Phil Ciphery watched as his son Matthew appeared to be tiring out as the end of the motocross race , neared. He watched, and listened, as an opponent’s father pumped his fist in the air and shouted “YEA” as his son passed him on the corner, placing Matthew one place back.
But, it was hard to wipe the smile off his face when he noticed Matthew wasn’t giving in and in a final push, and turn of the throttle, he took back his position and defeated that same opponent by only a few seconds.
And, there was only friendly comraderie when those same two motorcrossers met after crossing the finish line.
“That’s how it is,” said 15-year-old Matthew, following a weekend of racing at the Cochrane Motocross Park, which is near Brighton. “We laugh and joke around before and after the race, but during the race, we want to beat each other.”
The Cobden teenager, who lives on the Beachburg Road with his family – dad, mom Amie, sister Aleisha and brother Thomas — started off riding four-wheelers. When he was 12, re recalled a friend took up the sport of motocross, which is off-road motorcycling, and Matthew wanted to try it.
His dad bought him an off-road Honda 100 and he’s never looked back. Last fall, Matthew decided he wanted to try off-road racing, so a Honda 250 was purchased, and again, he hasn’t looked back.
Matthew is a competitor in the Maguires Motocross Racing Series, which has one race in Madoc, Lindsay and Peterborough and two in Madoc. The series goes from April to September. In the spring series, the rider’s best six out of eight races are used to determine where he or she finishes. Matthew is quite happy with placing in the middle of the pack, considering many of those racing have been doing so for a few years.
The fall series, which is now on, is a best four out of five races that are used to determine where a racer finishes, he explained. It’s technically called the Six Foot Trophy series, because whoever finishes in top spot gets a six-foot tall trophy, he explained.
This past weekend, Matthew finished 9th overall in the 250 class while in the Youth class, he finished 10th overall. There are now three more races to complete.
“For my first year, I’m doing pretty good,” he said. “I thought I would be a lost worse.”
Matthew is in a class of 17 to 24 year-olds, even though he’s only 15, because those in the younger class go really fast because most have been riding a bike since they were very young, he said.
Matthew hasn’t suffered any serious injuries while racing, but during a practice he broke his collarbone. An injury that sidelined him from a weekend of racing, was when the skin of his fingers was scratched off when a rider forced him off the track and into a tree. It hurt when he tried to turn the throttle, so racing was out.
In Grade 10 at Fellowes High School in Pembroke, Matthew figures he has at least two more years of racing before he heads to college.
Mom Amie and his girlfriend Lindsay McEwen went this past weekend to watch Matthew race.
“I went last weekend for the first time,” she said. “I was so nervous I hid behind the trailer to watch the start.
“It was really muddy.
“I watched them do laps and kept watching for Matthew, but there was no Matthew,” she recalled.
She was relieved when husband Phil texted her advising Matthew was OK, he had just stalled his bike. Amie believes she made Matthew nervous, so she thinks next time, she won’t tell him she’s going to watch.
A motocross race is 10 minutes and whoever does the most laps wins, Matthew explained. Motocross is an off-road looped trail with jumps. Each bike is equipped with a transponder which keeps track of the laps. This transponder can also be used by those who want to know where a particular racer is without watching the race.
As for breakdowns, Matthew’s not too concerned because his dad can do most of the work, as he used to work at a dealership. As well, a teacher at Matt’s school is familiar with motorcycles, as well as family friend Matt Gourlay and his son Brandon, who also race, and are from nearby Beachburg.
When Matthew is nervous about a certain jump or area of the track, Phil encourages him to just watch those who are practising or racing and then to try it himself, going slow and then picking up speed.
“He saw that even when they messed up, they didn’t get hurt, which helped him a lot,” Phil said. “Once you own a jump, you own it.”
Since the loop is a lot of corners and jumps, it’s not so much speed as skill, Matthew said. The fastest on a stretch would be about 60 kilometres an hour, and that wouldn’t be for a long stretch, he said.
There is certain equipment each competitor must wear, Matthew said. Must wear equipment include specialized boots, pants, goggles, a jersey and helmet. Optional equipment includes gloves, a neck brace and chest protector.
There are also the fees to compete, which can tally up to about $300 for a weekend. While he does have a part-time job, Matthew is thankful his parents support him, morally as well as financially.
And even though Matthew might be the only racer in his family, he’s not the only one involved in the event. Sister Aleisha flagged for the first time this past weekend. She sits on the lip of a jump and if a rider takes a tumble, she holds up a yellow caution flag to warn oncoming riders. And, if a rider requires medical assistance, she holds up a white flag with a red cross on it.
Amie noted her daughter has already signed up to flag at another race.
The final race of the season is Sept. 21.
