The CMA and the FIM

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Brian P said:
Hmmm.

Dirt track number 1 plate awards stop in 2015. Speedway stops in 2015. Roadracing stops in 1995 (!) and that's after a gap from 1990-1993. Mini road racing appears to continue (we will grant them 2020 due to other circumstances) - although three riders having taken multiple number 1 plates over a period of only 9 years makes me question how many riders are actually involved. Motocross stops in 1999. Enduro stops in 2009. Cross-country (whatever that is) stops in 2002. Hare scrambles / cross country appears to continue. Trials is current. Ice racing is current. There are several others that stop varying degrees of a long time ago.

Do you see the pattern of the CMA slowly giving up? Or, perhaps more accurately, other disciplines slowly giving up on the CMA.

There's more to motorcycling than just trials, hare scrambles, and ice racing. It's not like dirt track, speedway, roadracing, and motocross haven't continued. They're just continuing without being associated with the CMA/FIM.

Why?
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Why indeed.

Back in "the day" there were provincials (perhaps regionals too) and nationals and club races.

Now, all the "national" level events are all held in the same place with the same riders. In my opinion that number 1 plate is essentially a club level award. A skilled rider wins it, much more-so than I, but in such limited competition as to make it near meaningless.

Back then it was communicated to me that the "leadership" (I threw up a little using that word here) of the organization was temperamental. If you got on their bad side then that's were you would forever remain, so act accordingly. You weren't going to get any answers and the people who MIGHT weren't going to take the chance of asking the questions.

Back to your question. Back in the 90's & early 2k's the competitors, the event organizers and sponsors wanted more from the events. The CMA had become a thread-bare organization and highly centralized around a few people. They didn't want to change and arguably couldn't meet the expectations at the time. They certainly gave the appearance that they couldn't be bothered. So the sport/pastime splintered into a collection of organizations focused on specific disciplines, with the CMA obstinately hanging on to their FIM issued gavel/hammer.

That's just the way I saw it.

Incidentally, I don't know the difference between a cross-country or a hare scramble either, but I rode both. Seems to me the hare scramble courses were shorter, but really the only thing I remember is that it was all good fun.
 
xrljoel said:
Now, all the "national" level events are all held in the same place with the same riders. In my opinion that number 1 plate is essentially a club level award. A skilled rider wins it, much more-so than I, but in such limited competition as to make it near meaningless.
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I can't speak from the inside like so many here, but as a road racing fan, the national series/CSBK is a far cry from what it was in the late '90s and early '00s to the point where it's essentially a regional Ontario series. Having lived in BC until recently, I can say that it's almost entirely off the radar there, as it's irrelevant to Western Canada. I'm sure the same is true for Alberta, despite Blackfoot once being a mainstay of CSBK.

I understand there are a lot of obstacles to having a truly national series, not least of which is suitable facilities. But if we can have a round at Calabogie (which was supposedly impossibly unsafe once upon a time) or Grand Bend, there ought to be ways to get a round in at Mission, Area 27, Vancouver Island, or Castrol Raceway near Edmonton.

I'm sure the economics of starting from scratch (again) and changing the scope of CSBK to include that much travel (again) are daunting, but that's where a healthy group dedicated to actually supporting race series' and events might come in handy. Instead of an Ontario series trying to lay groundwork on their own, it could involve a national association with people in close contact with facility users and organizers. As it stands, that doesn't seem to exist.

Someone mentioned earlier that Canada punches above our weight internationally in road racing. That may have been true once upon a time, but we certainly don't now. Australia definitely punches above their weight, with multiple big-time national and world champions and consistent representation in MotoGP and WSBK. The most recent Canadian road racer with any sort of international profile that I can think of is Miguel Duhamel. Considering his dad (!) is listed so prominently among the CMA plate holders, I think that says a lot about the lack of leadership on the national level.
 
I have a question :unsure: MCC CMC thing: How many of the founding and voting "organizations" are insurance related companies?
 
Trials said:
I have a question :unsure: MCC CMC thing: How many of the founding and voting "organizations" are insurance related companies?
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And its MCC and MMIC by the way. CMC was Mark Stallybrass' MX organization, I don't know if it still exists ?
 
TK4 said:
And its MCC and MMIC by the way. CMC was Mark Stallybrass' MX organization, I don't know if it still exists ?
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No more CMRC. The national MX series is run by Jetwerx which is Kyle and Justin Thompson. Pro licenses are issued through MRC also the Thompson family.
 
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Wingboy said:
You just don't get it. I'm done with you.
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Rick! :unsure:
Are you the same Rick that was a guest at my Arden property the morning of July 13 2013 and accompanied by a Bob fella that sold Ossa bikes?
 
Trials said:
Rick! :unsure:
Are you the same Rick that was a guest at my Arden property the morning of July 13 2013 and accompanied by a Bob fella that sold Ossa bikes?
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No Dave. We have not met, and i doubt we will in the future.
 
Wingboy said:
No Dave. We have not met, and i doubt we will in the future.
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Good you are not that guy, that guy upset Neil more then I ever seen before.
 
crankcall said:
Is Neil the guy that hands out the Gold medals ?
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Here's the way it works, you have a regional club, mine is now ATA, that is Neil. I had one before called EOTA when I hosted CVMG events. If I want to have a hard enduro course here post covid, I will need to sanction a new regional club to do that (big package of paper), because ATA is dedicated to Trials competition and Hard Enduro does not even officially exist in Canada yet, it will be a new bunch of members.
Next we build and schedule events that prompt the organizer to request more big packages of documents, to collect insurance money, submit results, flyers for other CMA events etc. (Gold medals if you need them are in there, but that would make it a National event for sure)
Once you have proven you can put on provincial events with no issue, you can request to host National events and now have a CMA/FIM sanctioned race.

You like medals? I usually give jugs of home made maple syrup and only the gold national ones when it is a national event.
(y) so yes, Neil would be awarding the gold medals at my events.
Unless it's a hard enduro.

and yes, you might even get a call through your club organizer to offer your assistance with something like, a training school put on by a very important FIM rider.
 
*UPDATE*

According to Neil I do know Norm. Didn't know his name was Norm.
 
FullMotoJacket said:
*UPDATE*

According to Neil I do know Norm. Didn't know his name was Norm.
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Neil, Norm & John, all of them are good friends to me, avid trial riders and supporters of the sport.

(y) You work with a very good group of extremely talented riders down there.
 
So if 11 people abstained, does that mean that those 11 were somehow tied to the CMA, or does it mean that a number of people in the FIM just don't give a **** about Canada?
 
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