Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Rev Up. It seems like it comes out of nowhere. One morning you are pulling the garbage to the street wearing gym shorts and a tank top, and the next you are scraping ice off the windshield. The transition from summer, to fall, to winter really creeps up on us, and as the first arctic blast hits the upper portions of the country this week, the riding season for a high percentage of enthusiasts is over.
If that wasn’t enough, that handy time change also went into effect recently, and even if it is warm enough to ride, we run out of daylight around 5:30 p.m. That means, for the most part, the workingman will be draining the gas out of the tank and stuffing his bike and gear bag into the corner of the garage for a few months. It’s just the natural cycle of the year for a lot of folks. But, for others, the wheels never stop spinning. They simply head south, find places to ride with the lights on, and work out where they can. After all, one of the biggest amateur races of the year is less than two weeks away: the 2014 Thor Winter Olympics in Gainesville, Florida. I’m going to preview that event in full next week, but I wanted to drop a couple words about a couple kids I’ve been able to ride with the last couple of weeks down here in Florida.
I grew up racing in Kansas and every year when it turned cold we would load up and head to Florida, so it’s kind of been a natural cycle for me to ride down here this time a year. It’s perfect with temperatures still well into the high 70s. After a quick Google search I found a track called PaxTrax in Bunnell, FL, which has been awesome to ride. It’s mostly dark sand with some fun table-tops and awesome berms. One evening a couple weeks ago, I was out there riding when a kid wearing #777 on a brand new YZ250F went flying past me. I consider myself a fairly quick Vet A rider, but this kid passed me like I was standing still and was out of sight in about three corners. He was standing up on the pegs around the corners and absolutely carrying the mail. After pulling into the pits I noticed we were parked beside each other, so I started some conversation.
Turns out #777 was 14-year-old Dylan Greer, and he had just got off a 250cc two-stroke and was making his first laps on a 250F. He and his father were very nice, and Dylan carried a reserved demeanor and quiet confidence. I always enjoy talking to young riders with talent like he has. They haven’t come out of their shell, but they have that innate self-assurance in their eyes that says, “I can work you on the race track.” It was a cool experience and later in the session we exchanged bikes and I let Dylan ride my Hurricane. He had never been on a 450 (mine has a race motor and it’s gnarly, even for an ‘09), and I wanted to ride his highly modified 250F badly. I ended up burning about four laps but noticed young Mr. Greer only made one lap on my bike before pulling off. I asked him how he liked it, to which he replied, “It’s, uh, fast.” The Greers have their eyes set on the Schoolboy and B classes in two weeks. I think he’ll do very well.
Last night I headed out to Bithlo MX and had a similar experience. Bithlo has deep sand and fewer jumps, as it has high-speed sweepers and diverse, multiple-lined corners. It is the old stomping ground of Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo. Because it is only twenty miles from my house, it is my new “local” track. As I pulled into the gates to sign up last night, I heard a bike on the track that was going fast. When you’ve been around as long as I have, you don’t really need to see someone to know they’re fast. Whoever was on the track was absolutely flying. I could tell what parts of the track he was on as I was unloading my Hurricane, and whoever this was didn’t use the brakes much. As I was putting my gear on I saw a #133 Kawasaki 250F ride by with brand new Team Green graphics on the radiator shrouds, and the rider had “Bailey” on the back of his jersey. The track superintendent came over to me and proudly informed me of Jordan Bailey’s new Team Green contract and how the organization is grooming him to be the “next AC.” I was able to speak with Jordan a little in the pits, and he is a pretty cool kid. He’s very much a 14-year-old and likes to laugh a lot. He didn’t seem serious in the slightest bit—just having a good time at the track. But, on the track he is a beast. His riding style shares a lot of similarities to Cianciarulo’s, as he stands up constantly and has his elbows really high.
[In 2013, Motosport.com ran a feature on Bailey.]
Sitting down writing this makes me think back to being 14 years old and in their shoes. I also had a new Team Green ride, and everything was right in the world. It was really cool to meet Dylan Greer and Jordan Bailey. Remember those two names.
Meanwhile, there is a lot going on in professional motocross and off-road racing. The Baja 1000 kicks off this weekend and the Bercy Supercross will be going on over in France. A quick thought on Bercy: It kind of puzzles me how huge that event used to be and how all of the biggest names always raced it. From Ricky Johnson to Jeremy McGrath, it always seemed like the best riders in the world wanted to be at that race. There are still some huge names attending, but I find it odd that none of the major championship winners in 2014 will be racing—Ryan Villopoto, Ken Roczen, and Antonio Cairoli won't be there. If you look at the recent Bench Racing Ammo, you'll notice that the last person to win Bercy and go on to win the US Supercross title was Jeff Emig in 1997. Who knows, maybe the trend will change after this year.
Well, that's all I have this week. If any of you are heading south for the Mini Olympics, take a look at the two links to those tracks I listed above. And if you want to go ride, hit me up at andy@racerxonline.com.
Thanks for reading, see you next week.
