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/126841
~ O"l .... v ..0 o ..... u o Back by"'~o~ular demand! How to be a Motocross Star By David Bailey with Thomas Scott In the previous part s of m y series on H ow to be an MX Star (which ran in Cycle News issu es 20-25), I discussed topics rangin g from how to get spo nsorship to life on th e road. Th e reader response was so great from th e six -part series, w e're going to con tin ue. This wee k , I'd lik e to tell you how to prep you r ridin g gear for top performan ce on th e track . Part seven : Prep your gear fo r top performance 20 If you pl an to ra ce to win , like I do , you' ll ha ve to learn to prepare your riding gea r so th at yo u're ready to com pete in a ny si tuation , under any co ndi tio ns. Even th ough I have grea t sponsors like JT and Scott who supply me with everyth in g I n eed , I alwa ys tak e ca re of m y gear a nd m ak e it last as lo ng as possible. Whe n yo u mai n tain yo ur gea r, yo u' ll be more co n scio us o f what 's o n hand and wh a t co ndition it's in , a nd that will hel p yo u be bet ter prepared for th e ra ces. Always brin g gear for every type o f co ndi tio n when you go racing. Many times, when I forge t so me o f m y gear, it 'll rain, a nd I'll ge t caugh t off guard. That happened to me last yea r, an d I had to borrow a pair of Sm i th gog g les . H onda en de d up shooting a poster of me tha t day, and Sco tt wa sn 't too happy about me h avin g Sm ith goggles on . It 's a lesson I learned I'll never for get, so n ow I a lways pl an ahead. Never tak e bra nd-new gea r to a race. I'm really pi cky a bo ut new stuff, and I lik e it broken in just rig ht before I race with it. Even a new h el met -th ere will be little changes th at yo u' ll no tice. I a lways wash new rac e pants a t lea st on ce befor e I wear them , wh ich m akes th em more co mfortable. Being co m forta ble o n your m ot orcycle is very, very im po rtant, so mak e su re everyt hi ng fits right. I have go tte n used to wea rin g new boots a t th e ra ces, but I wou ldn't recommend it. I've had so many foot an d ankle injuries th at I lik e th e protecti on of stiff boots o n race da y, and by the fo urt h or fifth la p , I' m pretty used to th em. If yo u h ave new boots a nd have n't h ad a ch ance to ride in the m, wea r th em a ro u nd th e house or in th e motel room before th e races; it will make a di fferen ce wh en vou're at the races. You can' t afford to m iss shi fts a nd h it neu tra l w he n yo u' re ra cing , so the more time yo u spe n d in yo ur boots, the better. Pay atten tion to the tem pera ture an d humidit y whe n yo u decid e on what gear to wea r. Two of the hottest races we 've ha d in a long tim e were a t La s Vega s an d Atla nta th is year , a n d as I look ed do wn the starti ng lin e, I saw about 40% of th e ri ders weari n g dark-blue or red jerseys an d h elmets. All th ose dark co lo rs a bsorb h eat , and I'v e seen the same riders a t other times with vented gear. I kn ow gear is exp en sive, a nd someti mes it's hard to ha ve a n umber o f different o u tfi ts, but th e proper gea r is very importan t to your performan ce. Ma n y o f the moms an d dads want the ir kids wea ring every protective item tha t there is - full face he lme ts, elbow pads, kne e pads, shou lder pads and other th in g s. Wh en I go ou t to ra ce, I do n ' t go o u t intending to cra sh. I try to ride a s co m forta ble as possi ble so tha t I ca n go as fast as possible, a nd I don ' t th in k a bout cra sh in g, although it does ha ppen . I think it's quest ionabl e as to wha t is really necessary wh en you race. When it's 100° a nd hum id , like in Vegas, I do n 't feel a ch est p rotector with front a nd rear is necessary. If th e track is full of huge ro cks, like a t Bin ghamton , New York, th en ches t protection m igh t be required . It 's best to pl an ahead with a ll types of gear so th at you' re ready for everything, but remember to wear gear th at keeps yo u co m for ta ble for th e en tire race. I always wear a J T open-face helmet with a Scott face mask. If it's extra hot o u t, I have face ma sks I cus to m ize by cutting slits in th em. It giv es m e ex tra identi ty - it 's trick - and it keeps th e big roosts out whil e adding extra ai rfl ow. Cutting th e mask is sort o f difficu lt. You draw some lines on the face mask w here you want th e slits, an d then dri ll a hole somewhat smaller th an a quarter o f a n in ch to get eac h slit started . Drill th e h ol es close together alo ng each line, and th en u se a razor or X-Acto knife to cu t aro u nd the h ol es. It tak es a while, but if yo u cu t a few out so me a fternoon wh en the re 's n ot much go ing on , th ey'll co me in handy. Anoth er hot-w ea th er item I really beli eve in ar e the n ew JT swea t bands. Sweat ba nds used to be too uncomfortable to wear underneath a hel m et , but th e n ew JT model onl y has the swea t abso rbing stu ff where yo u need it - acro ss th e foreh ead . Somet hing I tri ed at th e Carlsbad US G P was using two swea tba n ds, o ne with th e terrycloth facing m y h ead, a nd the o ther one w ith th e terry cl oth u p insi de my go ggles. I experi me nted with two sweatbands because I kn ew h ow h ot it wa s going to be th at da y, but I tri ed th e idea in practice before the race. As it turned ou t it wo rked grea t an d hardl y a ny swea t go t in m y goggles. All of you kno w h ow terribl e swea t ca n be: yo u're di cing in a m oto , anda few gu ys are o n yo ur tai l, a nd yo u land o ff a j u mp when swea t sp latters all ove r in side yo ur goggles. It 's like looki ng through a di ving mask when the thing is half fu ll o f water. Be pre: pared for littl e th ings like th at tha t ca n slow yo u dow n drastically. Sa ving ene rgy is rea lly im portant when you 're at th e ra ces, so a lways hav e yo ur seco nd -moto gear prepared a nd la id o ut befor e th e da y begins. If it 's a dry da y, I'll lay o ut a clea n jersey, a pa ir o f g lo ves th at aren' t sweaty and slick , a nd a fresh pair of goggles. Tha t stuff is a lways set up so th at I ca n relax a nd ge t so me flu ids back in my bod y, ins tead of h ustl in g around looking fo r gea r. T hi n king a head will hel p yo u save ene rgy, so pl a n yo ur da y a nd relax. I ca me up with another idea to mak e m y ri di ng pants more flexible, a nd to a llow more ai rflo w into the p ants. I took o u t the kn ee and sh in gua rd, a nd cu t th e sh in guard so th a t it co mes just to the to p of th e boot when you' re tucked in . T h en , whe n you bend or flex, the pants ha ve a bit more g ive, a nd yo u r je rsey won 't pull o u t of the bac k o f you r pants w he n you're ra ci ng. I a lso dri ll a p attern o f quarter in ch h ol es in m y kn ee cup s, so th at a ir flows th rough th e kn ee cu ps onto m y legs. If yo u 've never ridden with vented pants, it feels lik e your zip per is down th e first time yo u try them ! Those sma ll hol es, al ong with cu ttin g away th e foa m behind th e knee cu p , reall y incr eases th e a irflow, an d th a t' s a d istinct advantage against th e co m pe tition on hot days. On ra in y and co ld days, wear yo ur o ld gear d uri ng practice. On reall y wet da ys, it's not a bad idea to sto p a t K-Mart an d get a cheap ra ins u it, whi ch , along wi th so me boot sa vers, will usuall y get you th rough practice. Rem em ber to pack so me warm clothes for sitting around between rn o to s - stay in g warm is reall y important. Bob Hannah an d Kent Howerton ta ugh t me to stay warm by dressin g in caps a nd warm jackets, dr inking h ot tea , and even doing j u m p in g jacks a n d stre tches before each race to warm th eir bodies up. Alw ays h ave some extra goggles prepped for each race . H ave a pair with clear len ses an d a pair with tinted len ses read y, so that if the glare goes away and it gets overcast, you won't h ave to fool arou n d cha ngi n g lenses. An oth er sto ry that co mes to mind where I didn 't prepare and paid th e price was a t Mt. Morris o ne year. The .,.first moto th e track was perfect , and as I sat on the lin e for the second rnoto ra indro ps stared to fall that felt like ice cu bes. I had a vented jersey and pants on, and only a few tearoffson m y goggl es. I wa sn 't prepared and got abo u t a 16th- p lace fini sh . In reall y heavy rain , chan ging yo ur goggles in th e middle of th e ra ce mi ght be a good ide a. Mak e su re your mech anic ha s th e right goggles on hand , so th at if yo u do stop it 'll be worth th e time lost. So me times rolloffs will do th e job an d you won ' t have to pit for goggles. They have th a t system prett y well perfected, an d yo u ca n clear yo ur vision m an y times before th e ta pe runs o u t. You ca n try a nd stack six or seven tear-offs, bu t it start s to seem like yo u' re lookin g through a milk jugwhen yo u do th a t. If it's goi ng to be a hor ri ble day , rollo ffs will probabl y be best. Also , if th e co n di tions are th at bad, remember to u se so me type o f no-fog in yo ur gogg les before the race , so that you ca n see what 's happen in g on th e starting li n e. I alwa ys pack a pl astic ga rbage bag in m y gea r bag wh en I go to the races . Tha t way I ca n keep all my d irt y gear separate from the clean stuff. Ma n y times, yo u won 't use everyth ing you bring to the races, so m ak e it easy o n yo urself, yo u r mom, or whoever does th e wa sh , by no t m ix ing the clean stuff w ith your dirty gear. If you fo llo w thi s advice a nd p rep a re yo ur gear lik e I do , you' ll hav e the best advantage possible wh en th e gate drops a nd you head for th e first turn ! -