Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

I gu ess she didn 't need me anymore. " Hisfather, Ra y, who owns his own co ns tr uctio n business , su p po rted Micky's ra cing 100 percent. " H e was eve ry th i ng , " sa id Dymond. " W itho ut h im I co uldn 't have do ne it. Both m y mom and da dwere , and are , very supportive of my racing ." . Dymo nd 's da ily ro ut ine consists mostly of training a nd riding. "This ti me of year it 's difficult to mai nt ai n a daily ro utine. I ha ve to train , and I have to co nce ntrate a lot on testi ng the new mach in es, as well as taking car e of my health. I'm try ing to be a little bit better wi th my tim e righ t now. I'm tryi ng U? be able to ge t u p and give myself some tim e to coo k breakfast; g ive m yself so me ti me to go to th e market, so I can have food to cook. I'm tryi ng to get be tter a bo ut my diet, but it's d ifficult being a bachelor. I wreck a lot of food in th e kitch en . Many times I forget that I bought so mething, a nd wh en I ge t it ou t, it's , rotten . " I don 't eat fast food, because ea ting is really important. If yo u 're ea ting good, yo u 're going to feel good. If yo u' re ea ting bad , you 're go ing to wake up in th e morning a nd feel like sh it. " I' ve go t to ea t like a pig to maintain my weight. I want to get bi gger a nd stronge r so I can ge t better. It's in credible ho w m uc h stronger you get if you do things righ t, a nd if I maintain for th e rest of th e month, I' m go ing to be stronger than th ose guys out there. I h a ve to do' th i n g s righ t, a nd that's wha t I p lan to do. "After I ea t I usually train ab out an hour and then go riding. I always mix it up wh en I rid e. I don't go out and go two 30-m in u te motos every da y. That's boring. I'v e got to mix it up. So me da ys I'll go out and I'll take off and not even go aro und th e track. I'll mak e motos o ut of wh erever I'm go ing. I just ride like aTunatic for 30 minutes. I'll ju m p across th e track, go backw ards on th e trac k, go forwards, whatever. That's pretty m uc h fun , plus you never get bo red. "Usually I finis h u p abo u t five (p. m.), Wh e!! I go testing, th at can be reall y tough 'ca use I'm riding from nine in th e morning 'til four in the afternoon, so I do n 't ge t time to work o u t. I'll get hom e on th ese , days and go strai gh t to bed then get up a bo u t II a t n ight a nd then do m y workou t. It 's kind of a messy situation ." H is unique practicin g habits hav e given Dymond an uncanny tal ent for Jumping a mo tor cycle. H e has developed a reputation as being one of th e mo st fearl ess doub le jump jumpers in motocro ss. He's usually the first rider to a ttem p t a risky double jump a t a su percross race. " I' ve been pretty high in the air o ver doubl es so me ti mes , " sa id Dymond. " You get up th ere high enough to wh ere you j us t don't want to come down. You just wan t to stay up th ere. I would be lying if I said th ey (do uble ju mps) never scared me, but each time they start to scare me, it just gives me more reason to jump 'em: it gives me, more ene rgy to do it. T here's no one jump I' ve do ne that stands ou t in my mind, bu t if I didn 't do a j ump, th en that wo uld stand o ut in my mind the most. Writing poetry is one of Dymond's faYorite hobbies. He has a stack of books containingall his poems. He won't let anybody read them, although, he will sometimes read them out loud toyou. Dymond's two-car garage has been conyerfed into a training room. He works out at least one hour eyery day. His official AMA 1987 Number One plate (center) has his first name misspelled. factory J a panese mach in ery. H is effor ts paid off in 1986 when he hitched u p with Team H onda to cam pa ign the 125cc Nationals. In his first season with H o nda , he cli nch ed his first -ever National Ch a mp ionsh ip ti tle a nd follow ed tha t u p with another 125cc Na tio nal Ch a mpionsh ip in 1987. At the end of th e 1987 season, Dymond was left withou t a rid e. Under AMA rules, no 'rider can win the National Championship more th an twice in the 125cc class , and since H on da already has a handle on th e 250 an d 500cc classes with the ride r ma ny people consider the fastest in th e world - th ree-time Natio nal a n d former Supercross Cham pion Rick J ohnson - Dymond was han ded hi s walking papers. H owever, Dymo nd d idn 't nave to walk fa r to fin d a new home. H e landed a fac tory ride with T eam Yam ah a 10 compete in vthe 1988, 250cc Nat ional Mot ocross Series and Supercro ss Series. " I' m rea lly h ap p y goi ng to Yamah a. T hey 're very hel pful, eage r and exci ted," said Dymond. " I' m more comfortable th ere than I was at H onda. It was real ten se at Honda. There were a lot of secre ts going on . It was like riding. for a teaf!l within a tea m. It wasn 't o ne big h a p p y famil y." Dym o n d no w owns a $170,000, two-story townhouse; hi s backyard is adj acent to a go lf co urse. H is house has been pelted a few times by serious slices on the fa irway. Unlike mos t successful motocrossers, his ho use isn 't littered wi th expe nsive toys. H e does have, however, a co u p le of high-dollar Yamaha stereo systems, a big-screen TV and one vehicle - a 1985, black, 4x4 Toyota pick- up truck , with a perso nal license pl ate reading " MX Micky" parked in th e driv ewa y. His two-car garage has been turned into a weight lif ting gym . . " I' m no t too much into ca rs. My (driving ) record isn't all th at great, so it 's hard for me to get insured. " I don 't rea lly have a lot of toys," said Dymond. " I spe nd m ost of my money on clothes. I'm not reall y into the money pa rt of th e whole dea l." Dymond has never held dow n a full -time or even pa rt-time "real world " jo b, o ther than racin g for th e facto ries,' which he doesn 't reall y co nsider a job. " I did wo rk for an o ld lad y, o nce. I mowed her lawn , but she died, a nd

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