Yamaha rider Matt Bisceglia (pronounced bish-shay-lee-ah) is just one of many top amateur riders who put together a great week at the Winter Amateur Olympics (aka the Mini Os) at Gatorback Cycle Park in Gainesville, Florida. The young Texan took home three championships, so we dialed him in today for our Monday Conversation.
Oh nothing. I’m just at Wal-Mart getting some food and a Christmas tree.
Christmas Tree is a big deal. The family put you in charge of that?
Oh no way, my Mom is taking care of that. I’m just chillin’ really.
So you had a pretty good week at the Mini Os.
Yeah dude it was my first race on big bikes so I was super stoked. I won on a four stroke, and those were the hardest classes I was in, and then I won my schoolboy class, stock 125 motocross.
The Mini Os are pretty unique because it runs two formats, first with supercross racing and then later in the week with motocross. Talk about the event.
It’s definitely sick. Both were really good this year. The whole week is a big rush, supercross is just a couple days long, and then you get to practice and then racing in motocross. It’s a big rush; it’s like having two nationals in one week.
Is the supercross track full-on supercross, or is it more like a smaller motocross track?
It’s just a small track. I mean, the supercross track has a whoop section, but it’s more like a small track, no big rhythm sections or anything. Both tracks turned out really sick this year.
Well yeah you can’t go crazy on supercross obstacles at an amateur race with minis. And I heard they had some mud down there, too.
Yeah it rained some before practice, and right before the last day of supercross it dumped hard all night. After that, I rode halfway through the day, and my moto was muddy, but it could have been worse. It wasn’t super bad, but it was slick on the hard clay.
You mentioned how stacked the Schoolboy classes are on four-strokes. Who were you battling this week?
Yeah everyone was riding good, especially Jessy Nelson, Joey Savatgy and Kyle Peters. They were all riding good, and my biggest comp was Savatgy.
You race a lot of motos during this week, so by the end do you have a pretty good idea where you fit in?
For sure. All week most of the same guys got good starts, pretty much the same guys were up there the whole time, like Savatgy and Peters. We had some good races and I was glad to come out on top in a few of them.
Oh yeah, after that we ditched the 80s. I was pretty over it after Loretta’s; we got tangled and I lost the championship. So we went home and got with the Red Bull JAMS program (Red Bull Junior Amateurs) and got on the bigger bike. It wasn’t a tough transition, it suits me well.
Was this your first race on the big bikes anywhere?
I had ridden a 125 a little bit, but they really didn’t want me to race bigger bikes until I was done with 80s. So I had some practice on a 125, but I had never even ridden a 250 at all until after Loretta’s. It’s really fun.
What’s the plan for 2010? Racing B class?
In 2010 I’m going to ride all the Schoolboy classes. We won’t do B until after Loretta’s. The plan is to run B in 2011 and then Amateur Expert [A class] the next year.
Where do you do your riding and training?
Home base is home in Texas. Sometimes we’ll go ride with Trampas Parker in Louisinna
Is it still fun?
Oh yeah dude, especially since I got on big bikes. The bikes are sick.
Well congrats. Who do you want to thank?
Yamaha, Hattiesburg Cycles in Mississippi, Red Bull, Fox, Merge Racing, Dunlop, Von Zipper, Pro Taper, FMF, Works Connection, Speed Graffix, Hammerhead Designs and Trampas Parker.
Visit VurbMoto.com for more photos, videos and reports from the Winter Amateur Olympics.
Oh nothing. I’m just at Wal-Mart getting some food and a Christmas tree.
Christmas Tree is a big deal. The family put you in charge of that?
Oh no way, my Mom is taking care of that. I’m just chillin’ really.
So you had a pretty good week at the Mini Os.
Yeah dude it was my first race on big bikes so I was super stoked. I won on a four stroke, and those were the hardest classes I was in, and then I won my schoolboy class, stock 125 motocross.
The Mini Os are pretty unique because it runs two formats, first with supercross racing and then later in the week with motocross. Talk about the event.
It’s definitely sick. Both were really good this year. The whole week is a big rush, supercross is just a couple days long, and then you get to practice and then racing in motocross. It’s a big rush; it’s like having two nationals in one week.
Is the supercross track full-on supercross, or is it more like a smaller motocross track?
It’s just a small track. I mean, the supercross track has a whoop section, but it’s more like a small track, no big rhythm sections or anything. Both tracks turned out really sick this year.
Well yeah you can’t go crazy on supercross obstacles at an amateur race with minis. And I heard they had some mud down there, too.
Yeah it rained some before practice, and right before the last day of supercross it dumped hard all night. After that, I rode halfway through the day, and my moto was muddy, but it could have been worse. It wasn’t super bad, but it was slick on the hard clay.
You mentioned how stacked the Schoolboy classes are on four-strokes. Who were you battling this week?
Yeah everyone was riding good, especially Jessy Nelson, Joey Savatgy and Kyle Peters. They were all riding good, and my biggest comp was Savatgy.
You race a lot of motos during this week, so by the end do you have a pretty good idea where you fit in?
For sure. All week most of the same guys got good starts, pretty much the same guys were up there the whole time, like Savatgy and Peters. We had some good races and I was glad to come out on top in a few of them.
Oh yeah, after that we ditched the 80s. I was pretty over it after Loretta’s; we got tangled and I lost the championship. So we went home and got with the Red Bull JAMS program (Red Bull Junior Amateurs) and got on the bigger bike. It wasn’t a tough transition, it suits me well.
Was this your first race on the big bikes anywhere?
I had ridden a 125 a little bit, but they really didn’t want me to race bigger bikes until I was done with 80s. So I had some practice on a 125, but I had never even ridden a 250 at all until after Loretta’s. It’s really fun.
What’s the plan for 2010? Racing B class?
In 2010 I’m going to ride all the Schoolboy classes. We won’t do B until after Loretta’s. The plan is to run B in 2011 and then Amateur Expert [A class] the next year.
Where do you do your riding and training?
Home base is home in Texas. Sometimes we’ll go ride with Trampas Parker in Louisinna
Is it still fun?
Oh yeah dude, especially since I got on big bikes. The bikes are sick.
Well congrats. Who do you want to thank?
Yamaha, Hattiesburg Cycles in Mississippi, Red Bull, Fox, Merge Racing, Dunlop, Von Zipper, Pro Taper, FMF, Works Connection, Speed Graffix, Hammerhead Designs and Trampas Parker.
Visit VurbMoto.com for more photos, videos and reports from the Winter Amateur Olympics.
