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When did riding/racing really take a backseat to your school/career goals?
I'm 20 years old and currently finishing my sophomore year of college up pursuing a bachelors in mechanical engineering and it really has just now clicked that riding/racing is not a priority for me at the moment. I ended up having a pretty nasty compound humorous fracture last fall and the entire time I was out all I could think about was getting back on the bike and riding. Once I ended up getting back on the bike about a month ago had a super rough time with my arm and after trying to ride about 5 time and my arm feeling worse and worse each ride. At this point I put riding on the back burner to focus on school and getting my arm better.
Throughout this time I started thinking more and more about my career goals and started thinking about what I want to do and where I want to go in life. At this point pretty much all of my competitive drive that I previously put into racing transferred over to my school work. I still love dirt bikes to death, but it is a bit of a different relationship now. Now I don't mind giving up my weekends to go study or do school work rather than ride.
Currently I plan to get my private pilot license this summer, and I want to pursue a masters and a most likely a PhD in a mechanical engineering related field. I'm doing all this to work to get towards my goal of working in the aerospace industry doing research base work. Also aviation has become a really keen interest throughout this time.
Anyways, bit of a long post, I just wanted to hear yall's experiences. Because Looking at my goals now, breaking my humorous could turn out to be the best thing to ever happen to me career wise.
I'm 20 years old and currently finishing my sophomore year of college up pursuing a bachelors in mechanical engineering and it really has just now clicked that riding/racing is not a priority for me at the moment. I ended up having a pretty nasty compound humorous fracture last fall and the entire time I was out all I could think about was getting back on the bike and riding. Once I ended up getting back on the bike about a month ago had a super rough time with my arm and after trying to ride about 5 time and my arm feeling worse and worse each ride. At this point I put riding on the back burner to focus on school and getting my arm better.
Throughout this time I started thinking more and more about my career goals and started thinking about what I want to do and where I want to go in life. At this point pretty much all of my competitive drive that I previously put into racing transferred over to my school work. I still love dirt bikes to death, but it is a bit of a different relationship now. Now I don't mind giving up my weekends to go study or do school work rather than ride.
Currently I plan to get my private pilot license this summer, and I want to pursue a masters and a most likely a PhD in a mechanical engineering related field. I'm doing all this to work to get towards my goal of working in the aerospace industry doing research base work. Also aviation has become a really keen interest throughout this time.
Anyways, bit of a long post, I just wanted to hear yall's experiences. Because Looking at my goals now, breaking my humorous could turn out to be the best thing to ever happen to me career wise.
Definitely hit the books and work hard on that. You can always get back into it down the road. Just be sure to stay in somewhat decent shape!
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Racing is a lot like playing the mega millions lottery. A few win and hit that big $ one.
I have been told time and time again by a parent that my kid is going to be the next big one.
Every parent at Lorettas thinks there kid is going to be the next big one but in reality an extremely low under 1% ever land a team ride making decent $ and even less hit that 1 million $ mark.
How long does a privateer last out there chasing his dream? Eventually every one of them give up paying to chase that dream and go home to figure out what real job is going to be for the rest of their lives. Very Few have the education or training to do extremely well. A privateer with a college education is what about 1 in a million?
I know quite a few ex top 100 pros that now are landscapers. One thing they did learn was moving dirt around. One that I know well was a top team green rider that won lorettas but 1 injury took that big dream away and he owns a landscaping company. A few get jobs in the MC industry.
I was extremely surprised when The Beast From The East went to work for WPS. He was certainly one of those big $$$$ ones but then again he may have just been bored out there living the life.
I hopped on my dad’s bikes every now and then for about 10 years. I had two kids, built a career, then a business. Then, after a decade, I grabbed a bike and it’s been 2 years straight of me riding 50 hours a year or so. I’ve got my daughter on the track and this year we’re shooting for 100 Moto days this year.
I’m still fast enough to feel good, but smart enough to know when I need to back it down. I have money to spend on all the shit I used to have to beg, borrow, and steal for.
But my best advice, remove yourself from the sport for a little bit. A year or 3. Experience other things. In my time off, I found jiu jitsu and now that’s what I do for cross training. I fell in love with traveling for reasons outside of a race. But most importantly, there came a point when I truly missed the life and being at the track, no matter the end goal for me. Just being at the track 1-2 days a week is good for the soul, mental clarity, and your health if you don’t crash a ton.
It’s a great sport and it’ll never leave you, but it’s a big wide world out there and you should experience some of it outside of the MX world.
When I retired from the service I started school at University of Toledo
Got to my sophomore year in Computer Science and bought a bike.
Big mistake. I started racing/Riding and let my College go. Regrets? YEP
I raced a ton in 2019 but I have since been focusing on my career mostly. I’ve put about ten hours in my bike this year
I am getting near to 50 and have "retired" a couple of times to focus on riding and don't regret it one bit. I am also someone who wasn't willing to sell out for a career and have worked from home for the last 15 years while still making 6 figures.
But every dog has his day and I can say that finally I would rather work than ride. But if you are talking about trying to make a living riding, that's a tough one.
I got back into racing in 2010-13, had a serious injury happen and stopped racing. I still ride because I love it, I just don’t try to go fast anymore.
Pit Row
Seeing as how my folks bought my bikes, and most of my gear, I had no dog in that fight.
We traveled to the desert pretty much every other weekend, free of charge to my skinny ass.
Then when I turned 18, cars, freedom, surfing, and girls diluted the moto obsession.
As far as thinking it could be something that paid the bills anyway.
For me it was at 21. I had a baby on the way, got married and needed to really get things together. I was still riding somewhat regularly, but racing took a huge back seat. At 25 we had baby number 2 and riding had to take a back seat to getting things together so we could buy a house. 2018 finally bought a house and the riding is almost non existent at this point. 3-4 times a year is about average now.
I know it will come back around when the kids are older and all that. Once it does come back around, I’ll be riding and racing as much as possible. I love it and miss it a lot.
Whatever path you choose, ensure you have conviction. That's critical - and I didn't think in those terms until much later.
However, I’m fairly well rounded as far as knowing what life looks like beyond racing. It’s my favorite thing but not my only thing. I’ve been able to afford my share of it through freelancing as a social media marketer and doing a few other side jobs that fit my schedule. I’ve also turned down fairly solid scholarships to be closer to my dirt bike. Is this an immature mind set? I’m not sure. I’m lost more than a few people I know to depression or drugs and kind of resolved to keep the things that give me purpose and kept me healthy as close as possible. If racing is no longer giving you that joy or purpose then it may be time to hang it up but personally: My life is an experience and racing not being in it would severely dull the experience so it will never take a back seat.
Best of luck and honestly, this year has been the hardest for me as far as making sure I still have a direction I’m going beyond racing. Like I said, I’m not going pro, so I’m going to having to be a pro at something else to keep doing this. That understanding is why I go hard in the classroom though, without it, I’d be a C student.
Everyone here 100% LOVE riding a dirt bike otherwise we would not still be here!
I am in my 60’s and have had way too many serious injuries but I still cant wait to be able to throw my leg over the seat healthy again!
The decision was fairly easy as there was no way I could scrape together the dough to keep racing and go to school. I think that was the beginning of the family-as-sponsor era in the sport, as it was already becoming clear that the most competitive guys had someone else at least helping to write the checks necessary to be in the game. And so for the next seven years (undergrad then on to law school) I shelved the desire to get on a bike and did my best to enjoy the other lifestyle perks that come with the opportunity to live in the college world. But I still followed the sport, bought the magazines, and went to the races I could.
On the day after I graduated, I was at the bank, pulled a loan and had a new CR 250 in the garage the next day. I held off starting my new job for three months, and rode the wheels off that poor bike in the meantime. And I have been at it ever since.
Frankly, I think one of the most impressive features of motocross (and probably off road racing in general) is how it requires and builds a bunch of strong character elements in individuals. Over the course of my riding career, I've met hundreds people who have become extremely successful in life, and many of them are quick to give credit to MX as at least partly responsible for their success. Highly individualistic, intensely competitive and athletic on one hand, yet interactive and at least partly team-dependent on the other, motocross is an an excellent sport for bringing out the best in young people.
But I guess the problem with all that education is making schmucks like me write texts or emails (or whatever the hell this is) that are way too long. Sorry...
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