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As the Island Championship Series crosses the halfway point it’s time to start pointing out some of the highlights of the season so far. A lot of riders have really stepped up their game, and some of the classes are the best they’ve been in a long time. It’s time to give a nod to the stand-out performances of the year. Of course there are the usual stand-outs, like Cameron Bradley in the 50cc class, and Joe Nikirk in the 85cc classes, but I’m talking about riders who have made an impression this season specifically. Of the little guys I’m perhaps most impressed with Adam Polichek in the younger 50cc class and Justin Daniels in the 65cc PeeWee class. Both of these riders rode well last year, but have cranked it up a notch or two so far this season. In the 7-11 85cc class Wyatt Youland has taken his riding to the next level. He’s always shown flashes of brilliance, but perhaps rode a little over his head at times and had a knack for hitting the dirt. A trip south over the winter, and a lot of spring riding has smoothed out his style and now he appears to be riding with more confidence and within his ability…which is substantial! Of course Joe Nikirk and Harrison Bradley are the stand-outs in the older 85cc class, but I’ve been especially impressed with newcomer Tyler Wilson, who just showed up and started going head to head with some of the best in the class. I have to make note of the impressive riding of Autumn Gould on her 85cc bike in the Ladies class. This little girl is on the gas! Dwayne Richmond has been the new stand-out in the age classes. As I’ve said before, dude is seriously fast for the 40+ class! Also impressing the hell out of me in the age set are Jason Cissell and Derek Thompson. Of course Thompson has been around for a while, but he seems to have really improved this year. He was always solid, but this year he seems more motivated and focused somehow. The Junior class is still pretty wide open, which is a great thing in and of itself. Every time the gate drops I’m wondering who’s going to be at the front, and there seems to be half a dozen or more guys who can win the class this year. There are guys like Eli Titus, Alex Haley, Nathan Donohue-Bragg, Stephen Weme, and Zack Mix that I expected to be near the front all season, but I have to give special props to Isaiah Haylett and Keelan Porter for stepping up beyond my personal expectations and proving they have what it takes to win as well. I’m also thrilled to see Camille Baker riding the Jr. classes. I think it’s good for her, and for the class. The Youth and Intermediate classes are a stand-out event at every round. It’s been a while since we consistently had 20 or more guys lining up for the fast classes. Man, I love it! These classes have been largely about the incredible gains made by SG Power rider Ryan Lalonde this year over last. Lalonde has moved up a whole riding level, and seems to be dragging a lot of the Intermediates with him! Although Lalonde seems to have Corey Cardinal covered at the moment, the challenge has forced Cardinal to start working harder at his riding again. I’ve learned over the years never to count Cardinal out, he has a habit of beating the odds; like winning the Jr. class on a CR150F, or winning Supermini on a 65cc bike! Other huge gains have been made by Daniel Vanderbasch, Blaine Morrow, and Damon Riesach. Connor Barnes has finally matured and seems to have fixed his consistency issues. He could always run near the front of the pack, but seemed prone to heart-breaking crashes at the worst times. This year he has the mental aptitude to hold it all together for complete motos. Finally, I would remiss not to mention the incredible string of performances put in by Intermediate newcomer Jason Abernethy. Jason is rock solid consistent, rides hard for 20 minutes, and is deceptively quick. He makes it look easy, which is what the best riders do. Keep an eye on this kid over the next couple of years.

Abernethy, Riesach, Barnes, Vanderbasch, and Cardinal have given us some great racing!

I’ve also taken time to consider my own performance this year, and made some changes to try and improve the Race Reports. In this Report I’ve created galleries for each class. This allows me to post more photos, larger photos, and make them easily accessible. Just click on the 1st thumbnail of the gallery and then you can scroll through them…this works better than the slideshow. Click on the image to leave the gallery. Let me know what you think of the new format by ‘liking’ it on the bar at the end of the post if you approve, or leaving a comment if you prefer the old format.

50cc

Although Cameron Bradley continues to dominate the older 50cc class, the battle right behind him is intense. Kyron Ketch, Ryder Roth, Joe Jenkins, Hudson Scheres, and Cole Wasmuth are all very close in speed and can beat each other on different days. Ryder Roth seems to have a bit of an advantage and sits 2nd in the standings, but this weekend showed that the runner-up spot is really anybody’s for the taking. Ketch and Jenkins both finished ahead of Roth in at least one moto this weekend, and Scheres and Wasmuth could conceivably do it as well. Adam Polichek once again dominated the younger 50cc class, but it’s great to see several new little kids like Ty Cyr (2nd) and Dax Wilcox (3rd) getting onto the podium.  It’s also great to be back up to twelve 50cc bikes after having some events with only four or five last year.

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65cc

With Andrew Bradbrooke sidelined for a couple of weeks the battle for the 65cc class has been between Cameron Bradley, Justin Daniels, and Kolton Pieters. Daniels appears to be the quickest of the bunch, but Bradley is right there when things go wrong for Daniels, and Pieters is not far behind. Just behind them Cole Farup has done a great job getting up to speed in the 65cc class, and Wyatt Soderstrom and Joe Jenkins have also shown significant improvement in the first half of the Championship Series.

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85cc

It somewhat saddens me, after talking to Joe Nikirk’s father Dan, to learn that Joe may not attend the Raymond Western Championships this year. Joe is at the top of his game, and this is his year. I’m partially saddened for Joe not getting the chance to prove where he’s at against tougher competition, but mostly I’m saddened for my own morbid curiosity. Joe is faster this year than last, he’s gaining those extra fractions of a second he was losing last year. He was the only small wheel rider successfully jumping the long double before the final turn this weekend. I was very impressed to see Tyler Wilson doing it in practice and early in the race program, but apparently he ate it pretty good there and stopped jumping it by the end of race day. I would love to know where Joe stands against faster competition, but I understand it’s a long and expensive trip for the family to set out on.  As I mentioned I was super impressed with Tyler Wilson this weekend after he jumped from 5th most of the season to 2nd overall in the older 85cc class. True, Harrison Bradley had a flat tire in the first moto, and Wyatt Scheres beat him in that moto, but Wilson really upped his game with two podium moto finishes. It’s tough for a kid to start racing against these guys so late in the game, and to actually start beating most of them is almost unheard of. Tayne Schroeder is also getting into the heat of things, with a 4th place moto in the first race and 5th overall. In the younger class Wyatt Youland proved he is the man to beat despite not winning the class. Wyatt fell early in the second moto and put on a charge to come from last to right on Brandon Johnson’s back wheel in second. To Johnson’s credit he rode smart and kept Youland behind him for several laps to hold on for the second moto win and the overall. Colby Egeland finished on the overall podium and has really spiced up the class. Now he and Tanner Meyland also have to contend with David Bradley who’s back from injury. These three are really going to mix it up over the second half of the series, I just know it. Meyland beat them both in the second moto to claim 4th overall. Tanner has developed a habit of starting slower in the first moto and storming back with great second motos. Youland was also the highest finishing of the younger 85 riders in the Supermini class, earning an overall podium behind Nikirk and Harrison Bradley.

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Beginner

We had four Beginners out this weekend, here’s a little gallery of them.

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Ladies

I can’t say I’m sorry Camille Baker didn’t race the Ladies class this weekend, nor can I honestly say I hope she comes back to it! There’s only so many ways you can say, “Camille Baker won the Ladies class without incident”! Camille does just fine in the Junior classes and really it’s only riding there that she gets any kind of competition to improve herself. With Camille out of the running though, the class was wide open and Autumn Gould, who has been riding awesome this year, took both motos and the overall in Ladies! Congrats Autumn, well done! Jessie Jenkins was second and Dana Wacker and Ana Jellema swapped moto finishes but finished in that order. Dana also rode Beginner GP, all by herself, and won that class!

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The Ageless Classes

Turns out the Ageless Classes aren’t so ‘ageless’ after all! In fact, they’re all about age! Controversy surrounded the 40+ class all week when rumours began to circulate that at least one rider in the 40+ class was not yet 40. A decision was made to request riders provide proof of age upon signing up for the 40+ class, and that any riders under 40 would not be allowed to ride in 40+. It was agreed that the 25+ class would be fired up for these riders if they did not want to ride Youth. What is it Shakespeare said about the best laid plans of mice and men? Or was that Hemingway? Anyways, all the meticulous planning was for naught because the referee over-ruled the club and allowed riders under 40 to ride the 40+ class. Unfortunately the this is not the referee’s, or the rider’s, prerogative. It’s a rule, like Intermediates can’t ride Junior. So CMRC will be adjusting the 40+ results for the season according to the rules. I, however, will just report what happened. I’ll leave it to the people in power and the riders to sort out who’s legit and who’s prematurely aging! I will say though, that I agree this rule should be enforced. I get that it’s all in fun, but as one well over 40, I know that there is very little good about getting older. Riding the 40+ class is one of the few advantages to aging, and at this age every year makes a difference. One rider who doesn’t seem to show his age in this class is Dwayne Richmond, who once again went 1-1 and won the class. I have no intention of naming the youngsters pretending to be 40, but since I have said on a few occasions that Richmond doesn’t ride like a 40 year old, I will clarify that he is apparently not one of the riders under suspicion. He’s really 40 or more! Jason Cissell also rides incredibly well for his age and went 2-2. Jason James rounded out the podium with 4-3 motos, just beating out Kevin Armitage who went 3-4. Erik Egeland appears to be riding back into form. He was a little off his pace for the first couple of rounds he raced, but his 5th overall this weekend showed the speed is still there. Vet Master was once again won by Derek Thompson, who also finished 2nd overall in Youth. That’s quite an accomplishment. Thompson is riding great this year, he seems to be seconds a lap faster than last year. Kind of like when Andrew Short switched from KTM to Honda and suddenly moved up about 5 positions in the standings! It wasn’t without a battle though, as Dwight Dockendorff gave Thompson everything he had and kept him in check for several laps. Dockendorff and Thompson pulled away from Dwayne Richmond in the first moto, but he held on for 3rd. Richmond didn’t score any points in the second moto though, and 3rd overall went to Jason James. Vet Junior went to Sean Evanishen who looks almost fast enough to be competitive in the Master class. Chris Mace and Shawn Aigner rounded out the podium in Vet. Jr.. While these three riders went 1-2-3 in both motos, the battle behind them is wide open. Props this weekend though, to Matt Muenzler and Dion Klassen who each had a 4th place moto and finished 4th and 5th respectively.

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Junior

It was a great day of racing in the Jr. classes! We had 3 different moto winners, and a first time overall winner with Isaiah Haylett. I have to say I am super impressed with Isaiah this year. Last year I predicted he would be in the hunt this year, but I honestly did not expect him to be doing as well as he is. Isaiah is not only in the hunt, he’s killing it! Isaiah was on the podium in all of his motos this weekend, and in the final GP race he worked his way into the lead and held of Eli Titus for the whole moto, finally inching away from him toward the end. Haylett won Jr. GP overall, and was 3rd in MX-2. Speed Merchant supported rider Stephen Weme also had a great day, winning MX-2 with 1-2 motos, and scoring a 4th in the first GP race. Nathan Donohue Bragg was the only multi-moto winner this weekend, winning one moto in each of the Jr. classes, and finishing 2nd overall in both. Alex Haley was 3rd overall in GP; his lessons with the Lalondes have definitely helped his starts. He got at least one holeshot this weekend! Zack Mix, another Speed Merchant rider, was also on the podium in the first MX-2 moto, and finished 4th overall in that class. Eli Titus didn’t have the kind of weekend he had last weekend. He had one 2nd place moto, but finished just off the podium in both classes. The Junior classes this year are all about parity. From week to week it seems like any one of half a dozen riders can step up and win motos. I love classes where you have no idea who’s going to win when the gate drops. This class is going to go down to the wire this season for the Island Championship!

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Youth/Intermediate

The big news in the Youth/Intermediate class this weekend was the absence of Ryan Lalonde, who has dominated these classes so far this year. I heard reports that Ryan had switched up his routine in preparation for Nationals, now only three weeks away, but I also heard he was sick. Whatever the case he was not present, which left the door wide open for someone else to win one! Not surprisingly, Corey Cardinal walked through the door and won both Youth and Intermediate this weekend. Cardinal has been training with his new sponsor Coreqi Fitness, and generally getting back into the swing of things. If anyone has a shot at taking a few motos from Lalonde this year, it’s most likely to be Cardinal. Derek Thompson was spectacular in the Youth class this weekend. He beat Cardinal in the first moto, and finished 2nd in the second moto for 2nd overall. It amazes me when a guy can ride the Vet class and still do this well in Youth. I hope Derek takes a shot at the Nationals this year. Connor Barnes rounded out the podium with a couple of 3rd place finishes in Youth, and was 4th overall in Intermediate. There was a guy riding well up in the pack in both classes this weekend that I didn’t recognize. Kyle Liebaert finished 3rd overall in Intermediate and 4th in Youth. He was right there with the fastest guys; I hope we get to see more of him in the second half of the season. Daniel Vanderbasch was a little off in the Youth class, finishing 5th overall, but was closer to where we’ve come to expect in the Intermediate class where he racked up two 2nd place finishes behind Cardinal. Jason Abernethy put in another solid weekend, and scored a season high 4th in the first Intermediate moto. Damon Riesach came out like a man on fire and led at the start of several races, showing he has the speed to run with Cardinal, but the best he could finish was 4th in the first Youth moto. Riesach is just a little bit of consistency, and maybe some fitness away from being consistently on the podium. On a sadder note, Blaine Morrow crashed hard in practice and knocked himself out of  competition for the weekend. Jordan Piccolo apparently did the same early in the day on Sunday. Hope these guys have speedy recoveries and get back on the line real soon!

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Well, now we get a week off, which I for one am ready for! I’ll use this week to update  rider galleries for those who’ve purchased a photo package…thanks so much! Hopefully the series standings will be fixed on the CMRC site soon so everyone can see where they stand. I know Elaine Blackburn has been trying to get this sorted out, but it sounds like the program is not co-operating! For all you riders, it’s a week off to heal up, practice more, and get prepared to come out guns a blazin’ in Port Alberni on May 27th!

Willy Nilly and Justin Time were riding buddies. When they went out to practice Willy would spend hours practicing his whips and no-footers, showing off for the girls that came along to watch. Justin would go off and set up three barrels and ride around them the whole time, timing himself as he tried to brake later and ride the berms a gear higher. Sometimes the girls would come and watch Justin for a bit, but they got bored quickly. Willy would come over and try a few laps around the barrels once in a while, but he found it boring too. “Hey man,” he’d say, “this is a drag, you should come and hit this jump I found!” Justin just shook his head. When Justin was out running, getting in shape for race day, he would often stop in at Willy’s house. He knew Willy would usually be there, in his room eating Pizza and playing video games. One day Justin showed up there and he called Willy out. “You gotta focus man, this isn’t going to help you come race day.” Willy wasn’t offended, he had a plan. “First you get fast, then you get good,” he said. “I’ll just ride faster on race day.” Justin just shook his head and continued on his run. Justin understood something Willy was missing. The only real way to ride faster is to ride better…and there’s a subtle difference. Riding better takes work, and work isn’t always fun. Come race day Justin blew right by Willy. Willy tried to keep pace, he followed Justin into a berm, but blew right through it and lost a few seconds. He wasn’t used to going that fast through a berm. He tried to make up the time by jumping further than Justin, but Justin was hitting the down-slopes perfectly and powering all the way down them while Willy flat landed and bounced sideways…more seconds lost. Willy was getting frustrated so he tried to ride faster, but he was also getting tired. He was spending a lot of time correcting his sideways bike, and backing off the throttle to save himself from looping out when he cracked the throttle too hard and too fast exiting corners. Justin was just rolling the throttle on perfectly, maintaining traction and control powering out of the berms. Finally Willy just backed off and started doing knack-knacks off the jumps. When he got back to the pits all the girls were standing around Justin. They were bored with Willy. “Hey girls, did you see those sick knack-knacks I was pulling?!” One of the girls turned to him and said, “Silly Willy, tricks are for kids.” Motocross is just for fun, if you want to be Willy Nilly about it that’s your prerogative, but motocross, and your approach to it, also tends to be analogous to how you approach life. It’s important to have fun in life, but if you don’t take it seriously enough, consider the consequences of your actions, and work hard at it…you will crash in life too. I was Willy Nilly for the first couple of years I raced. I was a mid-packer and I crashed as often as I finished. Then some people took me under their wing and I started working at it, thinking about it, and slowing down to go faster. I started winning some races. I did the same thing in life. I was Willy Nilly for a long time. I had some great nights, but my life was going nowhere. I crashed. I got back up and decided to live life differently. I started working harder at it, thinking about it, and slowing things down. My life is much better now. I see you kids out there, and I see myself in you. I’ve seen some kids come and go, who didn’t learn the lesson motocross teaches in time. Get good, and you will get faster. Going fast in motocross is like happiness in life. You can’t accomplish it directly, you have to come at it sideways. You can’t just decide to be happy and you can’t just decide to be fast. You have to figure out what makes you happy and pursue that, then happiness follows. Likewise, you have to figure out what makes you fast and pursue that, then speed will come. Why do I bring this up now? I’ve been watching kids race and live their lives for a couple of years now. I see some kids approaching it all very Willy Nilly, I hope they will read this, think about it, and turn things around Justin Time. There is still lots of time left in the season, and even more time left in your life. And now, back to your regularly scheduled program…round three racing in Port Alberni!
50cc
Most of the usual suspects showed up and did their thing at Port Alberni in the 50cc classes. Cameron Bradley once again stomped the older class, followed by Ryder Roth and Hudson Scheres. One kid is starting to stand out though. Adam Polichek rides in the younger 50cc class, but he is closer to the older kids in speed than his own class. Adam was riding a CRF50 last year so it was tough to judge his speed. Now that he’s on a KTM it’s clear that he has what it takes. Adam’s on the gas! I like that they started all the 50cc riders together this weekend, it gives the faster young kids a chance to ride with the faster older kids.

65cc PeeWee
Man, it was like a bomb went off in the 65cc class this weekend! I have no idea why, but there were bodies strewn all over the track all day. Series front-runner Andrew Bradbrooke took himself out before racing even began. He crashed hard in practice and was carted off to the hospital asking people what happened. He has a concussion. The first moto went off okay, and Justin Daniels took an easy victory with his tightest competition out for the day. Cameron Bradley finished second and Damien Mclaughlin had the ride of his life to finish third. Then in the second moto, with the overall win in his clutches, Justin Daniels looped his bike off the start. He picked himself up and was rapidly working his way up through the pack when he ate it hard and the medical crew had to attend to him. While they were checking him out Damien Mclaughlin crashed and also required medical attention! With two medic flags waving the race was called about half way through. Cameron Bradley won the second moto and the overall, and Wyatt Soderstrom had his best finish ever with a solid 2nd overall. Cole Farup also had a great day riding to two 4ths and 3rd overall. Kolton Pieters finished 3rd in the second moto and is looking like a real contender as the season wears on. He finished 4th overall. With a few new riders getting a taste of success it will be interesting heading to Nanaimo. I suspect Bradbrooke will be back, but Daniels apparently has a broken finger and may not be able to ride. Suddenly this class is wide open again!

85cc/Supermini
After not winning half his motos last weekend, which is very unusual for him, Joe Nikirk was out to set the world right again this weekend. He succeeded with flying colours winning all four of his motos and winning the older 85cc class and Supermini. It seems like the little bit of pressure he’s been getting from Harrison Bradley has forced Nikirk to up his game again this year. It will be really interesting to see how he does at Raymond and/or Walton against the fastest 85cc riders in the country. I would think he has to be up there with the best of them now. Harrison Bradley may be just a tad off Nikirk’s pace but he will also be among the top in the country if he stays in this class for another year or two; he has impeccable style and a lot of determination. The stand-out 85cc rider this weekend to my eye though was Jared Currie. I’m used to seeing Steven Macdonald, Wyatt Scheres, and Austin Archer right behind the fast two, but this weekend it was Jared Currie who was sticking his nose in there in Supermini. Jared finished 3rd overall and I look forward to seeing more good things from him. Wyatt Scheres had a solid weekend with two 4th place overall finishes in his classes. He beat his nemesis Austin Archer in every moto they raced this weekend. Okay, I’m gonna say it. Austin, you need to stand up! Your seated riding position is catching up to you now, and unless you fix it Wyatt is going to start riding away from you every weekend. Tough love buddy, but it had to be said! In the younger 85cc class Wyatt Youland had to work for his overall win. He went down in the first moto and had to battle his way back up to 2nd. He was able to win the second moto for the overall. Brandon Johnson won the first moto, but then he went down in the second moto and wasn’t able to catch Tanner Meyland who held on for second. His 1/3 finishes were still good enough for 2nd overall, and Meyland, who also went down in the first moto, finished 3rd overall. It seems to me the gap is closing a bit in the younger 85cc class. At the start of the season it looked like Youland and Johnson were going to run away and hide, but Tanner Meyland and Colby Egeland, who joined the class after the first round, seem to be closing the gap on the fast two. Egeland finished on the podium in the first moto and 4th overall. Meyland actually started jumping the ‘Pro double’ before Youland, which was a momentous accomplishment for him, but Youland picked it up in the second moto. Newcomer Nelson Bradley edged out Michael Masters for 5th overall.

Beginner
I don’t always report on the Beginner class because it’s not really a class. Beginner is there so that brand new riders can get the feel of racing on a track without being intimidated by 15 or 20 blood-thirsty Juniors their first time out! These guys do deserve some credit for coming out and giving it a try though, and I hope they feel good enough about it to keep coming back for more! Remember, Nathan Donohue-Bragg, who is winning races in Junior this year, was a Beginner last year.

Ladies
It was great to see Amy Aspell out racing the Ladies class this weekend. The gal has lots of style and it wasn’t long ago she was getting close to Camille Baker’s speed. Amy’s been away from racing for a while after breaking her back in 2010. Amy almost picked up right where she left off. She went out and launched all the jumps pretty much right off the bat and finished 2nd in the first Ladies moto, beating Brittany Spears, oops, I mean Brittany Stokes, and being beat by, of course, Camille Baker. Brittany wasn’t doing several of the jumps however, but she was matching Aspell’s speed everywhere else. I know Brit well enough to know getting beat for not doing a few jumps wasn’t going to sit well with her. Sure enough, she went out and hopped over everything in the afternoon and beat Aspell for second overall. Chelsea Masters finished 4th and Autumn Gould finished 5th. Funny story involving Autumn; she used to race against my step-son Tanner Meyland in the 50cc class. One day, at Port Alberni in fact, she got the jump on Tanner off the start. Tanner was, I dare say, a bit quicker, but he followed her around for the whole race. Afterwords I said to him, “What were you thinking? Why didn’t you pass Autumn?” Tanner just looked up and said, “We were having fun, and I didn’t think it would be nice to just pass her and leave her all alone on the track.” All I could do was rub his head and say “Good boy.” Sometimes the Zen-like wisdom of a six year old gets beaten out of us as we grow older.

The Ageless Classes
So, Dwayne Richmond is for real fast! This weekend Dwight Dockendorff showed up to race and I know he’s fast, but Richmond beat him in both Vet Master races. He also beat Derek Thompson who’s fast enough to run near the front of the Youth class. Not only does Richmond beat these guys, but he takes time to ham it up for the camera as he flashes by me! I don’t know where this guy came from but he obviously has some serious moto history…I’ll try to find out more about him in Nanaimo. He didn’t win +40 though, I think he crashed in the second moto. It was good to see Dockendorff out racing again. I didn’t know who he was at first, but it was clear he was fast and I thought he might have something for Richmond. The two did battle for most of their motos, but Richmond prevailed both times. I felt bad for Derek Thompson. Twice he fell right in front of me and I was forced to snap photos of his misery. The second time he shouted at me to get the hell away from him; I think he felt I was somehow responsible for his bad luck. I also think he was kidding. I think. Jason James was right behind these three in Vet Master, but he took advantage of Richmond’s bad luck in the second +40 moto and won the moto and the class. Finally! Way to go Jay! Vet Junior is stacked with new faces this year, but an old face finally won one. Stuart Abernethy was on fire this weekend! He was second in the 1st Vet Jr. race behind Shawn Aigner, but won the second moto and the overall. Shawn Aigner was 2nd overall and Jim Waterhouse (don’t call me Timber Jim) was third overall after a very impressive 2nd place in the second moto. Dave Barnes was also really impressive this weekend. He finished 2nd overall in +40 on the strength of his 4/2 moto finishes. Sure, Dwayne Richmond, Jason Cissell, and David Maloney all had some bad luck in one moto, but that counts too!

Junior
Just when it looked like the murky waters of the Junior class were starting to clear up, a couple riders dived in and stirred it all up again! Eli Titus won the first three Jr. motos of the day, and secured the win in both classes, but just when I was thinking, ‘Okay, Eli is the guy to beat’, two riders came from behind and passed him in the final moto of the day. Maybe Eli had a blister on his baby finger or something, I don’t know, but Keelan Porter and Nathan Donahue-Bragg showed that he isn’t going to run away with everything. I’m so glad Porter has made the move to Jr. GP, he’s a great addition to the class. Sure, he’s on a 450, but I’m not really convinced that gave him much of an advantage on a tight little track like Port Alberni (after the start, I mean!). For the extra power he gains he also has more weight and power to control in the tight sections. Now, at Nanaimo this weekend look out…Porter has tasted blood! Donahue-Bragg is determined, and has great form. He was one of my picks at the start of the season and if he starts getting better starts I don’t think Titus will walk away from him. Also back in the mix is Zack Mix, who was up north working for the first two rounds. Zack narrowly missed being promoted to Intermediate last year, so no doubt he will be a contender when he rides back into full form. As it is he managed to get on the podium in MX-2 overall with one 2nd place finish and he picked up another podium in the first GP moto. Alex Haley was also on the podium in both classes. Again, I think Haley just needs a start to crack the win column. He always seems to be starting in the middle of the pack, which makes it tough to win motos against guys like Titus and Porter who always seem to get great starts. Camille Baker once again showed she’s just fine racing with the boys, she finished 3rd in the second MX-2 moto. Torin Ironside had his best moto of the season finishing 4th in the second GP moto, and Jacey Wissman also had a breakthrough moto finishing 5th in the first MX-2 moto. Darren Jenkins had what I suspect is his best overall finish with a 6th in GP. My old friend Justin Time once said to me at the start of our Junior season, `From here on out it`s all about who works hardest`. I think that`s the case in this years Jr. class. There are half a dozen or more guys (and 1 gal) who can win. He who works hardest will win most – it`s that simple.

Intermediate/Youth
Ryan Lalonde once again ran away with all four Intermediate/Youth motos, as he is likely to do for the rest of this year. This is not really his stage anymore though; his stage will be set on June 3 in Nanaimo for the Nationals. That’s when we’ll find out how good he’s really become. Ryan came from behind Corey Cardinal this weekend, caught him, passed him, and rode away…only not quite that easily. I know Corey well enough to say this…last year the roles were reversed and only one thing has changed; Lalonde worked hard at it all year, while Cardinal went a little Willy Nilly on it! I think Corey realizes this now and he seems to be striving to make amends, and to be fair it’s not quite that simple. Corey has been at it for a lot of years, while Ryan’s father Darcy, in his infinite wisdom, held Ryan back for his mini years so he wouldn’t be burnt out when this time came. It takes someone, like Darcy, who has been there and done that to know how much work will be required to go from fast Intermediate to fast Pro. That said, Cardinal showed us this weekend how much talent he really has. He fell in the first corner of one of his motos and started a comeback race for the ages. He was passing fast Intermediate riders like they were Juniors and worked his way back up to third. Also to his credit, when he got to third he was smart enough to realize that that gave him 2nd overall and he didn’t need to push through his exhaustion and risk crashing to make one more pass. Which is not to slight Daniel Vanderbasch who held on for that 2nd place, or Blaine Morrow who also beat Cardinal in one moto. These two guys have also obviously put the time and effort in to raise their game and the dividends are showing. That’s how it works. Connor Barnes also had a couple of podium finishes and looked solid all day. His hard work is also paying off. I’ve already mentioned how impressed I am with Jason Abernethy this year, but I’ve had a few brief conversations with him and I can tell you he is thinking it through and doing the work. I was shocked to hear he has only been racing for four years. All things considered it’s amazing that he’s already cracking the top 5 in a very tough Youth class. He’s already put himself right in the mix with the fastest Intermediates on the island. Good on ya Jason! I have to say this to all these tough and fast young Intermediates, all of whom are impressing the hell out me. It’s a tough class this year. There are a lot of fast guys in the class, but that’s to your advantage; it gives you a great proving ground. Intermediate isn’t like Junior though. You can’t work hard for two weeks and expect dramatic improvement in your results. It takes more work to make smaller gains once you get to this level. That said, stick with it. If you don’t work at it and achieve the most you possibly can you may regret it for the rest of your life. You will always wonder, ‘What if I had just worked a little harder a little longer’. Take it from me. I started winning in Jr., then when I hit Intermediate it all seemed too hard and I got distracted. To this day I sometimes lay awake at night regretting that I didn’t see it through. Motocross may not be the most important thing in the world, but it’s far more meaningful than some of the tripe that can distract you at this age. Don’t make the mistake I made; stick with it and live the rest of your life knowing you gave it your all. Don’t be Willy Nilly, figure it out Justin Time! Finally boys, thank-you. You’re all putting on the best racing we’ve seen on the island in ages!



That about wraps up the action from Port Alberni. In case you haven’t heard yet, the race in Nanaimo this weekend will feature what is very likely the largest promotion ever put on by the track. Everyone gets in free, for starters! Stay tuned for more. I want to thank Ellis at STS Racing for the work he did on Tanner’s suspension. T-Man was getting all funny off the jumps and I suspected his forks were off. After Ellis did his magic Tanner started launching straight and true and his confidence has gone through the roof. Thanks Ellis! I also want to thank all those who have purchased photo packages, I truly appreciate your support. I expect to have time to update all your online files after the Nanaimo race when we have a week off. For those of you who haven’t purchased your package yet, what are you waiting for! Especially you Intermediate guys, I hate to see good photos die a lonely death in my computer!

The pits were full to overflowing for the first round of the 'VIMX/CMRC Island Championship Series' this weekend.

Renowned singer/songwriter Bob Dylan is known for coining deep and meaningful phrases such as “The times they are a changin’” and “The answer is blowin’ in the wind”, but when asked what he thought were the best lyrics written in the new millennium he answered, “Woo-hoo” by Blur. I get it; this is the woo-hoo generation and motocross is the ultimate woo-hoo sport! The opening round of the VIMX Island Motocross Championship in Campbell River was all about ‘woo-hoo’! The weather was beautiful …woo-hoo! The turn-out was great…woo-hoo! And the racing was awesome…woo-hoo! I couldn’t get that damn song out of my head all weekend!
The race attracted better than expected ridership, perhaps the most we’ve seen for a few years. I was in awe watching the pits fill up Friday night. The economy hasn’t been good for motocross, but people are finding a way to make it out. It was great to see our old racing cronies again. The motocross community is like our extended family and it was touching walking around from pit to pit Friday night seeing many people I haven’t seen for several months. Perhaps it’s the intense nature of the sport that bonds us; when a racer is hurt the entire community feels it. When a bike breaks down everyone pitches in to help fix it. In this sport you need your friends. It was great to see my motocross family again at the first race. Especially encouraging was all the new faces showing up to race. There were new riders in virtually every class which bodes well for the season. I tried to get around to meet as many as I could and welcome to the newcomers to our extended MX family that, like the saying goes, puts the ‘fun’ back into dysfunctional! If you’re an old hand at the races make sure you make the newbies feel welcome. New racers…woo-hoo!

It was great to see the motocross family once again congregating around campfires!

By the time Sunday rolled around I was more than ready for some racing action. I was nervous even though I don’t race anymore…old habit I guess. I remember the feeling before the first race though; a mixture of excitement and anxiety that leaves you unable to eat or sleep properly. I suppose all racers are similar, laying awake for nights before imagining that first race. Visions of laying a whipping on the competition, running through an imaginary set of events in our mind, riding like we’ve never ridden before, taking the checkered flag…and then we wake up! All but one rider in each class will wake up to a different reality than this, but all will have a story and a thrilling day to store in their memory banks. When the racing finally got going I wasn’t disappointed by the action. Almost all of the classes had more riders than we’ve seen in recent years, but the turn-out in Intermediate was amazing. The usual suspects from the past few years, plus the fast Juniors from last year and a few returning heroes, led to nearly 20 riders in the premiere classes. It was awesome to see that many fast guys on the gate! Woo-hoo!

So…to the racing!

Little Dudes

The future of motocross is waiting for their turn to shine!

50cc
The Campbell River track was prepared flawlessly as the youngest tykes on their 50cc machines took to the track. The deep sand at Campbell River usually causes the youngsters some trouble, but this season the class seemed more competent from top to bottom; the sand was no trouble. Continuing his perfect season from last year was Cameron Bradley who won both motos in the 7-8 year old class. Right behind him were a slew of riders very similar in speed. Ryder Roth finished second overall, but Cole Wasmuth, Hudson Scheres, and Kyron Ketch are not far behind. Adam Polichek won the younger 4-6 year old class.

Last year the 65cc class had dwindled down to four or five riders. I was thrilled to see ten bikes line up for the Pee Wee class this weekend. Colby Egeland was pretty much in a class of his own as he rode away from the field, leaving Andrew Bradbrooke and Justin Daniels to battle for the runner-up position. Bradbrooke came out the victor, but Daniels was never far behind in third. Cole Farup and Kolton Pieters rounded out the top five.

85cc/Supermini

It was awesome to see a healthy gate in the 85cc classes. This is the future of our sport!

If ten riders in the 65cc class thrilled me, I was absolutely titillated to see eighteen 85cc bikes hit the line for practice!  Joe Nikirk has dominated the 85cc division on the island for several years now, and this season appears to be no different. He won everything, but not without a battle from Harrison Bradley. Bradley got ahead of Nikirk in one race and held him off until the second to last lap when he overshot a berm and Nikirk shot by. Bradley is close, but Nikirk still has an edge. Not far behind these two is Nolan Egeland who picked up a string of third place finishes. Wyatt Scheres and Austin Archer have been racing head to head for what seems like a life-time now. Every weekend they are wheel to wheel, and after all these seasons I still couldn’t say who’s faster. This weekend was no exception. Archer got the upper hand in the 85cc 12-16 class, finishing 4th, but Scheres battled back and beat him in the Supermini class! Just behind the fast five there were a lot of new and less familiar faces. Collum Wasmuth is back, and new comers Jeffrey Furrell, Mitchell Nelson, and Tyler Wilson showed themselves well. Welcome to the family boys! In the younger 85cc class it was all Wyatt Youland. Youland won both motos and seems far more stable and consistent than he has been in the past. Rounding out the podium were Brandon Johnson and Tanner Meyland who swapped 2nd and 3rd place finishes in their two motos.

Ladies
Camille Baker is a National caliber women’s motocross racer and she had no trouble winning the Ladies race this weekend. Brittany Stokes and Lindsey Mclean swapped podium positions with Stokes taking 2nd overall due to her better finish in the second moto. Chelsea Masters seems to have gained a lot of speed over the winter. She dueled with Tracey Marshall for most of the second moto and held her off to complete the day in 4th both motos.

The Ageless Classes
There were also quite a few new names in the Vet and +40 classes. I guess it’s true, 40 is the new 20! Ryan Townsend won both Vet Master races rather handily but Corby McCartney, Arlen Roth, and Jason James had some serious battles for the remaining podium positions. In the end McCartney won the reserve position and Roth edged out James for the final podium spot. It should be noted that McCartney was fast enough to finish 2nd in Intermediate MX1, even winning a moto in doing so! Matt Kerrigan won Vet Jr. again. Matt has been the picture of consistency over the past few years; he doesn’t appear blazing fast, doesn’t do a lot of the jumps, but manages to win very consistently. Mike Whyte ended up second overall after Aaron Smeeth, who came second in the first moto, had a nasty accident in the second moto. He was apparently punctured by his lever. I know this sounds almost impossible, but I got the word from an eleven year old so it must be true. Whatever the case, he left in an ambulance so we hope he’s okay. On the topic of ‘scary moments’ there were a few other nasty ones in the Vet classes. Dean Tipper finished a solid 4th in the first moto, but endoed off the finish line drop off and tumbled really hard down the hill, then Aaron Symonds had the front end fall off his bike! It was another scary moment, but Aaron walked away safely. After all the devastation David Maloney was third overall in Vet Jr., Dan Nikirk fourth, and Stuart Abernathy fifth. Dwayne Richmond looked very fast winning both +40 motos, leaving Jason Cissell and Jason James to finish second and third respectively.

Junior
I’ve always thought the Junior class name is a bit of a misnomer. Juniors are the young up and comers, and often among the fastest riders on the track. I’ve known Juniors who could run top five in the Intermediate class, in fact I don’t think it’s uncommon. Anyone who reads this report regularly knows that I love the Jr. class. As I’m fond of saying, they’re fast enough to be very entertaining, but just inexperienced enough to be very entertaining!  After the first day of racing one names pops out. Alex Haley was fast, and smooth. He won three of his four motos, and come from dead last to 5th in the other. Other contenders for the season will be Stephen Weme who finished 2nd in Jr. GP and took advantage of Haley’s bad start to win Jr. MX-2.  I expected these riders to be at the front, but several riders really surprised and impressed me this weekend. Justin Barzilay, Isaiah Haylett, Nathan Donohue-Bragg, and Tanner Cardinal all found themselves on the podium at least once during the day, with Donohue-Bragg winning the second MX-2 moto.  I suspected Haylett might be near the front after I saw him ride at Nanaimo’s Open House, but he was riding even better than I anticipated. Haylett’s for real this year kids! I also knew it was only a matter of time before Donohue-Bragg made a dent on the Jr. class, but I can’t say I expected to see him win a moto on the first weekend of the season. He was a beginner this time last year remember! I think he was a little excited too. On the last lap as he was about to win his first Jr. moto I gave him the thumbs up on his way by me. I think he forgot he was still racing; right in the middle of one of the gnarliest, whooped out sections of the track, he took his hand off the bars to give me a thumbs up back! His bars started to swap out immediately as if to remind him what he was supposed to be doing. He grabbed them mid swap, a micro-second before it was too late! My heart almost stopped.  Juniors are so entertaining! Tanner Cardinal has just moved up from the small wheel class and has had very little seat time on his YZ125. I knew he’d be up there, but again, a podium finish is a bit more than I expected out of him. Eli Titus was a favourite at the start of the day, and led part of the first moto before he crashed and tweaked his knee. He’ll be in the running as the series goes on. It’s going to be another fantastic year in the Junior class! Woo-hoo!

Youth/Intermediate
Then there is the truly fast – the Youth and Intermediate classes. Once you’ve won your fair share of Junior races you are moved here, where the talent pools! I was through the roof to see nearly twenty riders contesting this class. This is where boys become men and spectators are treated to some fantastic racing. Winning the Youth class gives you the right to say you’re the fastest rider at the track. That honour this weekend goes to SG Power rider Ryan Lalonde. Lalonde was a revelation last season, and has only gotten better over the winter. He won all four of his motos with relative ease; he never looked strained. He’s now doing what the very best riders do; he’s making it look easy! The other revelation for me was Corey Cardinal. Cardinal has been at the forefront of island motocross for many years and won this class last spring. Unfortunately he has only ridden half a dozen times since. This kind of break from riding would have serious consequences for most other riders, almost certainly dropping them several positions down the pecking order. Cardinal, however, picked up almost right where he left off and beat everyone except Lalonde in taking four runner-up finishes. They say you can’t beat hard work, what they don’t tell you is that it’s hard to beat natural talent no matter how much work you do! There were a lot of very fast, talented riders out trying though! Daniel Vanderbasch and Blaine Morrow seemed especially close to the mark. Vanderbasch finished third in Intermediate and Morrow was third in Youth. Both riders were able to keep Cardinal in sight, something neither of them could have done last year. In fact many riders have upped their game. Damon Riesach has always had a lot of pure speed, but he had a hard time maintaining it for a whole moto. At the first race of the year Riesach showed that he’s prepared to last, he rode hard from beginning to end in all his motos. Bryce Adams was one of the fastest riders on the track…and off the side of the track! His results don’t show how fast he was going when he was going, they show instead that he wasn’t going at the end of most of his motos! I hate to put an entertainment value on a rider’s misfortune, but every time Adams came by I saw some wildly entertaining riding…often at his expense. He was the only rider I saw jumping on to the table in the rythym section before the tunnel, and he damn near bounced off the track every time! I know he got a new 450 and, as talented as he is, he didn’t appear in total control of the power this weekend. I say this out of respect and fondness…I don’t want to see anyone get hurt. Of the juniors who moved up to Intermediate this year Jason Abernethy and Jesse Ryan seemed the most prepared for the intensity of the faster class. Abernethy managed to finish 5th in Intermediate MX2, and Ryan had two 6th place moto finishes…in different classes. I was surprised to see how fast Bryce Currie was. Currie didn’t ride the fall series last year, and he was not dominant in the spring Junior series, so I was really impressed with how well he rode. I’m so excited to see this kind of talent out racing on Vancouver Island. This is where champions are bred! Woo-hoo!

That about sums up this weekend’s opening round of racing action. I’m already excited to get to the next round in Nanaimo on April 29th. I’ll be posting all the rider’s photos individually later this week. I won’t be able to do this after this round, it’s just too daunting a task, so if you want access to your photos make sure you visit me in Nanaimo or purchase your photo package online here.
I also want to thank the companies who have stepped up to advertise on this Race Report and help keep it going. I’m so grateful to: SG Power, VI Honda, Arrow Cycle, RidersWest Magazine, VIMX, STS Racing, Speed Merchant, R.E.Cycle, and Ride Industries. While you’re waiting for you photos to be posted please take a moment to go to these businesses’ websites (links in the sidebar at the top of this article), visit their Facebook pages, and thank them for their support. Without them this wouldn’t be possible!

See you in a couple of weeks!

The overwhelming success of the Nanaimo Motocross Association’s Open House at The Wastelands left me overwhelmed with feelings and thoughts. Perhaps the most dominate emotion though, was ‘gratitude’. I’m so grateful to all the people who worked so incredibly hard to make it all happen, and I’m also a little bit grateful to some higher power who seemed to be working with us! It takes a lot of people with a common vision, doing a lot of work to make an event like this, or the track as a whole, function the way it can. The success of this weekend showed how it can be done! Many people seemed to come together with a common vision of what The Wastelands and Nanaimo Motocross Association could be; President Mark Swanwick for example, made the creation of a new improved Mini-Track his number one priority. A serendipitous intersection of desires had Ryan Bradley stepping in with a plan, the means, and a similar vision. He spear-headed the plan, worked straight through an entire weekend, and with the help of Jim Waterhouse, Steve from Tallboy’s Contracting, and his sons, he got the job done! Then Blaine Johnson took on the task of providing safe fencing around the back of the track. Great work guys! The kids absolutely love the new track, and a lot of the dads are eyeing it up with a gleam in their eye as well!
At eleven sharp, or so, Mark Swanwick (the big kid in the denim jacket) officially introduced the kids to the new Mini-Track. You can see Craig Weme, who helped us with track drainage of to the extreme right, and Ryan Bradley with his arms crossed over-seeing the proceedings.

Ryan Bradley was the man of the hour the past two weekends. Last weekend he built the mini-track, and this weekend it was unveiled to the world!

Jim Waterhouse jumped in to help with the building of the mini-track.

Last year’s 50cc Champion Ryder Roth was given the honours of being to the first rider to officially take a hot lap around the mini-track.

The Mini-Track was fun to ride no matter how much experience you had, or how fast you went! Harrison Bradley (777) gingerly creeps by Kaden Waterhouse (7)!

The main track was in phenomenal shape! All day I kept telling anyone who would listen, “You could have a National on that track today!” And you really could have! We were blessed, again with the gratitude, with the help of many and a little luck from some higher power. Due to an incredibly light winter the track was already in better shape than I can ever remember seeing it this time of year. About 80% of the track was spot on right off the bat. For the other 20% Craig Weme of Craig’s Bobcat, and Mike Schott stepped in and made the track the work of art it was by Sunday. Craig did a lot of work last weekend fixing some drainage issues we have with the track. If we can fix the drainage issues we can theoretically keep the track in great condition all year long! Craig is well on the way to making this dream a reality! Then Mike Schott came in with his bulldozer on Saturday and worked all day fixing up the water holes, and sunken corners. When I say he worked all day, I mean he worked from sun up to sun down, and I never saw him stop moving or take a break all day! I just can’t say enough about the track these guys provided for us.

Craig Weme is making huge improvements to the track by fixing up some of the drainage issues.

We had tons of small wheel bikes out riding both the mini-track and the main track. One of the best things about the condition of the track is that it allowed the kids on small wheel bikes to have a great time on the track. After they had booted around on the mini-track for an hour or so, the faster mini riders made their way over to the main track. Joe Nikirk and Harrison Bradley looked great, but that’s no surprise. Wyatt Youland might have surprised some with the speed and smoothed out riding style he displayed, but I know he’s been riding in Arizona and his back yard quite a bit so I wasn’t surprised. He was fast enough to ride around with Joe Nikirk, who I think had big wheels on his mini, but it was clear that Joey was playing a little bit. Here are some shots of a few of the small wheel riders.

After we all watched the kids ripping around the new mini-track for a while I wandered back to the big track to see who was riding, and how they looked. I had to ask someone who the #96 guy on the Yamaha was the first time he blew by me…he was hauling! Before anyone answered me though, I recalled seeing Darcy Lalonde at the track, and I had heard Ryan had switched to Yamaha. It was easy to see that it was him once I made the connection. Ryan was super fast at the end of last season and rumour has it he has been practicing hard and riding a lot all winter. The guy on the #96 Yamaha rode like I would expect an even more improved Ryan Lalonde would ride. He’s faster than ever, but he has achieved that benchmark only the very best riders achieve; Ryan Lalonde is making it look easy! He has fun when he rides.

It looks like it’s going to be another exciting year in Junior. Many of the fastest Juniors from last year have moved up to Intermediate of course, riders like: Jason Abernethy, Chase Krompocker, Dylan Hansen, Jesse Ryan, Brandon Williams, Bryce Currie, and Andrew Madeo. Congratulations guys, I can’t wait to see you all tearing it up against each other and the talent that has accumulated in our Intermediate class! With these riders moved up many Juniors will battle to try and fill the vacuum. There were three riders, Alex Haley, Zack Mix, and Kyle Klaric, who barely missed pointing into Intermediate last year; they will all be front runners this year. There are others who will be right there as well though. Specifically Steve Weme and Eli Titus come to mind, but also last year’s beginner sensation Nathan Donohue-Bragg, who I can see is still improving exponentially, and also Isaiah Haylett who has a new 4-stroke and looks very solid in practice. Here’s some shots of some of the faster Juniors in attendance.

Then there was the really fast guys…I dream of having 12 or more Intermediates at every race. A solid Intermediate class can provide some of the best racing around; a dozen or more Intermediates can make for better racing than 28 Juniors sometimes. They are faster, and the racing can be closer and more intense. Intermediates don’t give up a position easily, and they have a lot of ‘pro-like’ moves and ability. This is going to be a fantastic class this year! Aside from the half dozen super fast Juniors I already mentioned who will be making the jump, there is also Damon Riesach, Connor Barnes, Daniel Vanderbasch, Shawn Miller, Trevor Devlin, William Blackburn, Kyle Morlock, and Timmy Aiken, just to name a few…it’s very easy to imagine having 12 fast Intermediates at every race! I haven’t even mentioned fast guys like Corey Cardinal and Bryce Adams who may or may not show up to race. In fact, you may notice I left one very notable Intermediate name off this list. I expect the racers I have named will all be very competitive against each other; I expect Ryan Lalonde (the missing name!) will spend most of his time ahead of these riders racing with the Pros. I mean no criticism of the other Intermediate riders, but my gut concurs with reason, Ryan Lalonde is more ‘Pro’ than ‘Intermediate’ at this stage. He will be competing against Nick Syrotuck, Coleton Mclean, and any other Pros that make it out to a race. In fact, Ryan has earned his Pro points, but has elected (and been allowed) to remain an Intermediate due to his age, short racing experience, and in order to allow him the opportunity to compete in Raymond and Walton if he so desires.

And then the hail came down! One minute it was sunny with a few thin clouds, then it blackened over and let loose a torrent of hail! It did put a damper on riding for some of the older, wiser riders, but many of the kids rode right through it! It was actually kind of nice, aside from the riding thing! It was almost magical, like a sign from above. Of course, a clear blue sky with a double rainbow would have been a nicer sign, but as signs go this one was pretty cool!

Jeff Stites smiles at the weather! It was kind of wonderful in a way!

While it was still sunny I stopped by and got a cheese-burger and a coke from NMA Promotions Manager Marla Daniels, who cooked all day for everybody. I listened to the sweet tunes coming from the new P.A. system that got all hooked up thanks to NMA Vice President Matt Muenzler, and admired the grounds and how well NMA Site Manager Joel Bradbrooke had presented them. I took note of how organized everything had gone as I watched my sweetheart and NMA Secretary D.J. hustling around piles of paper in the tower. I wandered over and watched NMA President Mark Swanwick  put on a tire changing clinic; Mark has presented NMA with a vision and a lot of ambition, and he has backed it up with hard work and diligence. He has a great team working with him on the NMA executive. Once again I was struck with gratitude. As well as all the members who have been stepping up, I have to say I’m grateful for the great bunch of people we have currently running Nanaimo Motocross Association. It’s really been a pleasure working with them, and I see great things being done!

One minute it was sunny and Marla was cooking burgers and dogs, and the next we were all running for cover!

Matt Muenzler got us wired for sound! You can just see Donna Meyland/Montieth/Muir in behind. Donna did a trememdous amount of work pulling the Open House together along with the rest of the NMA Board.