Growing up in SoCal, a hotbed of motorsport, was incredible. I used to go to Friday and Saturday night drag races "under the lights" at Carlsbad Raceway in northern San Diego county. I witnessed one of the first sub-8 second runs by a Top Fuel Dragster and one of the first 200 MPH passes (today's Top Fuel car runs 3,7 seconds @ 330 MPH and the track is limited to 1,000 ft instead of the customary 1,320 ft which is 1/4 mile). Carlsbad became an internationally acclaimed outdoor motocross track as well and was the US home of the USGP FIM 500 CC motocross "world guys" from Europe, with last names some of you may remember such as DeCoster, Wolsink, Mikkola, Aberg, Lackey, etc.
I became deeply involved in off-road motorcycle riding and would also travel to the Borrego Desert at Ocotillo Wells where I rode desert as well. My skills and performance level of bikes progressed and I began competing in the 250 CC class in the sanctioned California Motocross Club series. I competed at two tracks: Carlsbad Raceway and Saddleback Park in Orange County. Carlsbad was the closest track to me and it became my "home" track, It was entirely surreal to be riding and competing on the same track that the USGP was held, and to know the world's best motocross factory racers (that was not me!) competed at.
The start of a motocross race is beyond hyper....many of you know there is a long "gate" that is just a little shorter in height than your front tire diameter, and is long or wide enough for about 30 bikes for the launch. My race bike was a 1975 Yamaha YZ 250 2-stroke with a 5 speed transmission and cutting edge monoshock rear suspension. It came with the "right stuff" from the factory that included a 21 inch diameter front rim, 18 inch rear aluminum rims, knobby race tires, small aluminum gas tank, plastic fenders, very wide motocross handlebars, side plates for racing numbers, racing designed expansion chamber exhaust, no kickstand, etc, etc. There is nothing like the power band of 2-stroke technology and when it "came on the pipe"....it was an absolute rocket.
Describing the start of the race or "launch" is beyond hyper. You and 29 others are lined up at the gate with engines off while the riders that just launched complete their race, As that race ends, the starter walks onto the track about 100 ft in front of you and waves their arm in a circle to start your bikes. You kick-start your bike and the sound of 30 2-stroke race machines fills the air. Here's where it gets crazy....you are so crammed in that the ends of your handlebars are literally touching the riders next to you; the noise from the bikes is so loud (even with your helmet on) that you literally cannot hear your bike running....and every time you blip the throttle, you can feel the bike vibrating between your legs; the starter then holds up a large board with "30" on it....this is 30 seconds before launch....and then the starter turns the 30 board sideways indicating 15 seconds to launch....and then the starter runs for the sidelines; you begin a mental countdown and appx 5 seconds before the gate drops to launch 30 race bikes, you pull in the clutch and click down and find 1st gear, and then you move from the saddle and literally put your crotch about 1/3 onto the gas tank to weight the front wheel so you don't flip over....and then you lean over the handlebars and stare intently at the gate and blank everything else out....and you move the throttle to WFO (many of you know that this means)....when the gate drops you are at wide open throttle and you literally let the clutch go to full release and you are LAUNCHED....the adrenalin and negotiating with 29 other racers as you wildly accelerate and find a way through the first turn is just insane; riders go down in front of you, beside you, etc and you are just trying to stay upright....and alive.
Remember, this is the home track for the USGP with incredibly difficult sections and a crazy climb up this huge hill, with a 180 degree very tight right hand turn at the top with a huge bermed corner; you would approach the turn at speed, shift yur seating position to 1/3 onto the gas tank to load the front tire for maximum traction and slam into the berm and rocket off the turn and start down the hill to the infamously named "Carlsbad Freeway" downhill section; about 1/2 way down this very steep hill, the track literally dropped away for a bit and you would free-fall at a very high rate of speed; you had to make adjustments of where your weight was on the bike and to ensure the front of the bike was "up" so you didn't go over the handlebars....I'll never forget that early in one of my races, I over-compensated pulling the front wheel up and I was not that far from going over backwards....at a high rate of speed....at the fastest part of the track; I remember seeing spectators at the fence start running away from the fence thinking I was going to eat it and in a very big way....I found a way to push the handlebars down and get the geometry back into a non-life threatening landing.
I went to practice areas near my home at least once a week, was lifting weights and running a lot to stay in shape so I could negotiate the 2-stroke racing machine.
http://www.carlsbadraceway.org/MX.html
This is me, just a few years ago....
