CN
III VOICES
W H A T Y O U A R E S A Y I N G
"They said: 'You missed half the race!'
I told them what they missed."
Empire of Dirt:
MX Teaches
Everything
I would like to add to the MX
Teaches Everything article and
Jon Coney's letter.
I have ridden MX since I
was 15 years old. I also ride
cross-country mountain bikes.
A month ago I was in Park City,
Utah, on vacation to hike and
ride the cross-country trails.
My last day there I decided to
rent a downhill mountain bike
and ride the trails down the ski
mountain, which I have never
done before. I ended up riding
a flow trail named Tidal Wave,
which consisted of big bowl
turns and table top jumps all
the way down. The first time
down I was jumping the tables.
Mind you, this was the first time
I had ever ridden a downhill
bike or a trail like this. A few
runs I was riding behind some
of the local riders and stayed
right with them. This was the
most fun I ever had on a bi-
cycle. It was just like MX. There
is absolutely no way I could
have done any of this without
all my moto experience.
By the way, I just turned 60.
Also my MX experience has
been a big benefit with down-
hill skiing, especially with the
moguls.
Rick Hay
Archives: Geo Roeder
Yep, I saw him at Del Mar a
few years ago, turns out the
fairgrounds had cameras down
the straight and in the turns. In
the main, I went down to get a
soda and right above my head
was a TV. I stood there watch-
ing Roeder as he's leading,
go in deep, get back on the
throttle, feet up, rooster tail
and lifting the front wheel a foot
or so, and the camera made
it look as if I was right next to
him. I watched for about 10
laps just staring at the TV. To
me it was the ultimate in flat
track racing.
I went back to my seat and
my friend, Tim Tewksbury,
and cousin, Norm Fraijo, were
laughing at me. They said: "You
missed half the race!" I told
them what they missed.
I saw real racing, from a
distance they couldn't see any
of that. I'll never forget watch-
ing him.
Thanks, Geo, you da man!
Thomas Fleming
Throwback Thursday:
Kevin Schwantz And
Flat Track
Kevin "So What" Schwantz
was talented no matter what
discipline it was. I remember
him winning the pro class in
motocross at Rio Bravo MX
Park in Houston. And I remem-
ber him in dirt track winning the
amateur short track and TT at
the Astrodome on Uncle Dar-
ryl's TT500 against some pretty
fast company, including Curtis
and Chris Cannon.
Keith Williams
Kevin Schwantz even raced in
a 100-mile desert race in New
Mexico in 2000.
Kevin worked a full day as
an instructor at my Southwest
SportBike School on Saturday.
Kevin then asked me if he
could go race the desert race
on Sunday morning. Being
an old desert racer myself, I
told Kevin to "go for it!" Kevin
finished the 100-mile desert
race and then came right back
to instruct at my school on
Sunday afternoon.
Kevin is the man!
Bob Brownell
Letters to the editor can be sent to voices@cyclenews.com. Published letters do not necessarily reflect the position of Cycle News. Letters
should not exceed 150 words and are subject to editing. Anonymous letters won't be considered for publication and each letter should
contain the writer's name, address and daytime phone number… Editor
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