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Was just thinking how it used to be an every year event loading up about this time and heading to Steel City for Labor Day weekend. Damn shame the track is just a grass field now. I know Mike Jones lived beside it and probably has connections all over the place. Is there any way the track could ever be resurrected again?
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Edited Date/Time:
m.hardesty16 wrote:
Why is the track just a grass field now?
They leveled the whole track and returned the land to its original state.
From what I remember, over the hill of turn one there was a local water supply. EPA kept making it harder and harder on them to keep up with their requirements over concerns of erosion. I'm assuming making it more and more expensive and just being a pain in the ass to them until they had enough and closed the doors.
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Yup.. What greenmx5 said. DC has chimed in about it here before. This is how Steel City looks now a days
Positively, absolutely 110% obsessed with anything MOTO.
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At least it is a nice looking pasture. I'd buy a new tire to go rip some turns in that grass. :-)
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Went to the 09 and 2010 races. Loved that facility and being so close to Pittsburgh.
It amazes me how quick the grass grew right back. You cannot even tell their use to be a motocross track there.
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Being from Texas where everything is flat land. I enjoyed both Steel City and High Point races that I have attended.
High Point 97 in the mud where Bradshaw won. And Steel City in 2001 where Langston exploded his wheel.
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Yea I know, but it still amazes me that there was no erosion or any trouble trying to grow grass back. My point is treehuggers make it sound like we ruin the land and nothing can every grow back.
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I miss that place. Raced there a shit ton and attended most nationals from 97 till it got screwed. Mb60, I was also there the year GL blew up his wheel. I was standing in the finish line corner so I saw it pretty up close.
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jmx411 wrote:
Went to the 09 and 2010 races. Loved that facility and being so close to Pittsburgh.
It amazes me how quick the grass grew right back. You cannot even tell their use to be a motocross track there.
Exactly, nature is more powerful than anything we could possibly ever create, and for those idiots to think we are somehow stronger than nature is both ignorant and self righteous. Hell, have you seen what cows do to hillsides? A herd of cows can absolutely destroy a hillside on a scale a pack of bikes could only dream of.
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I still remember being there as RV passed Dungey in the last corner to win the moto after Dungey led from holeshot to last turn. That seemed to seal the deal on the whole season for RV with one more round left at Pala after that.
RV and Dungey finished a minute ahead of the rest of the field in both motos. It was incredible.
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early wrote:
They leveled the place and reclaimed the land.
jmx411 wrote:
Yea I know, but it still amazes me that there was no erosion or any trouble trying to grow grass back. My point is treehuggers make it sound like we ruin the land and nothing can every grow back.
JM485 wrote:
Exactly, nature is more powerful than anything we could possibly ever create, and for those idiots to think we are somehow stronger than nature is both ignorant and self righteous. Hell, have you seen what cows do to hillsides? A herd of cows can absolutely destroy a hillside on a scale a pack of bikes could only dream of.
The place didnt get back to looking like that on its own. It took thousands of dollars to look like that.
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jmx411 wrote:
Yea I know, but it still amazes me that there was no erosion or any trouble trying to grow grass back. My point is treehuggers make it sound like we ruin the land and nothing can every grow back.
JM485 wrote:
Exactly, nature is more powerful than anything we could possibly ever create, and for those idiots to think we are somehow stronger than nature is both ignorant and self righteous. Hell, have you seen what cows do to hillsides? A herd of cows can absolutely destroy a hillside on a scale a pack of bikes could only dream of.
early wrote:
The place didnt get back to looking like that on its own. It took thousands of dollars to look like that.
Aside from leveling jumps, do you really believe that the vegetation wouldn't take back over naturally over time? We've had areas catch on fire around here and get closed to riding, and you wouldn't believe how quickly the grass grew back since there was renewed neutriants in the ground, I'm talking like you wouldn't even know bikes were ever there after one season. Someone wasted a lot of money trying to speed up a natural process.
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