Track Day At The Pond: A Motorcycle Masterclass On Ice

Hanging out on a frozen pond in Southern Ontario, especially when it's -10C, is not everyone's idea of fun. But when you have a chance to see Canadian Superbike Champ, Jordan Szoke train with his dad Bob, and a group of 20+ impromptu riders, it's a different thing altogether.

Here's how it works: first Jordan Szoke clears an elaborate ice track on a frozen pond and then we race around it like kids in a winter-wonderland candy store.

Setting up is damn easy. The guys bring out their dirt-bikes, equipped with studded tires, covered for transport to protect the truck-bed.

The gear is basically motorcross with a few layers underneath. Big gloves get in the way of shifting so everything from home-made jugs to handle-bar muffs go on to keep the hands warm.

This Sunday ride started off gloomy and overcast with light snow, but by the time Jordan cleared the ice, the sun was out!

It's refreshing to hear motorcycle engines again after such a long winter, and these guys were playing a symphony around a complicated 2km, home-made track.

The idea is to ride on ice, not snow. Snow makes for reduced traction and prevents the studds from digging into the ice. If you want more riding and less sliding, you need to get right down to the ice. Simple ovals are not challenging, so Jordan Szoke takes his time creating a technical and challenging track with lots of rights, lefts straight-aways and corners and then we ride.

There's no hint of rivalry when everyone is getting ready, but out on the ice, no-one is giving quarter. The laps get progressively faster and the riders look more and more at ease as they go round. It's a masterclass on ice.

It's an eye-opener to see riders cranked over with foot-pegs scraping the ice, while speeds on the straight-away are topping 100 km per hour.

Jordan Szoke, happy with his track design, gets some time on the ice.

Today, a large group is out. Some riders are buddies, some are strangers. A few riders are pros, or semi-pros. Of course, everyone rides dirt. Some guys share bikes and a number of riders are totally new to ice. Regardless of how they arrived here, between ice-time, everyone is friendly.

Wheelies are a must. The world's fastest wheelie on ice was nailed by Ryan Suchanek from Edgerton, Wisconsin at 108.5 mph (174.61 km/h) for 200m on a 2005 Kawasaki ZX10R that was Lake Koshkinong Wisconsin, January 27, 2013. No world records here, but a few attempts were made. Here's one that ended in a fall, slide and walk-away.

Afterward, there's nothing but smiles and bright red stripes of windburn where the wind has got underneath helmets. No-one is cold though. The ice might be 16” thick, but they're riding hard and it shows.

A few hours later, the temperatures drop rapidly to around -20C and the sun begins to dip, but these guys don't. Another pass of the Szoke-boni and the snow is cleared for more riding.

The ESR App + CrashLight was used to collect speeds and data. Learn more about the ESR App on the App Store

See you on the ice. Eat Sleep Ride.