Vintage motocross racing is fun. I’ve been to a couple good events, including the Racer X Inter-Am in Boise, Idaho. That’s where I got to race with Damon Bradshaw and twist the throttle on Sir Scott Wallenberg’s factory Monark, whatever that is. But I had no idea what I was getting into when I agreed to attend the Vets Motocross des Nations in England.

First off, I didn’t even realize this was a proper vintage event. I always thought it was just old guys on newer bikes with some vintage classes thrown in for nostalgia. Thank the almighty I didn’t show up on a modern four-stroke or these guys would have hanged me like Robert Hubert or used the dozer blade as a makeshift guillotine and lopped my head off! (If you don’t know, Hubert was a Frenchman who said he started the Great Fire of London in 1666 and was promptly executed. Except he was innocent. What? I know things!)

The Vets MXdN is sold out way in advance, and you can only sign up for one class. There is a 40-man gate for the fastest qualifiers, and then an additional 20 gates off to the side that go as a second wave. Of course, those folks have no chance of winning, but at least they get to participate. The classes are typical vintage standards: Super Evo is anything from 1989 to 1996, and Evo is older than 1989. After that you have the Twin Shock class, and before that I’m pretty sure it was just horses.