France where he'd get some rest on a ferry
that would transport his van full of motorcy-
cles, caravan and family to the White Cliffs of
Dover in England. From there it was another
drive to Liverpool and another ferry ride to
the Isle of Man.
And that was the easy part.
Then he spent the next week practicing
and racing at the most harrowing of all race-
tracks – the Isle of Man TT. That's what dads
do. That's especially what racing dads do
because there is no calling in sick, no mak-
ing up for lost work the next day, the next
week. If you're not in your leathers, practice
goes on without you. The race goes on with-
out you. Rivals race, rivals win, rivals collect
championship points, and rivals get paid.
Again, it's back to that cupboards full, cup-
boards empty scenario.
Chad Reed's cupboards are most defi-
nitely full. And no one named Reed is going
to starve if he can't race this weekend at the
Dallas Supercross. Nobody in that family is
going to be disappointed in hubby, or disap-
pointed in dad. They know he's going to do
everything in his power to do the only thing
he knows how to do – give it his all.
I don't know Reed personally. I've met him,
but know of him, his wife and his family more
through what they give us on Twitter than I do
from sitting down and breaking bread with
him. But I know his background, I know from
where he came and know a thing or two about
racing. And about dads who race.
It's why I also knew while watching it that
on the last lap of the San Diego Supercross
Reed was going to bomb that section of
whoops faster than he'd bombed them on
any of the previous 19 laps. It's why I knew
that fourth wasn't going to be good enough
when third was there for the taking. Yes
Reed crashed. But at least he crashed try-
ing. And he'll try his best to be there again
this weekend.
And that's enviable. CN
VOL. 51 ISSUE 6 FEBRUARY 11, 2014 P121
LOOKING BACK
40 Years Ago
February 19, 1974
A pair of Maicos about to get dirty was
featured on the cover 40 years ago to ac-
company our test on the 400 and 450cc
motocrosser... The already 28
th
Annual
Moose Run Hare & Hound was held in
the SoCal desert and A.C. Bakken took
the win… Al Baker took top honors at the Parker 400.
30 Years Ago
February 22, 1984
Johnny O'Mara got the cover and
$75,000 for winning the end-of-weekend
Wrangler Dash at the Seattle Supercross.
Jeff Ward and Rick Johnson won the
regular SX races Saturday and Sunday…
The two famous Dan's – Smith and Ash-
craft – paired up to win the Parker 400.
20 Years Ago
February 16, 1994
The all-new Ducati 916 was pictured in
all its glory on the cover 20 years ago.
We traveled to its birthplace in Italy to ride
it… Jeremy McGrath and Ryan Hughes
were the big winners at the San Diego
Supercross… Randy Hawkins won
the opening round of the National Hare
Scrambles Series at Lake Nimrod, Arkansas.
10 Years Ago
February 18, 2004
Cycle News traveled to Africa to ride the
latest R1200GS from BMW, which was
caught in action on the cover 10 years
ago... Chad Reed took top honors at
the San Francisco Supercross. Nathan
Ramsey ended Ivan Tedesco's win
streak in the 125 class… David Lykke
pulled off what we said was an "unLykke"
win at the National Enduro opener in Arizona.
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