On the occasion of the 2010 Washougal national I’ve dug thru my old slides and posted a few of my shots, (34), from the first Washougal national in 1980. You can see the shots on this web page,

http://www.100megsfree3.com/ahrmanw/Stuff.htm

Some of these shots have never been seen before except by me and a few of my old moto-cross buddies.

There’s some great pics here. There aren’t any captions but if you use Microsoft Internet Explorer to view the thumbnail page you’ll see a title/description pop-up (this doesn’t work in Firefox.) Click the link above or click the photo to visit Reese’s photo page.

In case you don’t know, launching a privateer effort into the AMA Lucas Oil Outdoor Motocross Championships is a daunting proposition – especially if you’ve never done it before. Especially if you’re developing a brand new bike with some brand new technology. Especially if your whole team is a grassroots effort pulled together with some buddies.

So the team has had a few missteps and setbacks. They missed Freestone because they just weren’t ready. They missed Budds Creek because they didn’t get their entry in on time. Then at Red Bud they suffered a freak mechanical on the first lap of practice that ruined their day.

But the team is staying on task and on track to make their debut at Unadilla, followed by appearances at Southwick and Steel City. It would be great if they could get in more than three rounds this year, but budget is the biggest barrier. It’s really expensive to travel cross-country to make rounds in the western half of the US.

Still, the team has the chance to make an impact and get some attention. Based on the interview there are plans to add more riders for next year. Who knows, with the economy the way it is, there will likely be some excellent talent without a seat when the silly season music stops.

A top privateer like Kyle Regal just might be looking for a ride. You never know.

Wouldn’t it be great to see a Team Warthog-style privateer effort based on two-strokes? The only option today, given the AMA’s homologation rules, is the YZ250, but that could change.

In any case, it will be exciting to see the two-smoker on the track. Best wishes to Mike, John, and Todd at Unadilla.

Announcement at RacerX Online

For more detail read the entire post at the link above, but here is an excerpt:

In an unprecedented move Spring Creek MX Park, home to the Millville National Pro Motocross race, has teamed up with the Mayo Clinic of Rochester to study motocross injuries – specifically concussions.  In a study done at the Mayo Clinic last year, it was discovered that roughly thirty percent of the injuries in motocross are concussions.  The goals  of the study are to study concussion occurrence and set up protocols for  returning to racing safely. The factor that makes this so ground breaking is the fact that this study team consists of an old but avid motocross racer, orthopedic surgeons that are interested in the sport,  and one of the countries’ leading concussion specialists…

This is great news. For far too long we — riders, racers, managers, promoters, and fans — have simply accepted injuries in the sport and, it seems to me, purposely avoided looking at them too closely due to a misguided  fear of liability.

I just don’t see how that’s a viable approach in this day and age, given all the technology and tools available to us. I’m very excited to see this new effort launched. Let’s hope there are more.

It looked like we’d get the track back about 5:30 when a break in the rains came, but no sooner did they get it back in shape when another cloud burst hit and had rivers running through the course again. The red clay that makes up all the night track just doesn’t do well when you get that much water at once, and the night race had to be canceled.

The upside was that the track was perfect for Sunday. While the clay turns to snot immediately after so much rain, it only takes a few hours for it to turn around and be in primo condition.

Over 450 rider entries were signed up for Sunday, and it was the best racing I’ve seen so far this year. There was a decent Pro class turnout as well, with a couple of local boys — Scotty Wennerstrom (250) and Bobby Moore (450) — taking top honors.

Note to #17 in the 125/250F Novice class — you da man! I don’t know who you are, but I watched as you turned around backwards at the starting gate and then worked your way through the pack both motos. A crash in Moto 1 kept you from finishing very high, and I didn’t see where you finished in Moto 2, but I’m pretty sure you were Top 5 out of 20+ riders. Way to go. That’s a real racer.

At first I thought “cherry picker.” But I was wrong. There are a lot of reasons why you stay in a class — especially if you signed up in Novice for something like Loretta’s early in the year. Whoever this kid was, he was working it and gunning to make himself better. I admire that. Good job.

Note to the College Boy rider running in 12th or 14th or whatever — the one doing feeble nac-nacs off the table top. Last time I checked no one awarded style points for racing, and you wouldn’t have won any anyway. Do yourself a favor — put your bike in the back of your truck, put your flat-bill hat on, and go to the club where you can pretend you’re a racer. At least there the chicks may wonder if your lying, but they won’t know for sure. Oh, and next time you take a break from playing MX vs. ATV on your X-Box go read this.

Also of note, there was a bad-ass 45+ rider on a YZ250. I don’t remember his name, but he was from Conroe, TX. Number 255. The dude rode 35+ (1-1), 40+ (1-1) and 45+ (2-DNS). There was some competition in those classes, too. He was battling with 3-4 guys in each class for the top spot. In the heat. So he bailed on his sixth moto of the day. Who cares. This guy’s an iron man. I didn’t do anything but stand around waving flags all day in that heat, and I was beat.

All-in-all it was a good weekend. No ambulance runs, no big get-offs. Looked like everyone had a good time. See you next month for Round 2 on August 14-15.

This report is unconfirmed and based on this RacerX article. I also found this post from June 2006 and this LinkedIn profile for Bruce Whitehead.

Based on these sources the property on which the track sits is part of WB Ranch, a property owned by a limited partnership with Bruce Whitehead listed as General Partner.

Whitehead is a hunting enthusiast and investor and it appears the property is being converted into something that can make more money — a managed hunting preserve, corporate retreat, and housing development.

Whitehead does not feel that motocross is compatible with these activities. The track, races, and blue-collar RV camping are probably putting a crimp in his ability to sell  $200,000 housing lots. Well, it is America and we are not (yet) communists here.

It looks like Whitehead’s group has run the ranch since 2000 and allowed the track to remain operational under the supervision of Dave Martin (of Honda of Houston and managing partner of Moto-Mgmt. LP) until 2006.

In June 2006 the track operating lease was transferred from Martin’s Moto-Mgmt. group to Allan and Jamie McWilliams of Millcreek Race Promotions.  Millcreek operated Lake Whitney MX, along with other racing facilities, from 2007-2010.

I haven’t been to Whitney since the late ’80s but am told the facility had suffered from economic neglect for the last several years and was in serious need of modern upgrades. Some riders indicated this was just the last nail in a coffin built 10 years ago when Whitehead took over the property.

That’s unfortunate as Whitney was Mecca for Texas motocross racers in the ’70s and ’80s. I personally witnessed John Banks hammering the lower section of track by the river bank on a thundering CCM at a Trans-AMA race in ‘76 or ‘77. I also attended a number of AMA Nationals there.

My high school friend Tom Holtan (AMA #516 in the early ’80s) got blown off the track by Kent Howerton during practice at one National at Whitney and was never quite the same afterward.

I hate to see this change, especially given that the heir apparent track is Freestone County Raceway which qualifies as a motocross track only under the broadest, most wildly optimistic definition of the word. But time moves on.

Lake Whitney Cycle Ranch may no longer exist, but the memories will live on. And who knows, some corporate fat cat may still hear the rumble of John Banks’ CCM as he putts his little golf cart along the river where the Men of Motocross once ruled.

It’s a little sad, really. The local amateur ranks have always had a fair number of squids and spodes. Learning to go fast on a dirt bike isn’t easy, and some people just don’t have what it takes. And some of the guys are just getting started and will get better. But what I’ve seen lately is really disappointing.

What, specifically, is the problem? Scrubs.

Yes, the venerable Bubba Scrub seems to be the only thing these kids practice. I watched innumerable kids in the D (beginner,) C (novice,) and even B (intermediate) classes scrubbing pathetically off every single jump. 40 of the day’s 44 motos looked like practice sessions, with riders (not racers) strung single-file around the track practicing jumps. What a joke.

I watched some kid moving rapidly from a top-3 start to a bottom-10 finish doing his very best Bubba imitation off every jump while getting passed by someone every lap. It was retarded.

Dozens of wannabe racers had the temerity to throw their head sideways (because that’s the best they could manage) off every jump, trying to look cool, while falling down anywhere on the track that actually required skill. Sandy whoops? Crash. Turns? Crash.

Basically, if the track wasn’t a smooth, flat, hard-pack straight and launching ramp (which most of the track was) these kids bailed off at a hilarious rate.

I admit that back in the day we got caught up doing cross-ups and stuff. We all wanted to look good. But we at least had the decency and self awareness to recognize that looking good while losing was not cool.

My friends and I wanted to win, and if we weren’t winning — or at least passing people and moving forward – we ditched the showiness and focused on actually going faster.

Later I went home and took a look at the track photos on the websites of the tracks hosting this year’s Texas Series. All the tracks look just like our local facility — a bomb crater (or cow pasture) with a bunch of flat, smooth straights leading to bulldozer jumps.

I guess the market gets what it wants, and if the market doesn’t want tracks that demand actual riding skills, then the tracks will give them what they want to stay in business.

Call me an old fogey if you want, but this is not me bitching about change. Change is fine. Change is different from decline. Change is different from dumbing down.

What happened to being racers? What happened to being cool by winning? When did motocross racing become a whip contest?

I remember spending hours riding back and forth over a 50-yard section of sand whoops in one of our riding areas trying to get better. I remember searching out different types of corners to hit over and over trying different lines. I remember falling down over and over in practice trying to master slick, off-camber turns.

All of those things mattered to me, because I wanted to be a better racer than my friends.

Jumps? Jumps were something to get over with as little fanfare as possible and get back to racing, racing somewhere on the track that I could execute a pass, using the riding skills I worked on during the week.

I didn’t always succeed. I didn’t always win. But I never took any pride at all in finishing 4th or 5th and I sure didn’t try to look good doing it. That’s what we called being a loser, back in the day.

Sure we had our share of posers. We made fun of them. If you could do great cross-ups but finished 12th we rightly called you a pussy and made you the butt of our bench racing jokes.

Maybe its just the result of 30 years of our everyone is special, everyone is a winner, no one is a loser culture. Maybe I am just a throwback. But at the end of a race they still throw a checkered flag. They still declare a winner. Everyone else is a loser.

Don’t get me wrong. Losing can be a great teacher if you let it. We can’t all win all the time. But we can always get better.

At the very least, if you aren’t moving forward through the field you need to put the styling on hold and get back to the business of racing. If you don’t know how to do that, or don’t have a desire to do that, stick to free riding and get off the track. If I want to watch a bunch of posers I’ll just watch reality shows on MTV.

Many of us who have opted to wear a neck device have had to hack up our body armor or settle for a skimpy chest protector. That’s a choice I don’t want to have to make. This morning I was browsing the magazine rack at the local Barnes & Noble store and just happened to pickup the 10APR2010 issue of UK-based MotoX magazine. While thumbing through the pages I saw a blurb about some new AlpineStars body armor designed specifically to integrate with the AlpineStars Bionic Neck Support (BNS) and other neck devices.

According to the blurb AlpineStars has recognized the frustration of riders who don’t want to be forced to choose between torso protection and neck protection. They’re working hard to promote the use of BNS and have introduced a series of body armor to fit with neck devices.

The lineup includes the full coverage Bionic 2 Jacket for BNS (approximately $300,) the more conventional MX racer-style A-10 Chest Protector (which includes back coverage and retails for approximately $200,) and a lightweight foam pad MX Tactic BNS Vest (approximately $60) for those who just want to make a nod toward protection with a little more padding.

All three should integrate with most neck devices but are specifically designed to work the BNS and have removable panels where required to accommodate the rear cervical support and a wider neck opening to accept the BNS shoulder supports.

The Bionic Jacket 2 is the full armor version, including arms and elbow protection. The A-10 is more of a shell incorporating removable front and back panels to work with the BNS.

The Bionic 2 Jacket and the A-10 do not appear to be available yet in the US, as the only sales links I could find were in Europe. They don’t even appear on the AlpineStars website yet, but they’re new products and I would expect them in the US soon.

Because the team got a late start on the project they missed the budget planning process for lots of potential sponsors, so they’re looking for support anywhere they can get it. John says they’ll have some t-shirts and other swag available for sale soon. So if you’re a two-stroke fan consider buying a shirt or two for a good cause.

If you’re a business that wants to reach race fans, two-stroke or otherwise, contact John directly via the site. You know the bike is going to get some attention at the races!

Disclaimer:

Have a look at my flickr album for a few more photos. Here are a few amateurish video clips.

Weather: The weather was excellent on Friday and most of Saturday. It was partly cloudy and breezy – got hot for about an hour on Friday, and about an hour Saturday morning, but otherwise it was great. Saturday afternoon the rain began to come in. Slight drizzle started about 3:30 or so Sat. The drizzle didn’t go well with the black-clay track surface and made for some slick racing for the last two motos of the day.

Attendance: I don’t have official attendance stats, but the camping areas were pretty full — as full as I’ve seen them in the 4 times I’ve been there. It was good to see so many folks camping and having a good time. The infield and entry-road camping was completely packed. There were still some open areas way in the back, across the train track, but it was really full.

Rider Participation: Rider count was high. 380 pre-entries for Vintage, 238 for Post-Vintage, 9 for Trials, and 102 for Cross-Country. That’s 729 rider entries for the weekend. With many (but far from all) riders running two classes and a few running three or four classes you can figure there were probably close to 200 or better actual individual riders on Saturday.

I do know there were 15 VMX motos on Saturday and, as best I can remember, they all had double gates and all the gates were close to, or in, the double-digits. There was lots of racing going on and it was terrific to see such a turnout for the vintage side of things.

Food: I missed this year’s BBQ, Mudbug, and Band shindig on Friday nite, but heard the food there was higher in both quality and variety than in years past. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always thought the free feed put on by DD and friends was excellent, but word is that this year the brisket was especially good, and the menu included both chicken and catfish to boot.

Also, my man Ronnie Welch kept his smoker going all day long cranking out bratwurst and Cajun Boudin sausage for anyone who happened by. The boudin he cooks up is absolutely killer but I warn you, if you eat too much you’ll remember it on Sunday… and Monday.

Bikes: There were, as usual, some stellar bikes floating around. If you click on the DiamondDons2010 tag you’ll see articles on a couple that were of particular interest to me. Bob McNamara won the Cool Bike award with his super-sano Cheney-framed Norton 750 twin. What a great bike. There were lots of Maicos in the pits, but the majority were PV bikes – ‘78 anad later. Lots of early ’80s models, and some very clean ones. But I think the biggest brand contingent in the pits was Bultaco.

There was a giant bus, and equally giant trailer, with about a dozen really clean Bultacos of various sizes and years, all painted in a nice black-and-white theme. They seemed to have a cadre of riders, with some in almost every moto. Chuck Sun rode one of the bikes in his +40 and +50 motos. I wish I had taken a picture of their pit area. It was impressive. Even more impressive was they ran all those Buls all day long without any mechanicals (as far as I could tell.)

Track: The GP-style track looked excellent to me, as a spectator. It got beat up pretty bad over the course of the day and I think they had a few track safety issues in the afternoon. In particular, there were some really deep ruts in a couple of places that caught people off guard and led to some carnage. The second +50 expert moto had a good portion of the field go down on the first lap in the back woods section when riders got caught in a particularly nasty trench that had developed during the day. It would have been smart to have someone back there waving a yellow flag on the first lap to warn riders who hadn’t seen the area since morning.

Racing: Lots and lots of racing. The +40 and +50 Expert class had some great champions and local Texas legends. 2x World Champ Trampass Parker was there, as was 2X National Champ Chuck Sun. Parker was the featured Legend of the weekend. Also on hand was ’70s Texas hotshoe Kirk Spencer and Okalahoma City’s Trey Jorski.

In the first +40 Expert moto Spencer smoked the field despite breaking his tranny on the last lap, which prevented him from riding the second moto. In the second moto Sun chased Parker for the length of the event. In the second moto Parket came off the gate about 5th or 6th but took the lead on the first lap and never looked back.

The Classic 125 Expert had some good racing, with a fast Bultaco and an Elsinore rider swapping positions for 3 laps, until the Bul rider took a fall and let the Elsie get away.

Once the rain started it got sketchy. For the final +50 Exp moto we were standing by the fence in the infield area where riders came around a high-speed sweeper with a big tree at the outside apex, leading to the “hump-jump” over the tunnel. More than one rider looked to be heading for disaster as they lost traction on the slick clay, but everyone managed to keep it together.

There’s a lot going on a DD’s and sometimes the racing takes a back seat, but every moto I watched was a good one.

Word is that Sunday’s rain put a damper on things, with many racers opting out of the second moto. Some of the Expert class second motos reportedly had only one rider on the gate. I’ve been at DD’s in the mud. I rode a mud race there in 2008 and today, two years later, I’m still cleaning that nasty, black mud out of the bike.

Richie V Memorial: Last year Richie Vallandingham — AHRMA #49J — passed away of a heart attack while out riding with his son. Richie had a history of heart trouble and knew the risks that riding entailed, but he wanted to live his life to the fullest. I met Richie on a number of occassions and he was, without question, one of the most genuine and friendly people on the planet. There are very few people that make me think the world is truly poorer for their passing, but Richie was definitely one.

A special Sunday morning Parade Lap was planned as a memorial for Richie at this year’s National, but reports are that there was some miscommunication and disorganization with the memorial, and it didn’t go off quite as planned. Nevertheless, Brad Lackey rode Richie’s #49J CZ around the track in tribute, and Richie’s wife Teresa was there so that all of Richie’s friends could personally offer their memories and stories about RV49J. Godspeed Richie. We still miss you. (photo: 2008 Diamond Don’s. L to R — John Putkey, me, Richie V.)

Injury report: There were the usual bumps and bruises. To my knowledge the only serious injury was to TVRC racer Jeff Hards who suffered a badly-broken leg in his second moto. Jeff got his right foot caught in one of the deep ruts and twisted it off the peg, snapping the bone in his lower leg. He managed to ride back to the pits, but was carted off in the ambulance and was reported to have had surgery on Monday to put some titanium in.

There were quite a few falls, especially once the track got slick, and I saw a few slings and bandages in the pits. Women’s rider Tami Rice suffered a bruised hip when she low-sided in the sweeper. And several riders were slow to get up, needing some attention from the EMTs. But with that many racers on the track it really wasn’t a bad day for injuries.

Summary: As always, DD’s was a blast. The rain dampened things on Sunday, and the disorganization for the RV49J Memorial upset a couple of folks, but otherwise I heard nothing but positive comments. I thought it was the best Riverport National yet. I’ll definitely be back next year.