This weekend was round 3 of the FMSQ series (Quebec off-road rider association), with a stop in Ferme-Neuve in the north part of the Laurentians. Every year this race is one of the most technical, with everything in there, MX track, fast rocky section, roots, up-hills, rocky downhill, etc. And finally the weather was looking good for a clean weekend!! So I was really looking forward to have fun and enjoy the dry stuff where my bike would shine even more...


Lets recap the week before, since there was no race it was an easy week, Monday was road cycling, Tuesday(rain) rowing machine, Wednesday road cycling, Thursday suspension testing, and Friday loading up and mountain biking. Saturday we drove there, and got the nicest parking spot ever, and since it was sunny and 30 °C we finally were able to get a nice set-up outside. Our little Red-Bull hospitality corner was a big hit with the hot weather!!! While Flexi gave wings to everyone, I went to walk the course, a 10km loop, in hot weather. The trail was perfect, I came back confident that I would crush everyone...

Sunday morning came, and not a cloud could be seen, it was already scorching hot by 9 am, Karine (AKA Flexi, my significant one) went for her first race aboard her new HUSKY. She got a nice holeshot, and by the end of the moto track already had a 10 sec lead, at the end of the first lap she had a minute lead, and kept pushing till a 5 min lead!!! She won with not a scratch on the bike, not even dirt on her gear... She was inside the top 10 overall for the morning race!!!

Right after the morning race it was my time, we have about 15 min between the 2 races, well it went from perfect weather, to...thunderstorm, hail and giant rain drops...once again!!! As I'm sitting on my bike getting drenched, I went from smiling to swearing... My team was running back and forth getting the umbrella, new gloves and my special goggles... I got an OK start, in about 6-7 places, then went to work on the MotoX track, got in the wood in 2nd, and passed Michel by mid lap and put 30 sec on everyone at the end of the first lap, second lap I must have taken my time as one dude caught up to me, the track was really bad, ruts were getting real deep and I was really taking my time not to bend anything (disc, sprocket, etc) By lap 3 I had a little lead. We stopped for refuelling at lap 5, it was a good stop, but there is still room for improvement... (that gas cap is hard to get and small) when I came back on lap 6 my pit board was saying 4 min lead! So I took it really easy for the last 2 laps to make sure I survived , as other bikes and riders were lying exhausted everywhere in the woods.

Once again the Beamer had a real test, hot, muddy and slow race. As for me it was a really good training race before the CEC (Canadian Enduro Championship) coming really quickly!!!

This weekend race had a great turnout, with more than 550 racers, and 1200 people across the gate, not counting approximately another 200 kids under 12....

This week I'm working on getting my rig ready for the Trek out West, setting up my Enduro bike, and spend as much time as possible on my bicycles...




Photo Credit : Guy Giroux