Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125892
Bef ore the race, you get a chance to practice what th e Professor preaches - like find ing the lo w side of that jump and tailoring you r landing to put the rear wheel in the best traction . After the flag drops, there's a dozen other guys who want the same line , and you 're on your own. HOWTO WINMX (Conti nued fr om page 3 1) ama te u r riders are kind of crazy . They th ink they a re go in g to win the race in th e firs t c o rner. I n ever w on onc in th e first tum even th ough it hel ps a lo t to be th ere firs t. When yo u arc in a race wh er e th e rid ers c ras h a lot d ue to , in experien ce and enthusiasm yo u do n'. w an t to be mixed up in th at fir st -turn c ra sh . Get o n the outside a nd th en no maile r wha t happens yo u ha ve a pl ace to ride a nd you ca n go on aro und and co n tin ue ra cing. If yo u ge t m ixed up in a crash -.:even if yo u restart - it takes a lot o f track to m a ke up for th e lost time. Here 's a nother t hing to think abo ut. Suppo se yo u d ecid e you are no t goi ng to risk go ing inside on th e lirst tu m a nd getting tr apped o r in vo lved in a b ig crash . Bu t you don' t want to go 'way o utside because it lo o ks lik e a lo ng way around . May b e staying near th e middle of the track all th e w ay is a good co m p ro m ise. Th e first thing wro ng with th at point of view is that nearl y all the o ther riders are righ t th ere in the mi ddle. Some a re ligh ti ng for the ins ide line, some a re go ing wide, but th e majority will be tryi ng to ride through in the m id dl e. Th at t ells yo u th e a nswer righ t there. Don't do tha t , In o th er wo rds, dun 't fo llow . The race begins at th e start 'The race doesn't begin down th er e aft er everybody is through th e first turn . Even if it did, h ow wo uld yo u like to be nu mh er 3 0 co m in g arou nd th e turn ? The race st arts righ t when th e n ag dr o p s b ut many riders d o n't rea lly ge t racing- u n til la t er . S ome rid ers ge t so tensed up .ib o u t th e cro wd in th e lirst turn th a t th e y un consci ously hold bac k so they d o n ' t have t o he in t he thick of it. If y ou've heen d o ing that and feelin g a littl e embarrassed about it , n ow yo u know ! No ne of th e go od riders wa n t to be in the midd le of that cro wd either. 'I'h ey mak e the sa me choice yo u d o . If th e y ca n get th er e first. th at 's bes t. If no t, they go wide. If yo u have bee n b an gin g back don't d o th at a ny m o re . Gas it an d go aro u nd th e pac k. Th er e 's a noth er group of gu ys wbo d o n "t believe th e race starts a t the lin e. I don' t know wby . Th ey will d o 15 or 2 0 ho t laps a round th e race track in prac tic e but th ey will never come in to the st arting a rea a nd m ake some st ar ts. It may be the y have the sam e problem . Th ey intend to b e las t through th e tum and th en hope t o m a ke it a ll up o n the track . Not man y people can su cceed a t tha t. Motocross is won in the turns No w yo u have made your start an d gone th ro ugh the first turn. You are out on the stra igh t, Some rid ers a rc in front o f yo u an d so m e a rc behind yo u. Wha t arc yo u th in king? Pas somebody ! " Th a t 's great if you can do it hut it is not as im po rt a n t as many rid ers thin k. Motoc ro ss is no t wo n o n th e straights. Competitive bikes a nd riders a re so close to ea ch o ilier in performance o n th e st ra igh t th at ir yo u d o pass so m ebod y you a rc just p ic kin g off crip p les. If so me body passes you - well, th a t 's the way it is. If you ca n pi ck off so m eb o d y, naturally yo u will d o it . But bikes usu ally a rr ive a t o n e co m er in abo u t th e sa me o rder as they left the previous co rner. Mo to cro ss is w on in the turns. To be marc exact, m otocross is wo n in brak ing for a turn, get ting through th e turn, and accelerat ing o ut of it. T hat 's th e co rn er and maybe 5 0 feet ea ch sid e of it . Af ter the first tum yo ur nex t real cha nce to pass someb ody is to o ut h ra ke him at the en d of th e first straigh t . Now yo u are racing. Yo u h ave your n um ber o ne o bje c tive firmly in mi nd : Go wid e-o pe n as much of th e time as po ssib le. )) 0 e very tb ing els e. fo r as sb ort a t ime as p os sibl e. Y ou kn ow so m e way s to do th is because yo u walked th e track - studied it for lin es a nd ruts a nd holes - a nd th en yo u practiced . Ca n you d o it ou t there just the wa y yo u p ra c ticed it ? No, you ca n ' t. Beca use there arc a hu nch o f other ra cers o n the track to o an d they 've go t so me ideas also, You are o n your o wn now. Nobody ca n tell you what to d o. A lot of it depends o n the tra c k, the oth er ride rs, and what they d o . I can sh ow yo u some ex amples a nd give yo u so me id ea s. Thats wh at m o st o f the pi c tu res in thi s section a rc inten d ed to do . You c an get so me go od id eas fr om watching ra ces and seeing bow the quick riders ge t aro un d the tr ack a nd through tr affic. But finall y it's all up to y o u. To ge t ar o und the guy in fro n t yo u have t o rid e a little bet ter and so me t im es yo u h ave to .th ink a little be tte r. How do you know you are faster? When yo u have o ve rta ken somebody you kn ow yo u a re go ing fast c r tha n h c is. It 's tba t simple. It 's go od to wat ch ra ces when yo u are no t riding . You will see so me thi ngs th at make yo u thin k. Wat ch a co up le o f rid ers in the back o f the field , The gu y in the red jersey pulls up right behind th e gu y in th e green. Th ey go aro u nd th at wa y until the last lap . Th en the rider bebind gets d espera te a nd pulls o u t of t he groove somewhere a nd goes hy. Then h e j ust Fli es and cro sses the fini sh lin e th ree o r fo ur seconds a head o f the o ther rider. But h e st ill finished nea r the The Prof. finds the smooth line on a hill where the herd made most of the bumps. Now imagine two dozen guys there. If you can still grab the best line in traffic,you're a racer. last pl ace beca use he let th e other ride r hold him b ack fo r nearl y the en tire race. Sometimes yo u will sec an experienced racer fall down ea rly in th e race and get passed by every body . He takes off a nd starts ca tch ing people. As soon as he catches somebody h e passe s. li e passes im med iately. Wat ch him on th e tr ack a nd he is passing so me bo dy in nearl y every co m er. At th e en d he will be somewhere near the fro nt. One rider ra ces all the time. The o th er races only on the last la p. What makes a win? In a ho tl y-co ntest ed race the winne r will be ah ea d of second -place b y o n ly a few seconds - m a y be o nly three. Sometimes it lo o ks li ke h e is a long distan ce ahead if th ere is a big fini shing straigh t because the b ikes are go ing fast . Let's do so m e simple arith m e t ic, S uppos e it 's a 2 0·m in u te moto a nd the hikes run ten m iles . The average speed of the winner was e xac tly 30 m iles per ho ur. The a verag e speed o f number two was slo we r . li e only went 29 .92 5 m iles per hour, If they raced th at wa y for a whole h our, th e lead er would he ahead by 4 0 0 fee t. T o ge t a win yo u h ave to b uild up your lead in small fra ctions of a second here - a t enth there, If yo u ar c lu c ky or th e other rid er isn' t , you ca n sometimes get a wh o le hal f-sec ond. Passing Let 's sa y you have slo wly caught up with a no th er rider a bo u t as go o d as you. You know y o u are a tin y bit faster bec a use you di d c a tc h up wi t h h im . It 's really difficult to get b y so me body wh o is rid ing as fast as yo u a re o r nearly a s fast. Putti ng o n som e pressure is a legitimate strat egy an d sometimes the only wa y yo u ca n ge t aro u nd this guy is to ca use hi m to bob b le - o r at least be _th e re and wai ti ng whe n he does, So go to it . Pu t on the pressure . Mak e him know you are there and yo u ar c push ing on him all the time. Wh er e are yo u going to ride while you are d oing this? Yo u know yo u 're not go ing to follow or get in hi s groove . Even if your fron t wheel is 10 fee t behind his back wh eel, yo u shou ld ride to o ne side . Even if yo u d on't see any wa y to get a ro u nd him, stay ab o ut 18 inch es off to th e sid e a nd you will find an opportun ity so mewhe re . If yo u ar e out at his side , any bobble o r prob le m he has p uts you righ t even with him a nd th en past hi m . If he m isses a gear o r lets his re ar ti re slide ou t or slows fo r any reaso n, yo u're gon e. As lo ng as you follo w them th rough th e corners yo u're go n na follow 'em t o th e chec kered flag . Do yo u think I've sa id th at too much? Do yo u think e very b ody should kno w such a simple thing? Rememb er th e guy wh o go t desperate in th e last lap an d fin all y passed th e rid er h e had been fo llo wing fo r th e entire race? Wh at d id he learn from that lill ie experience? Don 't foll ow, right? H ~ forgot it before the next heat ca me up, went o u t there a nd ro de the ne xt race exactly the sa m e way. Ca n you believe that ? Yo u know it's true. Is it t rue fo r yo u ? r Are you go ing to win? \Vinning is a myst erious thing. Nobody kn ows all there is to know abou t it. Some times the gu y who is supposed to win doesn 't and the guy who d id n ' t have a chanc e co mes in firs t. It isn' t all eq uipme nt and ab ilit y a nd des ire . Those .th in gs are im portant b ut Lhere's som eth in g else or maybe so m e un iq ue co m b ina ti o n of those things that works o n a particular d ay. If yo u learn to ride properly and if you a re willing to ride h ard a nd do m os t o f it properly , th en you are going to d o a go od job of racin g. Win n ing is u p t o you a nd whatever that other ingredie nt is \p a t m a kes winners. • 55