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December 8th, 2009 fthomason No comments
Someone once told me that one of my problems was my “go somewhere else if you don’t like it” attitude. While I don’t remember telling anyone that before it would not surprise me if I had. I’ve been racing Motocross 40 years now. I have run REM for 24 years. I know not everyone agrees with me on the direction that I have taken REM. I have tried very hard to keep the organization unique. Where anyone can come and race whether they be a first time beginner or a National caliber pro. My vision of local racing is not a program built on big races or big series. But, where a rider can show up in a pickup truck and be as successful as a rider who shows up in a $500,000 hauler. Local racing should be about deciding to go and race on the weekend and not having to spend a day prepping the motorhome and breaking into your life savings. Motocross racing while expensive is still one of the most affordable motorsports to compete in. We know the $20 dollar fee to get into Glen Helen is unfair to REM racers who never ride on the national track. And we know that $40 to race to some can be a lot of money. That is why we have tried to come up with ways to keep the costs as low as possible. Various discounts, from military to 85cc to 125 2 stroke to father-son. By running the races the way we do, no really big events, no really big series we try to keep the quality of the events we run very high. We spend a lot of money on cornerworkers, on radios, on staff, on trying to keep the track prepped, on having a qualified ambulance with a paramedic on board, and on awards. We have spent a lot of time and money lately on builiding a transponder system that won’t cost the racer a dime. Unless you peel off your transponder sticker and then it will cost you a couple of bucks to replace it. I hope to roll it out in January, but we want it to work right the first time. I take a lot of heat from racers that don’t race with us over track design, why I give a shit about their opinion is beyond me. There are plenty of tracks in So Cal that are built on one track obstacle, jumps. And these tracks are for the most part practice tracks, they derive their income mostly from dirt bike riders, not motocross racers. Motocross racing could happen on a track with not a single man made jump. But, if you are a dirt bike rider you would probably get bored quickly. Racing is the ultimate adrenaline rush, riding around a track pretending to be a racer may be fun and challenging but it’s not the same as lining up on a gate and actually racing. It has been entertaining over the years to watch someone who thought they were badasses because they could hit every jump at their practice track come out to REM and struggle with off cambers, ruts, uphills, downhills and corners. For many their first time at REM is a struggle, there is no place to rest, once the gate drops you have to work your ass off, its sweaty, dirty, difficult, your arms pump up, your eyes sting from sweat, your blistered from the roost coming off the bike in front of you, it kicks your ass. Motocross racing is hard work. Racing should combine all the aspects that a track can use, it is not only about jumping. Not to say that we don’t have jumps we have several. And we have some of the biggest natural terrain launches around, part of the problem is those who complain don’t race with us so they don’t really know what they are talking about. To those who say add more jumps to REM I say………………oh,…………. never mind.
 
 

 

Categories: Viewpoints Tags:

Rant 11/25/09

November 27th, 2009 fthomason No comments
RANT 11/25/09

Not appreciating something until it’s gone. Whatever it was that is gone always seems to get better and better as it fades into the rear view mirror. We all have examples of this. Whether it be a track that is now gone, a race, a family get together, a friend, or a job. I hear all the time about how people miss Carlsbad Raceway. My reality is I miss the drive, I miss the layout, but not much else. REM ran races for over a decade at the World Famous Carlsbad Raceway. When it was open you could not get racers to actually come there. I raced many CMC events there for many years before I started REM, unless it was a big event not too many racers would show up. The same with our stint there, most of the time we had under a hundred racers, many times 50. Have a practice and it would be crowded, but no one wanted to race there. I raced CMC events where 30 racers showed up to race. For years we tried to get racers to attend our races. But, we always heard the same thing, the place is a dump, the track is worn out, the management sucks, the people that run the gate are mean, the track never changes, they water it too much, they don’t water it enough, I hate blue groove, I hate the hills, there are no jumps, it’s too fast, or my favorite it’s too old school. Someone has made those same comments give or take about every track that is now closed and gone. The same with every product, shop, race, organization, team, or racer. They all have their haters until they are gone, and then they were the greatest thing since chain lube.

A side note, remember how everyone always talks about how the Carlsbad USGP always had 30 or 40 or even 50 thousand spectators. The owner once told me the biggest crowd they ever had for any race was 15 thousand, guess what, that is the same number that show up for the National at Glen Helen today.

Some of the things I really miss, Dunlop 695′s, Barb and Alan at Knobby Shop International, Rick Johnson at his prime, 250 2 strokes as the premier supercross class, watching the pro’s at Commotion by the Ocean, Motoworld on ESPN, having an open class National Championship, good knees and being able to run, and night racing on Wednesday’s.

I’ve been doing REM for 24 Thanksgivings now. I have no idea how long I can continue. The older I get the harder it gets. Unlike most organizations the promoter of REM (me) does everything. I’ve never been comfortable sitting in the building on raceday, or walking thru the pits shooting the shit with everyone. I try to be involved with every aspect of the race day, whether it’s dragging fire hoses, fixing the gate, or loading an injured racer into the ambulance. This doesn’t make me better than anyone else it just describes who I am. We have now promoted close to 1000 races. During that time I have missed 3 races at Carlsbad, and been at every race we have ever held at Glen Helen. It looks like sometime in the very near future I will be missing some races to take care of a medical issue I’ve been dealing with for a number of years. The doctor says I may be off the bike for 6 to 8 months, that is going to drive me nuts. But, if I have to miss being at REM on a race day that is going to kill me. If this all happens I don’t know if you will miss me, but I can guarantee you I will be missing you.

 

Categories: REM News Tags:

Rant 11/15

November 15th, 2009 fthomason No comments
Rant 11/15
 

The State of REM.  A lot has happened since my last adventure in word play.  First is the new web site.  While it is not perfect, and people have complained, it will get better as I learn what I am doing.  As for the complaints, our last site was over 10 years old and was looking dated, and many just don’t like change.  Hopefully we will make www.remsatmx.com one of your favorite sites to visit.  Unlike the last site we have a lot of room to grow.   

Next is our new website www.remraceshop.com  This is a new venture for us, actually selling a product.  What drove me to this were my personal adventures with trying to buy quality motocross products.  Before Mammoth I tried to buy air filters for my YZ450 at 3 different shops to be told at each one, we can order it for you.  I then went to a couple of different web spots, on one I actually ordered the product to be notified 2 days later that it would not arrive for 2 weeks.  The other I was subjected to the classic bait and switch with higher prices.  So I decided to try my hand at my own motocross product web site.  We are starting off small with products from companies that REM has dealt with in the past that we trust to create, produce and promote excellent motocross products that racers need to compete each week.  As we can expand we will include even more products and greater variety.  Our promise to you is that we will provide the best products, the best service, and the best price that we possibly can.  The more we sell the better deals that we can provide.  I will put as much effort into the Race Shop as I do into REM Saturday Motocross.  I just need to figure out how to squeeze 36 hours into each day.  We will also be offering some products soon that you may not be able to get anywhere else, like our own line of works products, but that is for the future.  If you need motocross tires, exhaust, tools, gear, goggles, footpegs, an REM hat, and much more please check out our web site.  And remember if we screw up you know where I am every Saturday, we don’t hide behind a computer screen.  REM members the Race Shop pays your sales tax as an additional discount.

Forum.  We have our own REM forum on our new website.  You must be a current REM member or a past REM member who raced with us for at least 3 years.  We want this to be the REM member site to talk motocross racing.  There are a couple of different areas of the new forum for various topics.  Feel free to sign up and use it.  If your email address does not include your name please include it somewhere in the message so that I can approve you quickly.   I would like to keep this site as PG rated as possible, those of you who know me know I am not a prude.  But, if your mother would not approve of your message then please reword it.  And let’s keep it civilized, there is no need to bash other organizations, tracks or promoters since they won’t be able to counter those complaints.  Let’s talk about REM motocross, pro racing, good experiences at other tracks, etc., etc.

Transponders.  What a friggin nightmare this has been.  But, we are finally very close to having them up and running.  The technology that we are using is relatively new to motocross.  In fact I don’t know of anyone who is actually using this technology yet.  We have had to completely rewrite the software we purchased and more than double the original hardware.  We are now in the final stages of reconfiguring the whole setup and think it could be working at the race track in a couple of weeks.  The reason we are sold on this particular technology and did not go with the standard transponders is that there is nothing for the racer to purchase unless you peel off the sticker on your helmet.  And then the cost is still less than $5.  The only piece of equipment the racer must add is a small sticker on your helmet and we are even experimenting with it on the inside of your number plate.  That’s it, nothing more, nothing to charge, nothing to fall off the bike, nothing to return at the end of the day.  And the results are the same with no cost to the racer. 

REM hats.  After many years of everyone asking me for REM hats we finally found a supplier.  We invested the money and had a bunch of them made.  If there is enough of a demand we will order more.   Next will be the new REM shirt and sweat shirt.

The 2010 REM schedule.  We finally received the new Glen Helen schedule this week.  This is the latest we have ever gotten the schedule which we use to schedule our races.  Hopefully we can get the new dates up on the website sometime next week.  You can thank the pro motocross powers to be for the late date due to the changes in National dates.  Just know that REM on the National track will be June 5th next year.  Enough said.

Finally, an observation.  I saw some of the most ridiculous behavior at this years World Vets.  Let’s get real people, if you are racing that race you are over 30, with the vast majority over 40, a bunch of over 50, and even over 60 year olds.  I went off the line with the 50 Novice class.  Having not been on the starting line in a long time I pretty much let everyone go and played chase rider.  Moto one on Saturday I started out in last and watched 15 separate crashes in 4 laps, a couple of them pretty serious crashes.  I don’t believe I have ever witnessed so much carnage in such a short time.  What are you thinking?  Do you really think winning a title in the 30 or 40 or 50 year old Novice class will change your life?  Believe me it won’t.  No title, trophy, championship, or bragging rights is worth you health.  Breaking bones will change your life.  Getting hurt sucks, I’ve been hurt enough to know.  Some of you really need to calm down.  A big race is just a local race with more people.  I saw what they were giving a way if you won, and it wouldn’t pay for most emergency room copays.  It is good to get excited, to have the adrenaline rush, to be competitive but I saw some of the dumbest riding let alone racing in my life.  I do not like to see crashes, I have seen enough of it for 100 lifetimes.  To quote an old TV show, “let’s be safe out there”.

You can always reach me at info@remsatmx.com

 

 

Categories: REM News Tags: