When I read of Junior Seau’s death by apparent suicide I was deeply saddened.  I am not going to say that Junior Seau and I were friends, or even acquaintances.  His clothing company that he was starting up in the mid 90’s, SAY OW sponsored the 96 Commotion by the Ocean.  A race REM put on for 10 years at the infamous Carlsbad Raceway.  My conversations with him were mainly through the guy he had running the clothing company.  All Junior requested were some passes to the event for some of his family members and possibly himself and a dozen 2XL event shirts that he could work out in.  That was the time in his life that he was in his prime, his football, his foundation, his businesses, all of the great charitable work he was doing in San Diego North County.  We were honored to have him as a sponsor, we were honored that he even knew about our motocross race.  From what I knew of him he was a very upbeat, positive, and giving human being.  His death is a tragedy not only for his family, but his legions of fans.  His death may very well be linked to the many head impacts he suffered through in his career not only in the NFL, but college, high school and even in youth football.  Motocross racers as well can suffer these same debilitating injuries.  How many pro and amateur motocross racers have taken their own lives?  Too many.  No one really understands the link between concussions, even minor head trauma and the risk of suicide later on.

There are a few in this world who have never been depressed, never hurt so bad physically or mentally that ending the pain has never at least crossed their mind.  Ending your life by an individual act of personal violence, or alcohol, or illegal drugs, or prescription drugs, or suicide by motor vehicle, or suicide by threatening a cop is a means to an end that never resolves the problem it just ends your life on this earth.  In every case that I can think of outside influences, contributed to their deaths.  A person in his right mind does not end his life.  Not to say either way that they were sane, or mentally ill but the possibility is there in every case that some outside factor contributed to their decision to end their lives.

The first suicide that I remember was a much loved teacher in junior high school.  I personally didn’t have any classes with him, but I remember him as a very popular young teacher, who looked a lot like Jim Morrison of the Doors.  I never learned why he took his own life or the method, only that his death shook up a campus of young people who all asked themselves, why.  It was the first exposure that most of us had with suicide.

Over the years I have known too many who have taken their own lives.  People of great religious faith, people with seemingly everything to live for.  Some of whom felt they had nothing to live for.  Some were fathers, some sons, some daughters, some mothers; all were humans whom felt life was not necessary for them any longer.  The one thing in common in each of their suicides was the overwhelming fact that not one person that they left behind ever said, “I’m glad he or she is gone”.  Every one of them was and is missed to this day.   The ones left behind grieve not only for the act, but the guilt for what they might  have done to stop it, why didn’t they see this coming, and how could the person lost not know how much they were needed, loved, and cherished. 

I have never known someone who was in so much pain from disease, so ill or incapacitated that they took their own life.  But, I have known people who felt their lives were not worth another day on this earth and chose to end their lives despite having loved ones who genuinely cared about them.  My friend Marty, who loved his young son as much as any father could have, but was in chronic pain from past injuries-and possibly hooked on pain pills.  All it took was an argument that most of us would have gotten over, I'm convinced  the pain meds pulled the trigger.  My step brother, whom I barely knew, took his life with a handgun, after a night of heavy drinking. 

I could go on, but it is very painful to think of the loss of these wonderful people who put themselves into situations that for some reason they could not back out of.  There are so many cynics who find it very easy to say things like “they are just weak people, they are selfish, and how dare they choose when to end their lives”.  Depression is a very serious problem.  I’m not a doctor, nor a psychologist, but I can tell you from my own experience that the people that I know that took their own lives were not weak or selfish people.  They were people who at a time of need, felt that the lives they were living were not worth spending another day on this earth.  What is important is trying to realize that the depression you suffer, the self-worthlessness that you feel is probably being brought on by something such as suffering too many concussions, or taking too many pain meds, or hormonal imbalances, or alcohol. 

If you feel worthless, or depressed, if you are in pain, know that there are many others out there that feel the same way, you aren’t alone.  But, you need to get help; even it is just talking to another human being that has suffered through the same dark thoughts.  At the very least give this a try call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800 273 TALK (8255) Suicide hotline, 24/7 free and confidential nationwide network of crisis centers

RIP #55

Somewhere between worrying about how to pay my mortgage, gas bills, insurance, electricity and cell phone bill I worried about whether or not the world’s fastest motocross racer was going to fulfill his Yamaha contract or bail.  And then worrying about our next REM race and all the details that go into that I was worrying about whether or not RV was going to win the Monster Million in October.  Of course, while worrying about getting my taxes done in time I was worrying about should JGR hire JLaw as a replacement rider for JS7.   And then of course there is the matter of should I replace my chlorine system with a salt system, or should I sell my new Yamaha because JS7 can’t ride his without crashing, (I like my new Yamaha).  I can’t sleep at night wondering why Bagget isn’t dominating the east SX rounds, or will Pro Circuit be able to put another number plate on their hauler door for the west SX.  Not knowing what Larry Brooks is going to do next is affecting my sex life.  And damnit why won’t RC make a comeback? 

I really wonder what some people do that they spend so much time on various social media speculating, ranting and raving about what a very small group of athletes, and motocross industry types are doing.  Don’t get me wrong I love hearing about the inside workings of the industry , the real stuff not the made up for internet bull.  It is always amusing and entertaining to listen to a lot of these people take themselves so seriously.  Actually the racers for the most part are a good group of youngsters, and yes they are youngsters.  I have trophies older than Kevin Windham and he’s considered old.  There are a lot of people in this industry who simply are looking to make a fast buck.  They have no love for the sport, no passion for anything but cold hard cash.  More power to them, that is the American way.  Many of them use social media as a means to an end, to take more of your money from you for crap you really don’t need.  I am not going to name names, if you're smart enough to read this and understand what I am saying, (smarter than an 8^th grader), then you can figure it out for yourself.   

Over the years we have been approached by a lot of potential sponsors to promote their products at our races.  We’ve turned down a lot of them.  And many others we never approached. Simply because we could not in good faith, support their product or ideas.   We did a couple of contingency races years ago, and it brings out the dark side in a lot of people.  Sandbaggers, cheaters, aggressive take outs, desperation, injuries, and hateful confrontations.  Personally I have said for years that you don’t pay amateurs; that makes them pros.  Not too many mini dads or professional intermediates like that train of thought.   When you have intermediates making more than pro racers the system is broken, at least in my opinion.  And I’m sorry.  if you are over 25 years old and race only for contingency in any class other than pro you need to rethink your priorities in your life.  You should race for the pure joy, the thrill, the adrenaline rush, the camaraderie, and the fun.  Getting paid to win the 35 plus novice class doesn’t make you a winner; you’re probably a sandbagger who should be racing the 25 plus intermediate class.  I know there are families out there right now living the dream, hitting up all the big amateur races, raking in the contingency to help them get to the next big race.  I know that there are factory hopefuls at this very moment who cannot read a McDonalds menu.  If they just happen to be in the 99.9% of those who don’t make it into the show, what good did it do to chase that dream if they have absolutely no other way of making a living?   Actually, when I think about it that worries more than whether or not Chad Reed is twittering about anything remotely important. 

4/8/12

My father died today, I really don’t know how I should feel.   To say we weren’t close would be too easy, and not really true.   The past 2 decades we rarely spoke more than once or twice a year.  My 28 year old daughter has seen her grandfather twice in her life, both times before her third birthday.  Neither of my grown children have any memories of him, good or bad.  They grew up without grandfathers, and never experienced that part of life.  

My family fractured when I was 20 years old.  My father took the middle age crazies literally, and started a series of events that would eventually lead to divorce.   My younger brothers sided with my mother; I tried very hard to be in the middle which would lead to me being the bad guy.  Shortly after the divorce I moved my young family back to California.  My parents both married different people the same week that their divorce was final.  Neither, it seemed wanted to be single.  This was 1977, both remained with the same people, my father up until his death today.  The problem arose when the new spouses took precedence over the old family, and not just the spouse, but the spouses children.  It is really hard to watch the step children, and eventually the step grandchildren receive birthday presents, Christmas presents, graduation presents, and all the other normal interaction and attention that should come with being a family.  As the years went by, what I thought was just a glitch in fact became a way of life. 

You could say that I was at fault, and I would say that to some extent you’re right.   With my work, and running the races we didn’t have much free time.  Making the 2 day drive with the family to lovely Texas was not what any of us envisioned for our very rare vacations.  We foolishly thought that the relatives would want to come visit us in lovely San Diego.  After a decade went by we soon realized that we were on our own. 

Jody Weisel editor of Motocross Action Magazine wrote a very touching story about his father, and how he never got to see him race.  My father watched me race twice, once my very first race.  He made me leave after the first moto.  And once in Texas, where I had one of the best races of my life.  I rode flawlessly for two hours, only to hand my new Husky to my father at the finish line, and watch him loop it out riding it back to the truck, tearing the rear off of the bike.  Rather than apologize, or offer to replace the damaged parts, he instead was embarrassed and yelled at me.   At the age of 19 I really didn’t care if he ever watched me race again. 

On one hand I feel guilty that maybe I really wasn’t a good son.  On one hand I know I tried.  The reality is that I could have done more to have a better relationship with my father.  Would he have been any different?  Maybe, maybe not.  Ultimately the relationship you have with your father, or your son is up to both of you.  It’s not easy, especially when there are step moms, step children, step dads, and all the other family members in the mix.  My brothers both felt abandoned by their father, for different, but very similar reasons.  In the end one of my brothers was with him when he passed this morning, the other didn’t care to know.  I was running the races yesterday, but my heart was torn as to where I should have been. 

My entire life as a parent I have tried to be the father that I wanted, many times I have failed.  Many times my children wanted me to be something else, something that they wanted.  With my father I wish things would have been different, but I waited too long hoping that he would change, perhaps he was doing the same thing hoping I would change.  Now it’s too late, neither of us will ever know.   If you are living through a similar situation, my advice; don’t wait.  If you have a great relationship with your family, cherish it, nurture it, make sure that your loved ones know how you feel.  I waited too long, my father died today.

Rant 2/8/12

The REM Racer of the Year for 2011 was announced at our last race Feb 4^th.  It was a young man whose pedigree is that of a racing family.  Justin Jones, son of Gary Jones the first real superstar of American Motocross racing.  Nephew of Dewayne Jones like his brother a factory racer of some acclaim in the 70’s as well.  He was also grandson of the late Don Jones, one of the great minds of the early years of Motocross racing in America.  Justin went through a lot in 2011.  He suffered some pretty serious injuries, was a title winner in Pro Quad racing, as well as racing in a lot of Off Road races as well as Motocross.  He has a ton of natural talent, works hard, and is a joy to be around.  We honored him because his efforts on and off the track epitomized what being a racer is all about, persevering through the tough times, conquering the competition, and having that desire that only a racer understands, to live to race.  That every day but race day, is waiting for race day.  Justin is also a great kid, and we know his parents, sister and brother are all very proud of him. 

Just because Justin comes from a racing background, and has been surrounded by racing his whole life does not mean that racing was necessarily for him.  If you are a parent sooner or later you will have  learned that your child will do what he or she wants to do.  No amount of pressure, love, threats, awards, cajoling, or criticizing will turn your child into a champion racer, ballerina, soccer player, golfer, baseball player, or astronaut.  Just because you think you have the next supercross champ in the crib, doesn’t make it so.   Youth sports are a multi-billion dollar industry.  They want you to think that you have to enlist your child in every activity or sport possible, they want your money.  The old adage that if you keep your children busy that they won’t have time to get into trouble is just another old wives tale.  That child has to want to succeed at whatever they are involved in for them to stay out of trouble.  When I was 16 I paid my own way to the races, I wanted to go, I wanted to race, I spent every penny I earned to be a racer.  I spent my spare time working on my bike, and practicing.  My parents never supported my racing, actually they were against it. 

As a promoter I’ve seen an awful lot of dads who lived vicariously through their son’s accomplishments, some whose financial welfare depended on their son’s making “the show”.   I’ve seen parents make the lives of their children miserable because they put more into the kids racing than their kid did.  But it’s not just Motocross, I’ve seen parents hold their sons and daughters back in school so that they would be physically bigger for sports such as baseball and basketball.  I witnessed a mother taking a hairbrush to her daughter for not landing enough jumps in figure skating practice.  And how about the coaches, trainers, and others who enable this behavior by saying, "oh yeah, he has the talent, he can be a champion, he just needs some more lessons, or coaching, or this gimmick or that program".  How many have mortgaged their futures on their kids being a star athlete, singer, or actor?  Or mortgaged their kid’s future by not making education a priority first and foremost.  Do you know there are riders who have been given factory contracts or are about to be given contracts in the near future that can’t read a Jack in the Box menu. 

My own son had a PW50 in first grade.  Once in a while he would want go riding with me.  I went to Indian Dunes one week day for a magazine test ride, I took him along.  I was watching him ride around keeping an eye on him like a good father should do.  He was clipping along about as fast as a PW50 would go when both he and the little Yamaha went cartwheeling.  I remember vividly running to him thinking the worst; there he was crumpled in a cloud of dust whirling around him and the still running little bike.  He eventually got up and walked back to the truck with me, pushing the bike.  I sat him up on the tailgate of the truck, brushed him off, and he looked at me and said as seriously as a first grader could manage, “Dad, I don’t think I want to race, you can get killed racing”.  That was pretty much it for his dirt biking days.  I was okay with it; my son is not my clone, far from it.  And thinking that he would want to do the same things as me, be like me, is pretty arrogant.  My point is that just because you want it for them, doesn’t mean that they want it for themselves.  Children are just little adults, or adults are just big children, regardless we are all born with our own set of desires, wants and needs.  And no matter what you want your child to be, or do, or accomplish, they will grow up and do what “they” want to do.  My daughter’s ballet teacher once said to my wife “you can’t want it for your child more than they want it for themselves”.  All you can do is hope that you are doing the best you can to lead them down the road to becoming a good person.  True, some day they may regret not taking your advice, your counsel, or your path.  But, all of us are individuals, and cloning isn’t legal yet.

Of course I could always be wrong. remsatmx@gmail.com

Rant 2/1/12

For someone who’s been unemployed for 3 years I’ve been busy.  I’ve written at least 3 other rants, but after rereading them over and over again I decided they were better left in the dungeon of my psyche.  Either too angry, too much like the others, or too specific.  I am not some anonymous blogger on the internet; I have a business that is dependent upon racers wanting to race with REM, the motocross industry as sponsors and supporters, and the motocross press even the ones that do not race with us.  So even though some of those same entities may have done things that I personally cannot stomach, I still have to be careful about what I send out into the World Wide Web.  As astounding as it may seem my rants are apparently read by more than my mother and a few friends.  I can track that via my website and they seem to be read by people all over the world much to my surprise.  Even though REM hasn’t had many races that past 2 months we’ve been busy, we have added a bunch of new stuff, new database, new transponder system that I have been working on for nearly 3 years, and a lot of things to hopefully make REM better going into the new year. 

While all of this has been going on Supercross season started again.  A deal was struck to put the Red Bull X Fighters onto the REM track in May.  They put a National at Elsinore and took one away from Pala, Ludo started a new company, I had another round of shoulder surgery and then another round of neck surgery, Jeff Surwall got his new company Alias off the ground, Transworld decided to get into the tornado that is amateur racing, and hopefully the giant slug that is the economy is finally looking to be changing course for the better. 

Supercross, what can I say.  All the hype, and all the bs.   Sponsors love it, racers like it, the bro crowd thrives on it, and America really could care less.  If it was as big a deal as the insiders would have us believe it would be on live for every round, not tape delayed the next day, with some markets preempting it for infomercials.  4 rounds down, and how many racers down.  The moto crowd is so starved for anything moto that we put up with being the bastard step child of motorsports and taking the scraps that they heave at us.  Bottom line; until the average American can appreciate what skills, courage, and physicality every racer has that even qualifies for the show, let alone the main, they will continue to watch grown men playing with their balls i.e.; basket, base, foot, and golf. 

Red Bull X Fighters, I’m not even sure what it is.  All I know is that REM will be racing on the National or GP or Front track whatever they are calling it for 2 races in April, 2 in May, and perhaps 1 in June.  This while Red Bull turns the REM track into a freestyle venue expecting 28,000 fans to attend.  Red Bull has promised, that they will rebuild the REM track the way I want it after they have finished.   We will see, I have had that promise made to me at every National, GP, ad nauseum.   It took us 14 years to get the REM track to this point, you’ll know if you start seeing the Monster logo on our website if they lived up to their promises. 

What can you say about MX Sports moving the National from the mother of all venues Pala, to the mother of all venues du jour Elsinore.  It will be interesting to watch what transpires.  I have heard what happened; I’ll just say that no soap opera story line could even come close to this one.

Why would a multi million dollar corporation decide to get into the local SoCal racing scene?  The only reason I could come up with is that they see a chink in the armor of the greatest of all amateur racing the LL’s and think that there is an opportunity there to go national.  Good luck to them, I decided a long time ago that REM wasn’t going to try to be the biggest.  Saddleback Saturday’s was the shit in the day, they ran at one track, raced on Saturday, and were the most consistent program of their day.  REM has now been around for much longer than SS.  And every time someone tells me that we are the Saddleback of this generation I take that as a huge compliment and it makes me proud of what we have done.  REM has now raced for over 25 years, and has promoted more events in those 25 years than anyone in the World. 

Hi, to all of the REM racers all over the world.  Mark in New Zealand, Bruce in Illinois, Ron in Germany, Joos in Estonia, the guys in England, Sweden, Latvia, Japan, Australia, Canada, and Argentina.  Hope to see all of you again.

Is motocross racing doomed?  Motocross defined in the dictionary is a closed course motorcycle competition held over very rough natural terrain, including mud, rocks, sand and hills. 

 What most people get excited over today is Supercross, even as it extends to the outdoors.  Manmade jumps, manmade obstacles, on a relatively flat track.  Most tracks in So Cal are simply outdoor Supercross tracks.  They are toned down versions, but they are Supercross based nonetheless.  These tracks are flat, hard, and once they dry out could probably be ridden with class C tires rather than knobbies.  I’m not against Supercross oriented tracks at all, just as long as there are motocross tracks that I can still race on.

 I prefer motocross over Supercross.  Don’t think for a moment that I am waxing nostalgic or into vintage racing, far from it.  I have never raced a vintage race and probably never will.  I like the new bikes and the new technology.  But, I want to be challenged by the natural layout of the land, not what a D-6 can create in an afternoon.  Maybe it’s because when I grew up there were no practice tracks that you went to ride on, just what was out behind your house, or the next hill over.  If it meant you rode around or between boulders, or cactus that’s what you did.  We always managed to create very challenging tracks with no earth moving equipment.  True, the step up triple was a very rare thing in those layouts.  But, they taught us how to ride, and race.

 Today you can’t do that in So Cal or at least most of us don’t have the freedom to do that.  Today you load up, drive to the nearest practice track, pay your money, and ride on what someone else (who probably doesn't race) thought would be fun.  And for the most part that is a bunch of jumps.  Jumps are fine, they can be a lot of fun, they can certainly be challenging.  But, I would rather race, and jumps turn a race track into something else entirely.  I want to race on downhills, off cambers, real obstacles not just jumps and manmade whoops.

 I know that I am in the minority these days.  Most people that own dirt bikes want to take them out and ride them where it’s easy but where they feel they were challenged, where their bikes don’t get too dirty, where they can pull off and check out their GOPRO footage, where they can get on their smartphone and tell everyone on the moto forums how they were ripping it up on such and such jump.  You notice you never hear how someone was killing that offcamber.

 I don’t consider myself old school, when I was young we had night tracks and day tracks.  Night tracks were similar to what most day tracks are now.  I always considered myself a day track guy.  I like rough natural tracks, I like muddy natural tracks, I like difficult natural tracks.  It worries me that not only are most of the tracks that are available today based on jumps, but that the National Outdoor Motocross Championships seem to be going that way also.

Motocross is and will always be a niche sport.  More than likely it will never be mainstream, because most people simply cannot fathom that racing a motorcycle in the dirt is that much fun.  The sport’s growth is an ebb and flow just like any other endeavor or business.  Right now it is not as big or as healthy as it has been, maybe in a few years it will be.  Regardless of what you may have heard, most of the National promoters don’t make a lot of money.  Supercross for the most part makes money at nearly every venue.  Trying to turn motocross into outdoor Supercross for tv ratings, and money is only good for a very few business people. It sells energy drinks, alchohol, and ski boats.   It will not sell bikes, gear or goggles.  But it will scare parents away from buying dirt bikes for their kids when they see what happens when you miss a shift over that fourth gear step up.  Every time we watch a spectacular crash online, or hear about another FMX rider being killed, or a motocross racer being paralyzed there is a parent or wife that is buying someone they love golf clubs and not a motorcycle for Christmas.

Of course I could be wrong, but after 13,140,000 minutes of being a motocross promoter I don’t think so.  

I was on my way home from the MTA Vet Worlds at Glen Helen Saturday afternoon thinking to myself, “I suck so bad that I should just sell my new Yamaha and buy a street bike”.  I went to the race not expecting to do well, really to not even race.  I just wanted to do a couple of laps on a race track before going under the knife next week.  I haven’t been able to race in a long time due to various problems that I’ve been trying to get repaired.  I know that my physical conditioning sucks.  I know that I haven’t spent any time on a race bike in a long time.  I know that the aforementioned various problems limit me in what I can and can’t do physically.  But, I still know how to ride.  How could I ride  like a hairy dog turd?  Yes, the track was extremely difficult, but I just flat sucked. 

Most people will never understand the way that a motocross racer thinks.  I really don’t care if I win anymore.  I don’t care if I ever win a trophy or a prize at a race ever.  I've gotten to do that over the years.  I once won 26 straight motos, and was leading the 27^th when the A arm on my 85 KX 250 gave up the ghost.  I won a race in front of my mother by a half a lap, when I was in my forties.  I won a CMC championship.  At my age which is the age of a lot of motocross racers these days, other than getting out of bed without crying like a baby, taking a really good pee, and being able to find the remote, the only other thing that matters is that we can still ride well.  Not flounder around, looking like someone who really shouldn’t be on the track.  Even if we aren’t fast, don’t hit the big jumps, or don’t scrub like the kids we want to look like maybe we once had a clue.  Racers aren’t posers.  Racers don’t show up to putt around the track, do the jumps, ride 3 laps and go back to the truck to hang with their homies.  Racers want to race even for next to last place. 

After I got home I couldn’t stomach that what could possibly be my last ever race (depending on my scalpel wielder) left me feeling like a toilet plunger at a fraternity house.  So I went back and tried again Sunday, what would any true racer do?  What I did could not really be described as racing, but at least for 2 laps I didn’t feel like I had crapped my pants wearing a white leotard.  It wasn’t how I did, but the fact that I rode like a racer.  Does it matter, absolutely not?  In the big scheme of things it matters to only one person, me.  Because no matter how old I live to, how much longer I get the privilege of being a racer, I will always be a motocross racer at heart.  If you are too young for any of this to make sense to you, take note young racers, you will soon wake up, look in the mirror and say to yourself,” who the f@#k is the old guy, and why can’t I pee anymore?”.

Rant  9/21

Douche bag, tool, asshat.  All of these have been used to describe me at one time or another.  It always depends on which end of the horse your riding, as to whether or not I meet the criteria.  This past weekend I know there is a father of a 250 Novice whom thinks I am all of the above.  As is sometimes the case I was innocent this time, I swear it.  

There have been plenty of times that I will admit to being the king of doucheness.  If you come to my door and try to sell me something I can be a really big douche, tool, or asshole.  If I want something I will go buy it.  I don’t want to purchase anything from anybody at my front door.  Don’t come to my door and try to convert me to your religion, that isn’t happening either.  I have zero patience for door to door solicitors, salesmen, etc., so yes douche will be the flavor of the day.

 One (time at bandcamp), actually at a Supercross race, in the Coliseum, probably about 94.  I was standing in the pits talking with a couple of people I know, when I was verbally accosted by an obviously inebriated gentleman who on the other side of the pit fence was demanding that I give him my pass so that he could come and hang out with all what he thought were cool people in the pits.  I told him to lay off the beer, to which he proceeded to call me an asshole at the top of his voice.  It really set him off when I walked up to the fence and told him yes, I was an asshole, but at least I wasn’t drunk and dragging a ten year old around with me.  To which he really got angry, and then called me an f#$% asshole, to which I again agreed I must be, but at least I had a pass.

There have been several times when racers decided to rumble with other racers.  I have had to physically stop some these adults at times when they crossed the line.  I’m not going to stand for racer kicking another racer who is stuck under a bike, or a one sided fist fight between someone twice as big as someone else.  In those cases, to the offending party at that moment I was definitely a tool, sometimes the whole tool bag.  Usually after a little time to think and cool off they change their mind and realize who the actual tool was. 

So this past weekend I was talking with a good friend who has helped me many times at the race track with engineering issues.  We were discussing the start gate and why it is so hard to lift now.  The angle on the lever was changed when we redid the center section, and it needs to be redone.  So Saturday after lifting the heavy SOB 25 times, we were talking about why it was so much heavier, to which I told him it was partially caused by racers packing the dirt around the bar.  I used a few choice words in my description not realizing that I was speaking louder than I should have been due to the headphones I had been wearing for 6 hours.  Apparently a father took great umbrage with my comments thinking I was talking to him.  I didn’t even know he had heard me, but I was tired, dehydrated, sick of picking up that heavy ass gate, and as is usually the case mentally dead at that point in the day.  So to that father I apologize for my comments.  It wasn’t you who made the gate any harder to lift; it was poor design, and a long day at the races.  I did go looking to apologize after the race but couldn’t find you.  Truth be known all I remember was he was wearing a red shirt.  So yes I can understand why he might think I was the master of doucheness, prince of tools, and head asshat.   I accept the label with regret this weekend because I really didn’t mean to be rude to this gentleman. And in this case I apologize. 

But, if he had been trying to sell me recycled, Church of what’s happening now made, solar panels for vinyl rain gutters, that he has left over from another job, at half price at my front door all bets are off.

Whenever a tragedy strikes the internet experts always have to take a stand, “something has to be done, someone is guilty, someone is wrong, the sport is worse today, racing is dangerous that’s why I never took it up, racing is dangerous that’s why I only practice race, motocross is more dangerous today than the old days that’s why I only ride vintage bikes,” blah, blah, blah, run chicken little the sky is falling…………….  

The sport of motocross has had at least 3 fatalities recently.   Each one is different, each one is significant for those whose lives were impacted, and every tragedy is just that, a tragedy.  In case you don’t know me, I have promoted over a thousand races.  I have watched over 20 thousand motos.  I think that makes me an expert, maybe you disagree.  Motocross is dangerous, as is any motorsport.  Anytime you travel faster than you can run, and are sparring with a 200 pound plus steel, aluminum, plastic and rubber partner there is a level of danger that can result in injury, traumatic injury, and death.  I have witnessed all of those at motocross races.  As a promoter safety has always been my primary focus.  Sadly not all promoters can say the same.  I willingly spend money on quality ambulance services, with an emt and paramedic.  I always have as many flaggers or cornerworkers as I can line up.  We have a state of the art radio system.  I spend a significant amount of money each week on safety.  That is my responsibility as a promoter.  It is my job to do everything I can to have a safe race track and to fix problems as they arise.  Bad things still occur.  

It is the racers responsibility to make sure that their machine is in top shape, that you have quality safety equipment, and that you are capable of racing on race day.  Someone on the internet is always saying how the promoters should mandate neck protection, chest protectors and any other safety item du jour.  Guess what?  I cannot guarantee that neck protection works.  I am not a medical engineer.  I cannot guarantee that if you wear certain items that you will not break your neck.  Or have a handlebar puncture your lung, or damage your liver.  You as the racer have to make that decision based on current facts as you see them.  I know that good boots will protect your feet to an extent.  I know that a helmet will protect you to a certain level, and that a good helmet will protect you even better.  But, it will not save you from every circumstance.  My brother in law died from head injuries and was wearing the very best street bike helmet made at the time.  I blew out my knee wearing the very best knee braces.  I saw a kid cut off the end of his finger wearing the most expensive gloves you could buy.  Crashes occur all the time; most racers pick themselves up and continue.  Some are far worse, some are heart wrenching.

There are not more deaths today in motocross.  Due to the internet, social media, cell phones, and every other communication device developed in the recent years you now hear about them within minutes of them occurring.  No one jumped onto a forum 10, 15 or 20 years ago to talk about the bad things that happen.  You used to have to wait a week just to hear who won a National or Supercross race.  And that was if you got Cycle News.  It was 2 or 3 months for a magazine with current coverage.  There was very little local coverage except what was in your region in Cycle News.  And that was usually a month or more in the past when it reached the public.  Even if you were in the industry you didn’t hear about what was going on until the next week because there were no cell phones, no internet, no email, no twitter, no facebook, just a plain old telephone hardwired into the phone network.  And people didn’t feel the need to network with every Tom, Dick and Harry back then.  There were plenty of tragedies in the good old days.  A fireman once told me they averaged a death a week at the old Palm riding area in San Diego.  You almost never heard about it unless it made the local newspaper.

This past weekend a young man in the beginner class stalled his bike, after numerous kicks and failing to restart the bike I offered my assistance.  I got the bike to fire, and then noticed that the throttle only had one of the two screws holding it in place, and I could move the throttle completely off the handlebar without much effort. I informed the young man that this was unsafe and that he could not continue until he repaired his bike.  Really, should I have to tell you your throttle is loose?  Yes, he was a beginner, and yes he has to learn.  But, if your survival is important to you basic things like a loose throttle should never come up on the racetrack.    

The most important piece of safety equipment that you own is your brain.  If you race at an unsafe track, with an organization who doesn’t put your safety first, if your bike is not maintained, if you don’t purchase quality safety equipment, if you are not physically well, or hydrated, or rested, or comfortable with the obstacles that you face on raceday then don’t race.   No promoter or organization can guarantee 100% that you won’t suffer some sort of injury or worse no matter how safe the organization, or the track is.  It is a team effort, you have to do your part as well.  It is after all your life. 

You can always reach me at remsatmx@gmail.com  please do not post this or any other REM rant on any other website or forum.

A lot of people who ride dirt bikes are like that person looking for the perfect spot.  Some spend all their time trying to find that perfect suspension setting, some wait until the weather is perfect, while others only go to the track if their buddies are going.   I’ve seen so many idiosyncrasies, habits, superstitions, and obsessive compulsive behaviour  over the years that it’s a wonder any one ever gets to the race track let alone does a lap.   Some people have to have that perfect pit spot, have the easy up, the lawn chairs, the big cooler, the mat on the ground for the bike stand, everything just perfect before they can put in a lap.  Others put on the right sock and right knee brace first.  Some have to wear a particular pair of underwear, or a particular piece of jewelry.  Some only wear blue helmets, some have to check and recheck their goggle strap ten times before the gate drops.  Over the years I have debunked all of my personal superstitions.  None of those things has kept me from crashing, kept the bike from breaking, made me any faster, safer, calmer, or better.  I realized it’s all in my own head, in my preparation, and just plain luck.  Sometimes you just know it’s not going to be your day, so you slow down, or don’t even unload.  I have driven 2 hours to a track only to realize after I paid my money that I am not feeling it.  On those days I would rather drive the 2 hours back home in one piece than leave in an ambulance.  I’ve also had several superstitions over the years about promoting races.  I  finally realized that nothing I can do will ever keep someone from crashing, from not liking a track design, from disliking REM, or just having a bad day.  That’s just the reality of life.  Once I rid myself of my own superstitions it was like getting rid of 50 lbs of baggage.  I don’t worry about which knee brace, or boot goes on first.  Who I’m with, where I’m parked, I don’t wear a particular color, or style.  I get my stuff on, start the bike and go riding, or get my headset on and start running the races.  Of course if you have your own qurks, habits, or way of motivating yourself  at the races or life that’s cool, if it works for you then keep it up, but while you’re still circling the parking lot I’m getting the last bag of Cheetos.