LOOKING
BACK by Doug Hunter
Terrorizing the trails around Osgoode - The late Colin Snider and Mike Busby (right) with Chris Busby (still with us!) in the middle. Taken at Doug Hunter’s house in Osgoode, Sept 1987
Colin Snider, 1967-1996 The BMA’s Colin Snider memorial harescramble at Woody’s has been running since the late 1990’s. However, I suspect there are many members out there who know the name and the event, but perhaps nothing of the person being honoured. I was asked to share a few memories here. Colin was like many BMA riders in that he was accomplished in other aspects of the sport before discovering/rediscovering dirt/trail riding. He was a successful roadracer, with several regional titles won in the 125 and 250cc GP championships, and top finishes in the old Yamaha RZ350 cup series. He is also largely responsible for me not going roadracing! Back in the 1980’s, after borrowing his RZ cup bike for the RACE school on a Thursday, I had lined up Mike Busby’s Honda CBR600 for a road racing debut on the Canada Day long weekend at Shannonville. Accompanied by Jon Gee with his bike, the school went well on the RZ and I got a Friday practice in on the Honda. For some reason Colin then got out on the CBR, and of course completely trashed it into a ball of metal and plastic that never saw the track again. As always, he bounced right up and jumped on another bike, while I was suddenly bike-less. I took the incident as divine intervention though, and anytime the thought of road racing came up again, I laid down until the feeling went away. By the 1990’s, a number of us rediscovered dirt riding, putting behind the commitment, costs and injuries of roadracing and MX. Or in some cases increasing driver’s license demerit points from street riding! Colin proved to be a fast off-road rider, and became known for bouncing back from the most extreme crashes, seemingly right into the saddle and continuing on without missing a beat. Trail
rides in Calabogie, Larose and Marlborough forests were common, along with local pit riding and selected harescramble events at Woody’s and Bill Bak’s in the Perth area. This was a period where many trails in Calabogie such as Tantrum, Broken Toe and Clutch Cover got named (or renamed) due to various incidents and antics. The latter was named after Colin had a huge high side on a fast but (then) green and slick trail that saw him roll and bounce forever before typically jumping back up on his feet. However, a severely holed clutch cover was discovered. Tools and preparedness were not Colin’s forte (after all, everyone else had tools along) and my roll of duct tape allowed the ride to continue. Another time Colin fouled a plug on his CR250 on the very top of the Quinn’s trail…possibly the worst place one could chose. Of course, no spare plugs or even a correct wrench could be produced among our group. After again being scolded for lack of preparedness, his response was typical Colin: “with all those tools and spare parts you have (including a four-stroke plug) why couldn’t you pack a two-stroke plug!” The resulting whiteknuckle towing session down one of the knarliest trails in the region, out of the bush and up the #77 trail with my old XR500 was eventful to say the least. The only high point was pulling into the High Falls parking lot right on the tail of the rest of our group, to a few surprised looks. Colin was as fast coasting under tow as he was with a working throttle, and was constantly demanding more speed when the tow vehicle slowed down! Ironically, the only other time I ever had to tow a bike was from that very same Quinns location with Steve Garnsey about 15 years later. A regular visit to Colin’s garage was always a worthwhile trip, as there you could recover the borrowed torque wrench/tie-downs/handlebar/acu-mix can (or you name it) you hadn’t seen in months! Still, he never lacked enthusiasm and was always eager to head out for a ride when everyone else was complaining of being tired, sick, hun-
gover or broke. Once, after procuring a huge old cube van with jump seats in the back he decided that is was ridiculous for everyone to drive all their vehicles to Calabogie when we could all go in one, saving time and money. We all chipped in for gas and after taking hours to round everyone up, we got up there, had our ride and headed home. The problem with his strategy was that the truck burned more gas then all of our vehicles combined, and he had already spent our gas money on bike parts. After being rebuked for trying to collect more gas money, the sight of him rummaging through everyone’s gas cans and accumix’s trying to scrounge a few more drops of gas for his rig had everyone in stitches. We went back to driving ourselves to rides. Time and space preclude telling every Colin story but rest assured, there are many. There was never a dull moment.
WHAT THE HECK IS THIS CARD? WHAT DO I DO WITH IT? Step 1 - Volunteer. - believe me, the club could use your help and I bet you’ll enjoy yourself. Step 2 - Print this page and fill out the card. Step 3 - Give this to Dave Phifer or any one of your friendly neighbourhood club execs. Step 4 - Clap yourself on the back. Your donation of time just helped the club and gained you some respect among your fellow club members.
Colin left us far too soon as a result of a tragic accident. His energy and enthusiasm touched many of us that knew him, whether as a friend, fellow rider or competitor. In 1997 following Colin’s death, Woody named the first four-hour team harescramble to honour his memory. The event became one of the very first items on the “new” BMA’s calendar the following year. The format remains the same today: a fun, rider-friendly, social team competition where you can ride as much (or as little) as you want, race and chat with your club mates, kick tires and raise some money for charity. It’s a nice way to close the riding season for the year. This year’s Colin Snider memorial harescramble will be held at Woody’s on October 25th. ∆
The Colin Snider Memorial 4 hour Team Scramble. Woody’s • October 25 This is an annual favorite, with a low-impact racing format, an ironman class for the hardcore, a 2-man team competition and 3 to 4 man teams. It is set on a course meant to be fun but reasonably challenging. A fundraiser for local charities and an excellent event for a family to have… a really fun day! No bikes smaller than 65cc. Please call for more information. (Carolin or Woody 613 267 6861)
BMA MEMBERS!
Woody’s Cycles
10
%
off any purchase with the mention of this coupon
www.woodys-cycles.com • 1-800-991-BIKE(2453)
get your boogie photos! This year we staked out the Calabogie Boogie with our cameras and caught you on film. Most of you looked great but we did catch the odd person with their pants down or letting their bikes beat them like they stole something. Let’s hope you’re not the guy we caught doing both. There were two photography teams shooting the Boogie. The first, Marc Desrosiers, a professional photographer who also rides off-road and the 2nd, Kaveri and Dallas - BMA members who “help-out” with the newsletter. Below is how you can access both sets of pictures. 1. Marc’s Photos - Marc is a pro so he charges for his work. He set up at various locations during the Boogie and if you saw someone with “big equipment” I hope you smiled. Click on this link to go to his shots (or try pasting it in the URL): http://finefocus.zoomphoto.ca/event/11494/ Any problems please email Marc at: mdesrosiers3980@rogers.com 2. Dallas & Kaveri - We were the two fools riding around on a dirtbike and an ATV trying desperately to stay ahead of the main group of riders. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. We had fun shooting the event and certainly learned a lot. Carolin was nice enough to lend us her “precious” - a very nice digital SLR with lots of toys. THANKS CAROLIN! Next year we hope to have our own SLR and go snap happy. Our pics are posted as LOW RES FILES. If you want the original, high res photo so you can make posters for your bedroom ceiling or workshop bathroom please email me @ offroad.newsletter@gmail.com with the photo Image Number (e.g. IMG3456.jpg) I’ll send you the original(s) by mail, no charge!
For our PASSWORD PROTECTED (password = bytown) pictures click here: http://bytownmotorcycle.smugmug.com/Boogie/Calabogie-Boogie-2009/9842105_3mPzW/1/669183141_HLQDb