When the motocross season began this series I had no idea what I was getting into. I was convinced by some wily veterans that it was safe and a good time amongst friends. It all started at Thundercross, and it was my first attempt at racing ever. The thought was to just have a good time and be safe. They even told me just to wait a second or two after the gate dropped before I go to stay out of first corner danger. The gate dropped and a whole different mindset came over. By the third or fourth turn the level of intensity that I had never experienced before sucked every ounce of energy out of me. My intentions were just to ride for seat time, but the competitive fire gets lit every time. It is hard to find anything that I enjoy so much that keeps me in shape at the same time. That was just phase one of this experience. I had no idea the history of those wily veterans I spoke of earlier. Two of them (Patrick Caiazza and Kent Prager) raced as kids and have completely different riding styles. Patrick's brother Mike is Mr. Consistency. Robert Durkee and Joel Gregor are the youngest and do things that we try to avoid. Barry Thomas and Lou Banka are steadily improving at a constant rate. Through this season, I have witnessed these guys who are all over 35 and most over 40 (with the exception of Durkee and Gregor) crash and get up and finish. Get injured and come back just as competitive and sometimes more. It has been an experience that I would not trade. I think a lot of people and riders are missing out on one of life's greatest opportunities in riding. There is so much more to riding than just riding. I have only been involved for a year now and prior to that, most guys I knew over 40 were not doing anything, but working and maybe playing a little golf for exercise. When I watch these guys race they put it all out there. They are far from just riding for the ride....they want to win, and everyone of them believes they can on any given day in their class. Once a month they all plan for the FTR motocross race. The families come, they camp out, the kids play at night, they cook out, and everyone has their own unique qualities that they offer to the group. One of the not yet mentioned is my Pit Crew of the Decade, and it consist of one man....Larry Durkee. Any one of us could call on Larry day or night and he would drop everything to help. He literally keeps us all on the track mechanically, and I hesitate to tell you that in fear that someone might actually offer to pay him for this service. The rest of the riding group consist of the three women riders, Mandy Thomas, Kirsten Banka, and my daughter Robbi-Anne. They all love to ride, but the women's classes are just so small that it makes it tuff. Get your daughters out there so they have some riders to fill a class. Lastly is the wives who take care of everything else so we can all just concentrate on riding. When you put all these things together you start to realize that there is nothing else that involves everyone in your entire family for the money. So if you are just out to ride in the series for fun, do more. Invite a buddy, bring the family, invite another buddy and so on. Maybe if we all start making this a family event these track Owners will wise up and offer family rates. Unfortunately some of us will have to put it out to make them realize that we would pay $5.00 or $10.00 a car load and buy more concessions before we would pay $5.00 per person, and have to bring lunch. That's one of the reasons Hare Scrambles attract so many participants. Their price structure is more inline with the demographic. This season is almost over so make plans for next season to Make it a family affair. Rob Garrett |