Ed note: Guy Giroux is a leading Enduro rider in Canada and a consistent winner, overall and especially in the… veteran class, aboard his Husqvarna bikes. We have asked him to talk about his life as a Pro rider and his adventures in Endurocross at the 2010 Montreal Supermotocross event.

September has been a crazy month: 2 Canadian Enduro Championship events, 1 Quebec championship (FMSQ) race, plus the Montreal SX and the Husqvarna dealer-meeting in my money-earning job (As opposed to his money-spending viral infection – Ed.)

Let's recap the week, Monday was spent washing and fixing the FMSQ race bikes from the last race. Tuesday I went to Montreal to pick up the four new 2011 Husky’s at the airport; what was supposed to be a 2 hrs job actually took 8 hrs, because customs paper were wrong, since the bikes had been flown in straight from Italy... Anyway I got the bikes and it took us most of the night to put those four bikes together. On Wednesday I tried to load the trailer with all the stuff for the race, the dealer meeting, and for the two visiting factory riders, Bartosz Oblocki and Ryan Graffunder!

On Thursday I woke up at 4am to drive to Montreal for a TV morning show, then went to the hotel to pick Bartosz and Ryan and drive them to X-Town, 50 cliks north of Montreal. Once there the rain just never stopped; it was pouring all day as we set up the tents and let the dealers come and try the 2011 bikes on the indoor track, Bart’s mechanic spent all day bringing the 300 up to the latest factory specs (man those real factory dudes are picky on their set up...) By 5pm, Karine, Bart and I were finally on the track having fun. I was actually riding super good, only 1-2 seconds off Bart's time!

Photo: Philippe Champoux/Moto123.com

Then we took everything down and loaded the trailer to drive to the Montreal Olympic Stadium. We got there at around 11pm, grabbed some junk food just before the parking gate, and got into a debate with a parking dude there who had the brilliant idea to park us on the hill behind the stadium, in wet slippery grass. When the rig started slipping down, I shut everything off and went to sleep in my off-camber bed....

When I woke up on Friday, a new guy was working the parking operations and he led me to a nice parking spot, which I took with no regrets... Then it was meetings till 1pm. At 3, I was on the track riding practice, while everyone else was already going for fast lap as I just rode around trying to find alternate line everywhere. I had a real shitty time of 1:08, but I knew all the lines...

Saturday was race day, and I still had some morning meetings but came back earlier, to finalize my preparation for the race later that evening. My plan for practice was clear: ride first lap slowly then attack for a fast lap. I got a 1:01, took a little break and got a 59:6, always riding really smoothly. In the second practice I got 1:00 flat, and my times were consistent and I wasn't making any mistakes, so I was feeling really confident.

In the Qualifier, I lined up right beside American rider Mike Brown as I knew he would get the holeshot and would probably push people out of the way and make a hole for me too. And that is exactly what happened! I was there in second place with nobody in front of me going to the big tires, but they had changed the track by removing dirt in front of the tires, so when I attacked like in practice the effect wasn't the same. My big chance of grabbing the lead of the race transformed itself into a front flip when my back tire kicked. I was quick enough to eject in time and then land pretty smoothly. My Rekluse centrifugal clutch saved my butt and I was quickly back in fourth! I rode super smooth till the end and could even see Bartosz in front of me. At the finish, I knew I could do the same in the main!

In the main event, I lined up left of Brown again, but this time my brain was in neutral and my reaction was awful at the start. I was now stuck in the pack but didn't panic as I knew that I could make a good comeback ride. I rode the first lap in 9th and began my comeback. I was riding super smooth - maybe too smooth – and did get back to 5th and could seeJulian Cerny (Alberta) in front of me! That is when I screwed the pooch, as I made one small mistake on the rock uphill and Phil Chainé (Quebec Enduro champion for 2010) passed me. I was setting up to get back by him in the tire section but he lost it in front of me. I then lost momentum and got stuck, then on the last lap same thing with another lapper - so I got a 10th, which completely sucks! I am still pissed about it, and will probably be for a while.

On the track side, I still don't understand why the track was changer between the last practice and the Qualifier race. And why let slow Junior riders in the Endurocross race, an international Pro event?

I tried to calm down after the final but there was still lot of stuff to do. We were finally able to leave at around 1:30 and then proceeded to have a blast! And my GF is hot when so goes out... and when they finally kicked us out of the bar, the poutine was greasy and good...

We got back to the truck, and like last year I sat down and looked at that stupid concrete stadium.... that once again had bitten me! I guess that's racing, thinking back at it maybe I should have ridden differently, taken a different line! But it's too late, will I have another shot at it... I guess time will tell.

Now we go to the last FMSQ event for 2010, then it's free riding till the snow.

Over and out

G-rocks