I HEAR ALL THESE RIDERS TRYING TO EXPLAIN WHY PEOPLE ARE GETTING HURT.IM GONNA TELL YOU THE REASONS 1.WE RACE 4 TRACKS ONLY ONE HAS REAL JUMPS. 2.MOST PRACTICE TRACKS DONT HAVE JUMPS.3.MOST RIDERS INCLUDING SOME EXPERTS DO NOT RIDE DEFENSIVELY AND I CANNOT STRESS THIS POINT ENOUGH YOU NEED TO RACE LIKE THE GUY IN FRONT OF YOU IS A NOVICE AND NEVER ASSUME ANYONE IS GOING TO JUMP EVERYTIME.SOME OF YOU RIDERS SHOULD WATCH PEOPLE LIKE MIKE TREADWELL ( HE IS PROBABLY THE BEST AND SAFEST JUMPER IN NESC ) MIKE NEVER TAKES STUPID CHANCES TO GAIN POSITIONS.4. SOME HOW SOME WAY RIDERS NEED TO PRACTICE JUMPING, PERIOD.5.ARE OTHER TRACKS NEED TO BE MADE LIKE REAL MOTOCROSS TRACKS.6.THE TRACKS NEED TO BE WIDER WERE THERE ARE HARD OBSTICALES SO SOME PEOPLE CAN ROLL A JUMP WHILE OTHERS CAN JUMP SAFELY.7.SPEAKING OF DEFENSIVE RIDING MOST RIDERS NEVER LOOK AHEAD, WHEN YOU ARE GOING OVER A JUMP THATS A PERFECT TIME TO JUST LOOK AHEAD AND COULD POSSIBLY AVOID A DISASTER.IVE RIDIN AROUND THE COUNTRY AND THERE ARE NOVICES THAT ARE BETTER JUMPERS THAN SOME OF ARE EXPERTS BECAUSE ALL OF THE TRACKS THAT THEY RACE ON HAVE DIFFICULT OBSTICALES.IT AUTOMATICLY MAKES YOU BETTER.WELL I HOPE SOME OF YOU RACERS READ THIS BECAUSE ITS ALL TRUE,DO NOT TAKE A STUPID CHANCE TO GAIN A POSITION ITS NOT WORTH IT , YOUR FRIEND,JACK

-- JACK CAMELIO (jack camelio@aol.com), June 22, 2000

Answers

I wOuLd HaVe To AgReE wItH yOu JaCk... I tHiNk RiDeRs ShOuLd TaKe NoTeS oN tHiS . It mIgHt PrEvEnT sOme AcCiDeNtS !!

-- JeNn #520 (mxchik520@aol.com), June 22, 2000.

This is the turth,I'm a novice and see it all the time.I also race dist 34 in new york all the trackes are jumpes.I place in the top five,and when I get a bad start I get stuck beahind its pretty hair to pass them.I once landed on a kid who cut over my line on the landing,i bet he doesn't do that a gen.Why doesn't the nesc add a new track ,people who have been racing this dist for years must be bored of the same tracks ever week. I love being able to race two dist I don't get bured out of the same tracks.The necs is the better of the two,but of the high price of enter fee,I thing southwick is the best track to,later.

-- al sandt (bigboy343@hotmail.com), June 22, 2000.

could not agree more. the tracks up here (with the exception of jollys) do not have good, or safe jumps, and probably better than half the riders do not have access to good practice tracks. practicing is the best way to avoid getting in trouble.we finally found a place for my kid to ride with jumps and his riding improved dramatically in the few times he got to practice there. i've seen poor judgement on when to jump or roll cause pileups too. more balls than brains.

other things we dont have is ruts, go outside new england and you will find jumps, ruts, off cambers stuff nowhere to be found inside the district. makes it real tough to be competetive on the road. dont know how to get the track owners to improve things. same old same old (actually seems like the jumps are smaller this year) marco seems to be the only one working on a better, safer track.

does seem like a lot of riders with serious injuries this year. wish em well and speedy recoveries.

-- jon van der zee (jon5@mix-net.net), June 22, 2000.

Hey Jack, that's the best stuff you've written! Really good advice for riders in all classes. I think the other tracks have cut their jumps down trying to make their tracks safer, which it probably does, but when everyone gets to a track with big jumps they're a little rusty in the jumping department. Maybe CV can tone their's down and the other tracks can build their jumps up? I do think the infield double at Southwick is the best double in New England. Why? Because it's a jump that has to be cleared with accelleration, not speed and it's big enough to intimadate a rider who might try it if it was smaller, but won't until he knows he (or she) is ready.

-- Paul Buckley (buckley@ici.net), June 22, 2000.

I can't stand it any longer ! I've read a bunch of stuff lately and most of you seem to understand whats going on. Jack has called it like it is. The riders aren't capable of doing the jumps and that's how we have the problems we have. It takes some level of skill to execute the jumps time after time. Some riders might get it right the first time but don't have the skills to correct a situation gone wrong. I've seen and ridden more tracks than some of these people will ever see and I can tell you that the jumps at CCC are certainly not off the scale in degree of difficulty. When I do the MX schools with Warren Reid , we teach riders how to jump on a small single . We teach them how to minimize or maximize depending on the jump you are attempting. This is where you learn how the bike reacts to certain faces and heights and how to adjust to the differences. When I design the track at CCC , safety is my first concern! I can't control the minds of inexperienced riders with a flow of adrenaline! You should use the Vet riders as examples for they make pretty good decisions out there. Tread and Pat are always passing slower riders and they know when to go and when not to. The sport is all about being healthy to be able to enjoy riding or racing time after time. We all now there is risk involved , thats probably what keeps us doing it. I can only ask that the riders use better judgement and we won't have to talk about the jumps anymore. Rock On ! Stevo

-- (stevo@surfnturfracing.com), June 23, 2000.

GOOD STATEMENTS JACK ! I AGREE TOO. CCC HAS WHAT IT TAKES TO INCREASE A RIDERS SKILL LEVEL. I HAD THE OPPERTUNITY TO WATCH A LOT OF NOVICE, THE GIRL'S AND VET RIDER'S AT THE LAST EVENT, 90 TO 95 RERCENT WERE DOING ALL THE OBSTICLES ( THE DOUBLES, NOT TRIPLE'S ) . IT IS DEFINETLY DIFFERENT FROM A YEAR AGO, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE JUMP'S THEY HAVE DESIGNED, AS THEY HAVE BEEN CAREFULLY THOUGHT OF (GOOD JOB STEVE), AND MADE FOR A BROAD RANGE OF RIDER SKILL LEVEL. LIKE IN ALL OF RACING, INTIMIDATION PLAY'S THE MIND AND FOR SOME, TURN'S THEM OFF, AS FOR OTHER'S IT MAKES IT MORE CHALLENGING. AS FOR THE LESSER SKILLED, AND YOUNGER RIDER, IT'S THE PLACE FOR THE CHALLENGE, BUT AGAIN , RIDER SAFETY IS MOST IMPORTANT. A LOT OF RIDER'S DON'T LOOK AHEAD ENOUGH. AND IT'S HARD FOR SOME AS THEY DEVELOP TUNNEL VISION WHEN THE MOTO BEGIN'S AND ONLY THINK OF RACING , AND NOT THE SURROUNDING'S AROUND THEM ON THE TRACK AND/OR THINKING OF ONE OR TWO TURN'S AHEAD. EVENTUALLY THEY WILL GET BETTER AT IT. AS FOR THE SERIOUS INJURIES THAT HAS HAPPENED AT C VILLAGE ( I CERTAINLY WISH THEM WELL) , IT'S VERY UNFORTUNATE TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THESE THING'S. ALL THE MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACKING COMES IN, MAYBE THERE WERE SOME BAD RIDER DECISIONS THAT WERE MADE, AND MAYBE NOT. BUT I THINK USING THE TERM DANGEROUS DESIGNS IS OUT OF PLACE, AS I HAVE HEARD THIS FROM SOME OF THE RIDER'S WHOM CHOSE NOT TO RIDE TRACK'S WHERE YOU HAVE TO JUMP 10 FEET ! I'LL TELL YOU , I HOPE NEVER TO GET OFF AT MIDDLEBORO ON ONE OF THERE 60 MPH STRAIGHTAWAY'S !!! THE BOTTON LINE IS THAT THERE'S A LOT OF THOUGHT THAT COME'S INTO PLAY WHILE RACING, AND NEVER FORGET "A MAN'S GOT TO KNOW HIS LIMITATION'S " ! AND THAT'S A CHALLENGE TOO!!! GOOD LUCK EVERYONE... BOB PICHE MX31VET

-- ROBERT PICHE (CRISPIC@AOL.COM), June 25, 2000.

geeeze jack, its nice to see that your finally making sense! we all know that most of our practice tracks dont have jumps, and when people show up at races, they want to do good, so they jump things that they dont know how to jump, or arent experienced enough to jump, thats how they get hurt way to go Jack PeaCe

-- MatthewL (RaZeeMx970@aol.com), June 26, 2000.