The Circle of Awesomeness
- mistihurst
- Oct 27
- 4 min read
Sometimes you meet people who alter the course of your life instantly. They become what I call the "specials," - based on a super special person explaining this to me - the people who introduce you to something new and with whom you can always be yourself, no matter how much time goes by.
Sometimes those "specials" later meet other "specials" in your life, and the mutual feeling continues.
Or, as my friend Scott says, the circle of awesomeness continues.
I recently had a few of those encounters, moments when the circle of awesomeness spun around and around a few special people in my life and left me so full I could hardly breathe.
In 2001, I started riding after my friend Scott Collins dragged me to Seattle to watch my first ever motorcycle race.
I'll never forget the feeling of riding into the pits, the smell of race fuel, the roar of engines, and the dirty, sweaty, smiling faces. There were shiny, numbered motorcycles everywhere, and I was awestruck. We were there to support and watch our friend, Canadian road racer Oliver Jervis, and I'd never seen anything like it before.
During lunchtime, I took my street bike, a 2001 ZX6R, onto the track for a few laps of "Taste of Racing." Instantly, I was hooked. I remember taking a corner, getting into the riding tuck, feeling the wind in my hair, and having this confident, absolute, 100 percent sure feeling that this was what I wanted to do with my life from that moment forward. I came back in and signed up immediately for the new racer’s course, and within a year, I had won my first race.
That first race led to more racing, then to writing press releases that led me to the California Superbike School and ultimately landed me in the role of moto-journalist, coach, and professional motorcycle racer. If it weren’t for Scott encouraging me to go to Seattle, I would not be where I am today, and I cannot thank him enough.
Along the way, I became dear friends with Oliver Jervis, and to this day, he and I laugh and reminisce about specific race weekend memories. There was the time we drove to Spokane and played pranks on his chief mechanic, the time we missed the last ferry and slept on top of the minivan on a fold-out mattress in the lineup, and the time the easy-up tent blew away in the middle of the night, crashing into other pits. Between the two of them, Scott and Oliver, we have had some fun times, and they have been and will always remain "specials" in my books.
Because they live on Vancouver Island and I live in Vancouver, I don't get to see them often, but Oliver suggested that Ashton, then 12 sit on his CRF150 supermoto during a visit a few years ago with my kids.
It was as if Ashton’s eyes popped out of his head with wonder and excitement. Both of us recognized the look, and that’s when Oli said, "We should get Ashton out on this thing during a Victoria Supermoto practice night. There is one on Wednesday." Suddenly, my two-day trip turned into five as we waited for Wednesday to arrive.
On Wednesday evening, Oliver and Ashton checked the tire pressure, gas, and oil levels, and off to the track we went. I was super nervous because Ashton hadn’t yet ridden a supermoto bike, hadn’t ridden on pavement in a while, and had never been allowed by me to be on track with adults. As he headed out for the first time, both Oli and Scott stood beside me, partially snickering at my nail-biting, nervous fidgeting, and partially resting their hands on my shoulder as a form of comfort.
That’s when another dear friend of mine, another "special," showed up. Michael LeBlanc, a long-time Motorcycle Mojo reader, a fan of my columns, a pen pal for the past ten years, and now an in-person friend, strolled up with a giant grin.
He had just moved to Victoria from Nova Scotia, and on one particularly lonely day a few weeks earlier, he messaged me saying that he had no one to ride with. I told him to go to Adrenalin Motorcycle Co-Op, ask for Scott, and tell him he was a friend of mine. Later that night, Scott sent me a photo of them hanging out together on the beach, saying that the circle of awesome was continuing and that "your friend Michael is now my friend Michael too."
There we were, my kids and me, three of my "specials," the ones who got me into riding and racing, and one who had been privy to watching my career from behind the pages of a magazine. They were the people I needed there as I let my kid roar out of the pits and ride within 3.5 seconds of Oliver’s pace in only the second session.
I got a text later that night from Michael:"The sight of Ashton blasting down the straightaway and barely slowing down for the chicane and the long left-hander was a sight to behold. It still gives me goosebumps thinking about it."
And just now, as I re-write this into the stories section of my new website- as I get ready to launch my new series of books called Life in the Fast Lane, I'm getting messages from Scott and his partner Steph from Nepal where they are riding a similar route I did in Nepal 7 years ago, with another 'special' friend of mine, Suresh.
Suresh runs motorcycle riding tours in Nepal, under the name Himalayan Life Adventure and they are EPIC.
The circle of awesomeness continues.
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