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Most everybody remembers the Brit band from the 80’s, Culture Club. Hard to forget “Boy George” and their hit, pop single “Do you really want to hurt me?” Oh man, that was 40 years ago but I digress…

So what does Boy George have to do with American Retrocross? Pretty much nothing but when I was sitting down to write this article I was thinking about the culture of our club, American Retrocross. Then Culture Club came to mind and “Do you really want to hurt me?” took on a whole new meaning.

At our last race (March 21, 2021) a significant portion of the rider’s meeting was devoted to how important it is to minimize risks on the race track. We all know riding a motorcycle has a certain level of risk. Racing a motorcycle over rough ground, with twenty other people is even riskier. Some might say dangerous, while others would point out that the danger is part of the allure. While all that may be true, we at ARX are about mitigating the risks as much as possible. No, we aren’t going to require each rider to be covered in bubble wrap, wear a seat belt and install an air bag on their bike but we are going to insist on everyone showing their competitors due respect. The term track manners may be new to some but it isn’t hard to figure out what it means.We expect everyone to make every effort to have good track manners. 

The Six P’s

Personality- If you are anything other than happy to be out racing your dirt bike with other like minded individuals, you probably aren’t a good fit for our club. This is not the place to work out your deep ceded aggressions on or off the track. We have a really pleasant vibe at our events and we aim to keep it that way. We take safety seriously but not finishing positions. We figure if you had fun, you won and you will want to come back and do it again.

Passers- Whether you are making a pass for the lead or not to be last, make it clean. Leave the T-bone for the dinner table. That goes double for when you are lapping someone. If you are fast enough to lap a rider then you are skilled enough to do it safely.

Passee- If someone is clearly faster than you, hold your line and allow them the room to make a clean pass. Swerving, brake checking or cross jumping are actions asking for a reaction. 9 out of 10 times the reaction is not going to be pleasant.

Potential- If we see someone is not skilled enough to negotiate the track or is riding in manner we deem hazardous to themselves or others, we will intervene and initiate a conversation.

Persuasion- If we (ARX management) witness or are made aware of problems on or off the track, it is our job to address it. We try to persuade folks to simply chill out going forward and most of the time they do.

Penalty- If that request is rejected or ignored, we aren’t going to debate it or argue the point. The person will be “uninvited” to participate in future events. Just like a restaurant,  we have the right to refuse service to anyone. It is a last resort but we would rather piss off a few reckless riders than have a good person needlessly hurt.

A vintage racing club in Texas lost a rider (Greg Gordon) this spring in a racing accident. We almost lost Ed Tashjian a few years ago and had Big Jim Branson go down with a serious head injury. Accidents can occur despite our best efforts. Injuries are possible not inevitable. 

We will continue to foster safety every chance we get. It is at the core of the “culture of our club.”

“Do you really want to hurt me?” Hell no!

Rick Doughty for American Retrocross

If you were out of diapers in the 60’s then you probably remember living with every kid’s biggest fear…nuclear annihilation.

The two US bombs, affectionally named “Fat Man” and “Little Boy,” did their job in ending World War II but there would be some long lasting, unintended circumstances to follow. “Every end is a new beginning” was never more true than with the dropping of those two bombs.

Not only did they reshape the geo-political landscape but the possession of that level of destruction/deterrent was viewed as essential for major countries around the world. The end of World War II was the beginning of a new level in the arms race. Suddenly having the fastest fighter plane and the largest bomber payload was pushed down the priority list to focus on developing an A (atom) bomb. In motorcycle racing terms it would be the equivalent of when Yamaha showed up at the first GP with their monoshock motocross bike and won. It sent every competitor scrambling. Everyone that had the cash and capability was feverishly try to build a bomb. In August of 1949, the Soviet Union successfully tested their new toy in Kazakhstan. As a result the world became an ever increasingly scary place, especially for kids.

The risk of nuclear war coming our direction next was unnervingly real. President Truman’s administration came up with a civilian safety program to educate and train the public on what to do in the event we got nuked. Parents and teachers did what they could to protect the school aged kids by conducting “Duck and Cover” safety drills on a regular basis, in schools nationwide. The chilling sound of the siren usually proceeded the rehearsal and would always catch the student body (especially mine) off guard. Forever worried this was the real thing, we would dive under our desks and quiver like kittens pulled out of the pool. Never knowing if we should giggle or kiss our asses good bye.

Thinking back on those years, it is amazing that any of us were ever able to find a sense of well being but we did. In actuality, many of us consider that period in our lives as the best ever. Hard to believe, huh? Not if you believe in the strength of the human spirit. We have had it pretty easy here in the good ol’ US of A compared to many countries. We haven’t had to huddle in bomb shelters while London was obliterated. I have known some of those folks that have and they are some of the most well adjusted. We haven’t had to persevere through the dictates of an occupying force, nor have we had to resettle to a country other than our own. For many people, this has been their reality and worse. Yet still they survive and ultimately thrive. That is the unrelenting human spirit at its best.

This Corona Virus 19 is just the latest thing. It isn’t the first and it won’t be the last challenge we will face as Americans or as the Human Race. It’s just the latest thing.

I will concede that this is something unlike anything we have experienced before. No bomb, in any arsenal is capable of causing this level of global impact. Not even the ones they warned us about 50+ years ago. This is big, it moves fast and it has produced a new kind of devastation. One we are not familiar with and it scares the hell out of us. There is no amount of hiding under your desk that will protect you from this. As bad as it is, the fear of the unknown is probably its most potent element.

Our collective world has been put on pause. We worried about where to go, what to touch and worst of all what to believe. The unknown creates its own darkness. One that can only exist in the absence of knowledge. There is a hell of a lot we don’t know but there is an ever increasing amount we do. That in my humble opinion, is what we should be focusing on now and the days ahead.

We now know that the virus modeling is at best, an educated guess based on data. In this case the data is numbers. When was the last time you saw Mel Gibson play a mathematician? We are not a country of numbers that can be effortlessly erased by something that looks like an alien’s left nut. We are a people with extraordinary intelligence, spines of steel and a long, rich history of kicking the shit out of whatever stands in our way.

What “We The People Of These United States” have in common is not a political party, skin color, religion or a love for all things denim. No sir! What we have in common is American blood running through our veins and the knowledge that we will prevail, come hell or Covid19! Can I get a Hoorah?

Rick Doughty

VINTAGE IRON

Perplexed about what to do with all your government mandated time at home? Millions of us are, but let’s not forget all the years of wishing we had more time to get things done but were too busy with work. We might have brought this on ourselves. You know they say you have to watch out what you wish for!

Everybody’s situations are somewhat different but if you are a dirt bike guy, we have a lot in common and this suggestion list is based on our commonalities.

We also have to think about the folks that make up the industry we rely on. They are hurting, too. Many are offering discounted pricing making it a sensible time to use their services and/or buy their products. The more we can engage them in our efforts, the better we will all be after we get through this nightmare.

Online shopping is still active and some shops are even providing valet service where they will pick up your bike, perform the work and bring it back to you. All in all, we’re an enterprising bunch and don’t shy away from a challenge like this. Let’s make it time well spent!

This is your idea of Social Distancing

If this is your idea of washing your hands

If this is your idea of a preventive mask

You are probably not a motocrosser if:

You traded your bike for butt wipe

If you think this is going to save you

If you spent you “quality quarantine time” making any of these

Remain calm and rock on

Well, that is a good question and one that is being asked about more than our motorcycle racing club.

There isn’t much experience that any of us have with a global pandemic of this magnitude, much less the financial upheaval and personal restrictions we are enduring.

What we are sure of is, this too shall pass. Just like our country did with the 9/11 disaster, we will create a new normal in which to live and ultimately thrive. We will all be more conscience of spreading anything to anyone. We will also become a nation of clean hands and apparently based on toilet paper sales, extremely clean (and maybe slightly raw) butts. I hope we will also have a lasting sense of togetherness, as we are all most certainly in this together.

When will this be behind us, is obviously everyone’s concern and while I have no crystal ball or elevated knowledge to make any predictions, I have tried to pay attention over the last three months. China is certainly not through and over this but they were on the leading edge of the virus. There are varying opinions on when it began but most experts agree it became evident in mid-December. As I am sure everyone of you know, China put in place a massive containment and it was strictly monitored. While the stats of infections, recoveries and deaths are questionable, the fact that the pace of the spread started to slow at about the two and a half month mark is somewhat telling. South Korea is probably the best case scenario to look at because they were well prepared with drive through testing and compliant citizenry. Their rate of spread flattened out at about six weeks. Korea is much smaller than the US and after the MERS outbreak, the South Korean government put certain powers in place to deal with contagious illnesses. Something we will no doubt see in our future.

So what does that mean for the US? Well there is good news and bad news on that front. The good news is that the Federal, State and Local governments are taking this seriously and pulling out all the stops to stem the tide. The other good news is that the recent partnership between the government and private sector is going to produce rapid results. Most of us were not around for WW II but this is as close as it gets to a “war time footing” and our country has pretty damn good record when we flip that switch. The same is true today, thankfully.

The bad news is that the US is a huge country with 330 million people. The geographical size of our country and the number of citizens are both factors we are going to have to overcome. The travel restrictions are going to be with us for sometime, in my opinion, unless a vaccine is developed or the warm weather proves helpful to suppress the spread of the virus. Washington state is ground zero in the US and California is second, so if you base the “flattening of the curve” on time, these should be the first two states to show positive progress, if the travel restrictions are heeded, the testing is done in high volume and if there is effective treatment for those infected.

Bottom line, it will be two to three months before we see an effective difference in California. We are one to one and half months into that time line, so May could be a month of hope. I say could be because there are so many mitigating factors and unknowns. Certainly all the folks that are stricken with the virus will not be fully recovered by then but we might be on the better side of this crisis. Let’s all pray it is so.

Many other areas of the country and the world have had their virus nightmare start later than we did in California, so it stands to reason that the government will restrict domestic and international travel to and from those locations to prevent another round of infections. If that is the case and we are restricted to California, oh darn. I could think of many other places that would be worse to be stuck in. This would allow us to restart our racing series albeit somewhat abbreviated. There will no doubt be changes/reschedules etc… but some racing is better than none. We will keep our thumb on the pulse of the virus and the industry and do our level best to keep you all informed.

In the meantime, we are going to lean on Mike Johnstone to be our band leader on Facebook to come up with cool topics for everyone to chime in on. Make sure to check in often and if you have ideas or suggestions, message Mr. Mike. I will be writing on various topics that will be in a new Blog section of our webpage and I can promise you that they will not always be as solemn as this. We need our faith, family and friends now more than ever.

Be safe and be well.

Rick Doughty and the Team ARX