End of February Blog  (29th February 2024)

After having an eventful first half of the month down south, my  February came to an end in a more familiar fashion.

Even though it’s been a milder than normal winter, once back in Canada , I managed to catch one of the few remaining ice racing events of the season .

I hadn’t planned on this one , and it all came about after I received an early morning text message on Sunday (the 25th) from one of my local photographer friends, Sylvain Lauwers.

He was letting me know ,  that the Beauharnois/Maple Grove Ice Racers were having some racing that day , but in a different location and with different organizers.

In the past racing has taken place at various positions on the waterfront of the St Lawrence  Seaway at Beauharnois , Quebec which has been organized by the Kilo Watts Club.

As far as I’m aware , they haven’t run any events at Beauharnois this year and a new group has emerged to stage racing on a small stretch of water at the back of a boat storage yard , just a mile up the road.

I had nothing else planned for the day, and decided to head off in the quest to gain a new ‘track’ to my list.

It’s only about an hours drive from my place in Cornwall, Ontario, so it was easy to get there for the mid morning start time.

Like I stated, it was a mile down the road from where the Kilo Watts club usually race.

Instead of driving on the ice to watch the racing, like the case at  Beauharnois , spectators have to park  in a residential area on the other side of the highway and walk in.

The entrance was via the front gates of the boat yard, where you paid your ten bucks admission and strolled through the lines of stored boats,  and down to the frozen water.

Part of the pits were in the yard and the over-flow was on the ice. with racing taking place at very close proximity .

Most of the cars present were the usual mix of 4 and 8 cylinders that are regularly  seen at the Kilo Watts events.

I stayed long enough to see all the classes in action, before making my exit.

The rest of my week was spent relaxing and attending my monthly I.V.I.G infusions at the Cornwall Hospital, while I prepared for my next little adventure