Proud MX Dad Moments

When i started riding, my dad would always scream to me, you have to do this, you have to do that...
When at 13yo i jumped on the 125 i told him to wear my boots and spin a couple laps... as soon as he got out he asked sorry like a milion times.
From that day on he aways just watched me and said great things.
I started at 9yo, did my first race at 15, podiumed and won some times... now im 20 and due to job i don't race anymore but every weekend we go training together... He never told me anything bad or screamed at me after he rode that time.
I should ask him if he has any proud moment, but im'm sure as hell he does have some.

Yesterday training.

I’m of course proud of my sons accomplishments on the track. He’s improving every ride and gives me pure joy to watch and ride with. We aren’t Loretta’s bound quite yet and may never be and that’s perfectly ok. What I’m most proud of is the things I see him do off the track. From his school work to how he treats other riders and their families. It’s amazing to watch. Fathers sometimes focus too much on track results and not the men they’re raising after the race is over.

My 7 yr old has made a lot of progress this year. He has gotten fast on the smaller tracks he is familiar with. He is not yet ready to race, but hoping next year. I am easing him into it…

Also, he has become completely obsessed with motocross (modercross as he spells it). Watches mx videos and races all the time, writes about mx at school, wears his jerseys to school, quizzes me on the riders numbers, and constantly wants to ride- I partly credit The Deagans YouTube channel for this as he’s become a huge Haiden fan. That’s moved to The Craigs and Reed family.

The best part is I can now ride and race more because I bring my son with- it’s no longer me “leaving the family” behind.

Watching my twins battle each other for Australian pro open champion

I’ve had quite a few with my 6 year old already just over that last year that he really started riding. The biggest proud moment though is just seeing him come off the track with a huge smile on his face talking about how much fun it was, how he didn’t want to stop and then going over everything he just did on the track.

He had his first race back in August and ended up second in his class. He had so much fun that after his second moto he asked if he could go race again in the second moto of the 50 Open. We had to run up to sign up to ask if he could race it and that kid was so happy to get back to the gate again. Starts improved each time the gate dropped. After the races were done they allowed everyone to go out and ride until they had to shut the lights off and of course my son wanted to spin more laps. He ended up getting a plaque for his 2nd overall and held it in his arms as he slept the whole way home.

He hasn’t ridden much the last 4 months due to some unfortunate circumstances, but we were able to take him out a few weeks ago and it was like he hadn’t missed a day off the bike. For not much riding or experience, the kid does things that usually don’t come until much later. We asked him where he learned to do those things since we didn’t teach them to him and his response was “watching supercross.” We actually have to teach him how to use the rear brake a bit because he exclusively uses the front.

He isn’t the slowest kid, but he also definitely isn’t the fastest. I don’t need him to go to Loretta’s or make it to A/B, I just need him never lose that smile and feeling he gets while riding and I’ll forever be proud of him on his bike.

I was actually pretty proud of my son when he was honest enough with me to tell me that he wasn’t as into moto as much as I was. He had raced his KX65 a couple of times (we rode most weekends, not raced), and I had just picked up a clean, rebuilt RM85 for him to start getting used to. He had the confidence to sit down and talk to me about liking board sports much better than moto at 10 years old, he never had a meltdown at the track or out on the trail. We still rode together a few times over the next year but he never lined up behind a gate again (except for some downhill snowboard races). Sold our bikes and started getting better skate and snowboards from that time forward.

Now he’s 27, 6 months from his PhD, skateboards and rock climbs every chance he gets, and says that he’s wanting to get a bike after he finds out where his postdoctoral position will be. I’m glad that he didn’t just go along for fear of talking about it to me, if he’d have gotten seriously hurt doing something that I ‘forced’ on him, it would have ruined me.

My son raced serious from 7 until he was 17. On the way back from “the ranch”, during our 2000 mile journey from Loretta Lynn’s amateur national championship in the super duty my son turned to me and said “dad I better go to college”. That was the most proud day of our racing adventures.
The bond that MX built between us is remarkable.
The road trips of the highs and lows is the best days of my life.
College was cheaper than his motocross career by far. Especially since UPS kicked in on the cost.
He did become a local pro but by the time he was 21 his career and chasing girls took over.
Even racing at the local pro level he did have that moment of “welcome to the pros” racing for a small purse $$$. Made me laugh my ass off, that’s a story in itself.
He is now a top dog at a well know distribution company making an outstanding living.

I always taught my son “risk versus reward” from a young age. Even with the stock market
The discipline, eating healthy and exercise mentality he still has thanks to the sport.

There were also many proud moments and memories of him winning local races and local series.

My Mom and Dad and I at LL in 2001.

Who wins in a fight?

Always been a proud dad, mini’s right up through the big bikes. He’s owned just about every brand under the sun.