As is probably quite obvious from my posts, I love the sport of Motocross. 'Motocross', even the written word looks great. After being out of MX for some 27 years, discovering VMX a couple of years ago has added such a rich vein of excitement to my life again and I totally enjoy the people involved, the bikes and the racing.
My fear though is we are softening it down a bit too much. Motocross was originally an 'endurance test' over 'natural terrain'.
The Tracks.
I agree it is fun to ride on beautifully groomed, loamy tracks with all the breaking and acceleration bumps graded out, but that is not true MX. The reason our bikes have suspension and that suspension was the subject of massive innovation is because of those bumps! A key skill in riding MX is to know how to handle those bumps under various conditions.
My point, lets not get too precious about making the tracks picture perfect and smooth. It puts unnecessary pressure on the race organizers and it's not true MX.
The length of the races
At a recent race meeting I timed the lap while flag marshaling. It was 1 minute and 20 seconds. The races were 4 laps long so the entire race went for 5 minutes and 20 seconds. Even as old as we are, that is NOT an endurance test, and is nothing like the racing we all used to race. I know, even at that length race, I too come in and I am panting hard, sweating profusely and need to sit down and have a drink. But when I practice and tend to be out there riding for 10-20 minutes and I come in, I feel no different.
My point, most of us are not that out of shape and can handle more racing, even though we think we can't because we are not used to breathing so hard living our sedentary, behind a computer 9-5 life. I think we are cheating ourselves out of quality time on the track to appease the small minority. If some riders start a longer race and get tired, there is nothing stopping them from slowing down or if they feel that bad pulling off. Rather than a flat out sprint where one tiny mistake can knock you out for the race, longer races would allow us to experience more 'race time', time to dice with our mates or rivals, recover from a bobble in a corner and work ourselves into the race, and it is more in keeping with the roots of this sport we all love. Yes we have time constraints at race meetings but I would prefer 2 x longer races rather than 4 x sprints.
Dust & Rocks
Let me say right from the outset, it is obvious SAFETY has to come first and if the dust is that thick you can't see then yes it is a no brainer that for our safety, it has to be managed. But, my recollection of racing back in the 70s and 80s was full of dust and I like many other racers swallowed bucket loads of it, I recon I could be taken blind folded to Jilliby, Karma Gutza, Fishers Ghost, definitely Dargle, and by the taste of the dust know where I was. I don't like rocks either and when I walk the track, I toss the big ones aside.
My point, dust and rocks are an intricate component of 'Natural Terrain' and while they have to be managed, a little bit of both goes with the territory.
