Welcome to my ‘Behind the Shot Series’, where I look back at motocross and enduro photographs that I’ve taken (good and bad) to tell the story of the image. For this inaugural post I’m looking back to the start of the 2023 motocross season here in Calgary, Alberta, and this image of of Jayden Riley. Jayden is a young up-and-coming racer for BFD Moto, Husqvarna Canada, and Troy Lee Designs Canada.

To set the scene, this was at Round 1 of the BFD Moto Spring Super Series at the Wild Rose MX Association here in Calgary. The Spring series is a pretty big event here in Western Canada normally attracting 400+ riders to this iconic Canadian track. It’s a great opportunity to see professional and high-end amateur racers strut their stuff after spending time down in the US training during the winter, and to get the first indicators for performance expectations. The series runs 5 rounds over 3 weekends from late April to late May, and this year it would finish the week before Round 1 of the national Canadian Triple Crown Series.