Interesting wrap up safety report from Vurb

Holmboyz

Holmboyz

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http://www.vurbmoto.com/news/3299/2011-world-mini-grand-prix-safety-report-wrap/

...and interesting comments following. In particular, "Concerned" comments stood out to me.

Concerned wrote: "I agree with this 100%. I raced back in the late 80's and early 90's and we did not have the amount of riders getting hurt back then. I blame it on the promoters not building safe tracks. Why is it necessary to have big doubles and triples for the average rider to try and clear it to be competitive. My son raced for the most part in 09 and some of 10, but I have come to the conclusion that it is not safe for him to race anymore. Back in the day we had fun with a bunch of singles and some table tops and long beat out straights to go fast on. Why don't we take a step back in time and be safer and have some fun."

Personally, my racing background is w/go-karts. We had injury's but NOTHING like MX and those that did occur weren't as severe or frequent. I know we're talking apples and oranges here, between the sports, but I very much agree w/"Concerned" and his view of the current state of MX and the tracks, particularly at the local level. The problem I have is I don't have anything to compare the tracks to. I haven't been around the sport long enough to know if what he says is true or not - have tracks really changed that drastically over the years to the point where the safety of our kids and even the adults are at risk or are we just hearing of the injuries more and more because of technology?

This season will be the start of my son's fourth year racing and as each year passes my concerns have gone from, "I hope he doesn't get landed on" when he wasn't doing the 100' + triple to "I hope he doesn't land on someone on the other side of that jump".

Just from my limited experience over the past several years, I've seen some local tracks change things up and add some VERY technical sections that seem to have added more yellow flags and medic trips than what they are probably worth.

I know it has to be an impossible balance for the track owners - you don't want boring but w/the majority of riders coming in below "A/B" riders, it would seem they'd want to tailor it more toward safe vs. the extreme.

I don't know...to me, there's nothing better than watching someone drag their bars and executing picture perfect turns and winning races based on overall ability vs flying 100+ feet over a blind jump while the 13 year old flagger texts away on her i-Phone!

Would like to hear from some "old schoolers" who have seen the sports progression over the years. What are your thoughts?

I love this sport but the frequency of serious injuries is nauseating.

....and don't even get me going on the "are neck braces safer or causing more damage" topic!
 
After reading this statement, I can no longer entertain any opinions or comments that come from this source.
<O:p</O:p
“There are so many families in the sport that this is all they have, the riders are home schooled just to make it to every race and they pay for a race setting that should have the highest attention to their safety, it’s only fair to them.”
<O:p</O:p
What a self-serving, self-centered, irresponsible group we have become……<O:p</O:p
Are we really a bunch of PeeWee parents?<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p
 
I started riding on MX tracks in 1984. I seriously started racing in 1994. The tracks have with out a doubt become more difficult. But you are too hasty to blame that on the track owners. I think the reason you see this is because the overall ability of riders has increased and they are demanding more technical tracks. I dont believe that most riders that race are below an a/b level. Part of this increase is also due to the advancement on the bikes we ride. There is no doubt that todays bikes put to shame the bikes from a decade or two ago.

People are not getting hurt because the jumps are bigger, they are getting hurt because the bikes are easier to go fast on. Riders will get hurt more on fast sweeping tracks because of speed than they will on slow technical tracks IMO. There is a very popular local track that a few years back had very few jumps, and NO large jumps. Of all the tracks I have attended more ambulance rides left there than most the others combined.

Just my .02
 
hershey said:
people are not getting hurt because the jumps are bigger, they are getting hurt because the bikes are easier to go fast on. Riders will get hurt more on fast sweeping tracks because of speed than they will on slow technical tracks imo.
Click to expand...

bingo!
 
I think this artical was directed more twards the NMA national events, For the most part I think most of the local track promotors due a good job of keeping things safe. CRA, AMA included. I have been to Ponca where they allow you to jump on a yellow flag.

You guys are right on the injury thing, Bikes are SO easy to go fast on, and for the average rider who does not invest the time to learn and master the proper riding techniques, bike set up and maintenance along with experience has an increased chance of getting hurt. This sport is becoming more and more popular but without good fundamental riding and common sense, injury's are more likely. Just my thoughts.
 
just because there are big jump/triples, doesnt mean you have to jump them.
but i am all for table tops. look at redbud. most of the jumps are big table tops, and its the sickest tracks around.
 
I have broke lots of bones, none on a jump. Also when I rode 2 strokes I never broke a bone, in 06 when I bought a 450 I had one after the other. I switched back in 2009 and have not broke anything on it. I have said it before when I had my 450 I magically could be top 3 or 5 in any local B class when before I had been a C rider. Now on a two stroke I am a top 5 C rider again. You can go faster easily on a 4 stroke, but when something goes wrong most are not talented enough to recover at their new found speed. And Barrington hit it on the head, just because it is there does not mean you have to jump it.
 
Tracks are more techincal now, but thats becuase we have rides that can do that stuff. I will take a slower technical track over a wide open speed track anyday. Speed is great on a smooth track, but if you get into a fifth gear bender on a rutted track, its way overkill for the average skill set. I have personally been to the average high speed "easy track" and seen 5-6 squad runs and chopper land all in one day. Where as a place like Wild Wilderness or Beans, and I cant remember but one squad run at each...ever. My first bad get offs were high speed. Granted.....the stuff we do is dangerous on flat ground, hilly ground, perfect track, blackwater, you name it. Barrington brings up the best comment, "doesnt mean you have to do them". Why does everyone think that every jump on every track has to be doable to everyone??? Not once have I said to myself, "self, your doing Larroco's Leap", "first lap". And I would be one embarrassed SOB to go up to Tim Ritchie, say, "hey there Tim, you think LL is just a bit dangerous, I dont really think I can jump that safely"
 
Every one of my get offs that has resulted in an injury, has involved a little double or rhythm section of some kind. When it comes to rutted straights, I'm going to slow to hurt myself!
 
PitRacer said:
bingo!
Click to expand...

All the more reason to bring back the 125 class. Look at all the Vet riders going back to 125's. This was a
grass roots class that WAS the back bone of the sport. Riding a 125 correctly takes incredible skill. The speeds
were slower and riders actually had to think about line choices not just point and turn the throttle like on a
4 stroke.
 
mooch said:
Every one of my get offs that has resulted in an injury, has involved a little double or rhythm section of some kind. When it comes to rutted straights, I'm going to slow to hurt myself!
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Like +1

People need to quit watching Pro's on TV and then go out and think they can light the world on fire. If you're not getting paid to race...or doing it at a professional level then why ride out of control and risk injury?
 
dmx153 said:
All the more reason to bring back the 125 class. Look at all the Vet riders going back to 125's. This was a
grass roots class that WAS the back bone of the sport. Riding a 125 correctly takes incredible skill. The speeds
were slower and riders actually had to think about line choices not just point and turn the throttle like on a
4 stroke.
Click to expand...

Bigger, Stronger, Faster....it's the american way!
 
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