Riders from the South Cariboo kicked up some dirt at a recent British Columbia Motocross Association (BCMA) event in Williams Lake, earning impressive finishes in a few categories ahead of the upcoming BCMA Championships in Kamloops.
Tyler Glover of 70 Mile House was the fastest in the Junior B category, crossing the line first on Aug. 11. Glover, 14, finished second of 16 riders the day before.
It's his first year competing in motocross and Glover says he didn't expect to find this much success this early.
“When we showed up
the first day for practice, everyone was pretty fast.”
“I thought if I can get out front, I can probably [win] it. I got a good gate ... and came out in front the hole shot.”
In the same race, Brandon Watrich, who recently moved to Kamloops from the South Cariboo, earned a 12th-place finish Aug. 10 and then a fourth-place finish Aug. 11.
Brad Perron of Lac la Hache raced eight times throughout the weekend. His top finish came in the Schoolboy category when he finished third of 11 riders on Aug. 11. Perron, 16, says he improved as the weekend progressed.
“I was pretty happy with the weekend. It was a good start back from the summer break.”
There were a lot of riders at the line for the Junior MX-2 race he rode in on Aug. 10, Perron explains.
“There were 20 people with 18 gates. So, there were two people off the edge of the gates.
“The first corner was pretty scary because you have people right in front of you, people off to the side and right behind you.”
Perron's front tire eventually hit another racer's back tire and he went down.
“I had to get up right away because there were people right behind me, and when I got up, there was another bike lying on my bike. You just get up and try to recover.”
Perron ended up 15th of 20 in that race.
Patrick Griffin of 100 Mile House was in the same race. He rode to a 13th-place on Aug. 10 and an 11th-place standing on Aug. 11.
Levi Townsend of 100 Mile House raced in the Beginner MX-2 category, finishing in fifth place on Aug. 10 and fourth place on Aug. 11.
The BCMA Championships go Aug. 31-Sept. 1 in Kamloops.
Glover says he plans to travel there a day early for extra practice before the weekend.
“It's going to be a lot of fun and there's going to be a ton of people there, so it's going to be a lot harder. It will definitely be a lot more of a challenge, but I'll hopefully do well and try and get out front early.”