I had a chance to see a young eleven year old Cree in action at the Molson Centre at the end of April. Nathaniel Bosum is one of the few Crees to enter into the motocross racing world. It was his first race of the year and one he said he enjoyed.
Bosum does around 20 races a year. Last year he was second overall in Quebec’s 60cc class and fifth in 7-11 JDCC and the super-mini seen him finishing around nineth.
Bosum told the Nation he’s aiming to finish second or third overall for the 80cc class this year in Quebec.
On the first day of races on April Friday 27 Bosum took second place in both of his races. His second race seen Bosum in an accident. “I finished the race and was rolling on the double jump. There was a kid behind me and I guess he was a bit mad and he pressed on his throttle jumping onto my back,” said Bosum. Bosum said he was alright though. He said he had been in other accidents while racing but nothing as big as that one. He didn’t expect it to happen to him.
During the second day Bosum started in the second line of bikes but managed to make it into fourth place in his first race of the evening. In the second race of that day one of his jumps “stunned” his back slowing him down. “My back started to hurt a bit,” said Bosum remembering that jump. It won’t be slowing him down though as Bosum says he plans to continue racing and “just have fun with it.” Bosum started racing when he was just five years old.
Bosum said the Molson Centre course was a hard one technically but he liked the course because of it.
I asked Bosum what advice he would give to other Crees looking at motocross racing. He said “I would warn them that it’s a hard sport. I would tell them to expect some crashing or expect rough riding. You have to expect to fall sometimes when you do this sport.” Bosum trains after school for about two to three hours each day practicing his techniques. “1 try to know the track before I even see it,” said Bosum. He has his father Abel Bosum time him on different types of jumps and comers to get an idea of what’s possible. His dad is a strong supporter of Nathaniel Bosum. “I have a trailer that’s basically a mini-garage on wheels that can hold up to five bikes,” said Bosum’s dad. You could see the pride in his eyes when he watched his son race.
Bosum prepares himself mentally by praying before each race and “1 think of the race mentally. For instance if I’m afraid of a jump I
think of it as a smaller one that I have to use a bit more throttle for,” he said.
Bosum isn’t sure what race is next but he is hoping to qualify for the Loretta Lynn Race. “It’s the biggest one in the world and if I qualify it’ll be fun,” said Bosum.
Bosum said he would like to thank all of his sponsors. “I really appreciate them and all they’ve done for me,” he said. Bosum is sponsored by LCR Compitition (does the motor and suspension work), Oakley Canada, Yamaha Canada, Castrol Motor Oil, Ou J’ai des Sports, ABC Consulting and others.
Bosum added he would also like to thank his mother, father and brother. Nathaniel sends out a Happy Mothers Day to his mother.
