Motorcycle racing comes with inherent risks. Whitehorse’s Mia Raymond was reminded of that over the weekend.
At the start of the mini bike race at the Mosquito Enduro-X event hosted by the Yukon Cross Country Motorcycle Association (YCCMA) south of Whitehorse on June 4, the 10-year-old ran into trouble.
Metres from the start line Raymond toppled over and found herself trapped under a competitor’s bike. Spectators and organizers stormed the track to pull the bike off her as others stopped the race.
But Raymond wasn’t done for the day. Just as the race was about to restart, she could be heard saying from the sideline: “I still want to race.” To the surprise of seemingly everyone, she got back on her bike and did the race.
“I didn’t want to stay out of the race because I still wanted to race,” said Raymond. “I hadn’t raced since last year so I was really looking forward to it. I didn’t want to wreck the first one, so I wanted to get back out again. It wasn’t my leg or anything, so I couldn’t not ride. I could still ride so I wanted to get up and do it again.”
Raymond, who had on all the mandatory safety gear, set a good example for other young racers, said Raymond’s mom Laura Whitty.
“She got back out right away and gave her — it’s all I could ask for,” she said. “You might fall down, but you get back up and finish the race.”
The endurocross — a series of short races in which riders are awarded points for placements — was held at the Schirmer Family Ranch off the South Klondike Highway.
It was the YCCMA’s first event of the season and had record of 59 riders register over seven divisions.
The YCCMA has three more days of racing planned for the year with a harescramble race on Aug. 20, followed by a weekend of racing with another endurocross Sept. 16 and a second harescramble Sept. 17.
Contact Tom Patrick at tomp@yukon-news.com
Results:
Peewee
1st Damen Tonner
2nd KJ Raymond
3rd Memphis Nolan
Mini
1st Damen Tonner
2nd Seth Adams
3rd Aven Muir
Junior under-15
1st Ken Stalder
2nd Coldby Hadley
3rd Ben Macpherson
Junior over-15
1st Terje Kristensen
2nd Austin Larkin
3rd Ryder Burlotte
Intermediate B
1st Ben Labelle
2nd Cole Beaman
3rd Gary Rusnak
Intermediate A
1st Richie Law
2nd Neil Ryckman
3rd Dewan Houde
Expert A
1st Tim Schirmer
2nd Sam Schirmer
3rd Nic MacDougal