Justin Cooper is a 28-year-old American pro motorcycle rider set to race at BC Place Stadium during the World Supercross Canadian GP on Nov. 15. I’m none of, nor doing, those things, but Justin and I do have something in common: Broken bones from riding a dirt bike.
“Oh yeah, I broke a lot of bones when I was a kid, for sure,” Cooper said on the phone from Tallahassee, Florida.
“Just being on a track and trying to get better, trying to improve my skills and learning how to jump and all that stuff, that’s part of it. I feel like that’s what’s made me the rider I am today. A lot of experience, a lot of hitting the ground, will teach you a thing or two.”
Back in Grade 7 I was taught a thing or two in the tall grass of a field in Aldergrove. On a rainy day in October I was motoring along on my pal Al Quiring’s Kawasaki KD80 when the front wheel hit a deep hole, causing bike and body to flip.
Halloween is a lousy time for a 12-year-old to be in hospital, but there I was with a broken collarbone, punctured lung, plenty of bruises and definitely some mental scarring from the experience.
Motorcycles and me? That love affair was over.
Time heals wounds, of course, so I jumped at a chance to get back on the horse, idiomatically speaking, at Popkum Motor Park in Rosedale on Oct. 23. For journalists it was a “Learn to Ride Dirt Bikes” day organized by LBMG, the media relations firm contracted for the supercross event coming to Vancouver.
^^ Quick video of me riding at @PopkumMotorPark — proof that I actually got "back on the horse" to write this story about it: https://t.co/wvEMUNptH7
(
: @adamforsythe) pic.twitter.com/ttJ9CkSkcf
— Tom Zillich (@TomZillich) October 28, 2025
Instructor John Holden gave us motorbiking basics, then around and around we went on a flat oval track where riding felt fun again. Soon enough I dreamed of turning my right wrist to go faster, hit berms, climb hills and get big air, just like Justin Cooper does at World Supercross events around the world.
Vancouver’s Canadian GP, sandwiched between FIM races in Argentina and Australia, will see BC Place come to life with motocross action and stunts, loud music, pyrotechnics and more.
Cooper didn’t race at last October’s event in Vancouver, and he sounds pretty excited to travel here with dozens of other thrill-seeking motorcyclists.
“I’ve never been to Vancouver, so I’ll get to explore a bit and meet new people and new fans,” said the native of Cold Spring Harbor, a small town on Long Island, New York. “I’ve actually never been to Canada before, really, for any length of time, or done any racing or riding. This will be new for me.”
Inside BC Place, fans will find a purpose-built track with technical obstacles, rhythm sections and jumps. The Fan Zone opens at 1 p.m., gates at 5, racing at 6:30, over by 9.
For returning fans, Vancouver 2025 brings new track layouts, international teams and titles on the line.
If you’ve never seen supercross live, it’s a great place to start.
Bring earplugs.
“The combination of stadium acoustics, light shows and the roar of dirtbikes creates an atmosphere that photos and videos just can’t capture,” raves a post on worldsupercrosschampionship.com, where tickets are sold.