The face of off road riding in Canada changed drastically in 2009 when World Enduro Canada organized the first ever cross country enduro series. The Canadian Enduro Championship series crowned Bobby Prochnau as its champion, earning him the title of fastest off road rider in Canada. Big changes on the national scene have left off-road riders in Ontario wondering if it isn’t time for a change at home.
For years the CMA has been the only game in town; there are numerous smaller competition clubs, but they lack the size and strength to offer a significant alternative to the CMA’s hare scramble and enduro schedule. Many riders and organizers have become disenchanted by the repeated lack of interest and action taken by the CMA. With rider attendance reaching an all time low, and no support coming from the sanctioning body, the national hare scramble and enduro series were left to wither on the vine.
Enter two new options for off road racing in Ontario.
The WEC has stepped up, willing to breathe new life into a series in their home province. Hoping to build on the momentum from their national series, teamed up with the CMRC, the WEC is offering what amounts to a revival of the old CMRC cross country series. Offering a third, non-profit option, is COORC, the Coalition Of Off-Road Riding Clubs. Proposed by several members of the competition clubs who have been basically running the current hare scramble series anyways, COORC plans to offer an alternative to the disinterested CMA while retaining the rule and event structure. The clubs hope that by moving out from under a sanctioning body that they can have more control, and bring back riders who have become lost interest due to politics and lack of support from a third party.
At the 2009 annual meeting, following a season that saw record low participation in the enduro and hare scramble series, the CMA met with representatives from the eight major competition clubs in Ontario to discuss the future of the hare scramble series and discuss changes to be made for the 2010 season. As in years past, decisions were arrived at, but it seems to be that while there was plenty of talk, and a whole lot of table thumping, very little will change for 2010. There will be no new format to stave off the slow death of the enduro series; no wide scale injection of change to a wilting hare scramble series. In most cases the consensus was that most issues will be dealt with on a case by case term, with the individual clubs responsible for administering rules as they see fit.
There were a few real resolutions, however, with the sound check rule being one of them. While the actual decibel limit wasn’t listed in the minutes, it was decided that a number, also not listed, of riders would be selected at random and sound checked at each event. The randomly selected riders would be chosen by the club organizers at sign in, and would be tested prior to lining up, but after sign in (ensuring the non-refundable entry fee was paid). Under pressure from landowners and town councils, the CMA and event organizers tried to institute a sound check policy in 2009, but problems arose when bikes were tested improperly, causing inaccurate readings. One case that shows the absurdity of improper sound checking: a stock 2009 CRF 250 tested quieter than a 2006 CR 250 equipped with a quiet pipe and silencer combination. Having one operator, who would travel to every event and be trained on the equipment, would cut down on inaccurate readings, and improve on impartiality, but this was not a suggestion made in the minutes. Another push towards modernization is the possibility of introducing electronic scoring for the upcoming season. The system that was supposed to be introduced in 2009 proved too expensive, with unreliable technical support. The proposed system for next season would be similar to that used by OCMC at their club races.
The resolution to retain the traditional enduro format, rather than change to a World Enduro Championship style, will surely signal the death of the CMA series. With a record low of 65 riders turning out for the Terra Nova Enduro in October, hopes were that the powers that be would finally realize that expensive equipment, complicated time keeping and route sheets are not the way to attract new blood to the sport. While they agreed that to bring new life into the sport the newer formats will need to be considered, it does not look like 2010 will see a special test style enduro under CMA sanctioning.
One practice they will be looking into reviving is the Children’s Loop (for riders age 6 to 9) at hare scramble events. For many families, this might be a deciding factor as to which series they will run. The resolution was that the Children’s races will be held at the discretion of the event organizers, and no CMA license will be needed for the participants, though they will need a signed parental consent form. The tiny Taddys will be kept in sight of parent-marshals for the entire length of the race. It will not be a progressive or championship class, but it will allow the youngsters to experience healthy competition, much like Tim Bits hockey.
World Enduro Canada, however, has adopted the three test model and had excellent success with it in 2009. The Canadian Enduro Championship was a huge success, much accredited to the hard work and dedication of countless volunteers in Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario, but also the hands on involvement of the four main organizers, Lawrence Hacking, Sean Wisner, Trevor Wideman and Stephen Able. These four men and a small, but loyal group of WECers (including Jen and Stephen van Klink and Victoria Able) were at all four rounds, answering questions, entering timing information, MCing events, handing out awards and, in the case of Wideman, making every rider feel like David Knight going over the final obstacle at Vegas. The WEC crew wishes to build on this momentum in 2010 and revive the Cross Country series, once sanctioned by the CMRC. (Note: The new CC series will not be a three test model, but the traditional cross country series.
To do this they have teamed up with Canada’s premier motocross body; with industry support, the success of the ’09 series and the backing of Canada’s largest, most prestigious, motocross series, the WEC has effectively made themselves THE sanctioning body for off road racing within Canada, and they’re moving to have the same distinction within Ontario.
The series, between eight and ten rounds (hopefully) will take riders to some well known motocross venues in the province, and will be open to anyone with a WEC license (which can be purchased online for $70 and printed out immediately for convenience) or a CMRC Motocross license. Riders can also choose to upgrade from their off-road license to a motocross one at any time during the season for the difference in price. The hopes for this is that it attracts riders who would normally not race off road to come try a cross country at their favorite MX track, and for riders who would normally never participate in a CMRC provincial or national qualifier to come out and give moto a try.
The WEC will be relying heavily on the internet for the fast dissemination of information to its riders, which poses one problem: what about the riders who aren’t online? Or who are on dial up? High speed internet is a luxury that most of us take for granted, but it isn’t something everyone has. I’m sure there are those among the Vet class, and even among the Novice A and Intermediate classes, who are not very tech savvy. Also, many riders come from very small communities where high speed simply is not available. I imagine, however, that hard copies would be available to these individuals upon request.
Many of the clubs feel threatened by the amalgamation of the CMRC and WEC; it’s a lot of power concentrated within two very centralized bodies. The WEC presented a program to each club following the Parry Sound rounds of the CEC, trying to ensure the clubs that they would remain involved, and that their knowledge was valuable and desired; after all, they have been basically doing things on their own for how long? They know how to run a race. What the WEC does ask, however, is for clubs to pay a sanctioning fee, just like the CMA, and for the organizers to follow the rules, which will be adopted from the CMRC Cross Country rule book.
It seems that the WEC is going to put on their series, with or without the active participation of the clubs. The “Join or be Pushed out” feeling many clubs are getting from the WEC makes them uncomfortable. While the official line, and the truth is, that the WEC needs the clubs to make race days run smooth and to provide top quality experiences for the riders, the fact that they are willing to go on without individual club support, has left some clubs feeling backed into a corner. For the most part, it is the competition clubs who feel put under stress, as many of the recreational clubs, unaligned with the CMA or WEC aren’t going to be overly affected. The smaller recreational clubs may even benefit from the WEC’s hands-on approach, as they might offer more support for a first time host than the CMA has in the past.
Several competition clubs, who for so long have been left alone to run their races and, what is effectively their series, without the overt, hands-on involvement of the sanctioning body, title sponsors or industry sponsorships, feel threatened by the Wisner fronted cross country series. Not only are there four new hands in the pot, the WEC brings with it industry sponsors that might conflict with long term event sponsors.
As a third option, four of the eight competition clubs who host the events that make up the CMA Hare Scramble and Enduo series have gotten together and created a “by the people, for the people,” approach to the series. They have invited all of their fellow clubs, competition or recreation, to join in, and vow to offer assistance to any recreational club who wishes to host its first hare scramble. The Coalition of Ontario Off-Road Clubs, or COORC (pronounced “cork”), represents just half of the clubs, but with the Oshawa Competition Motorcycle Club (OCMC) on board, it has the potential to build a rival series; but again, smaller clubs may still feel as though they are being absorbed, as OCMC is large and powerful club, headed by some very powerful personalities.
One of the biggest benefits of having a club run series is that it will be a provincial series; the clubs have no desire to run a national off road series. While very little change externally, the structure of how the champion is decided would change to reflect the amalgamation of the hare scramble and enduro series. Riders would still be deemed champion for the Enduros and Cross Country series (they would abandon the term “hare scramble” in favor of the more modern term), there would also be an overall champion. To be deemed the overall champion a rider would have to compete in endruos, cross countries and perhaps even an endurocross or two in the Pro class. The top rider across the three disciplines would earn the right to wear the #1 plate in the following year. As the schedule stands, they would adopt every round from the current CMA schedule, eight enduros, eight hare scrambles and possibly two endurocross style events. The eighteen event schedule will allow for six throw aways, so that riders could count the best twelve rounds.
The down side to the club centric idea is that there will be no over arching membership. Riders would need to purchase a club membership from a participating club, or purchase a day pass for every event. The day pass, and the entry fees, would be at the discretion of the host club, which will cause confusion and no doubt issues with the riders. To make things more complicated, clubs require a minimum of one work day. For riders who are busy with work, and family, participating in other things, this can be hard to accomplish, and riders who are working at an event cannot compete, which might force points competitors to step out. To avoid this, it was proposed that the rider who is working receive points equivalent to a win in his/her class (15 points) for the work done. It sounds fair, for a rider who rarely breaks into the top ten to receive the same points as a rider who regularly gets on the podium, simply as a matter of policy for working an event, seems a little ridiculous. Perhaps a more realistic way to distribute points would be to average the rider’s points from the previous rounds and base the “worker points” allotted on that, rather than an automatic win.
It was also commented that a rider could again receive “worker points” (and again, 15 points), if they worked on the event prior to the race taking place; “a rider who is representing Canada at the ISDE and will miss one of the events in the series may work the event ahead of time to get the worker points.” It sounds great, but the only rider from our Ontario series who has attended the ISDE for the last two years has been Brian “Wojo” Wojnarowski, and the comment was from an OCMC club member, the same club Wojo holds a membership to. I am hoping this isn’t a matter of favoritism, and that riders from other clubs, such as Lynn Valley’s Chris Van Hove could apply for the same worker points were he to miss a round to race the Montreal Endurocross, or every involved Pro, such as Tyler Linton, Kevin Cokayne, Jake Stapleton and Bryan Marshall among others, can achieve what amounts to a bonus 15 points by working the Moorefield round, which conflicts with a western CEC round.. It’s starting to sound a little ridiculous, isn’t it? To have upwards of five Pros, as well as the actual winner of the event, all receive 15 points; at this point it would make more sense to simply cancel the event. Again, I go back to the original idea: base the worker points on previous results, and not on a bonus good-Samaritan “win.”
The COORC will operate as a democracy, with each club receiving one vote. Some clubs feel that the votes should be distributed based on the number of events being hosted (ie OCMC receives three votes for three events, Lynn Valley receives two, while Steel City receives one vote for their cross country). This idea will favor clubs that are more experienced in organizing events, and discourage clubs that aren’t already organizing an event from doing so. The one club/one vote rule would make sure that everyone has an equal say.
They are also showing a decided commitment to keep the scheduling conflicts down to a minimum, knowing that riders are going to pick and choose from any number of events. It seems that COORC will work the hardest to keep conflicts within Ontario to a minimum, and has no events booked for the previously contentious ISDE weekend. There are conflicts with some of the events outside the province, such as Corner Grass (the same weekend as Burnt River), the Western CEC races (same weekend as Moorefield, again), the new extreme race Xtinction (most likely the same weekend as St. Thomas) and the final CEC rounds in Quebec (the same weekend as the Corduroy Enduro). If they can work around these events, they will prove themselves the true “by the people/for the people” organization.
Working out the issue of inconsistent entry fees and day pass prices, working around a few national conflicts and developing a cohesive collective would provide the alternative to the CMA and WEC that the COORC organizers wish to be. The issue of a COORC membership would solve many issues for riders, and should be considered as a way to draw racers who are not currently affiliated with a club, and have no desire to become affiliated.
Whether the provincial series is run by the WEC, CMA or COORC, it will be up to the riders as to which series gets their race budget dollars.
In the end, as much as the various groups and organizers might posture and preen themselves to be the next big thing in Ontario off road riding, it is the riders who will determine what series shall prevail. Our community is much too small to support three separate, and indeed conflicting, series. Riders will choose the series that they feel will provide them with the greatest benefits, whether it is a Pro running the WEC cross country to earn his entry fee back through the Pro Payout at the end of the day, or the father running the CMA hare scrambles so that he, his fourteen year old daughter and his nine year old son can all have a day of family racing, or the veteran organizers supporting each other running the COORC events.
The sanctioning bodies must work with the clubs, and for their strength, their ability to garner support and insurance, the clubs must work with some over arching body. The COORC series is unlikely to be successful on its own, as there are many flaws in their plan, not the least of which is a lack of a single COORC membership that a participant can buy into. The CMA has shown all but out right disinterest in supporting the struggling off road racing community in Ontario, and in Canada. Their support of the ISDE team aside, it seems that their only interest comes to getting their membership dues on time. The WEC has made large promises, and some are openly questioning the reality of some of their claims. While they’ve proven a commitment to off road riding, and supporting a national series, some question their motivations and the costs to the event organizers and clubs for the privilege of being a WEC host.
Ultimately only time will tell. Regardless of the outcome, I believe that the riders, the volunteers and the organizers all have the best intentions in mind, and that no one group or organization is “out to get” any other. Competition is the nature of the game, but one thing that I truly love about enduros, and the competitors, is that the bitter rivalries are left where they belong: Between the green and checkered flags.
Thank you.
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