I was a lucky kid and when I was 10-years-old, my parents bought me a little motocross bike and signed me up to start racing.
The rule was that if I was going to keep the bike, I was to treat it like a true sport opposed to a hobby. My parents didn’t want me ripping around the neighbourhood like a punk, and the next four or five years was spent with me and my Dad travelling around B.C. and Washington racing.
It was some of the best memories I’ve had and spending that much time with just me and my Dad was priceless.
When Regan was born, I thought about motocross, but being that I am so into mountain biking, and own a bike store, it makes far more sense to ride mountain bikes and aim in that direction when it comes to racing, so I stayed away from the moto side of things.
Recently, my brother-in-law bought a little motocross bike for Regan. Coolest Uncle ever right?
I was excited, but selfishly, I thought about the extra time and energy it would take to start him racing moto. Then I thought about the financial side of it. Swicked can sponsor his mountain bike racing, but motocross could crush some budgets around my house. My excitement dropped off substantially.
I was hoping he would ride it a few times and then go back to mountain biking, maybe this could be a fun thing to do at Uncle Daren’s house.
Then yesterday, Regan found my old motocross stuff and came out into the kitchen wearing a little Yamaha jersey with “Durand” printed across the shoulders. “Hey Dad, is this my jersey?”
So, now we’re heading down to Uncle Daren’s house to start riding moto this week. I don’t know where it will go, or how I truly feel about it yet, but seeing him in that little jersey, brought back a lot of great memories.
I’m still taking him to the bike park, building a bigger pump track next fall, and pushing mountain biking as much as I can, but if he loves moto, I guess I’m not retiring until I’m 80.
I’m James Durand and I’m Goin’ Ridin’…
