James Stewart

Davi Millsaps

Alex Martin

Kyle Cunningham

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We all have had friends who have quit riding, either because they have lost jobs, or lost houses, or any number of financial strains.  Let us make 2012 the year of the friend sponsorship.  I recently had the opportunity to sponsor one of those friends for a day of riding and it felt great.  Like many of you, I have a friend that doesn’t ride anymore.  He just can’t afford it.  He still has a bike, but it is need of repair, he sold most of his gear.  I know how much he loves to ride, so I sponsored him for a day.  I spent a few bucks and got the oil changed on his machine, threw in a new air filter and paid for day at the track.   We grabbed some of my gear and off we went.  I can’t afford to be a full time sponsor, but I was able to give him a chance to ride for the afternoon.  So if you are in that nucleus of Motocross and have a friend that doesn’t ride anymore, sponsor them for a day.  I am not expecting everyone to buy a friend a new bike, and get them outfitted in gear, but you can help out a friend.  Bring them out to the track and pay for them to get in.  Share your bike for the day.  If you can’t afford to pay for them and yourself to ride, then pay for them to ride, and you play mechanic for the day.  We may not be donating bone marrow, or kidneys to save a life, but for some people a day at the track or out on the trail maybe the jump start they need to feel better about themselves.

2011 was the year of OTHG.  The Over the Hill Gang continues to grow in numbers and popularity.  Several years ago, they would get a couple of gates added on to the end of a race promoters program, now they are helping keep race promoters and tracks afloat with Private ride days and Gang Only racing.  The OTHG has enough members that regularly participate in racing that they are able to have Gang only racing for 2012.  2012 will be the first time they don’t need to share track time with a regular race promoters.  No longer do they have to beg and plead to get some track time, they are able to command it.  Membership in both chapters increased, a women’s class (25+) was created, and a +58 class was created.  A big thumbs up to the members of the Gang and the leadership of the various chapters for continuing to build a strong motocross organization.

The small camera company from Half Moon Bay continues to skyrocket in popularity.  The GoPro wearable HD camera is amazing.  You see them all over the place now, not just in Motocross and Action Sports.  You catch glimpses of them on all kinds of TV shows.  They have 3D cameras and have recently released the GoPro Hero 2 with some great improvements.  I will be doing a full write up and review early next year.  Some days I see more photographers on the track than riders, okay so maybe it’s not that bad, but there sure are lots of people out with their digital cameras taking shots.  As a photographer, I think it is great.  I love seeing photos, but if you are taking photos, please make an effort to learn a little bit about photography.  Take your camera out of auto mode, study the art, and learn some of the basics.  You and everyone you share your photos with will benefit.

Track owners and promoters have had a tough 2011.  A close personal friend of mine tried very hard to open a huge facility several years back called California Motocross Park, it never got off the ground.  He dared to dream big and really think outside of the box and was criticized and ridiculed for it, and then he took on Riverfront when the previous owner decided to walk away.  Again he dared to dream, big and think outside of the box.  He tried to restore Riverfront to its former glory at time when all other tracks are fighting for every rider they can get. He worked countless hours and worked himself to the point of physical and mental exhaustion at a level I don’t care to see any one person work again, only to not make it happen.  The closure of Riverfront in 2011 was not from lack of effort, 2011 has been tough for the tracks.  Attendance at all the tracks is low.  Scott Davis is keeping things flowing at E Street and Prairie City (Hangtown).  Mike Sexton is on top of things at Argyle and Club Moto.  Fish at MMX and Ralph at 408 continue to put forth a solid effort, month in and month out.  If you get the chance to get out and ride in 2012, try and make it to one of their tracks.  The upside to low turnout at the tracks is that as a rider, you get tons of track time. 

As for the health of Norcalmotocross.com, things are good, but numbers are way down.  You may have noticed it can be a little quiet on the boards some days.  We have removed Google Ads from the site to hopefully improve the experience for our readers.  I cannot stress enough how important it is for everybody to Support our Sponsors.   I can say with 100% certainty that if it was not for the support of Carmichael Honda and Capitol Yamaha, Norcalmotocross.com would have closed up shop in 2011.  The support they provide along with MotoPro Graphics and Fly Racing they have kept the ship running and they have all signed up for support in 2012.  So please, please, please, if you are looking for a new bike, or parts and accessories, give Capitol and Carmichael a chance to win your business.  If you need graphics for your bike, or hydrodipping, signs, or a car wrap.  Call Justin or Steve at MotoPro.  Looking for some new gear, try out the Fly Racing stuff.

Everyone have an excellent rest of 2011 and I hope to see you all next year.

You finished up the outdoor season back at Pala, how do you feel your season went?
It went good, I definitely had a lot of issues with the one lap fast kind of thing, at Pala I was having some good laps, I ran into a some little problems in my second qualifier but, I am going to keep working on it for next year. Getting the one lap fast and just going from there.

Did you do as well as you expected overall for the year?
No, I honestly came into Hangtown with my expectations a lot higher, I trained a lot before coming into Hangtown and the lap times weren’t there. I was 42nd, 43rd at Hangtown and not where I wanted to be.

Were you surprised at how fast the rest of the field of was?

I was, I was surprised at that and how everything played a factor, not getting out in front, riding behind people who didn’t jump anything, that was a big factor in not making it into the main and the pace was higher than I expected.

How many rounds did you do and was that the issue at every round?
I did 5 rounds, and it wasn’t every round, because some rounds I was closer, but still out of the mix. I never got below 50th; I was always in that 40th bracket. Some rounds I was right there. 35th -45th were within 10ths of seconds, and at Budds Creek I was way out.
What was it about Budds Creek? Was the track a lot harder than you expected?
It was not finding my rhythm in the opening laps. It took me about 10 minutes to learn the track and forgetting the lines. I had an issue learning it and getting the flow.

What is your plan for improving in 2012?
Train, I really need to get into the gym, get a gym partner and spend time at the track and get my lap times down, take 1 lap to learn the track and set my time on the 2nd lap.

So, did you have a fitness problem or a speed problem?

It was a speed issue, for sure, but you can never be in too good of shape. I really want to carry my fitness over to next year.

What is your goal for 2012, are you hitting all the AMA rounds, or staying local?
I am going to do a little bit of both. I don’t think financially I can do the whole outdoor season, but I am going to try and get to the closer events, Hangtown, Pala, Washougal, maybe a Texas, Colorado, or Millville.

If you wouldn’t mind sharing, how much did you spend last year?
I really don’t know the overall number, I know we spent about $2500 on bike transport; we were spending about $1500 a weekend on plane tickets, hotels, food, etc. $200 entries, a bike blew up. It was expensive for sure.

Do you think you have the talent to be competitive on the tour?
I do. I believe once I get in the mix I can be a top 30 guy consistently. I don’t get tired, by fitness, is there, I just don’t have the talent to throw down the 1 lap fast yet.

What do you think is going to fix that?

Training, getting onto tracks I am not familiar with and throwing down laps fast. Learning them as fast as you can

Is it a corner speed issue? Where are you slower?

I think it’s a flow thing. You need to flow around the track and not make mistakes. It’s easy at the local track to rip every rut because you know what to expect so it’s easier to flow, but you go to a new track, you can go fast, but not as fast as you need to.

If you could go back 4 or 5 years, what would you do different?

I would have started hitting bigger races sooner. I made the jump from the Dodge Amateur National as being my biggest race to the AMA Pro series. I think I would get down to Southern California to get access to more tracks.
Who is helping you these days?

GoBigMX butt patches, Carmichael Honda, Leo Vince Exhaust, Fly Racing, Coker Precisioj Graphics, Honda Pro Oils and Chemicals, NoToil, Works Connection, Oakley, C4MX, A01 and my family.  Keep an eye out for DillonAlexander.com