When is enough to much????

Great topic... it is like a drug at first you start a little bit at a time and next thing you know your taking the big stuff. This is with anything in life. Once you take the fun out of it...it will never be the same.
It really does come down to how much fun are we having. it seems like we do more each year but it really is the same amount of money we just change it to make it more of a vacation every weekend. We choose places we have never been and try to find something new. This keeps it fun for all of us. We like traveling together we like to see new places (ex: Kansas and Camp Boom DIggity) hope to go back but we did it for something different and fun. All this as a family.
I guess now that your questioning it, it is good...
Honestly, when is it enough and to much??? Only you know and Johnathan know - just keep it fun!!!
Your a smart guy John - I am sure you didn't need to ask all of us about this. You will know what to do. It's the ones beyond return from their debts they needed to ask this question a long time ago...
 
Back in the 60's when I walked to school in 3 feet of snow and had to lug in coal for the furnace......hahaha kids today..

You think off roading is expensive, try drag racing.
Its the same crap, a family rolls up in a 40 foot renegade stacker trailer with another 40 foot renegade motorhome and they unload a Jr dragster for little billy who is 10 years old.
There are many family oriented sports out there.........pick another and try try again.
 
Alex186 said:
I think a lot of riders and people lose perspective of the realistic expectations of the any sport. And I kind of blame somewhat of this on the parents and industry, basically they're selling a false-dream. Some are very lucky and talented, and some simply won't get there. I attribute this to the mindset like 'I'm not going play high school football unless I have a opportunity to play in the NFL.' Kind of short-sided.

I was a good rider, wasn't great. I realized at a teenager age, that a career racing a dirt bike wasn't realistic. But that being said, I really didn't want a career on a dirt bike, because your career ends at 35 years old (if your lucky) so I got out of the sport what I needed. I raced as a local A guy in Kentucky and Tennessee and made cash, I did unsuccessfully try some Pro Nationals which was a goal for me at the time. Between racing as a local A rider, doing rider schools, and being a co-owner of a motocross promotional company, (plus a side job from time to time) I completely paid for my college degree (graduated with no debt). My dirt bike gave me a life and career.

Now I'm in my late 20's, I working in the industry I enjoy (some days), I have a CRF450 and YZ125 (my 2 favorite bikes) in my garage, looking to buy a house with some land (to build a mx track), meeting some cool, smart people all over the country, good relationship with my family, good health. Simply from one thought process... I dig dirt bikes. It's fun for me.

I believe there is nothing wrong with attempting to compete on a elite level (Loretta's, Pro Nationals) but don't forget about grassroots racing and life beyond racing. If a dirt bike brings you enjoyment and being at the track on the weekend makes you happy, then why are we talking about money?


Alex Hunter
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You speak the truth Alex, and I never met you! Local racing can be fun, but many, many, many on here have that notion that if " I ain't doing Loretta's, then the hell with it!" Sounds like your path in MX is like mine, and I still am doing it all the time and I'm a couple days shy of 55. Wish many others can see the joy of racing local and just having a ball with it.

I am so blessed to have a very talented child who could go real far, but at 16, all he wants to do is the MastersMX series because the people are so kind to him. When he did two AMA races this year, the same thing happened just like in the past. He took off about 4 years, and all those fathers go to their cell phones and look up to see if he really is "C" or not. My kid rather not race than deal with all that drama. In truth, I'm glad he is just about done and will go to college and probably get on with his life.......
 
Reading with interest as we are in the middle of the "go fast" or "study harder to get into the
school you really want to get into" quandary. Dirt track but the issues are the same.
I hope the boy and I have made the right decisions. Our thinking has been back and forth
between us and mom and us and mom and him and me and mom and me and him. I *think*
and hope we're going the right way. Just decided really.

So far, it's all been about fun as I'm too old to think about anything else and he's not
been skilled enough to think about anything else. But then the last couple years he
discovered he's pretty good at turning left. Actually, he thought that all along and until
he could beat me, I was unconvinced. Now I can't keep him in sight.

Now he's good enough to run Pro-singles (pretty sure he doesn't read Pitracer or you wouldn't be
reading that) but there isn't money in it to make a living. Beyond that (getting a national
number and all ) is all luck and dedication. He is good enough to get into the aerospace
engineering program at OSU, I think, barely. But there's always the dream of racing.
He's already accepted at another college (early admissions, who knew?).

So we are going for it next year only. Could afford a rig and trophy girls but that ain't happening.
I'm way too cheap. Ford Ranger, new bikes, little trailer,that's my part. He's busting butt getting
his skinny ass ready. If he slacks off, I drop out and he'll be on his own.

He's drumming up sponsors and doing a better job than I did 30 years ago when I was a
better roadracer than he is a dirt tracker. Check him out on facecrap if you want to help.
https://www.facebook.com/mark.sturdevant.965?fref=ts
Amateur Nationals should be a good time and we'll hit a bunch of other races too.

But come August 2015, we all agree he's bound for the books. If he makes a few races
while I'm already going and have his bike, great. But for 4 years books will be priority.

Your mileage may vary. Objects in mirror are closer than they appear.
 
I think the only thing that kept me motivated as a kid was that dirt bike. I didn't care about people at school, being cool, or going out on friday nights to that "field-kegger." I was asleep at 10pm and up at 5AM ecstatic to get to the races.

Motocross taught me everything I know in life. It's probably the only reason I'm not a drugged out bum with a few kids with no direction in my life. 15 years ago I could of never thought I would still be going to school for one reason, to try and give a future son or daughter the opportunities I had racing growing up.

My dad did it on a budget, and I ask him how did he afford it--and he told me, you'll figure out how to make it happen. He still has the trailer with the decals on the back from the days when I raced 50s, 1991-1995. And I remember when fuel skyrocketed it seemed (looking back 2.00 a gallon wasn't that bad lol) my dad saying well we can't be driving all the way down to crow canyon this weekend for that race, but we can race at pymatuning.

Looking back we raced cheaply every weekend locally. And I'm so thankful we had Pymatuning holeshot to race every single friday or saturday. We also did a two big events every year. Mini O's, Kawasaki Race of Champions, and the D12 championship series. If it wasn't a series race we didn't go, we just race at pyma. I miss .those days, and sadly my generation as children really had it nice with full gates, and employed parents. It breaks my heart to see what pymatuning is today due to economy, EPA BS, and the simple fact that good paying jobs are harder to obtain.

Crute and I have been great friends since 4th grade, and I remember going to his house and riding on his property and then his dad lost his job. That was pretty much the beginning of the recession and unfortunately crutes family got hit hard right out of the gate for the recession. That was tough, and his dad still figured out a way to get Stacy to the track. And now Stacy works hard because he has to, and he realizes the security of the future is fragile. So without Mx would we all be the same people? Are we blessed because in some weird way MX has taught us life lessons subtly that we don't understand as kids but then those lessons only transpire as we reach adulthood? Who knows. But I would have to think so.

The only reason I'm still going to school is to be able to try to give that experience to a son or daughter whether it's racing, football, baseball, ball room dancing...whatever all the while maintaining my ability to SAVE for my future/retirement.

Enough is when your bills are piling high and you don't have any money to save or invest in your future. I'm struck with that burden constantly. I'm scoob jr. because I try to plan on going to some events, but then I check into my checkbook and realize....well....if I spend $300 to hit that Area Qualifier, i'm going to have to make $600 just to put $300 back in the bank.

If all you have to do is drop a tier or two on your cell phone plan, Cable and internet packages to afford to race then do it. Because Mx is the only sport where budgeting those simple life luxuries will allow to keep racing. God, my uncle almost had to take out a second mortgage on his house before his light bulb went off that said: "Ok I can't afford to race late models at roaring knob." Even if he cut his cell phone, cable and internet he still wasn't going to afford to race that late model. THANK GOD FOR THE AFFORDABILITY OF MOTOCROSS.
 
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My name is Ed Lisowski. My son, David and I (I say I because for a dad who never raced, I feel when he races, I race.) have been racing for 6 years. He is about to turn 15. He is number 55 and raced a KTM 85 and 105 in Jr. Mini and Super mini in the CRA and at Switchback, and recently this past summer raced a Yamaha 250F in schoolboy and 250C in the OMA and CRA.

For those of you who know me, I've never been short-winded. I am a story teller, so expect this to be longer than usual, which should be overwhelmingly long for most of you. But I've come to a crossroad with motocross as of last Tuesday.

I have labled us "part-time" racers because the most we raced was about 25 races in the CRA (2013) and 10-15 in the OMA, etc.. Most years we raced 10-20 races. Enough to contend for the spring or fall series titles but not racing 2-3 times per weekend or chasing the Loretta's trail, although we've attended several Area Qualifiers in the past. We have friends that could race 55-65 races per year. We would have to do that had we been able to afford it.(both financially and family wise).

From the beginning, we knew we weren't going pro, nor were we ever going to win at Loretta's. We've had two bikes most years (but I hated paying more than $1500 for a bike, and until this past year buying a new 250F, the most I spent on a bike was $3000). I have a $3,000 trailer and now a $6500 camper. I pull my camper with an 2001 F250 diesel pick-up. I have 3 daughters and a wife. For us, it was never a family thing, as we tried to keep costs down, and my wife was NOT a fan of sending her little boy onto a track and letting him jump 60-foot jumps at 40 mph. My family never knew how much it cost to race per year, and neither did I. It was better that way. I AM CHEAP!!! And I complain about spending money all the time. We spent more than our budget, but never affected the other 4 family members. Our Superbowl was a Spring or Fall short-series championship. We knew our level, and prepared for it. Financially as well.

However, I became a self-proclaimed expert at figuring out the points, knowing where to go to get the most points, knowing where my competition was going, and how to beat them. My son was never the fastest kid at the track, he was a Ryan Dungey, always near the top, and could win on any given day, but mostly near the top (he won quite a few races in his day). He was cautious, never riding over the edge, and always there at the end. NEVER the fastest, NEVER pro material. And he NEVER got hurt. We had sooooo much fun racing over the years.

2013 was the greatest year of our riding career. They dropped the number of required races from 35 to 20. Finally, we could contend for a season-long championship as a part-timer. For us, winning a CRA championship was our Loretta's, our Ponca City or our Mini-O's. We had a great year. We won a Jr. Mini Championship in MX, a Jr. Mini Championship in Flat track and the Big Game Triathlon for the 3rd year in a row. Probably the best year of my sons life. To see him accept those awards at the banquet was priceless!! We do it all for our kids. Priceless!!! But at what cost or risk? It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about seeing him get those awards. He is going forward in his life knowing he could be a winner. You can't buy that for your child.

Now to the crossroad I spoke about earlier in the text. Last Tuesday, November 11, 10-minutes left on what was probably the last nice day of the year, David crashed coming out of a berm and over a little ski jump on a down-hill jump. No biggie, just a slide out over a 2-foot high jump, possibly a high-side down the hill. I was 20 feet away but talking to a friend who casually mentioned that David was going down. I looked up to see him laying face-up on the ground. As usual, he lied moaning on the ground. Something I've grown accustomed to over the years. He's never hurt bad but he acts like he's dying. He's usually fine 10 minutes after the crash. As I approach him he says "How stupid, 10 minutes to go in the season, and I break both of my arms! What the heck?". I do the usual going over. Did you hit your head? How's your neck and back? Can you move your legs,toes? Can you move your arms? "NO" Can you wiggle your fingers? "YES" Everything checks out, possibly some bruising on the left arm and right forearm. He say's "Get an ambulance, I broke both of my arms!". Not what you want to hear.

As it turns out, after cutting off his shirt and $300 aircage, he did indeed break both of his arms. He had surgery Wednesday morning and has pins in his arms for 6 months. He has a full arm cast on his left arm and a forearm cast on his right arm, for 6 weeks. He can use his right hand to feed himself as of today.

One broken arm (or leg), and life goes on as usual (semi-usual). Everyone is asking when you are going to race again? When you have two broken arms, the response is "OHH". Just "OH" with a really painful look on their faces, maybe a wince thrown in for drama's sake.

Two broken arms is not the end of the world. He is doing well and still in some pain 1-week post. But when your child has two splints on his arms from the shoulder to the fingers (think of the girl in the movie 16 candles, with the neck brace, braces and the two arm casts trying to drink water out of the water fountain), life SMACKS you in the face.

I had a paraplegic son for 2 days. We had to feed him, hold his water glass, scratch his itches, pick him up, set him down, dress/undress him, pull down his pants to go to the bathroom, wipe him. Bathe him. Very humiliating for a 14 year old boy to have his dad wash his boy/man parts.

2-days a paraplegic. Now for the next 6 weeks he cannot go to school, or be left alone. He will not be able to do all of the above for that time. He is able to feed himself. 6 months to get the pins out, 1 more month for the pin holes to close up. He may be able to ride by September or October of 2015. But for the next 6 weeks, dad has to wipe his butt and wash his parts. No big deal for me, he is my son. All of you would do the same. Motocross people are some of the finest in the world. I know, I've been blessed to have met many of you.

So, sadly, we are done with Motocross. We only had 2 bad days and 18,000+ good ones, and we are blessed! We have sooo many good memories and we made a million good friends and met such wonderful people. We have not given up on riding motorcycles, we look forward to trail riding and enjoying each others company. Father and son style. You may ask why are we giving up with just 2 bad days. My answer is because I would never want ANY more of those days. As individuals, we all have our limits. I'm at mine.

I am not ANTI-MOTOCROSS and I would not have changed a thing (well, just one, I would NEVER get upset at him when I felt he didn't do his best or just didn't feel it that day). Enjoy every race, keep it fun.

Don't worry, you will ALL no when, or when not to give it up. Whether for money, time with the family, burnt out, or a silly little crash. You're heart will tell you what to do. It's a great family past-time. I loved it dearly. Just listen to your heart. Do it for a hundred years if you can!

Pain medicine does amazing things. My son got to meet Jesus when they were setting his arms. Jesus told him he was a good boy and that the reason he crashed was so that Jesus could tell him in person that he was in his life. He took David by the hand and they flew around heaven together. All the doctors said it was the powerful drugs talking, I like to think otherwise. Motocross gave that to David ( and Me ).

In the end, ALL you have is memories!! Make as many of them as you can with the amount of money and time you have. Live life to the fullest!

Children spell love "T-I-M-E", not "M-O-N-E-Y". And a line from one of my favorite songs "she thinks we're just fishin".

God Bless and I love all of you!

I told you this was going to be long...lol

Ed
 
Ed sorry to hear about your sons injury,best wishes to him for a quick and easy recovery! I was somewhat in a similar situation, with a broken left arm and right collar bone. First few days I couldnt do much with either arm but a few days later it was manageable. Anyways... you'll be back!!! Its in your blood now!
 
Georgie, you hit the nail on the head with your previous post in the first paragraph. I look at all the kids I went to school with and all of them are alcoholics, have children and some are addicts. Racing moto taught me discipline and self Perserverance. I taught me a lot in life. So me answer to this is if you're having fun with YOURE family and making irreplaceable memories and your son is learning important life lessons that will help him all throughout his life
 
TwentyThreeMX said:
Ed sorry to hear about your sons injury,best wishes to him for a quick and easy recovery! I was somewhat in a similar situation, with a broken left arm and right collar bone. First few days I couldnt do much with either arm but a few days later it was manageable. Anyways... you'll be back!!! Its in your blood now!
Click to expand...

Ha. I think we have all been there as teenagers being injured and becoming infantile dependent on our parents again. The agony passes with time and your heart calls for that racing experience. Trail riding, street riding will appease the heart for a while but the appeasement will end. It's so hard to quit and not come back to it.
 
Great story Ed and very well written.
No doubt injuries play a major role in our sports. They are often the tuning point for a lot of racers. Some recover and return to racing and never miss a beat. Some comeback and tend to ride more tentative. While other never return and just move on. There are some that just seem to be the lucky and never really get hurt bad.
Just be careful making such a big decision after an injury. Not only is it often based on emotion because we don't want to see our children get hurt, but it also stifles the "I got to make a full recovery, fast" healing process. Which can be the best medicine of all.
I have retired / quit / said I never want to see another motocross about 7 times in my 35 years of moto. Each time I have found my way back. Other people hang up the boots one day and never look back. I don't know how they do that other then they just must not be true racers. I don't know?
A lot of times I read on this site that Motocross is a great family sport and helps build young men into fine adults. I tend to think the opposite. I believe that great people and great families are attracted to our sport. In motocross, those people find a great source for the memories they are hoping to create, which makes the sport all the more better.
Whatever your final decision, you are a racer.
 
Its allot tougher to race now than when I was a pup.
The cost alone of a bike today let alone a tow vehicle and race fees, I dont see how you do it.

My biggest passion was ice hockey, in the summer when hockey camps were over I went dirt bike riding.
In 1974 my Dad and I started out with clip on bumper racks to get my XR75 around to riding areas. Then in 1976 we progressed to a 3 rail trailer and an Rm 100A, went to all the hare scrambles we could find.
I liked hare scrambles compared to motocross simply because of the riding time. Nothing wrong with MX back then, they had 1 mini class, 100, 175, 250, 500, lightweight and heavyweight pro, that was it no a, b c etc, if you could not hack it in those classes go home.
Then MX got complicated around 1978 with the double jump, a, b, c, d ,e f, bla bla bla classes that your second moto most always was cut in half. Screw MX I went back to racing hare scrambles.
Plus people were starting to get hurt.
Luckily I was injury free from 1974 to 1981 when u guessed it I was racing MX and in a stupid turn with a jump I dislocated my shoulder.
In 1980 then bike costs and racing were no big deal as I had a ok job and could start buying my bikes. Before that Dad was my sponsor. I had a van, worked at Mark Smith (Yamaha of Cleveland in the golf car division) so parts and extras were no big deal.
I remember buying my 1980 390 Hoosk for around $1475. Then in 1981 I got 2 YZ125H's @ 895 each ( theres that dealer deal) racing was fun and relatively cheap.
I didnt race much in the mid to late 80's till around 1993. just got bored I guess.

in 1994 my racing days were care free, my Dad and I went all over the country racing for we discovered vintage motocross. A bigger truck and trailer were needed to haul my 2 main race bikes and a back up for reach along with wheels and spares.
Really the cost of vintage MX was cheap because I used to make my rounds at the junk yards and clean them out of what I needed.
Now the cost comes in.. travel and fuel prices. I remember going to a race in Steamboat Springs Colorado and it cost us (in 1994) over $880 round trip, then two weeks later we went to Hollister Hills in Cali and the fuel bill was off the chart.
We got to race on allot of fine old tracks, MX 338 in Southwick, Road Atlanta, Peoria, Hollister, Unadilla, Muddy Creek, Red Bud, Honda Hills to name a few.
In 1996 I built a hot 1974 Honda CR125 for my long time racing bud Rick Phillips, we went to bike week in Florida and the vintage national where he got the hole shot on the rear wheel all the way to the first turn. NICE !

1998 when working at SuperTrapp we borrowed the new YZF400 from Breyley for pipe testing, I liked that bike so much I called them and said im keeping it how much?
Went to a MX at Smith Road and u guessed it....locked bars with someone before the one downhill jump and broke my left arm. Lets see I have prolly 15,000,000,000 laps at Smith and to get wacked there sucked.
On a side note I Iron manned 1 of the 2 two man 4 hours George had there on my 1977 RM100b and finished 4th in my class.

So my off road racing took a break while I healed and pondered dirt biking thinking of the movie Little Fauss and Big Halsy where Robert Redford said to one riders Mom after one rider gets carted away: "Cycles is a mean toy lady"

I traded the Y zed for an XR400 and went back to hare scrambles, had fun and was injury free.

In 2000 my Dad died and racing just wasnt the same for me.
I quit off road racing, those tracks were just full of painful memories. So I got into drag racing, yep on a bike.

Then in 2004 my best friend whom I raced with since 1977 Rick Phillips died in a road bike accident. We rode both on and off road, he died just weeks after we got back from Myrtle Beach Bike Week.
So now motorcycles were just bad news all around for me. So I stopped drag racing too.

So you see racing to me wasn't about time, money or injuries it was about the passion I had for racing, being with my Dad and friends, working on and restoring bikes and having a job in the industry that allowed me to do so.
I guess if I stuck with hockey I would have gone to college and possibly played in the pros, I do know I would have saved a ton of money, not got to meet the greatest people I did and certainly wouldn't have got a job in the motorcycle industry.
Do what your heart tells you.
 
Well said ahrma479. I am sure typing that post out brought up a lot of old feelings that you have packed away.

Since you left out the 2000 to 2004 timeline in your story, I am going to jump in here and fill in a few blanks.

In 2000 I talked George at Smith Road into letting a rag tag group of us vintage riders get a gate during his spring race. A run-what-ya-brung type deal. No classes, rules etc. Using the power of the 'net, drummed up support from many guys to show up and have fun. And they did. Some for the first time in many years to get back on their old iron and mix it up. And it built up from there for some years after that.

Some are still here on PitRacer like ahrma479, Mosher, Racer842, Sinclair etc.

In 2001 ahrma479 and some other buddies went to Reddick in Florida to begin the vintage season. We went on to many other races, but it was one particular race that sticks out in my mind. We were at Grattan Raceway in Michigan racing a temporary course just off the roadracing track. I seized my 1974 CR125 Elsinore while running close to the front in moto 1. As the points scoring was per moto, I tried thrashing my bike back together for moto 2.

At this point, ahrma479 says top me, F-it, ride my bike in moto 2. I told him no way I can take your bike, (he was in my same moto but on the expert gate). He told me to forget about it, he had done this for years winning a number of Championships already and wanted me to have a shot at mine by riding his bike. I was very humbled by this gesture and accepted.

Well, I line up for moto 2, nervous about riding a bike I had never ridden before and not wanting to toast a second Elsinore on the day. He walks up and tells me "Twist it to the stops and DON'T let off!"

The gate drops, I do as he said. And I pulled one of the most epic holeshot's of my life! I mean a HUGE lead down the hill into the first turn. I am thinking to myself "This friggin' bike is a rocket!". I thought my bike was fast and had won many moto's on it already. Let me tell you this, I was way too proud of my bike. His was leaps and bounds over mine.

After the race, he was smiling, I was laughing and we had a great drive back home. He then GAVE me the bike on loan to take to the rest of the series races in case I had any problems with my primary bike.

THAT is why I have always loved motorcycles, racing and the great friends made along the way.

We all have our reasons to stay involved, take breaks, come back or leave the sport altogether and forever. But, it never leaves you. And thankfully, neither do the good memories.
 
"Cycles is a mean toy lady." That's great. I need to watch that movie.

Men, thanks for speaking, truly. This started out as a great thread and became an excellent thread.

I feel you ARHMA479.

My older brother had a serious brain injury and couldn't ride anymore. He was 20. For the longest time, I wouldn't ride or even consider it...because if he can't do it and we can't do it together, then I won't do it at all. This is special to us because riding bikes truly has given us life so to speak, victory over the hardships in our youth; life to my family, and life to the MX family. Riding truly is good, we just gotta be smart about it.

Riding has brought so many life long relationships together, be it marriage or fellowship. That's what counts.

ARMHA479...

I think you should consider riding trails again. I finally got he guts to talk with my brother about riding...to my kinda surprise, he encouraged me. Here I am.

I would presume those two influential men would love to know that you are still riding...they will ride with you...in your heart, mind, and spirit.

That's the beauty of being a real rider...no matter if your in the saddle or not, you can't help but smile when we think about riding...you know, in times of reflection and meditation (thinking, focusing, mulling it over, use'n yo noggin (you could be driving.))

We each have a personal choice to suit up or not with no bias from a fellow rider...we accept each other as we are...at the core of it. That's fellowship. Love it! Brap!
 
elisowski said:
My name is Ed Lisowski. My son, David and I (I say I because for a dad who never raced, I feel when he races, I race.) have been racing for 6 years. He is about to turn 15. He is number 55 and raced a KTM 85 and 105 in Jr. Mini and Super mini in the CRA and at Switchback, and recently this past summer raced a Yamaha 250F in schoolboy and 250C in the OMA and CRA.

For those of you who know me, I've never been short-winded. I am a story teller, so expect this to be longer than usual, which should be overwhelmingly long for most of you. But I've come to a crossroad with motocross as of last Tuesday.

I have labled us "part-time" racers because the most we raced was about 25 races in the CRA (2013) and 10-15 in the OMA, etc.. Most years we raced 10-20 races. Enough to contend for the spring or fall series titles but not racing 2-3 times per weekend or chasing the Loretta's trail, although we've attended several Area Qualifiers in the past. We have friends that could race 55-65 races per year. We would have to do that had we been able to afford it.(both financially and family wise).

From the beginning, we knew we weren't going pro, nor were we ever going to win at Loretta's. We've had two bikes most years (but I hated paying more than $1500 for a bike, and until this past year buying a new 250F, the most I spent on a bike was $3000). I have a $3,000 trailer and now a $6500 camper. I pull my camper with an 2001 F250 diesel pick-up. I have 3 daughters and a wife. For us, it was never a family thing, as we tried to keep costs down, and my wife was NOT a fan of sending her little boy onto a track and letting him jump 60-foot jumps at 40 mph. My family never knew how much it cost to race per year, and neither did I. It was better that way. I AM CHEAP!!! And I complain about spending money all the time. We spent more than our budget, but never affected the other 4 family members. Our Superbowl was a Spring or Fall short-series championship. We knew our level, and prepared for it. Financially as well.

However, I became a self-proclaimed expert at figuring out the points, knowing where to go to get the most points, knowing where my competition was going, and how to beat them. My son was never the fastest kid at the track, he was a Ryan Dungey, always near the top, and could win on any given day, but mostly near the top (he won quite a few races in his day). He was cautious, never riding over the edge, and always there at the end. NEVER the fastest, NEVER pro material. And he NEVER got hurt. We had sooooo much fun racing over the years.

2013 was the greatest year of our riding career. They dropped the number of required races from 35 to 20. Finally, we could contend for a season-long championship as a part-timer. For us, winning a CRA championship was our Loretta's, our Ponca City or our Mini-O's. We had a great year. We won a Jr. Mini Championship in MX, a Jr. Mini Championship in Flat track and the Big Game Triathlon for the 3rd year in a row. Probably the best year of my sons life. To see him accept those awards at the banquet was priceless!! We do it all for our kids. Priceless!!! But at what cost or risk? It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about seeing him get those awards. He is going forward in his life knowing he could be a winner. You can't buy that for your child.

Now to the crossroad I spoke about earlier in the text. Last Tuesday, November 11, 10-minutes left on what was probably the last nice day of the year, David crashed coming out of a berm and over a little ski jump on a down-hill jump. No biggie, just a slide out over a 2-foot high jump, possibly a high-side down the hill. I was 20 feet away but talking to a friend who casually mentioned that David was going down. I looked up to see him laying face-up on the ground. As usual, he lied moaning on the ground. Something I've grown accustomed to over the years. He's never hurt bad but he acts like he's dying. He's usually fine 10 minutes after the crash. As I approach him he says "How stupid, 10 minutes to go in the season, and I break both of my arms! What the heck?". I do the usual going over. Did you hit your head? How's your neck and back? Can you move your legs,toes? Can you move your arms? "NO" Can you wiggle your fingers? "YES" Everything checks out, possibly some bruising on the left arm and right forearm. He say's "Get an ambulance, I broke both of my arms!". Not what you want to hear.

As it turns out, after cutting off his shirt and $300 aircage, he did indeed break both of his arms. He had surgery Wednesday morning and has pins in his arms for 6 months. He has a full arm cast on his left arm and a forearm cast on his right arm, for 6 weeks. He can use his right hand to feed himself as of today.

One broken arm (or leg), and life goes on as usual (semi-usual). Everyone is asking when you are going to race again? When you have two broken arms, the response is "OHH". Just "OH" with a really painful look on their faces, maybe a wince thrown in for drama's sake.

Two broken arms is not the end of the world. He is doing well and still in some pain 1-week post. But when your child has two splints on his arms from the shoulder to the fingers (think of the girl in the movie 16 candles, with the neck brace, braces and the two arm casts trying to drink water out of the water fountain), life SMACKS you in the face.

I had a paraplegic son for 2 days. We had to feed him, hold his water glass, scratch his itches, pick him up, set him down, dress/undress him, pull down his pants to go to the bathroom, wipe him. Bathe him. Very humiliating for a 14 year old boy to have his dad wash his boy/man parts.

2-days a paraplegic. Now for the next 6 weeks he cannot go to school, or be left alone. He will not be able to do all of the above for that time. He is able to feed himself. 6 months to get the pins out, 1 more month for the pin holes to close up. He may be able to ride by September or October of 2015. But for the next 6 weeks, dad has to wipe his butt and wash his parts. No big deal for me, he is my son. All of you would do the same. Motocross people are some of the finest in the world. I know, I've been blessed to have met many of you.

So, sadly, we are done with Motocross. We only had 2 bad days and 18,000+ good ones, and we are blessed! We have sooo many good memories and we made a million good friends and met such wonderful people. We have not given up on riding motorcycles, we look forward to trail riding and enjoying each others company. Father and son style. You may ask why are we giving up with just 2 bad days. My answer is because I would never want ANY more of those days. As individuals, we all have our limits. I'm at mine.

I am not ANTI-MOTOCROSS and I would not have changed a thing (well, just one, I would NEVER get upset at him when I felt he didn't do his best or just didn't feel it that day). Enjoy every race, keep it fun.

Don't worry, you will ALL no when, or when not to give it up. Whether for money, time with the family, burnt out, or a silly little crash. You're heart will tell you what to do. It's a great family past-time. I loved it dearly. Just listen to your heart. Do it for a hundred years if you can!

Pain medicine does amazing things. My son got to meet Jesus when they were setting his arms. Jesus told him he was a good boy and that the reason he crashed was so that Jesus could tell him in person that he was in his life. He took David by the hand and they flew around heaven together. All the doctors said it was the powerful drugs talking, I like to think otherwise. Motocross gave that to David ( and Me ).

In the end, ALL you have is memories!! Make as many of them as you can with the amount of money and time you have. Live life to the fullest!

Children spell love "T-I-M-E", not "M-O-N-E-Y". And a line from one of my favorite songs "she thinks we're just fishin".

God Bless and I love all of you!

I told you this was going to be long...lol

Ed
Click to expand...

You guys still have to come to Summit and hang - watch the racing. I demand it!!! I look forward to seeing you two every year there. You always tell me the same thing, every year! Your encouragement and presence is helpful, enjoyed, and welcomed. What else ya gonna do in the snow?!

Tell David I said hello please!
 
Hey Ed, how's the boy doing? Everybody's spirits holding up? Hope you're all doing well
and David is healing quickly.

You old ahrma guys need to convince me not to come out for +60 and save me some time
and money. Buy beer maybe. Hookers and cocaine?
 
Thanks TruthMX 617 for the kind words. My days of riding on and off road are done.

Man oh man my mind forgot all the races we all did together back then. Must be the opiates I am on for pain at the moment.
Budds, Georgia, Michigan some dump in WVa, Casey...............wow thanks for awakening ALL those great times.
I think vintage racing was the most fun I ever had, the people in vintage racing are like none youll ever find anywhere.
Yeah your moto at Grattan was prolly one of the BEST holeshots I ever saw, U didnt jump it was a fair start and u had prolly 30 yards on the pack while you were IN the first turn.

We packed my trailer and went to Georgia, you, me, smitty, GT and mugen replica boy...that was a trip!

I remember the Smith road thing, I brought a bike for Rick and one for Jammin Jimmy to ride.

Mr 361 those are memories that MAKE racing racing.
Remember when we were going to I think it was Budds Creek? My back went out and I had to lay down in the back of your truck?
I am 2 months in recovery from back surgery (TILF: transverse interbody laminectomy fusion) I have 2 scars and 100k+ worth of, hopefully back fixing titanium and thingamaggigers in there.
The pain i am in right now is the toughest thing I ever had to do, nothing in racing even compares.

Kinda ironic in the Little Fauss Big Halsy vid he had a scar from a broken back. THAT movie rocks !

Thanks guys.

Z
 
2 broken femurs is why I gave it up, as well as a friend of mine getting paralyzed at OIR. Motocross is fun, but I wasn't able to walk for 6 months, my mom had to do a lot for me. Seeing the hospital bills coming in , 2 surgeries, staff infection, blood infection, pic lines, catheters, nah im good. Some of the best times of my life were at the tracks with my dad, but it isn't worth it. Enough was enough.
 
Still to this day I remember a kid at the 05-06 Red Bud Regional who showed up in a mini van pulling an open trailer with 1 bike strapped in. They slept in sleeping bags right by the trailer, no tent. With bent levers, no graphics kit, age old gear, and incredible natural talent he went out to put in 3 solid races and qualify for Loretta's.

For a good MX injuries thread, read through some of these. http://forum.mxsimulator.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2497 (Use a little caution with kids, some are gnarly)
 
elisowski said:
My name is Ed Lisowski. My son, David and I (I say I because for a dad who never raced, I feel when he races, I race.) have been racing for 6 years. He is about to turn 15. He is number 55 and raced a KTM 85 and 105 in Jr. Mini and Super mini in the CRA and at Switchback, and recently this past summer raced a Yamaha 250F in schoolboy and 250C in the OMA and CRA.

For those of you who know me, I've never been short-winded. I am a story teller, so expect this to be longer than usual, which should be overwhelmingly long for most of you. But I've come to a crossroad with motocross as of last Tuesday.

I have labled us "part-time" racers because the most we raced was about 25 races in the CRA (2013) and 10-15 in the OMA, etc.. Most years we raced 10-20 races. Enough to contend for the spring or fall series titles but not racing 2-3 times per weekend or chasing the Loretta's trail, although we've attended several Area Qualifiers in the past. We have friends that could race 55-65 races per year. We would have to do that had we been able to afford it.(both financially and family wise).

From the beginning, we knew we weren't going pro, nor were we ever going to win at Loretta's. We've had two bikes most years (but I hated paying more than $1500 for a bike, and until this past year buying a new 250F, the most I spent on a bike was $3000). I have a $3,000 trailer and now a $6500 camper. I pull my camper with an 2001 F250 diesel pick-up. I have 3 daughters and a wife. For us, it was never a family thing, as we tried to keep costs down, and my wife was NOT a fan of sending her little boy onto a track and letting him jump 60-foot jumps at 40 mph. My family never knew how much it cost to race per year, and neither did I. It was better that way. I AM CHEAP!!! And I complain about spending money all the time. We spent more than our budget, but never affected the other 4 family members. Our Superbowl was a Spring or Fall short-series championship. We knew our level, and prepared for it. Financially as well.

However, I became a self-proclaimed expert at figuring out the points, knowing where to go to get the most points, knowing where my competition was going, and how to beat them. My son was never the fastest kid at the track, he was a Ryan Dungey, always near the top, and could win on any given day, but mostly near the top (he won quite a few races in his day). He was cautious, never riding over the edge, and always there at the end. NEVER the fastest, NEVER pro material. And he NEVER got hurt. We had sooooo much fun racing over the years.

2013 was the greatest year of our riding career. They dropped the number of required races from 35 to 20. Finally, we could contend for a season-long championship as a part-timer. For us, winning a CRA championship was our Loretta's, our Ponca City or our Mini-O's. We had a great year. We won a Jr. Mini Championship in MX, a Jr. Mini Championship in Flat track and the Big Game Triathlon for the 3rd year in a row. Probably the best year of my sons life. To see him accept those awards at the banquet was priceless!! We do it all for our kids. Priceless!!! But at what cost or risk? It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about seeing him get those awards. He is going forward in his life knowing he could be a winner. You can't buy that for your child.

Now to the crossroad I spoke about earlier in the text. Last Tuesday, November 11, 10-minutes left on what was probably the last nice day of the year, David crashed coming out of a berm and over a little ski jump on a down-hill jump. No biggie, just a slide out over a 2-foot high jump, possibly a high-side down the hill. I was 20 feet away but talking to a friend who casually mentioned that David was going down. I looked up to see him laying face-up on the ground. As usual, he lied moaning on the ground. Something I've grown accustomed to over the years. He's never hurt bad but he acts like he's dying. He's usually fine 10 minutes after the crash. As I approach him he says "How stupid, 10 minutes to go in the season, and I break both of my arms! What the heck?". I do the usual going over. Did you hit your head? How's your neck and back? Can you move your legs,toes? Can you move your arms? "NO" Can you wiggle your fingers? "YES" Everything checks out, possibly some bruising on the left arm and right forearm. He say's "Get an ambulance, I broke both of my arms!". Not what you want to hear.

As it turns out, after cutting off his shirt and $300 aircage, he did indeed break both of his arms. He had surgery Wednesday morning and has pins in his arms for 6 months. He has a full arm cast on his left arm and a forearm cast on his right arm, for 6 weeks. He can use his right hand to feed himself as of today.

One broken arm (or leg), and life goes on as usual (semi-usual). Everyone is asking when you are going to race again? When you have two broken arms, the response is "OHH". Just "OH" with a really painful look on their faces, maybe a wince thrown in for drama's sake.

Two broken arms is not the end of the world. He is doing well and still in some pain 1-week post. But when your child has two splints on his arms from the shoulder to the fingers (think of the girl in the movie 16 candles, with the neck brace, braces and the two arm casts trying to drink water out of the water fountain), life SMACKS you in the face.

I had a paraplegic son for 2 days. We had to feed him, hold his water glass, scratch his itches, pick him up, set him down, dress/undress him, pull down his pants to go to the bathroom, wipe him. Bathe him. Very humiliating for a 14 year old boy to have his dad wash his boy/man parts.

2-days a paraplegic. Now for the next 6 weeks he cannot go to school, or be left alone. He will not be able to do all of the above for that time. He is able to feed himself. 6 months to get the pins out, 1 more month for the pin holes to close up. He may be able to ride by September or October of 2015. But for the next 6 weeks, dad has to wipe his butt and wash his parts. No big deal for me, he is my son. All of you would do the same. Motocross people are some of the finest in the world. I know, I've been blessed to have met many of you.

So, sadly, we are done with Motocross. We only had 2 bad days and 18,000+ good ones, and we are blessed! We have sooo many good memories and we made a million good friends and met such wonderful people. We have not given up on riding motorcycles, we look forward to trail riding and enjoying each others company. Father and son style. You may ask why are we giving up with just 2 bad days. My answer is because I would never want ANY more of those days. As individuals, we all have our limits. I'm at mine.

I am not ANTI-MOTOCROSS and I would not have changed a thing (well, just one, I would NEVER get upset at him when I felt he didn't do his best or just didn't feel it that day). Enjoy every race, keep it fun.

Don't worry, you will ALL no when, or when not to give it up. Whether for money, time with the family, burnt out, or a silly little crash. You're heart will tell you what to do. It's a great family past-time. I loved it dearly. Just listen to your heart. Do it for a hundred years if you can!

Pain medicine does amazing things. My son got to meet Jesus when they were setting his arms. Jesus told him he was a good boy and that the reason he crashed was so that Jesus could tell him in person that he was in his life. He took David by the hand and they flew around heaven together. All the doctors said it was the powerful drugs talking, I like to think otherwise. Motocross gave that to David ( and Me ).

In the end, ALL you have is memories!! Make as many of them as you can with the amount of money and time you have. Live life to the fullest!

Children spell love "T-I-M-E", not "M-O-N-E-Y". And a line from one of my favorite songs "she thinks we're just fishin".

God Bless and I love all of you!

I told you this was going to be long...lol

Ed
Click to expand...
You got off easy. Count your blessings.
 
Mr. Lilly, it's not a family thing until you get wife and daughter involved. Get them to the track and then as a family you decide if it's worth it. Yeah. I've watched a lot of people put absolutely everything they own in to motocross and I would never consider that "stupid" because it's not my place to judge. We have lifetime memories... And lifetime injuries. No regrets? I might not be the one to ask.
 
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