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/128228
IIThank you ReI Bubba and all for giving my kid some real heroes to look up to. 11 Motocross des Nations What is wrong with the AMA? They finally announce that the USA will be sending a team to this year's Motocross des Nations, which is awesome. Shortly after this, I read that our team will consist of Ricky Carmichael, Tim Ferry and Ryan Hughes? Nothing against Ryno, but why would we send him? He isn't even the fastest 125cc rider we have here in the U.S. So our brilliant AMA is going to send Ryno when we have Kevin Windham, who has flat-out spanked RC and all the other factory guys at the last two rounds of the National Series. Are they not sending K-dub because he is not a factory rider like Ferry, RC and Ryno? Personally, I think the AMA needs to pull their heads out and think about who they are sending to represent the greatest country in the world. Ricky Carmichael, Kevin Windham and Tim Ferry would be a great team, considering these three racers are the top three Americans in the national series. So who will be Team USA? Kenny Branch Paso Robles, CA Motocross des Nations II Who chooses these des Nations teams? We have Kevin Windham holding off Ricky Carmichael for at least two races, and Carmichael has been this planet's fastest for two years. And I can be quoted that Bubba Stewart can probably take both of them. I'm not saying that Tim Ferry and Ryno Hughes can't get the job done, but why aren't we sending our fastest? Don't say it's because of displacement because we already know what the O'Show did years ago on a 125, and there's no reason why Stewart wouldn't do the same. And to the guy who wrote in about personally seeing the T-bone that Ryno accidentally served Brown, I have to say that you instantly discredit your view by saying that, prior to the incident, Brown was reeling in Stewart. Come on. :JefA Morgan Venlura, CA We have received several letters regarding the selection process of the Motocross of Nations team. Both Kevin Windham and Bubba Stewart were approached to represent Team USA. Both declined for different reasons. Windham didn't feel he was ready to do the event in what is his comeback year to racing, an.d Kawasaki didn't want to put Stewart on an FlfVI-spec KX250 for the race... Editor Tracks And Such In response to the letter written by Don Cameron (Issue #30, July 30), I agree with Mr. Cameron's assessment about the "pogo-stick" tracks. They are certainly more dangerous than the tracks of yesteryear. But I really have to question whether riders like James "Bubba" Stewart and Ricky Carmichael wouldn't still be "whomping" on the rest of the competition. At any rate, the injury rate is certainly much higher now than it was 25 years ago. Which brings me to the letter by Rob Green (Issue #23, June 11). Mr. Green states that if he were a team manger that he would make it mandatory for his riders to wear knee braces. Unfortunately, knee braces won't solve the knee injury problem. If we look at other sports that have used these devices, we might be able to "take a lesson." American football, of course, has been on the forefront of protective equipment. In the 1970s it was not uncommon for a college football coach to make knee braces mandatory for every player on the team. The thing is, the mandatory knee brace rule didn't (I repeat, didn't) decrease the frequency of knee injuries. In fact, some knee injuries actually increased! What s'ense do we make of all this? That knee braces don't work? I wouldn't say that exactly, but the bottom line is that the athlete must be prepared! The best protection from injury is strength training. The best protection from knee injury is to strengthen the quads by doing squats and the hamstrings by doing hamstring curls. Strengthening the muscles that surround the knee will help to protect it far better than using an external device. All professional and Division I football teams have full-time strength coaches not only to make their athletes better, but to protect them as well. Many, if not all, professional motocross racers are using "personal trainers." I would have to question how well these trainers understand our sport. The other problem with the plethora of knee injuries today is how protective equipment has evolved. It seems that motocross is suffering the same growing pains as downhill skiing did in the mid-'70s. At that time, ski boots were getting taller and stiffer so that the skier could transfer force from his leg to the ski more easily as well as to protect the ankle. As the ankle became more immobilized by the boot, it would be protected in a fall. This meant something "upstream" from the ankle had to move in a fall - and that would be the knee. Ski boot manufacturers are making newer Doots a bit more flexible (with the exception of full-on race boots) so that knee injuries are not quite so frequent. It seems that MX boot manufacturers would want to take a lesson from the skiing industry. Because after all, if the average rider blows out a knee, he is likely to sell all his stuff and take up golf, and the boot companies will lose their customers. In the meantime what riders might do is to buckle their boots tightly around their ankles but loosely around their legs so that when they do go down, it will allow the boot to rotate around the leg without twisting the knee. This will hopefully spare the knee. Also, rather than spend big money on knee braces, racers might Popularity want to use that money to join a health club (no I don't own one) to get stronger. Personally, I don't like modern tracks either because of the "pogostick" style. The racing is every bit as exciting on "old style" tracks (give me Unadilla any day!). I would rather see more technical type of racing with fewer jumps (uphills, downhills, off-camber turns, etc). I realize that this is difficult to accomplish in a stadium, but what is more important, riders' safety or how many jumps can be squeezed into a half-mile track? Cameron, I'm with you. Green, do your homework! :Jack Azevedo, Ph.D. I think it is great that the 2003 AMA Motocross Nationals have become so popular that they have now broken all previous attendance records. I attended two this year and was amazed at the crowds, regardless of the weather forecast. I also agree with Ralph Huffman (Washougal promoter) that the Nationals provide a viewing experience that neither NASCAR nor probably any other motorsport can rival. The question for the promoters and the AMA though, is the following: Do they think that Bobby LaBonte, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and company would ever start their engines and do even one lap if the flaggers (read track officials in NASCAR) were comprised of Saturday Amateur race day leftover volunteers? I would bet that Ryan Hughes, Grant Langston, Mike Brown and several others would agree when I say that it is about time the promoters and the AMA demanded the same level of professionalism in this realm as they do of the riders and teams. This is no longer the fun little weekend hobby sport it was in the 1970s and '80s, and riders are paid to race, not sit in the truck and watch as a result of an injury that occurred because a fIagger was too busy watching the race, or something else, to do his/her job. I've been attending Nationals since the 1978 Mount Morris national, and the sport has changed and grown in every aspect but this one. Let's get real track officials to do flagging and pay them a real day's wage, not $75 and a pit pass with lunch. Make A Wish It was great that you reported on the Make-A-Wish Foundation contributions of Ricky Carmichael, Bubba Stewart, Chad Reed, Ezra Lusk and Kevin Windham. We as a society should be outraged by what is considered to be "Sports Hero" nowadays. Every major sport has been undermined by charges of rape, gambling, drugs, violence and murder. Thus it is with stark contrast that you read about these heroes of motocross taking time to help such a noble cause. This sense of pride washes over me every time I see RC's television ad about the children's brain tumor charity. It's truly good that my son and I are associated with such a wonderful sport. Thank you RC, Bubba and all for giving my kid some real heroes to look up to. Adam Schmitt Naples,R c u e ' ... Andrew Bare via the Internet n e vv s