Posts
17009
Joined
8/16/2006
Location
Mountain Home, AR
US
Edited Date/Time
3/10/2019 4:01pm
Here's my story....
When I was a wee lad I always wanted to be the next Rick Johnson.... I liked his flair. I had trail bikes when I was young, but no way were my parents going to let me race. When I turned 16 I got a brand new KX125 (1989). It was a rocket!!! They still wouldn't let me race...only ride trails and hit an occasional practice track. I had a blast on that thing....but rode less and less as I hit 17 and 18. I sold it after a couple years as it just sat in the garage....
Fast forward a few years and life happens....I got married and one of my friends got into riding trails when I was 24. I thought it would be fun to get a 125 and hit some with him.... I picked up a sweet 1995 RM125...but quickly found out that I needed a 250. So off to the Kawasaki shop I went...leaving with a badass 1996 KX250. Total power machine!!!!! I started just riding some trails with some friends, then found a local practice track (I think the biggest jump was a 25' double). I bet I put 10000 laps in at that place. So after about 6 months of riding, I was ready for my first race!! I loaded up with some friends and we went to "Sprout Patch Raceway" for a round of the Missouri State Series. I think they were getting around 500-600 riders per event in those days. I was nervous as hell, as the 250 beginner class had a full gate of 25-30 riders. It had been the first time I had ever lined up at a gate...... when it dropped I just sat there....lol watching everybody go.
I finished 2nd to last my first race...and 5th to last the 2nd moto....but I was hooked!!!! I started riding more and more...every weekend we were going to races...I was still running the beginner class, but getting better with each start. After a couple months, I was lapping a lot of the guys I was racing...and decided to take the 'big step' (lol) to the novice class.
In 1999 my son was born and the riding slowed down a little. But it wasn't long and I was back at it hot and heavy...riding every chance I had. At this time I was on 1998 KX250 and ready to move up again to the intermediate class. First race in the B class I was feeling great. We lined up and there were 3 A riders and 4 B riders. About half way into the first moto I was 4th over all (2 A riders and 1 B rider in front of me). I passed the B rider on a long ski jump and slowed for the corner...well, this guy didn't like me passing him and totally wiped me out in the new 180 corner. I was all the way to the inside and he just rammed the shit out of me....making me crash. I felt my leg hurt like hell, as the bike was tangled up with me. He got up and kept going, as I was stuck under the bike..... I finally got out and my leg was hurting...BAD! The ambulance pulls down there and they figure that my leg is broken and want to transport me to the hospital. The closest hospital was in West Plains, MO...about 1.5 hours from my house...so I tell them that I want to go home, and go to my hospital. My friends load up my truck and I head out on the drive home...calling my wife and telling her that to get a baby sitter, as we are heading to the ER when I get there. I get home and take a shower and change... My ankle was what hurt the most. The ER doc said that it looks like it got VERY twisted, because it broke my leg in 3 spots right where the top of my boot was...
I was "finished" with MX...I had broken my wrist a year before and decided that I was too old (28) for that shit! Well, after a couple months of rehab, I was ready again and had the bug!!!!!
A couple years pass and I decided that 250C was the best class for me...then with 30 on the horizon, I was excited about a new class....and with the new found 4 strokes. I hit 30 and had a 2004 YZF450. It was the best thing I had ever ridden, and I was going faster than ever before....So I decide I was going to try for Ponca....at a qualifier in Tennessee, (for +30B maybe?) I got a very good start, I think there were 25-30 bikes lined up...I was in the top 5. I passed a couple in the first half of the first lap...then on a little 20 foot double I must have chopped the throttle....over the bars I went and I thought I was dying....I couldn't breath. It was the most scared I have ever been. When I finally got settled down, I felt a pain in my shoulder that I had never felt. Again the EMT's wanted me to go to the local hospital...nope.
We loaded the mini-van and trailer up, and the wife and kids and I headed home (4 hours) with a broken shoulder in tow...lol
Again, I was 'done'...no more of that shit!
The rehab on this one took about 6 months....and you guessed it, i was ready to ride again!!
Then I started (with my partner DirtBikeMike) the Mountain Home Faircross. It had been my dream to promote a race in the local fairgrounds rodeo arena. The first year we did this, we had 50 racers and maybe 500 people in the stands. Our goal was to not lose money...and we didn't...but we didn't make any either. The local support was INSANE! I had people coming up to me at the grocery store asking when the next one was...and saying that they can't wait! We built an AX track pretty close to a national AX track (not quite a peaked). The years clicked by and we had 9 events in 10 years. The height of it was 150 racers and over 2500 fans at one event. We had some of the areas best racers attend as we paid a $3,000 pro purse..plus dash for cash...Chad Cook, Aaron and Adam Gulley, Corey Green, Sean Hackley, Blake Keaton, Lee Taylor, Brett Cue...are a few of the pros that have helped support our event. I would race every year as well...having fun with it. Well, the last couple years the weather has been crappy and I haven't even taken my bike off the stand... With the amount of complaining that I've received, and the lack of desire, I decided that last year was the last one that I will promote. It was a great run and was lots of fun...but I'm burnt out...with the work and the complainers. (my partner is going to continue to have one in Hot Springs in the fall)
The last 10 years I have ridden less and less with a few races mixed in here and there...
I have debated on selling my bike and gear...but it's a 2007 CRF450 that is super reliable...and doesn't eat a thing. So for now, I will keep it and just ride 3 or 4 times a year. Because the day after I sold it, I'd get the bug and want to go out and buy a brand new one!!!!! lol
(end blog)
When I was a wee lad I always wanted to be the next Rick Johnson.... I liked his flair. I had trail bikes when I was young, but no way were my parents going to let me race. When I turned 16 I got a brand new KX125 (1989). It was a rocket!!! They still wouldn't let me race...only ride trails and hit an occasional practice track. I had a blast on that thing....but rode less and less as I hit 17 and 18. I sold it after a couple years as it just sat in the garage....
Fast forward a few years and life happens....I got married and one of my friends got into riding trails when I was 24. I thought it would be fun to get a 125 and hit some with him.... I picked up a sweet 1995 RM125...but quickly found out that I needed a 250. So off to the Kawasaki shop I went...leaving with a badass 1996 KX250. Total power machine!!!!! I started just riding some trails with some friends, then found a local practice track (I think the biggest jump was a 25' double). I bet I put 10000 laps in at that place. So after about 6 months of riding, I was ready for my first race!! I loaded up with some friends and we went to "Sprout Patch Raceway" for a round of the Missouri State Series. I think they were getting around 500-600 riders per event in those days. I was nervous as hell, as the 250 beginner class had a full gate of 25-30 riders. It had been the first time I had ever lined up at a gate...... when it dropped I just sat there....lol watching everybody go.
I finished 2nd to last my first race...and 5th to last the 2nd moto....but I was hooked!!!! I started riding more and more...every weekend we were going to races...I was still running the beginner class, but getting better with each start. After a couple months, I was lapping a lot of the guys I was racing...and decided to take the 'big step' (lol) to the novice class.
In 1999 my son was born and the riding slowed down a little. But it wasn't long and I was back at it hot and heavy...riding every chance I had. At this time I was on 1998 KX250 and ready to move up again to the intermediate class. First race in the B class I was feeling great. We lined up and there were 3 A riders and 4 B riders. About half way into the first moto I was 4th over all (2 A riders and 1 B rider in front of me). I passed the B rider on a long ski jump and slowed for the corner...well, this guy didn't like me passing him and totally wiped me out in the new 180 corner. I was all the way to the inside and he just rammed the shit out of me....making me crash. I felt my leg hurt like hell, as the bike was tangled up with me. He got up and kept going, as I was stuck under the bike..... I finally got out and my leg was hurting...BAD! The ambulance pulls down there and they figure that my leg is broken and want to transport me to the hospital. The closest hospital was in West Plains, MO...about 1.5 hours from my house...so I tell them that I want to go home, and go to my hospital. My friends load up my truck and I head out on the drive home...calling my wife and telling her that to get a baby sitter, as we are heading to the ER when I get there. I get home and take a shower and change... My ankle was what hurt the most. The ER doc said that it looks like it got VERY twisted, because it broke my leg in 3 spots right where the top of my boot was...
I was "finished" with MX...I had broken my wrist a year before and decided that I was too old (28) for that shit! Well, after a couple months of rehab, I was ready again and had the bug!!!!!
A couple years pass and I decided that 250C was the best class for me...then with 30 on the horizon, I was excited about a new class....and with the new found 4 strokes. I hit 30 and had a 2004 YZF450. It was the best thing I had ever ridden, and I was going faster than ever before....So I decide I was going to try for Ponca....at a qualifier in Tennessee, (for +30B maybe?) I got a very good start, I think there were 25-30 bikes lined up...I was in the top 5. I passed a couple in the first half of the first lap...then on a little 20 foot double I must have chopped the throttle....over the bars I went and I thought I was dying....I couldn't breath. It was the most scared I have ever been. When I finally got settled down, I felt a pain in my shoulder that I had never felt. Again the EMT's wanted me to go to the local hospital...nope.
We loaded the mini-van and trailer up, and the wife and kids and I headed home (4 hours) with a broken shoulder in tow...lol
Again, I was 'done'...no more of that shit!
The rehab on this one took about 6 months....and you guessed it, i was ready to ride again!!
Then I started (with my partner DirtBikeMike) the Mountain Home Faircross. It had been my dream to promote a race in the local fairgrounds rodeo arena. The first year we did this, we had 50 racers and maybe 500 people in the stands. Our goal was to not lose money...and we didn't...but we didn't make any either. The local support was INSANE! I had people coming up to me at the grocery store asking when the next one was...and saying that they can't wait! We built an AX track pretty close to a national AX track (not quite a peaked). The years clicked by and we had 9 events in 10 years. The height of it was 150 racers and over 2500 fans at one event. We had some of the areas best racers attend as we paid a $3,000 pro purse..plus dash for cash...Chad Cook, Aaron and Adam Gulley, Corey Green, Sean Hackley, Blake Keaton, Lee Taylor, Brett Cue...are a few of the pros that have helped support our event. I would race every year as well...having fun with it. Well, the last couple years the weather has been crappy and I haven't even taken my bike off the stand... With the amount of complaining that I've received, and the lack of desire, I decided that last year was the last one that I will promote. It was a great run and was lots of fun...but I'm burnt out...with the work and the complainers. (my partner is going to continue to have one in Hot Springs in the fall)
The last 10 years I have ridden less and less with a few races mixed in here and there...
I have debated on selling my bike and gear...but it's a 2007 CRF450 that is super reliable...and doesn't eat a thing. So for now, I will keep it and just ride 3 or 4 times a year. Because the day after I sold it, I'd get the bug and want to go out and buy a brand new one!!!!! lol
(end blog)
I follow the sport because many of my earliest memories are from either at the track, or in the basement room where my dad worked out to be in better shape for motocross (while watching old races he had videotaped). That room is littered with the many trophies, photos, magazines, etc. that he has accumulated over the years. I swear I've thumbed through every damn magazine he has down there.
Since my early childhood, I've loved the sport, and something about it keeps pulling me back, whether its the jumps, the gnarly terrain, the speed, whatever. I enjoy riding too, but I can't race anymore because of the blood thinning medication I take. It's just too dangerous. That's a very hard pill to swallow (pun intended) for a 24 year old male, but it's something I have to accept.
I have been and will continue to be a lifelong fan of this great sport. The purity of its spirit is unrivaled in today's era of flashy lights, hundred million dollar contracts, and made for TV events.
I've been riding dirt bikes ever since.
I miss him
The Shop
I'll never be without a dirt bike. Thinking of getting another 500AF and going super moto with it. And, also thinking of adding a dual sport to my house.
reading about "the man" in motocross action magazine and buying every issue from the grocery store with my lawn mowing money.
choosing marty smith to be my hero and trying to make my Yamaha mx125 look like an elsinore.
entering my first race and looping out trying to get a jump on the rubberband start gate.
learning to train and practice to get improved results
enjoying the camaraderie of fellow friends and racers
going crazy over the works bikes of the pros
got jobs in the industry as a mechanic at franchise dealers and then suspension tech at white bros to be close to the stars
basicly patterned my life around mx
the discipline, dedication and desire to succeed
love to ride, love the sport, love the lifestyle
mx rules......
First time on a bike ? Camping as a kid at Leo Carillo state park. My neighbor wanted to know if I wanted a ride on his Yamaha, I had no idea what a "Yamaha" even was. 10 minutes later it was all I wanted to do.
First time I saw an MX track and race ? We were at Escape Country for a BMX race, I heard the bikes go off and went over and stood at the fence,..... fuck the bicycle I want one of those. Downhill ever since
I know if you ask someone who doesn't ride the answer is easy, it's cause we're all fuckin nuts
For me, it started because I was raised in the Mojave Desert in the 1960s and 1970s. MX and dirt bikes were practically a rite of passage. I had friends that had mini-bikes and one with a Yamaha that had a red tank like the bigger DT models. I think it was a 60?
Well, my mom and dad wanted nothing to do with it. I finally saved up enough money to buy a 1974 YZ80 (I think it was a '74). I bought it used and rode it constantly. I remember hitting a chain stretched across a dirt road behind the local high school. It was getting dark and I didn't see it until the last second. I was able to lay it down, but it still caught the throttle side of the handle bars and tore off the throttle on its way to catching me under my right arm and then my right chest. It wouldn't shift anymore either. I rode it home pulling on the nub of throttle cable that was still sticking out of the cable end - in 2nd gear. Those were the days. Not sure what happened to that bike.
I had a close friend once I got into high school, and he had a brand new RM125B in early '77. I would tag along with them to all the races, at Indian Dunes, Sprocket's Park, Bishop, Adelanto, Edwards, and a few others I can't remember anymore. However, I never did get to race as I didn't have a bike. I finally bought a used RM250B around '78, but never raced that either - I was too scared. I did learn a bunch about maintenance though as the gear box broke on me and I helped my high school shop teacher do the repair. Finally, in 1979, my friend with the RM125 had graduated to a '79 RM250N - but dope became his priority - so his dad (whom I'd grown close to) sold it to me for like $700. It was practically new. I never raced it either - still too scared. I don't remember what happened to either 250. Weird how that works.
Anyhow, I went on active duty after high school and did not even see a dirt bike for 6 years. I was sent here to Florida and figured no one in Florida even knew what a dirt bike was - let alone MX. Boy was I wrong. 1986 rolls around and I want to move back to Cali after my second tour was up in 1987. My Florida-born wife was like, "The desert? Uh, I'd really rather not." My diabolical plan was soon hatched and came out in this form, "I'll stay here if you'll agree to my getting a brand new '86 CR125." It worked! I finally worked up enough courage to start racing when I met some guys at a local riding area (remember those - they were free!) and got to be buds with a guy that wanted to race his YZ490 (insanity!). So we did. I was hooked. I then bought an '87 CR125 and found bliss. I raced all of the time. I was finally getting pretty good at 125C and even led some motos. Something would always happen though. Like a flat-tire, or one time when I installed the handlebar clamps with the arrow pointing the wrong way and my bars went down into my knees. It was always something. I won some plastic and marble gee-gaws here and there and had a lot of fun and met some of the best people in my life.
I bought an '88 RM250 and raced that a few times, then bought an '89 YZ250 and raced that a few times. By now I had 2 sons to go along with that sweet Florida girl I'd married. I started thinking about getting hurt and all that, so I sold the YZ around 1993 and thought it was all over.
20 years go by and I'm 51 (that was almost two years ago now). I get the wild-hair again. My still pretty and sweet Florida girl says, "Have you lost your freaking mind!?!?" when I tell her I want to ride and race again. But, being who she is, finally said, "If you really want to, then I'm behind you 100%." So, here I am again.
What I love about our sport is the people you meet and the friends you make. I also really dig the technical aspect of our sport. I like that there are techniques to going faster, and I like trying to figure them out and practice them.
I miss those days out in my little desert town where I could ride to the end of the street and have miles of open desert in front of me. After I retire in 3 years, maybe I can make that happen again. It won't be Cali, but I think Idaho or Wyoming will do.
I watch others race(sx, nationals) because they can do it better then me and I appreciate that.
Riding bikes with motors has taken me all over the world and allowed me to meet some great people in this sport!
sumdood, that guy in your avatar, I've had the pleasure of riding with him in Chile, NZ and Baja...even spent a week in Riverside at his home.
One time I had over 80 vintage bikes and many modern bikes. Today I'm down to a few of each and get great enjoyment out of working on them
Pit Row
It goes why beyond the bike itself, it gives me the opportunity to see things in life that most guys over look, a boring hillside to them has a different meaning to me, most things to me look like a jump, berm or obstacal to overcome. I've seen streams, hillside and mountains that only a handful have. It has taken me to towns and places I otherwise wouldn't have ever gone before. It has given me the oportunity to forge friendships in so many different places and so many different cities. The friendships I have made through riding will be friendships that will last a life time because of one common interest, The Bike. There is no social or economic class among riding friends, they just know they like to ride. The Bike has pushed me physically and mentally much further and harder then any stick and ball sport ever could have. and now, riding with my son bring me more joy then I ever thought it could.
Crashing and injuries are apart of riding, one minute you're having the best day of your life, and the next you're waking up on the way to the hospital. These are risk I'm willing to take to get better on The Bike, and Its the times I'm hurt, and the times I can't ride that I learn to appreciate riding more.
When I ride, I have no stress, no worries and nobady judging me, its just me and my bike pushing myself beyond what I'm capable of.
Riding has taken me places I wouldn't have gone before and has allowed me to forge friendships I would'nt otherwise have, but its also given me a whole different way of seeing things, I see things in a different perspective then most my age, all because of The Bike. I ride for all these reasons, but the biggest reason is that everytime I ride, I smile, and that is why I ride.
Well, that...and I've always had a thing for anything naked, fast, shiny, and loud.
I don't like the getting hurt or others getting hurt but overall it's just so fun I can't stay away.
That progressed to me buying a YZ 125 and that was it.. Dozens of bikes and tens of thousands of dollars later I rode through my 20s, 30s and early 40s.
I no longer ride but still follow avidly.
And watching fast guys do on a bike things I can only dream about keeps me hooked as a fan.
To Huck's OP... tl;dr
Stick and ball sports just suck ass to me.
I was fortunate enough to have a lot of friends (10) who their fathers also bought them motorbikes as money was really good in this town.
My life was basically school go home get on my bike ride out of my backyard and go into the bush to the local motocross track with a friend and come back at dark... I have no idea why my parents let me go out by myself I guess they trusted me.
Then when I was 9 I got a 1999 KX80 that's when it really started getting fun, I was the fastest kid in the town and I would beat most adults who would ride on the track, When I was 11 my family moved to one of Australia's capital cities called Perth.
Being a country kid I was a pretty shy person I only knew my friends I had back at home that I've known for 8 years, my first day at school in Perth I met my first friend who just so happened to race motocross so I got my dad to sign me up to the local motocross league, I went to practice with my friend and his Dad at my new local motocross track and I was pretty shocked to see the track it was much more difficult then the one back home and I kinda realised I wasnt the fastest kid anymore lol but at the time I still thought I was good and I didnt need practice to race, at my first 80cc race I got my ass handed to me and as some kids who think they are kings I had a big cry about how I lost.
I raced a few more times I got better I made it to B grade but I hated losing and for some reason I gave up my passion for videogames and take away which pretty much screwed my life for 10 years. Today I'm 24 and I really want to get back into it this time with a more mature and positive mindset, Im currently am saving for KTM150sx.
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