Blog
NSORRA Volunteers Create Excitement at Moto Show
When the call for volunteers when out for Motorcycle & Powersport Atlantic, 25 different NSORRA members stepped up to help out. That’s what a grassroots nonprofit is all about!
New prime location
The 2024 NSORRA booth, located at the top of the ramp of the second room at Halifax Exhibition Centre, was hard to miss with our bright canopies and dirt bikes, including President Josh Kelly’s fully decaled race bike sporting a set of studded trail carbides for winter riding, Nigel Brooks’ 1977 Honda CT125, a NSORRA training bike and two Trials bikes.
From Friday, March 1 at 10 a.m. to Sunday, March 3 at 5 p.m., NSORRA volunteers answered questions about membership, hare scrambles, training, rec riding and tires, before inviting visitors to take on the static bike balance challenge.
Static Bike Balance Challenge
While chatting with booth visitors, NSORRA volunteers asked them to take on the static bike balancing challenge. Balancing a dirt bike with no engine running is a challenge in itself, so we made it a little bit easier by using Trials bikes that are made for balancing. A second assist of the front bike wheel inside an empty tire was offered to get riders started.
We had challengers from kids to grandparents giving it a try. Women seemed to have an advantage with a lower centre of gravity, but two NSORRA members stood head and shoulders above the other challengers. On Friday, Nigel Brooks balanced for 10 minutes and 18 seconds; a record we thought would hang on for the weekend, but Patrick Goguen, a Trials specialist, came in with a strong 12 minutes and 10 seconds to take the win!
All About Tires
Last year, we offered tire change demos but this year we upped our game by asking NSORRA SILVER Sponsor, Stuart Buck of Triple S Cycle Works, to loan us several different Gibson and Mitas tires and tubes. NSORRA volunteers explained the pros and cons of each to booth visitors, including tubeliss inflation system, regular tubes, and mousses (foam inner tube). We also had a number of enduro tires on display, from soft for sand and mud up to hard for packed and rocky soil as well as winter enduro tires and a medium/hard MX tire.
Maritime Trials Riders put on a show
The NSORRA Trials community were the featured performers for the event. Trials riding involves riding technical "sections" of trails without touching (dabbing) your foot to the ground. Every "dab" counts as a point and the fewest "dabs" win. Most events involve riding 6 to 10 "sections" in a loop and the loop is ridden 3 or 4 times.
Maritime Trials Riders put on a master balance show, riding over obstacles like barrels, a seesaw, a trailer and even hopping over small vertical obstacles. They have recently finalized their 2024 event schedule which will be added to the updated NSORRA schedule next week.
All NSORRA event participants must have a NSORRA membership but all events are free to spectators!
Thanks to NSORRA Volunteers
This event could not have happened without the volunteer efforts of many, including NSORRA Board members: Josh Kelly, Mike Ritter, Brian Priest, Meagan Cairns, Paige Milligan and David Tobin. Member volunteers included: Denis Pellichero, Nigel Brooks, Emerson Brooks, Steve Smith, Nagia Fawzi, Fred Eddy, Matthew Purdy, Shereef Elkoshairi, Stuart Buck, Rod Conrad, Justin MacNeil, Susan Foote, Grant Lingley, Brent Pottle, Andrea Kelly, Evelyn Kelly, Steven Hussey, Barret Ayres and Carter Ayres.
Volunteers Make Events Happen!
We are always looking for volunteers interested in making their community an even better place to ride – all while having fun and making new friends in the process! We welcome volunteers of all ages and encourage youth to get involved as a way to learn new skills or share the ones you already have.
Here is the Volunteer Job List (see bottom tabs) for this season. Please reach out to Claudine at ed@nsorra.ca to add your name to the volunteer list.
WE NEED YOU to make our season happen!
We will be offering training in:
- Timing & Scoring
- Chainsaw Operation
- Trail Building
We are looking for committee members for:
- Trails
- Recreational Riding
- Race
- Women In Moto
- Special Events
We are also looking for Board members for:
- Trails Director
- Rec Riding Director
Every volunteer makes a difference. The Nova Scotia dirt bike community is filled with talented riders with passionate ideas. If we come together, we can keep growing this sport and making this community better and better every year.
