So, B's been into bikes since he was a wee lad, and I've been into them since pretty much the day we met, combined we've got quite the collection of back issues from various publications. We have magazines from Europe, we have them from the US and from Canada. We've got stacks of them. There are at least two boxes in our basement filled with his back issues, and a few stacks in our linen closet as well.
Every now and then I'm inspired to pull out an old issue of whatever and leaf through it, relearning riding tips from the Pros, looking how the look of bikes has changed from the 1990s to now, and most of all, I find it kind of cool to go back and look at how events were reported on. Events I was at and ones I wasn't.
Recently I uncovered an issue of IMX from 2008; it had coverage for the Parry Sound GP and the Corduroy Enduro. My first article! I had written a few short news bites for the magazine, some updates on the CMA hare scrambles (back in the day where Aussie Import Jake Stapleton was battling it out with Yamaha/Machine Racing teammate Brian Wojnarowski and Machine's top Honda rider Tyler Linton got third), but up until then I hadn't any thing big.
I remember that race as if it were yesterday; it was the ONLY time I've ever gone to the Cord, though I'm going this year and kind of excited. It was a pretty good race, and the tire change competition was entertaining to say the least. It was an especially wet year, from what I remember, and the water levels coming out of the Tunnel of Love were high enough that if you dropped into the wrong spot, you were sunk.
It was such a big deal to me. I felt... Like I had started something.
Growing up I had always enjoyed writing, and in 2008 I had a chance to mix my love of racing and my joy of writing and try to make some money on it. I had no idea that four years down the road I'd be managing the magazine's website! It seems like a life time ago.
Other firsts I found: First article submitted by now editor Jeff Morgan, first issue of Inside Motocross magazine (in the big tabloid format! so cool!), my first bent frame (Thanks, Bobby!), my first cover (Jason Schrage at Xtinction in 2010) and the first issue with my name in it (copy editor).
It's been a long road, and I'm glad for the opportunities I've been granted, but enough nostalgia!
We've got a busy week ahead and Walton is creeping ever closer, so is the MotoMotion race at Chickopee Ski Resort in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. For those of you who aren't away, the MotoMotion race is part of the Offroad Ontario series but is looking to be a standout event, much like the Corduroy. It's partnered with the Rick Hansen Foundation, a charitable foundation that works to help fund research into spinal cord injuries, something I'm sure we all can get behind.
