Ever since it was born, nearly 50 years ago, the Thor Winter Olympics has been a staple on America’s amateur motocross schedule. Held during the Thanksgiving holiday week, the race brings the nation’s young amateurs (and a few veterans) together for six days of competition at Gatorback Cycle Park outside of Gainesville, Florida. Practically every fast U.S. rider (and some well-known international prospects) has spun laps around Gatorback’s supercross and outdoor motocross tracks during that last week in November. Damon Bradshaw, Kevin Windham, Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart, Mike Alessi—they all built up their epic amateur résumés with wins here.