3 years later and why do I do it still...?
For the kids. Mainly my son and his
mates to start with, to keep Cam at
school and give him a “carrot”.
Cam left school just over a year later and
that is probably when most people bail out,
their kids leave school and so do they, but I
stayed on to try and build MX in schools after
observing there were boys back then that
needed that same “carrot” as Cam.
I was as green as the grass, but learnt heaps
and soon realised not all was set in concrete
and, hey, girls can do anything. So, with a
hiss and a roar, and of course with my son
and family support, we hosted a fun day and
raised $1000 for the Patetonga Motorcycle
track. We did a trail ride in the Patetonga
forestry (some very special memories there).
We fundraised and did the marshalling at
Patetonga MCC along with other things
and learnt back then to pay it forward, it
sometimes comes back ten-fold.
Over a few years I watched some of my team
get lapped and lapped, and thought to myself
this is so unfair, so came up with class names
‘Beginners’, ‘Aspiring’ and ‘Competitive’, or
words to that effect, when I decided to have
a go at hosting which I think was 2011 at the
Patetonga MX track. The clay was a bit of
a disaster as it rained and the little wheels
would not go round, so it was canned after
the first round. Gee, I was gutted but I still
remember a lady saying to me “All good
Amanda, that is the sport.” Phew!
So, looking for an alternative venue that
would hold up and wouldn’t cost so much, we
went to Huntly Slater Park – wow, that was
a mission – but we succeeded thanks to the
Huntly Club. That sealed the bond between
us and Huntly MCC who, over the years, have
supported our team and myself with anything
I came up with.
I’m not sure who mentioned the peat but that
was a great idea and in our own back yard!
The peat was awesome and I was excited so
hosted two events a year to keep growing
the sport in schools. I still remember Michael
Phillips saying to me at one of the earlier
events, “You’ve got some good even races
here Amanda.” Well, that sealed the deal for
me – I was on the right track.
I’m not exactly sure why I stuck around to be
honest, as we did host during a drought and
I did take some ‘heat’ and some pretty awful
things were said. If I may say... when were
those people going to host? So, from 2014
we hosted one a year and then of course got
questions on “why not two...?”
I kicked down a gear and we stuck to October,
the water sits under the peat so yes you may
get a bit wet at times, but MX is all terrains and
started on a flat paddock not a groomed track.
Awesome memories for the kids are all it has
ever been about.
KIWI RIDER 17