Montreal, Quebec, known for its French/English
culture, great food, and party after party during the summer, from comedy
to fireworks each weekend, annually hosts a festival for us called MotoMondial
(Motor World). Held off on an island on the St.Lawrence river, it's the
home of the Gilles-Villenuve racetrack, this year's round of Formula 1.
So while you're wandering from the demo rides, exhibits and toys, you're
actually walking a real Grand Prix circuit, red curbs and all.
This year it was also the host to the World
Motorcycle Stunt Riding Championship, sanctioned by the World Motorcycle
Stunt Riders Federation. All rider would compete on just two identically
prepared, Michelin-shod Honda CBR600F3s, have to do mandatory moves (wheelies,
stoppies, donuts, and riding on the handlebars, plus be a little creative
for 8 minutes in six judged Motos during the three days. Whew.
Anyone who rides a bike knows what control
is. Balance on the edge of chaos.
Gravity waiting on the other side. We've
all experienced moments of butt-clenching
tension as we've skidded through oil, rain
and the sudden surprise maneuver caused
by the errant soccer mom or cellphone-head.
We deal with it, chalk it up to experience.
Or we like it, learn to do it more. Roadrace
on tracks or banzai roads. Build up a bag of tricks.
Impress your friends. Whether we ride to
cruise, commute or carve twisty roads,
we all admire someone who hangs it out with
skill, style and grace.
Watching skill and talent come together.
Watching someone who does it for a living
is something else.
The Champion this year is Antonio Carlos
Farias, from Brazil but residing in Spain and is the master of the class,
with a style that makes every stunt look effortless and easy. His pivoting
stoppies were a breathtaking display of control and feel.
Each of this year's competitors is a winner
and/or record holder for stuntriding in their respective countries, as
well as holding various European records. This was the first chance to
put them against each other in a timed and judged competition here in North
America. Each rider is judged by a panel of four judges from the industry
based on presentation, content, basic skills and entertainment.
Stuntriders take a break between competitions.
Dragstrip/ET
New for this year and designed specifically
for the site was a 1/8th mile dragstrip along the Olympic Basin. Sign up,
line up and take your shot. All weekend long you could check your time
and dragrace against anyone with the same displacement or inclination.
It's a great way to try out your bike for fun, as many of the contestants
were people who rode in. At the top things get pretty serious pretty quickly
but the pits were full of friendly advice in many languages. From little
scooters and pitbikes up to record holding Yves Girard's Suzuki 1100 it
was a chance to get to see how things worked close up and personal.
Sign up, line up and let loose. This guys
await their big moment.
Dragracer Yves Girard puts the final touches
on his record-holding machine
Parking Lot
This is a city that rides and Motomondial's
parking lots were full and free. Besides the eye candy of a wild custom
or exotic, it's the carefully preserved pristine relic sweeping past you
to park. 99% of the customs or exotica were ridden in and parked without
regard to what was next to you, which is a refreshing mix, like the many
women who ride in.
Montreal boasts a lot of women riders. This
is Michele.
This wild Harley custom has a R1 front end
grafted on.
Scott Russell's next ride.
Lara Croft Tombraider Tank
KZ1000
Not to be forgotten in this bike festival was the National Personal Watercraft Championship. Bikes for water. First time I ever saw anyone put their knee down on water.
Because it's Canada, the exchange rate
makes it easy to stay, eat and take the weekend to enjoy this city. Most
people speak both English and French, are pretty helpful, plus it's a bike
friendly place. Ticket are $11 Canadian for the day, about $9 American...
See ya next year, and yes, we'll be up on
the bridge at the fireworks again afterwards.
