Riders' Union?
Riders' Union?
In the wake of a few high-profile incidents, including the stunning news over the weekend that former AMA and GP star Andrew McFarlane was killed in a race back home in Australia, there is chatter on the message boards and Twitter from top riders about starting some kind of a safety committee or even a union. Following the trail online, it started with a conversation between Grant Langston, who crashed spectacularly at the Daytona Supercross, causing a red flag, and Chad Reed, who was very vocal about the jumps at both the Houston and St. Louis SX events, where his friend Ivan Tedesco collapsed a lung and teammate Ryan Villopoto suffered a broken leg over the same jump. There was also the tragic loss of rising minicycle star Jesse Masterpool two months ago at an amateur race in Texas.
Langston posted on Sunday afternoon that he and Chad Reed were going to spearhead the movement "in the hopes of making this great sport as safe as possible." The former AMA National and FIM world champ said they had a host of top riders on board, including James Stewart, who Tweeted his support of the fledgling plan, and the veteran Sean Hamblin, who posted many of his thoughts on the Vital MX message board.
Details of what exactly happened to McFarlane in the accident that cost him his life over the weekend have yet to fully emerge, but it should be noted that it was at an outdoor race in Australia, during practice, and not in a supercross event.
