urn left when you leave the Montreal airport and drive 450km northeast, you will then arrive in a small town called Riviere du Loup that currently has a population of about 20,000. The town was established in 1850 and it was pretty well 100% Anglos that lived in the area. Move forward in time 166 years and now only 1% speak English in this town they used to call Wolf River. You see the town’s name as you drive along the Trans Canada Highway just outside of New Brunswick. This is where you would find a guy by the name of Paul Thibault. This friendly local had the idea back in 1981 to have dirt bike races in an arena at the same time that the county fair was in town. The dirt was already in
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the hockey rink for the fair, so why not use it for dirt bike racing? This is where the term “Arenacross” came from, or at least that’s what Paul told me. The first year it was very low key, with a few local riders showing up, and the event organizers would pile dirt here and there to create a track. That was 36 years ago and the event is still going strong. In 1982, the track was an official AX track layout. Riders like Serge Gregoire, his brother Gaby, Pierre Couture, Mario Paquette, Jeff urwall, Glen Nicholson and Terry Hofoss would all show up to race. Each year the event grew, and some years the events even lasted over three nights. Pro riders would race Friday and Saturday, and amateurs would take over on Sunday. The dates for the event have always been in the month of May.
The snow is usually melted by then and the fans are itching to see some AX racing. It’s impossible to have it sooner as RDL receives lots of snow. In speaking with Paul, I asked him who were some of his favourite riders that have come and gone over the years. He replied, “I have four favourite riders of all time. That would be Ross Pederson, Marco Dube, Mike Jones and Johnny Montes. These four riders really helped put the RDL event on the map. You have to remember that in the ’80s and ’90s there was no social media at all. The only way to get the word out about this event was by word of mouth. I also counted on the riders to spread the word about this event. The riders that I just mentioned did that every year for me. I think the money payout and the parties
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