Ok, up till now, I only ever raced HS, enduros, and did trail riding. I had never seen an MX track on a bike. I figured I better run some tracks before I can offer a REAL opinion, huh?
The last 2 weeks I ponied up my $20 track fee and went to the local track. On an XR400!
(Hey now! They F'n rock the woods!
)
Here are my observations:
1. Wow! The pits are a real fashion show! Everyone strutting around in the latest and greatest fashion wear! And the bikes! Geez! Spotless with anodized whats-itz and gizmos! Very cool graphics everywhere! And the parents of the little guys setting up their little "factory" racing garages!
(There were a ton of hot MILF's!) Then I pull in the pits...it was like a black dude walking into a redneck bar! 
I just used my bike carrier and threw my gear in the car for the 15 minute drive. My bike still had grunge on it from the weekend.
2. I geared up and hit the track, my headlight blazing the way! Oops! I left the rear fender bag on with two waters and the front fender bag with the spare tube, irons, and tools! I made a quick check that my tail light was working, and putted out for a slow speed look at the track.
3. I stayed busy the first lap trying not to have someone park a 450 up my ass at 60 mph. Scoped out the jumps and berms...berms? We don't have no stinkin berms in the woods! Hmmm.... The track was clay and well watered giving the consistency of play-doh. The berms of wet clay would squish up like a wave of water and fold over to start the process again as people rode them. The clay made for ruts deep enough to catch your pegs in areas and the number of lines available to ride slowly diminished as the few deep ones got worn in. The track sits in a park like setting with lots of trees and natural hills...even a nice creek that ran though the middle of it. There were no killer doubles or triples or real nasty whoops like you see in those wide open desert tracks. By MX track standards, I think this was pretty mild.
3. OK, picked up my speed on lap 2. Those bermy thingys in the corners were trippin' me up! I kept trying to ride like I was in the woods...too straight up and down and trying to turn with the rear wheel and power....only to find myself blasting over the tops of them. After a few laps of this, my forearms became like stone and my right hand was a claw. Break time.
4. I get it now. Balls on the tank, foot at the front wheel, big spooky lean and commit into the berm, clutch, gas and dump. Zing! Cool! I wasn't fast, but I had the technique, I think. Anyway, the arm pump went away after I got the hang of this, and I started to relax. MX is about being fast and proficient at turning. That's the biggest thing I learned about the diffs between woods riders and track riders. Everything else on an MX course is go fast in a straight line and rhythm though the jumps and whoops.
5. Jumping on an XR: Not recommended I did it and did fine, but the suspension isn't made for it. Big whoops on an XR: Not recommended I did it and did fine, but bypassed them after a while deciding that I hated doing fork seal jobs more than I liked riding whoops.
6. In both outings, I never fell once. I wasn't busting ass, but wasn't the track squid either. I told people in the pits to watch out for the old dude on the XR and avoid giving me a 450R enema. At least 4 people came up to me later and said, " I thought you said you were slow!" "You were as fast as me except for the turns" " I never saw anyone take that jump sitting down" (!!!)
7. MX is a different animal. Unlike woods riding, HS and enduros, you can come back again and again to the same turn, jump, climb section and try it differently. The joy for me that I found riding MX is getting better at that off-camber, uphill turn into the downhill off-camber berm. You can hit replay again and again. When you finally get it right, its cool! An it gets cooler and more fun when you begin to master all the sections and put them together into one nicely flowing lap! I rode from 4:30 till 9:00 each time as I'm a glutton for punishment. I found my legs took a beating and were sore the next day from sticking that leg waaaaay out in turns. (I'm 6'5", so that's a lot of leg to stick out) Upper body didn't get sore or take such a beating....just the opposite of woods/HS/enduros. That's a strange observation.
8. Woods riding works the upper body more than MX. I think woods riding requires more finesse and dexterity from moment to moment. MX requires more rhythm and fluid body motions. That is the greatest observation I noted. MX works the legs more than woods riding.
MX hurts more than woods riding in a consistent kind of way.... Catching a bucketful of golfballs in the chest from a 450R hurts. But smacking a tree when woods riding trumps the roost in the hurt department.
You can almost rehearse an MX race if you know the track. That's cool in it's own respect when other riders come into play...kinda like the way you know your own living room but the furniture just keeps getting moved around. Woods riding is like getting tossed into a whole new house every minute. That's the second biggest observation I made.
MX beats up major components on your bike faster like engine and suspension. Woods riding eats away at more wear components like bearings, seals, brakes, etc.
There you have it! I had to try it before I could say with any credibility that woods riders still rock!
I must say that I will continue to go to the track because I can see how MXer's expertise and skill at turns will help me in the woods!
These pics kinda suck, but it gives you a slim idea of the track...it's like an MX track in your local metropark. Actually, quite beautiful and park-like!
It was 93F outside, so I brought 5 gal of ice water in a jug with a tap that you could put on the bed of a pick up and douse your head after a ride! It rocked! Me chillin' soaking up another gallon of water before the next lap-fest:
This is my buddy Chip. He's an airline pilot and makes some good coin, but is such a cheap m-f'r! He rides around an old Ford F150 with his vintage 1980 Kaw KDX 250! He's cool though, and actually does well on that old beast. We stick together on the track so it makes it easy to pass two slow mf'rs at once!
There is always a meat wagon taking somebody away it seams! In this case, a 12 year old sponsored by daddy who wants him to be the baddest one on the track!
The last 2 weeks I ponied up my $20 track fee and went to the local track. On an XR400!
(Hey now! They F'n rock the woods!)Here are my observations:
1. Wow! The pits are a real fashion show! Everyone strutting around in the latest and greatest fashion wear! And the bikes! Geez! Spotless with anodized whats-itz and gizmos! Very cool graphics everywhere! And the parents of the little guys setting up their little "factory" racing garages!
(There were a ton of hot MILF's!) Then I pull in the pits...it was like a black dude walking into a redneck bar! I just used my bike carrier and threw my gear in the car for the 15 minute drive. My bike still had grunge on it from the weekend.
2. I geared up and hit the track, my headlight blazing the way!
Oops! I left the rear fender bag on with two waters and the front fender bag with the spare tube, irons, and tools! I made a quick check that my tail light was working, and putted out for a slow speed look at the track.3. I stayed busy the first lap trying not to have someone park a 450 up my ass at 60 mph. Scoped out the jumps and berms...berms? We don't have no stinkin berms in the woods! Hmmm.... The track was clay and well watered giving the consistency of play-doh. The berms of wet clay would squish up like a wave of water and fold over to start the process again as people rode them. The clay made for ruts deep enough to catch your pegs in areas and the number of lines available to ride slowly diminished as the few deep ones got worn in. The track sits in a park like setting with lots of trees and natural hills...even a nice creek that ran though the middle of it. There were no killer doubles or triples or real nasty whoops like you see in those wide open desert tracks. By MX track standards, I think this was pretty mild.
3. OK, picked up my speed on lap 2. Those bermy thingys in the corners were trippin' me up! I kept trying to ride like I was in the woods...too straight up and down and trying to turn with the rear wheel and power....only to find myself blasting over the tops of them. After a few laps of this, my forearms became like stone and my right hand was a claw. Break time.
4. I get it now. Balls on the tank, foot at the front wheel, big spooky lean and commit into the berm, clutch, gas and dump. Zing! Cool! I wasn't fast, but I had the technique, I think. Anyway, the arm pump went away after I got the hang of this, and I started to relax. MX is about being fast and proficient at turning. That's the biggest thing I learned about the diffs between woods riders and track riders. Everything else on an MX course is go fast in a straight line and rhythm though the jumps and whoops.
5. Jumping on an XR: Not recommended
I did it and did fine, but the suspension isn't made for it. Big whoops on an XR: Not recommended I did it and did fine, but bypassed them after a while deciding that I hated doing fork seal jobs more than I liked riding whoops. 6. In both outings, I never fell once. I wasn't busting ass, but wasn't the track squid either. I told people in the pits to watch out for the old dude on the XR and avoid giving me a 450R enema. At least 4 people came up to me later and said, " I thought you said you were slow!" "You were as fast as me except for the turns" " I never saw anyone take that jump sitting down" (!!!)
7. MX is a different animal. Unlike woods riding, HS and enduros, you can come back again and again to the same turn, jump, climb section and try it differently. The joy for me that I found riding MX is getting better at that off-camber, uphill turn into the downhill off-camber berm. You can hit replay again and again. When you finally get it right, its cool! An it gets cooler and more fun when you begin to master all the sections and put them together into one nicely flowing lap! I rode from 4:30 till 9:00 each time as I'm a glutton for punishment. I found my legs took a beating and were sore the next day from sticking that leg waaaaay out in turns. (I'm 6'5", so that's a lot of leg to stick out) Upper body didn't get sore or take such a beating....just the opposite of woods/HS/enduros. That's a strange observation.
8. Woods riding works the upper body more than MX. I think woods riding requires more finesse and dexterity from moment to moment. MX requires more rhythm and fluid body motions. That is the greatest observation I noted. MX works the legs more than woods riding.
MX hurts more than woods riding in a consistent kind of way.... Catching a bucketful of golfballs in the chest from a 450R hurts. But smacking a tree when woods riding trumps the roost in the hurt department.
You can almost rehearse an MX race if you know the track. That's cool in it's own respect when other riders come into play...kinda like the way you know your own living room but the furniture just keeps getting moved around.
Woods riding is like getting tossed into a whole new house every minute. That's the second biggest observation I made. MX beats up major components on your bike faster like engine and suspension. Woods riding eats away at more wear components like bearings, seals, brakes, etc.
There you have it! I had to try it before I could say with any credibility that woods riders still rock!
I must say that I will continue to go to the track because I can see how MXer's expertise and skill at turns will help me in the woods!
These pics kinda suck, but it gives you a slim idea of the track...it's like an MX track in your local metropark. Actually, quite beautiful and park-like!
It was 93F outside, so I brought 5 gal of ice water in a jug with a tap that you could put on the bed of a pick up and douse your head after a ride! It rocked! Me chillin' soaking up another gallon of water before the next lap-fest:
This is my buddy Chip. He's an airline pilot and makes some good coin, but is such a cheap m-f'r! He rides around an old Ford F150 with his vintage 1980 Kaw KDX 250! He's cool though, and actually does well on that old beast. We stick together on the track so it makes it easy to pass two slow mf'rs at once!
There is always a meat wagon taking somebody away it seams! In this case, a 12 year old sponsored by daddy who wants him to be the baddest one on the track!
