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NSORRA Round 1 - Craigmore Creek
CRAIGMORE! What a perfect way to start the season! We had a beautiful turnout and a ton of fun.
We started with a drive up Hwy 103 and moved onto Hwy 104, continuing all the way to the Cape Breton’s hills of green that seem to go on forever. Friday night is usually low key, the odd bike heading down the trail and all the crews setting up camp. A few hellos and off we went; a newly discovered gem awaited us (thanks, Mike!).
Let's go racing!
Saturday morning - waking up to the sound of 50cc 2-strokes getting ready to race. I couldn’t imagine it any other way. A quick breakfast and a good look at the bike (thanks Aaron!), then we set off to check out the start line for the “backward track” and caught the start of the kids’ races. It’s awesome to see so many youth out racing. You could tell they were stoked to get out of the extended off season created by COVID.
I’ve gotta touch on the atmosphere of the whole weekend: excitement, laughter, and incredible riding. If you’ve ridden a dirt bike, you should come out and try a race. The classes are very well built to encourage racers of all levels. Events all over the province offer a wide range of venues and seriously some of the best people around making it all happen. What more could you ask for? 110% you’ve gotta try it!
Late Morning Classes
The late morning races - Plus 25 (Sportsman), Junior, Women, and Vintage classes - included lots of good battles. This year, we raced the trails in the opposite direction from 2019 and backwards Craigmore was a blast. Even though it was dusty, it was somehow perfect.
The creek bridge was a favourite feature of mine last year, but getting to climb up and out instead was so much fun. Everyone ran a clean race and before I knew it, the checkered flag was out. Plus 25 is such a cool class. Sportsman includes a wide range of riders that tends to lead to some pretty awesome racing.
Afternoon event photographer!
I got the bike into the pit, grabbed my camera, and started my ascent to catch the action of the afternoon races. Let’s just say, it’s something else watching the afternoon classes. I wanted to head into my favourite section to catch the action. I’ll let the photos do the talking for this one.
The photos certainly don’t do Craigmore justice: tight trails, big drops, and massive hills to climb. Overall, a very technical track that will no doubt teach you a lot!
With the races done for the day we all headed back to the pits, cooked up some supper and thought the beach sounded pretty good. Now we’re back to the vibe of race weekends; a good times had all around.
Thanks!
I’d like to end off with a HUGE shout out to NSORRA, all of the amazing volunteers, the many Sponsors and everyone who attended Craigmore 2020.
What a way to open the season! Will see you all at MMMXP!
Thanks to NSORRA member and hare scrambler, Sean Cardinell, for contributing this blog about his experiences at Honda Canada Hare Scramble 1 – Craigmore. This is the first of four scrambles in the 2020 NSORRA hare scramble series sponsored by Canadian Kawasaki Motors Inc.
Photo Credit: Kandra Morgan and Sean Cardinell
For more photos, click HERE
