2009 Season Results...

Western Canadian Championship: Expert Open Supersport - 3rd
Expert 600 - 2nd
CMRA: Expert Middleweight - 2nd





























I had a great season! I thoroughly enjoyed the friendships I made through the amazing community of riders that I come across wherever I go. I am also thankful for the opportunity and ability to learn the tracks quickly and be competitive on them. I'm happy with my overall results. I enjoyed competing but the thing that stays with me is what I learned from the good, the bad and the ugly. There is no better way to get experience than through...experience? A huge thanks to my family for helping me out also. Thomas for being my mechanic along with Ryan O'Donnell. My Dad for his time, expertise and advice, and my sister, for expertise in managment, especially handling an extreme athlete.

Next year is going to be an interesting one. I'll keep you posted.

Thoughts...

This has been an interesting season so far. Only one more weekend left for me and the racing withdrawal begins...until may 2010. I like this picture very much because it really captures the whole season for me in one moment, a true illustration of the racing family. My best friend Ryan listening in as my brother passes on advice... both work very hard with me .

The summer has been full of ups and down, unexpected and good race results along with some hurdles to over come. Frustrations and worries that are all apart of the package. But looking at the team that is formed and the unity that we feel when one member does well...and it makes it all worth it, despite the downs.

What Im getting at, a huge thank you to Thomas and Ryan. And to Phil for his amazing skills with a camera. To see more of his stuff check out www.photophilcro.com

And then there is the 'Tire Man'. Cody has been a major help, believing in me and being very generous and helpful getting me on good tires. I can comfortably say that five 2nds and 2 3rd and a bunch of other good finishes can be credited to Cody getting me on Pirelli's. Cant wait to see them again at the last WCC rounds.

Some shots....

just a few shots of the new ride...

anoo ride

So, Generosity... I thought I knew what it was, then my brother Tom and best friend Ryan went out and redefined it for me.

They got sneaky and showed up with this new bike for me right before the National race at Racecity. I'll admit it was not easy to set up and learn a new bike the day of qualifying, but we did it. I was faster on this bike than I was on my older one, even though I felt slower... a good sign. It is one of the worst feelings when people help out so much, showing their confidence in what I can do, and I dont deliver a win...especially at a National race. Thats what pushes me even harder.

And that's what we did...resulting in a good weekend in Edmonton. Thanks to Kellie with 'One Track mind' and Rob for doing some repairs, we were able to get to Edmonton, pit with the hospitable 'HardNox' team and get some great results. Two 3rd place finishes on Saturday and a 2nd place on Sunday. Huge thanks to My family, Dad, Michele, Krista, Thomas and Ryan... Best sponsors ever.

http://www.one-trackmind.ca/

Two twos.

Another very eventful yet successful race weekend in Calgary has come and gone. Saturdays practice was a practice that meant having to ride through the delusion and after effects of food poisoning.

In my first session that morning I cruised into the first corner at 200km/h wondering..."why am I cruising into a corner at 200km/h when I can't even stand up properly...?". I cant think of a better activity to do in that kind of 'relaxed' state then go racing...

Sunday rolled around and my practice times we not as fast as I had hoped . . . the butterflies set in . . . and I new what I had to do. Go faster! In the first race I made 4 passes in the first 3 corners so I could sit in 2nd place by turn 4 . . . on the first lap. That was fun. After a red flag and restart we fought it out for 4 more laps and I was able to grab 2nd again.

During the second race of the day, Middleweight Superbike, I had to work a little harder. Sitting in third for the first lap I had to push hard and was able to grab 2nd again. The heat was very tiring, and by mid race I found another bike right beside me on the straight away. A little game of chicken into turn 1 and 2nd was still mine all the way to the finish.

The most encouraging moment was during the dyno run after the races. My bike puts out 100hp. The 1st and 3rd place bikes were putting out 111hp and 116hp! Considering that Racecity has the longest straight in Canada . . . I'm glad to be running lap times only 0.16 seconds slower then the leader. What a sweet day!

The start of a season always looks good.

I have to say, in the beginning, what a beautiful looking bike. Almost not worth racing, you could just park it and stare at it...and never really ride it. Just appreciate it's... shininess. Perhaps in front of a coffee shop... But I could not, Suzuki made too fast a bike to let it sit.

Thanks to Terry and Kurt at Irwin Collision, who did an awesome job on the paint and matched the colour perfectly. Greg Bellavance also helped a lot with his mad welding skills. I've never seen such a good, fast job. And thank you to Mike and Morgen Quesnel for making the bike a tangible object and not just an idea.

So the 2009 season is off and rolling, sorry for any puns...not intended. It came a lot quicker then I expected, it always seems to do that! So far I have done 3 race rounds at Mission Raceway in BC and 1 race round at Racecity in Calgary.

I'm happy with the top 5 finishes in BC. What I'm most excited about are the two 2nd place finishes in Calgary. Middleweight Supersport & Middleweight Superbike were two fun classes, with a lot of fast riders. After a hard day of practice, my nerves finally settled when the flag dropped and I found myself up front in the first corner. What a fun day.