Alpha MX Charity Campout/Ride Day

September 14, 2017

by Dawn McClintock In the motocross community, we have all known someone who has been hurt pretty bad and is on the road to recovery. The team over at Alpha MX near Lindsay, Ontario have had their fair share of being laid up with injury and figured with the end of the outdoor season, it might be a good time to try and organize a little something for a downed rider fund. The track is fairly new and to most riders, they haven't really had an opportunity to ride there yet so what better time to hold their first big event. The property is part of Kyle Keast's family farm and Kyle heads up the Alpha MX team. His crew worked very hard to put the finishing touches on the facility and make it look very professional. Taking example from American tracks they had visited over the summer, the Alpha crew put a ton of work into creating a whole experience at their compound. With neat little out-buildings, signage, banners and fencing surrounding the entire track, spectator tunnels under the jumps, a central area that is sort of a community gathering spot with a "no bike zone", a stage for awards and concerts and Jurassic Park sized fire pit area smack dab in the middle. This place is the bomb! Sign in began a 10am on Saturday and there was a steady stream of rigs and trucks pulling in all morning. Riding ran all day with classes divided according to skill level and bike size. A separate peewee track was also buzzing with activity all day long too. At noon a complimentary BBQ lunch was served thanks to the fine folks at Thorah Insurance Brokers (one of the main Alpha MX sponsors) and there was opportunity to purchase 50/50 tickets and place your tickets on over 50 different raffle items donated. After open practice was finished at 5:00 it was time to haul out the pit bike for some crazy pit bike racing that ran from 5:30-7:00. They did a modified course on the big track and also offered a kids' class. Loads of fun for everyone and probably loads of sore muscles for a few who had just blown the dust off their pit bike. By then it was time for the 50/50 draw and the announcement of the raffle winners. Everyone had worked up an appetite so the Alpha crew had a pasta dinner available for $10 at the Community Area. With ride day over and full bellies what better way to carry on with the day than a massive campfire and a live band! Things got pretty cold Saturday night so the campfire was a welcome sight with plenty of folks cozied up around the big rocks. Local Peterborough band, Vern's Comb played tons of familiar cover songs up on the stage and people rocked the night away with their favourite cold beverage and recalled what a fun day they had here at the Alpha MX track. For myself this was the first time I had been to the facility and look for plenty of more fun things happening at this place in the near future. At the end of the weekend all totalled there were 105 riders and 250 people on site. The event raised just over $2500 for the injured riders fund. Well done Alpha MX! Looking forward to see where these guys take this place.