#dadlife? Chad Reed returned to Monster Energy AMA Supercross on a YZ250, while his son raced on the bike of the future

WORDS: JASON WEIGANDT
PHOTOS: ALIGN MEDIA & SIMON CUDBY

Chad Reed once operated his own TwoTwo Motorsports race team, spending millions of dollars to employ the best names in the industry and build bikes that could beat the factories. He succeeded. The plan on this night was different. Chad would ride opening ceremonies on a 2004 Yamaha YZ250, designed to mimic his AMA Supercross Championship bike from that same year. Old two-strokes sound amazing, both literally and figuratively, but this one had some issues—plus Chad didn’t have a mechanic. Or even a bike stand. The bike was just leaning on a post, and Chad wanted to make sure it was fixed before hitting some triples. So Chad asked the folks organizing opening ceremonies for a favor.

“Hey, can you guys open that garage door over there?” he said.

He pushed the bike outside, and the scene unfolded: a mint 2004 YZ250 works replica, on the sidewalk, revving out on the streets of downtown St. Louis.