this is a story long time coming. its about my kid and his desire to race. ive been holding him back for some time now. we trail ride mostly but he has been to a couple of track practices. if you were at dirtweek last year, he was the kid on the xr70 that never got off his bike. we ride once or twice a month so when he gets the chance, he really rides :laugh: .
mx547(jay) has a daughter(kendell) who has been racing for sometime and is involved with lots of kids in the classes that she races in. he also is hooked up with lots of oklahoma mxrs. he and john wolf(former pro) decided to do a mx school for kids. stephen(my kid) was invited by mx547 and after a consult with mom we decided that now was a good time to turn him loose. jay also suggested that after the school that we hit extremeworld mx park that night to race. hmmmm..............opportunity to learn and race in the same day.........perfect. stephen would actually have a chance to use what he just learned.
we loaded up the truck bright and early sat morning and made the 200 mile journey to oklahoma. the class was to be held at hickory ridge raceway. he slept while i drove. imagine that. we get there and unload quickly as we were the last ones there. i brought my bike but i was under orders not to ride. i had an untimely injury last summer 10 days before a hiking trip and ruined three other peoples vacation. that same hiking trip is going to happen in two weeks. it was so tempting to ride because the track had a very cool layout. john started with a meet and greet. then we moved to the basic stuff about riding. stephen, like all 11 yr olds, was listening but anxious to ride. that came soon enough and they hit a grass track that had been set up to work on turns. its funny how kids listen to other people. stuff ive been telling him for years was ignored until another adult told him. he was tearing up the grass track. even sliding the rear a bit with the throttle. then he wadded it with the classic high side. he bounces up but the bike is dinged. throttle is jammed and bars bent. i do my best chad watts and get the throttle working but the bar looks like it has a flat tracker bend to it now. i roll the bar forward and tell him thats the best we can do for now. he picks the grass out of his visor and returns to the action.
while the kids are riding, jay says ok lets see what i can do. he wants to ride my cr (which used to be his). im anxious for him because this is the first dirt attempt since our famous dual injury race last july. ive recovered well but jay has had a tough time of it. he suits up but has forgotten his boots. i have small feet but we try my boots anyway. no go. fortunate for us, one of the kids in the mx class has a dad who rides and had his gear bag. boots end up being a little big but they will work. i kick it off for him because he doesnt think it would be possible. off he goes and its not long before he is getting around pretty good. he comes in after 15 min or so and im watching his face for wincing and pain. he says it feels better than he thought it would. later in the day he goes for a second session and comes off more tired than in pain. the kids work on starts and braking techniques the rest of the class. before you know it, it is time to load up and head over to the track.
extreme world is a very nice facility. great looking track. i was really wanting to ride now but pracitced lots of restraint. stephen was taking in what i was telling him about learning the track in practice before he tried to go fast. after practice we went to sign up and thought that we would put him in 60 begginer to keep him out of trouble. problem was there was no 60 begginer. that left us with 60 9-11yr. not the ideal but it would do. those of you around the mx scene know that some of those 11 yr olds in the 60 class might as well be jeff emig. lucky for us there was a kid in the class on a newer xr70. that made me feel better that stephen would be racing someone on similar equipment. as you know the xr70 is a great trail bike but mx is not its strong point. nobody has ever told stephen that. he jumps it........hard enough that you can hear it bottom out from across the track. i think my mountain bike has more suspension than that bike.
first moto comes up and i am the camera man. i ask jay to go to the line with him and give him some direction. its a split gate and stephen has been told to pick a gate away from everybody else. the gate drops and off he goes. the real 60s are gone but him and the other xr are side by side. coming out of a corner on the other side of the track his bike dies. i see him through the viewfinder kicking like crazy. his bike is bulletproof. just add gas and change the oil. the only thing that slows it down is when it gets a flat. i feel helpless and i notice jay hobbling across the track. now i really feel bad. one of the corner workers runs over there and kicks it hard and it starts. stephen is way behind but twists the throttle and makes chase. as he comes around the first lap. the bike sounds awful. banging out and running really bad. the race concludes and i make my way back to the pit. i get there as he is pulling off his helmet. he has a look of dissapointment and tells me something is wrong with the bike. i apologize and start looking over the bike. the choke is on. nobody knows how it happened but with a flick of the choke lever the xr is running at its ability.
kendell (jays daughter) lines up with the boys of summer(80 beg) and gets a less than perfect start. as a matter of fact she decides to give them a 40 yd head start. she gets it fired back up and tears after them. she ends up passing half the field by the end of the moto.
its later in the evening and time for second round of motos. john wolf (mx teacher) is at the track and is going to the line with the kids he just had in class. jay tells stephen that he needs to beat the kid on the other xr to get a trophy. stephen takes note and buckles his lid on and makes his way to the line. john gives stephen the thumbs up and i am in the stands filming. gate drops and off they go. the other xr gets to the corner first and has a lead but stephen uses an alternate line and takes the inside in a corner and makes a clean pass. slowly but surely stephen pulls away. im crossing my fingers that he stays upright. 4 laps later its all over and stephen takes the checkers. he goes 6/5 for 5th overall and gets the last trophy. you would of thought that thing was made of gold the way he was staring at it. i did a post race interview and he announced that when he grows up he wants to be a pro racer or a...........freestyler!!
kendell lines up for her second moto which there are 19 in class. the gate drops and away they go. she gets a better start but still is looking at more in front of her than behind her. she starts picking them off again and finishes well. im going to start calling her larocco for her run from behind antics.
to say the weekend was a success would be an understatment. son got his first real race under his belt. jay got on a dirtbike and lastly, nobody got hurt.
mx547(jay) has a daughter(kendell) who has been racing for sometime and is involved with lots of kids in the classes that she races in. he also is hooked up with lots of oklahoma mxrs. he and john wolf(former pro) decided to do a mx school for kids. stephen(my kid) was invited by mx547 and after a consult with mom we decided that now was a good time to turn him loose. jay also suggested that after the school that we hit extremeworld mx park that night to race. hmmmm..............opportunity to learn and race in the same day.........perfect. stephen would actually have a chance to use what he just learned.
we loaded up the truck bright and early sat morning and made the 200 mile journey to oklahoma. the class was to be held at hickory ridge raceway. he slept while i drove. imagine that. we get there and unload quickly as we were the last ones there. i brought my bike but i was under orders not to ride. i had an untimely injury last summer 10 days before a hiking trip and ruined three other peoples vacation. that same hiking trip is going to happen in two weeks. it was so tempting to ride because the track had a very cool layout. john started with a meet and greet. then we moved to the basic stuff about riding. stephen, like all 11 yr olds, was listening but anxious to ride. that came soon enough and they hit a grass track that had been set up to work on turns. its funny how kids listen to other people. stuff ive been telling him for years was ignored until another adult told him. he was tearing up the grass track. even sliding the rear a bit with the throttle. then he wadded it with the classic high side. he bounces up but the bike is dinged. throttle is jammed and bars bent. i do my best chad watts and get the throttle working but the bar looks like it has a flat tracker bend to it now. i roll the bar forward and tell him thats the best we can do for now. he picks the grass out of his visor and returns to the action.
while the kids are riding, jay says ok lets see what i can do. he wants to ride my cr (which used to be his). im anxious for him because this is the first dirt attempt since our famous dual injury race last july. ive recovered well but jay has had a tough time of it. he suits up but has forgotten his boots. i have small feet but we try my boots anyway. no go. fortunate for us, one of the kids in the mx class has a dad who rides and had his gear bag. boots end up being a little big but they will work. i kick it off for him because he doesnt think it would be possible. off he goes and its not long before he is getting around pretty good. he comes in after 15 min or so and im watching his face for wincing and pain. he says it feels better than he thought it would. later in the day he goes for a second session and comes off more tired than in pain. the kids work on starts and braking techniques the rest of the class. before you know it, it is time to load up and head over to the track.
extreme world is a very nice facility. great looking track. i was really wanting to ride now but pracitced lots of restraint. stephen was taking in what i was telling him about learning the track in practice before he tried to go fast. after practice we went to sign up and thought that we would put him in 60 begginer to keep him out of trouble. problem was there was no 60 begginer. that left us with 60 9-11yr. not the ideal but it would do. those of you around the mx scene know that some of those 11 yr olds in the 60 class might as well be jeff emig. lucky for us there was a kid in the class on a newer xr70. that made me feel better that stephen would be racing someone on similar equipment. as you know the xr70 is a great trail bike but mx is not its strong point. nobody has ever told stephen that. he jumps it........hard enough that you can hear it bottom out from across the track. i think my mountain bike has more suspension than that bike.
first moto comes up and i am the camera man. i ask jay to go to the line with him and give him some direction. its a split gate and stephen has been told to pick a gate away from everybody else. the gate drops and off he goes. the real 60s are gone but him and the other xr are side by side. coming out of a corner on the other side of the track his bike dies. i see him through the viewfinder kicking like crazy. his bike is bulletproof. just add gas and change the oil. the only thing that slows it down is when it gets a flat. i feel helpless and i notice jay hobbling across the track. now i really feel bad. one of the corner workers runs over there and kicks it hard and it starts. stephen is way behind but twists the throttle and makes chase. as he comes around the first lap. the bike sounds awful. banging out and running really bad. the race concludes and i make my way back to the pit. i get there as he is pulling off his helmet. he has a look of dissapointment and tells me something is wrong with the bike. i apologize and start looking over the bike. the choke is on. nobody knows how it happened but with a flick of the choke lever the xr is running at its ability.
kendell (jays daughter) lines up with the boys of summer(80 beg) and gets a less than perfect start. as a matter of fact she decides to give them a 40 yd head start. she gets it fired back up and tears after them. she ends up passing half the field by the end of the moto.
its later in the evening and time for second round of motos. john wolf (mx teacher) is at the track and is going to the line with the kids he just had in class. jay tells stephen that he needs to beat the kid on the other xr to get a trophy. stephen takes note and buckles his lid on and makes his way to the line. john gives stephen the thumbs up and i am in the stands filming. gate drops and off they go. the other xr gets to the corner first and has a lead but stephen uses an alternate line and takes the inside in a corner and makes a clean pass. slowly but surely stephen pulls away. im crossing my fingers that he stays upright. 4 laps later its all over and stephen takes the checkers. he goes 6/5 for 5th overall and gets the last trophy. you would of thought that thing was made of gold the way he was staring at it. i did a post race interview and he announced that when he grows up he wants to be a pro racer or a...........freestyler!!
kendell lines up for her second moto which there are 19 in class. the gate drops and away they go. she gets a better start but still is looking at more in front of her than behind her. she starts picking them off again and finishes well. im going to start calling her larocco for her run from behind antics.
to say the weekend was a success would be an understatment. son got his first real race under his belt. jay got on a dirtbike and lastly, nobody got hurt.
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