washed the bikes up. It was a
long, cold, wet day but it was an
awesome experience. I've raced
Southwick at least a half dozen times
and I've loved the track since the first
time I saw it. Charlie and Levi
enjoyed themselves too, and I'm sure
they won't forget the experience.
I think even Dad and Danny had fun,
too. |
This
is Levi's serious face |
