Muddy Waters MX

Short interview with 2x World Champ Heinz Kinigadner

terrywfrazier@gmail.com — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 00:34:23 GMT

Here's a short interview with Heinz Kinigadner over at MotocrossMX1.com. After his son was paralyzed in a racing accident in 2003, Kinigadner partnered with Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz to form the Wings for Life foundation.

Wings for Life is the dedicated to funding pure research in the area of spinal cord injuries and is one of the few foundations focused on curing this devastating type of injury. The development of neck supports like the Leatt Brace and the new alpinestars Bionic Neck Support will go a long way to preventing serious neck injuries, but nothing can completely eliminate the risk. The only answer is to find a way to heal the spinal cord. Kudos to Kinigadner for taking this effort forward.

Mark Barnett and Torsten Hallman Motocross Files this weekend

terrywfrazier@gmail.com — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:50:24 GMT

This Sunday, 6:00pm EST, Mark Barnett episode followed by Hallman at 6:30. Re-airs on Tuesday, 11/25. On SPEED TV. Set you DVR so you can record it while you're out riding.

Bailey, Jones, and Barnett featured in new Motocross Files episodes

terrywfrazier@gmail.com — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:51:47 GMT

After more than a year's wait, middle-aged motocross fans everywhere will be pleased to know that new episodes of The Motocross Files will begin airing this month on SPEED TV.

The first episode will be David Bailey, airing on Nov. 16 at 6:00PM ET, followed by Gary Jones. The Mark Barnett episode will air Nov. 23 at 6:00PM ET.

For more info see SPEED TV.

Joel Robert Story at MotocrossMX1

terrywfrazier@gmail.com — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:57:24 GMT

A short bio article on Joel Robert, with a few quotes from Joel, is over at MotocrossMX1.info. It's a good recap of his phenomenal contribution to our sport.

Vintage tall tales from dirt bike legend Super Hunky

terrywfrazier@gmail.com — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 14:59:23 GMT

Here's a great MX story by Rick Sieman, aka Super Hunky, rider, racer, and former editor of Dirt Bike Magazine. Hunky has been everywhere, done everything, and has more stories than any 10 normal people. He's an undisputed icon in the dirt bike world.

My friend and fellow Weedie Bill Ramsey, owner of Motorcycle Accessory Shop in Mesa, AZ, recorded this little video at an AZ awards banquet. Bill wants some support to get Rick to sit down with a mic and a video camera and record lots of his stories. Rick has already put his stories into the highly entertaining book "Monkey Butt" (available on his site,) but I think video is a fantastic idea. Video can capture a person in a way that print never can. Sometimes this is good, sometimes it's bad. But this sample shows that with Rick, it's good.

As many of you know, Rick is battling prostate cancer. Things look good for him at present, and all our hopes are that he continues for a full recovery. But this still serves as a reminder that none of our legends live forever and now is a great time to get SH to put his legacy on video.

If you would also like to see this please take a moment to post a comment in support. Maybe we can show enough enthusiasm that Rick will take the bait.

Tim Ferry on training and racing until you're 40

terrywfrazier@gmail.com — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:00:36 GMT

33-year-old Tim Ferry is not the oldest rider ever selected for a Motocross of Nations team (Stephan Everts was 33 when he rode his last event in 2006. He won both his motos although Belgium finished 2nd.) I'm sure he's not even the oldest to be on a winning team — the average age of riders was a lot older in the '60s, '70s and early '80s. But he may well be the oldest member of a winning team in the modern era.

Just before his trip to England for the 2008 MXoN (which Team USA won, again) the Factory Kawasaki rider and two-time MXoN winner was interviewed by Tim Cryster of RacerX Virtual Trainer. Ferry talks about his training regimen, how things have changed in the sport since he began his professional career in 1991, and what the future holds.

One of the most interesting exchanges in the interview was the following:

Cryster:Let's talk about how you, as such an old man, are so successful at motocross (laughs). I sometimes think people or journalist like to focus on a guys age because they aren't smart enough to talk about anything else. 33 is not old in any sport in my opinion. Look at Dara Torres in the Olympics this year. She is 41 and was just as strong now as she was when she was 18. Lance Armstrong, Mike LaRocco, John Dowd.....the list of "older" athletes goes on. What do you think it is about motocross that seems to prevent more guys like yourself to move into their 30's and still be competitive?

Ferry:Not to take anything away from racers back when, but I think a lot of it has to do with eliminating old influences that have been a part of the sport since the 70's. Like smarter training and moving away from the idea that you have to train as hard as you can all the time and the notion that you are done by the time you are 25. I think we are weeding out those people and influences and bringing in people who are more educated on fitness. I think we are learning how to train smarter not harder which is what the Carmichael Training System is all about.

Later, Ferry addressed his own future:

I am going to ride until my body won't let me anymore. I am going to do it as long as I am competitive. I feel that I have my best years racing in front of me. With training the right way and being smart about it I don't see any reason why I don't have 5 more years in me. Plus I love to ride. Even after I retire I will get up and ride every day.

I'm a big Tim Ferry fan, partly because of his durability in a sport that doesn't really value it, and partly because of his continued enthusiasm after so many years of racing. I sincerely hope that Ferry, and others like him in the sport, have a strong voice in the plans being made to move our sport forward.

Motocross has evolved an unhealthy emphasis on youth. Perhaps this is just Americanization, with our inherent focus on youthful everything. But the absurdity of having any professional sport that considers athletes over the hill at 25 is not lost on those of us who have watched it for several decades. It is, in fact, often the very recklessness of youth that leads to such short careers.

Yet it's not just the riders who are affected by this — it's the audience as a whole. There's great emphasis today on finding ways to grow the audience for motocross. I fear we're trying to "mainstream" a niche sport while overlooking the fact that the core audience also moves away as they age. Not too many 40-year-olds get enthusiastic about watching a bunch of fuzzy-chinned teenagers. It just doesn't work.

Considered changes to the rules and structure of the sport will help this but it will mostly require, as Ferry says, changes in the attitudes of the principals. Here's to hoping that as newer folks take over roles in positions of power that they make the right choices for the riders, the fans, and the long-term health of the sport.

Tribute to motorcyle pioneer Don Jones

terrywfrazier@gmail.com — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:43:49 GMT

Motorcycle pioneer Don Jones passed away this past week. Terry Good, of MXWorksBikes.com, has posted this very nice Don Jones tribute page with a variety of personal photos that Don sent him several years ago.

Davey Coombs wants to make outdoor motocross cool again

terrywfrazier@gmail.com — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:06:07 GMT

I just read the interview with Davey Coombs in the new Cycle News — Issue #29, July 23, 2008 — talking about MXSports and the future of the outdoor series:

We want to make motocross as cool, as competitive, as entertaining, and as safe as possible.

Live TV, improved facilities, adding new venues, listening to riders, listening to fans, taking a business approach that admits we have to modernize but recognizes motocross has its own unique value — that it does not have to be Supercross, just in the daytime.

I know many of my contemporaries have tired of modern stuff for a variety reasons, and I don't argue with that. But I still like it enough to want it to get better. Outdoor MX has sucked for the past 15 or 20 years in ways that have nothing to do with the simple passage of time, and that really bothers me. We can't go back &mash; it won't ever be "like it was" in the '60s or '70s because that's just not possible. The world is too different. Nothing is like it was back then. But it doesn't have to totally suck, either.

One of the things Coombs mentions is the interest of Barber Motorsports Park in hosting an outdoor national. This is really exciting. If you have never been to Barber just imagine a 720-acre golf resort — except without the golf, and dedicated to motorsports. The folks at Barber are big into bikes. They have been trying to get a MotoGP but were snubbed. They are getting AMA Superbikes, and maybe a World Superbike round. The idea of a national caliber outdoor MX track on the rolling, wooded hills of the facility is very cool. Unlike many roadrace facilities where a track would have to be laid in the infield, making it basically a SX track in the sunshine, Barber is situated in a way that make one very cool MX course.

What would be interesting is that Barber would never run weekly, or even monthly, MX races. they would run a National, probably a Loretta Lynn's qualifier, and maybe 1 or 2 other specialty races a year. That's it. The track would never get beat out, the top soil would never die. Hell, they'd probably disc, smooth, and re-seed it between events.

The other thing that could happen is that Barber is setup to be a little "factory zone" — that is, a good portion of the land is zoned as commercial and industrial. It's like a business park, intended for factories, R&D facilities, race team HQs, etc. Nothing is there yet, but there will be. It's conceivable that a full-time private MX development and testing facility could evolve there. Birmingham is not substantially different from Atlanta, in terms of access to the southeastern US. It is just as accessible for freight and distribution, has about equal technology infrastructure, but far less issue with over population. With land prices and costs of operation that are often half of what it costs in California, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the logic in locating there.

With Gibbs Racing being the first satellite team to setup a full HQ outside of SoCal, and more riders moving to Florida and Georgia to find riding areas, I predict we will see more and more of this.

Coombs also talks about the need to be flexible, to accept the necessary changes. He talks about the one-moto format, but I think he sees this differently that some of us might expect. From what I've gathered watching a few of his RacerX Films appearances plus what he has written, I think he looks at it much more like the current Superbike format. Where there are two distinct races instead of one race in two halves. In other words, the National might be one moto, but there would be two of them. (That's really going to screw up the record books.)

Personally, if I could get live TV coverage of a one-moto National on Saturday afternoon, I'd take that. As long as the fans on site got their full dose of racing, it wouldn't be a problem. It's a semantic issue. The AMA already awards points based on motos, not National wins. The National win is, in reality, insignificant. So we go to one-moto Nationals. We get two winners each weekend. And James Stewart has to win 314 of them to equal RC's "National wins" record. So what.

So think about an afternoon of racing, there are two MX1 nationals. There are two MX2 nationals. The live TV guys can come in at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, or 4:00 and pickup a national race live. In an hour it's neatly packaged, wrapped up at the end, and commercially viable.

Of course, there's still the possibility that DMG could go all NASCAR on us and mandate some stuff that's just not viable. That's what may be happening in road racing right now. But DMG will learn. These are not idiots - which is a nice change.

Coombs also has a business-like approach to the Supercross-only problem — where a rider chooses to ride only the SX series and forgoes the outdoors, as Chad Reed and Kevin Windham have done, and as James Stewart is rumored to be doing next year. Coombs solution is simple and elegant - make the sport cool again so the riders want to race outdoors. Better race facilities, better purse money, more media coverage, better overall atmosphere. As Coombs says, we all grew up racing outdoors. It's in our blood. Make it cool thing to do again and the riders will come.

As I have said here before, in my opinion the future of outdoor MX looks bright indeed.

What It Takes to be a Publisher

terrywfrazier@gmail.com — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 03:56:15 GMT

There have been two very interesting stories recently about key publishers, and publications, in the motocross industry. Publishing is one of my interests and it's one of those areas that seems like it should be really easy, but isn't. It's dreadfully hard. Like the restaurant business, way more ersatz publishers crash and burn than ever succeed. Which makes those who succeed all the more remarkable.

The first article I saw was a piece on Loyalty, Character, and Motivation by Tim Cryster of RacerX Virtual Trainer. The key part, for me, was the one paragraph where Tim talks about his high school friend and RacerX founder Davey Coombs.

Not everything that motivates me comes form a despairing source. Peers of mine that are successful motivate me. Davey Coombs, the creator of Racer X Illustrated has been one of my best friends since high school and he motivates the crap out of me. Not sure if many of you know this, but DC started Racer X in high school. At the time he took every picture, wrote every word, and published the newspaper version of Racer X all throughout high school, college, and beyond. I remember thinking that what he was doing was cool and all, but never could have imagined that he would be able to take his little magazine and turn it into one of the most respected and read magazine in motocross. I remember asking him, ‘How are you going to compete with Motocross Action, or Dirt Rider? Those guys are so big!’ He just laughed and said, ‘Those mags are ok, but I can do better!’ And it’s not just Racer X. There is Racer X Canada, Road Racer X, several websites, the Motocross Show, most of the event programs for the Supercross and Motocross series, his work with the AMA, and so much more. He has dedicated himself to the sport and sacrificed more than I could ever imagine, being the best at what he does. That’s motivating stuff when your friends step up to the plate and knock it out of the park.

DC is a veritable publishing dynamo. The guy must never sleep. I've never met him, never even seen him, but his accomplishments utterly astound me. The other story was a post on the Cousin Weedy Yahoo forum by VMX Magazine co-owner and editor Ken Smith. VMX is a gorgeous, collector-quality publication dedicated to the preservation of old bikes. I cannot begin to imagine the work, dedication, and investment (both fiscal and emotional) it takes to put it out four times a year. Ken shed a little light on that and helped all of us understand what goes on behind the scenes of this shiny, sexy vintage magazine.

[...] it took Ray [late founder Ray Ryan — Ed] twenty issues before he had attracted sufficient advertising to cover the cost of printing a 96 page magazine. We hope to get there, no question. Why is it as black and white as that you may ask? The answer goes a long way to covering one of the other queries - was Ray an existing successful publisher or independently wealthy? He was neither. Ray (and Barbara) scratched out a living for over five years I can assure you, and the term "on a shoestring" couldn't be more appropriate (then and now!).

I guess the point of this is that all of these guys inspire me. Each them had the courage to follow their dreams and the conviction to keep pushing. Too often we let life get in the way and we make excuses for not doing the things that matter. And then we wake up to find it's too late. I am guilty of that myself. Here's to using 2008 to be a little more like those who inspire me. What are you going to do next year?

This Girl Rocks

terrywfrazier@gmail.com — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 01:56:12 GMT

Sara Whitmore is a 23-year-old professional motocross racer. She finished 6th overall in the 2007 Womens Motocross Association national series. Now I don't know what kind of image that brings to mind for the average chauvinist pig, but the WMA is no powder puff gig.

WMA races run in conjunction with the AMA Outdoor Motocross Series. The girls run the same tracks as the big boys, and typically run their races on Saturday around the AMA timed practice sessions. While none of them can threaten Carmichael, Stewart or Villopoto, the top WMA riders' lap times would usually get them into the qualifying field for the AMA races on Sunday.

That's impressive. But more impressive, at least to me, is that Sarah can also write. And write quite well. She's been doing a monthly column in Racer X magazine for a while now. Recently she added a blog as part of the Racer X Blogs. She’s doing an excellent job, writing not just about races and racers but also about her life and interests and experiences off the track. It’s very cool to get insight into her struggles with bike maintenance, karate battles with her brothers, even life with her late grandmother. Through writing like this you begin to understand a person, gain insight into who they really are and what matters to them. You can almost feel as if you know them.

And Sarah seems like someone worth knowing. This is not a girl who backs down from anything. I admire that. Perhaps the nicest thing I can say is that if I had to pick a role model for my 17–year-old daughter, it would be Sarah Whitmore. Beyonce’? No way. Pink? You’ve got to be kidding. Hannah Montana? Give me a break. No sir, WMA National #4 is the girl I’d like my daughter to look up to.

Having said that, I have to give credit to Davey Coombs – editor of Racer X – for giving Sarah the incentive and the vehicle to test her talents. The Coombs family (Dave Sr, Rita, and Davey) has probably done more for the advancement of motocross in this country than any single group of individuals, including the AMA and LiveNation. What Davey has done in taking MX to the new world of media is simply phenomenal. He has figured out how to tap into the writing talents of not just Sarah but lots of riders. Granted, this is getting easier as the web has given young people more reason and practice for writing. But lots of it is awful and I’m continually impressed with the writing skills of the riders Davey taps for columns in his mag. Professional athletes are not known for their brains and it’s way cool to see some of our racers shattering that stereotype by taking to the keyboard with almost as much skill as they bring to the track.

Writing is hard work. Doing it regularly takes serious commitment. It’s no small feat to get these folks to give the time and energy required for these columns, much less the level of energy required to keep a blog fresh and interesting. (I know. I’ve had one since 2002 and I don’t do a very good job anymore.)

So stop by Sarah Smile and see what she’s up to. Drop her a comment and let her know you appreciate her taking the time to share her thoughts with us. Oh, and Sarah, keep up the good work.