To the kids that didn’t make it to Hurricane Mills;
It’s alright.
If you didn’t qualify- missing by one or by 30. If you got the ticket, but not the cash to fund the trip. If you’re hurt. Sick. Tired. If you’re broken down on the side of the road. If you’re broken down with bikes that won’t run. If you didn’t bother. If you didn’t care.
It’s alright.
Loretta’s means a lot. For many, it’s considered the end-all-be-all of everything there is in amateur motocross racing. If you’re not there, you’re nothing.
But guess what, chicken butt. Momma ain’t here for that mess.
So you didn’t make it. So you didn’t try. So. Freaking. What?!
Go to your local race track this weekend. Find a shady tree, turn on the stereo in the beater truck and listen to a little Coal Miner’s Daughter or Roddy Rich. Turn some laps. Grill a burger. Pop a cold one with your friends.
Because as much as The Ranch is a part of motocross, The Ranch isn’t ALL of motocross.
You don’t have to be in the top 40 of your class to be a fantastic racer. You don’t have to take out a second mortgage to drag your kid across the country for a 22nd place - and 22nd, that’s pretty damn good.
Here’s the wild facts no one really wants to say but it’s alright MotoMom gonna go ahead and say it:
Hurricane Mills doesn’t matter.
Oh sure, if you’re chasing podium spots in the B class, yeah. Maybe even top supermini’s. But Factory Team Yamzusky doesn’t care if you’re 15-29-18 in the C Class Limited.
That doesn’t mean these people aren’t fantastic racers - clearly they are if they’ve made it this far! BUT what it does mean is that it’s not that serious.
For the kids and the parents at home, the ones far away from the creeks and Pavillon and the mechanics’ area and the staging and burn out spot and pits deep in the woods… You’re still motocross families. You still race. You still ride.
In fact, for everyone, golden ticket or naught; it’s just dirt bikes.
It’s just little kids and medium kids and big kids and old kids riding dirt bikes. What’s the most fun you’ve ever had actually racing? Ask anyone that’s ever turned laps in that Humphreys County soil and I think you’d be hard pressed to have them answer the most enjoyable ride they’ve ever put in to be Loretta’s.
Because Loretta’s isn’t the end all be all of motocross.
It’s okay to be at home. It’s okay to set a goal and chase after it, too. And if that goal lands you in Hurricane Mills this MotoMom will stand and applaud and cheer because you’re just like my kid, too.
But don’t forget, it’s okay to play dirt bikes in your own district, local track or your own back yard.
LL’s is a part of racing. But not everything. Motocross is motocross, even if you’re still at home.
See you Sunday,
MotoMom