Tuesday August 31st 2021
Tuesday, August 31st, 2021The last day of what has been a very bad month, both with the Wild Fires and the loss of our friend Bob Work - in fact the past year and a half, has not been much to cheer about -as we also lost Al Perret - first the Covid - then the Wild fires - no riding for months, has been hard for most of us, so with cooler weather ahead - hopefully we can all get out in the Fall. ( More news on this later)
Thinking about both Al and Bo - obviously we have a ton of memories, none of them bad, with Al it was first about racing Cross Countries in Alberta, then later calling on him at his shop in Kamloops - Al was always late arriving at Alberta events, and I recall one race - may have been Moose Mountain - I was out with the front bunch flaying through muskeg - and I got stuck “Big time” - everybody was gone and I was left out in the boonies thinking how I was going to get the heavy IT 400 unstuck - then I heard a bike coming - it was late starter Al - so as he got close to me - he shouts “Which way Dave? “ - ” Not this way” I replied - so off he went around this big bog - never stopped to help me - can’t remember if I ever got out and finished that race.
Another memory was late one night and I was in bed - Babs brought in the phone saying it was Al - He says : Dave how old are you” - I replied “Al you know how bloody old I am - 6 months older than you” - “Great ” he said - “We should enter the Baja 1000 - we could win the Senior class” - To this I said “Al you been drinking?” you know I will never race that crazy shit in the desert” - Of course Al loved the Baja and had a lot of success down there.
Moving on to Bo - We had numerous very funny experiences while I was with Yamaha - he was always a practical joker - I remember one night after a long session in the Bar at a Dealer meeting - We bumped into the house maids doing their rounds on route to our rooms -to continue the party - Well, Bo had these couple of gals outside in the hallway leaning against the wall with their forehead and feet well back - then getting them to stand up straight - now it seems this is something that only the ladies can do - something to do with their Physique - naturally all the group of dealers who were in on the party were trying this without success - but with very noisy laughter !!! - Then it happened - The President of Yamaha Canada - came walking along the hallway !! Mr Abe was very confused at the fun & games that went on at the dealer meetings back in those days. ( I could write a book on them)
Obviously there were many many more humorous times in Bo’s company - I’m glad we shared these plus a lot with Stevie Baker.- Did you know that Stevie raced a Yamaha Sled on the Oval at Wetaskiwin back in 1974 ? both he and Roy Wall dominated on the Bob Work tuned GPX units - However when they didn’t show up for the Prize giving, I had to get up on the stage to accept their awards and cash. - Yes they arrived later full of stories, and giggling like school girls.
IÂ also went out testing sleds a few times with Bo, not one of my strong points - but after one week near Vernon testing the new SRX on a long Sno cross track - I ended up with a back injury that has plagued me ever since.
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What is perhaps surprising, is to not see any Beta riders on the top Italian Team !!! or on the Canadian Team either.
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video from last night - a Tribute to Bob Work >>
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85951695591…
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and another video>
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The Belanger family continue to rule in Quebec.>>
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