Great message, never heard that you have a ton of time when you are 22 years old and want to be a pro athlete. But I think I get the message. Probably hard to stay that calm for so many years!
I mean he seems like a great rider just without the technical wisdom. I'm in the same boat currently. I went to one of his classes and it made me realise the better riders were actually going slower and I was trying to go fast but doing everything wrong. Didn't help I was borrowing a 350 when I normally ride a 250 either
oops... Wish i heard this a year ago (when i was 28). I was off the bike for about 4 years (didn't touch a dirtbike for 4 years). Got back into it, lost old bad habits and picked up good ones! At first my strength was BAD. After about a year of riding a good amount, my strength was decent again. I was riding faster than ever. One day i had a set of fresh tires. I forgot how grippy new tires are. Holy crap i was absolutely cooking. I was cornering like i could't beleive. There was this particular corner with a perfect rut. One lap I leaned it over too far, front tire slid out and.... now a small nylon string similar to fishing line holds my entire shoulder together like a zip-tie via holes drilled through my clavicle and corocoid 🤡. I should have slowed down and just enjoyed riding a dirtbike..
3:31 is great advice applied to all wheel sports. I see the same with new riders in mountain biking and I just tell them to slow down or skip stunts. Then they send it anyway and almost get wrecked or do get wrecked.
I just got into motocross last summer at 25, your technique has helped me get so much faster and I’m hanging with the faster 250C guys. Although i feel like i have similar problems to this guy, where i like to battle/chase the fast guys and really push the limits of my riding with occasional crashes. However i do feel that learning from mistakes like crashes has helped me dial in my technique
I had the same problem. I started racing 2 years ago at 19 and went to fast to quick and ended up breaking my femur and elbow last summer. Still debating if I wanna keep racing but this video has convinced me to continue but at a slower pace
I’m in complete agreement with you. After being a once in a while trail rider, I started racing at 28. My goal was to go pro in 3 years. I became intermediate by 30, but the crashes started holding me back and that’s as far as I got. Now trail riding in my 60s, my new goal is to ride till I’m 85. In recent years, I’ve had some nasty crashes mainly at high speed. Basically Ive figured that my eyes aren’t as sharp and the 7 concussions add to a slower processing brain. As you’ve said, I’ve got to back it down if I want to hit my goal and that’s what I’m doing. BTW, I still don’t like getting passed😁
This is such sound advice. This is the path I’m taking with my son. Yes, I could throw him into racing and having him ride ride ride but the smart play is the long run play. No season racing mx, build strong foundation, go slow and in 10 years from now he will show up out of no where and wax all the kids who were forced to go fast.
So well stated. It’s so hard to not try and ride over your head, but being out bc of a crash and losing 6 months or more is far worse than being slow today….
I’m 42 and dirtbikes are a passion of mine. I’m in great shape and feel young. I just started riding on tracks. Used to ride trails when I was young. I’m not trying to be a pro or anything. Am I too old to ride?
You could also throw Tomac in Jett's place in the thumbnail. Tomac learned early on that he didn't have to beat everyone by 1 minute after he had the shoulder injury, then went on to have a very injury free career. Goes to show how it all depends on the rider, their talent, and knowing their limits.
When in doubt throttle out. Slow down before you get out of control. Did he say 450c? At 22. Buy a 2stroke dude. Wear it out a few times over. Then get on a 450. Started over at 42... after only riding a couple years as a kid. 450- crash.. crash.. crash. Wore out one of those... bought another. Now on a 250 2 smoker running in the woods wide open. It's almost too weak for the mx track me being 200# just getting my 450 softened up to run the woods now.. and I'm hesitant to do it. Getting close to 6 or 700 hours practice in the last 3 years. I'm a fast B guy now. What im trying to say... it takes TIME and Buckets of Patience to keep up with guys who have been riding since they were 5 and are your age.
Coach people to build muscle as well. Having a solid frame to absorb impacts is key. If you have no muscle your bones take the full impact. Most the top guys in our sport are actually pretty muscular and do a lot of gym work.
Been riding since 1972, always been more conservative vs aggressive.....have a smooth style as described by friends....my injuries have been minor.... Professional racing was never my goal though either I've had friends that were constantly hurt, always riding on that edge....
Any advice on how to learn to jump a given table top jump? Fearing going to far or not far enough is really bad... Would you just do 20 attempts landing harder and harder until you finally clear and land it?
Any tips for the "Used to be" vet rider? I'm a multi time amateur flat track champ who hadn't raced MX in 15 years since being a 125-A brat. Especially from the FT racing, the speed is just not scary to me but my skills on a techy MX track ain't what they used to be.