Posts
312
Joined
11/13/2006
Location
Chester Springs, PA
US
Edited Date/Time
1/21/2012 12:22pm
Remember when a journeyman local pro smoked the worlds absolute best at the '80 500 USGP @ Carlsbad? Riding a LOP sponsored YZ465, sporting an open faced vanilla KRW helmet (w/a red Jofa flapping to the side), Super SEER goggles, Griffs leathers and Esprit boots, Marty Moates became the first American to win the 500 USGP. Perhaps one of the greatest days in US moto history. I don't have a pic, but maybe GuyB can dig one up.
I read today that Marty took his life. I didn't know him or ever get the chance to meet him, but from all accounts he was one of the good guys in sport. A true hero in very sense. God Speed Marty!
I read today that Marty took his life. I didn't know him or ever get the chance to meet him, but from all accounts he was one of the good guys in sport. A true hero in very sense. God Speed Marty!
Great race!
The Shop
He said "its Marty" ,I said Marty who, he said "its Moates"
Holy shit ,man,what a bummer.
Best motocross event I have been to in 43 years of MX. The whole place went crazy as Marty beat the world's best. Incredible day.
Our plan was to ride at Saddleback on Friday. We got there around 9:00am. There was nobody there. The track was not prepped and so dry, slick and dusty. But we were having fun and couldn't believe we were riding at the famed Saddleback Park. We were setting taking a break. I looked over and in distance I saw a yellow Suzuki Box van coming in. They parked next to us and it was Bryan Myerscough. He was going to ride the 250 factory bike with the brand new Full Floater rear suspension. His mechanic Chris Haines was really cool and talked to us about it. Bryan was going to ride the support class at Carlsbad. It was a really cool day to hang out with Bryan and Chris. Bryan ended up winning the support class that weekend.
We drove back down to Carlsbad late that afternoon. We tried to sleep in one of the parking lots at the beach but a cop came up and tapped on our window and said we couldn't sleep there. We told him we were there for the GP and he said to go park behind the Dennys on Palomar road. He said a lot of people park there the night before.
When we got there it was around 10:00pm and the parking lot was full with people partying. It was crazy. We found a spot to park. We got our sleeping bags out and laid them behind my van and tried to get some sleep. In the morning when I got up, I looked over at my brother-in-law and there was a big dog turd about 4 inches from his face. I started laughing and he woke up. He freaked out and it was hilarious. We ate our customary V8 and Pop Tart for breakfast just like we had for dinner the night before and loaded up to go to the track. As I went to get in my van I noticed that the front tire had a big cartoon like bulge on the inside. I had a flat spare so I had to just drive it anyway (you know young and dumb).
We get to track around 7:30am and it was already getting really hot. We got our tickets and they handed us a little American flag. We went down to the pit gate. We got to meet Roger DeCoster and I had him sign a scrap book I made of him. He probably thought I was a stalker. We saw Brad Lackey and Hieki Mikola (I know that's not even close to the right spelling). It was amazing.
We walked the track during practice and I was in total amazement of the bikes and the riders. I remember telling my brother-in-law that Marty Moats looks really fast. He really stood out. When the first moto started Marty had the lead when he got to where we were. The crowed was going crazy. For the whole moto we waved those little American flags and I was yelling every time he came by. When the second moto started and there he was again at the front I couldn't believe it. What an amazing day that tops my all time moto events.
When we got back in the van to drive home Sunday evening, we were so tired, hot, hungry. We headed out and stopped at a McDonalds. We had a couple dollars on us (counting our change). We got two plain burgers and one fry. They were doing the pull the tab off each item and you could win something. We pulled the tabs off and won two more burgers and another fry. We were so happy. A plain McDonalds burger never tasted so good.
Once we got on the road, all I could think of was my front tire. I had a six hour drive back to Phoenix and I white knuckled all the way there waiting for the front tire to blow. It never did.
That was a weekend I will never forget. I still have the original ticket, program and that little American flag plus all those great memories.
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