The wait is over as some of the worlds greatest Freestyle Motocross Riders return to Australia for the Crusty Demons, Beyond the Apocalypse, regional tour for 2010.
Jackson “Jacko” Strong will headline the first show at Gosfords
Bluetongue stadium as he attempts to perform the dangerous front flip. Strong broke his arm in January when he missed a ramp during an exhibition in Sydney. He’s again fully fit and is ready to attempt the front flip for the first time on Australian soil. Kain Saul will also make an appearance at Gosford where he will back flip a Harley Davidson XR1200. Saul is the only one ever to perform this trick.
The Darwin show will be headlined by Blake “Bilko” Williams and Cam Sinclair. Cam has now recovered from near fatal injuries performing his double back flip in Spain last July. “I have no doubt I can land the double back flip again, I have watched footage from Madrid over and over again. I know where I went wrong. I just can’t wait to start working on them again.”
Riders
The line up for the Crusty Demons regional tour 2010 will include Seth Enslow, Caleb Moore, Ben Fiez, Myles Richmond, Matt Schubring, Joel Balchin, Josh Seehan, Rhys Hillier and Chris Jones.
Tour dates
Sat April 17, Bluetongue Stadium, Gosford
Sat April 24, TIO Stadium, Darwin
Sat May 15, Salter Oval, Bundaberg
Sat May 22, Cazalys, Cairins
When your learning to ride motocross there are so many things you need to learn in order to ride a dirt bike. You think you could be as good at motocross and supercross racing as Chad Reed, Jeremy McGrath, Ryan Villipoto or James Stewart. Or maybe your more into freestyle motocross and think you’ve got what it takes to pull tricks like Blake “Bilko” Williams, Nate Adams or Cam Sinclair.
Then there’s reality, you get out on the track and try to clear a jump, say a table top for starters but your not really sure how much power you need to clear it. You pin the throttle and hit the ramp only you’ve jumped way to far and had your weight to far forward. You end up nose diving and knowing what your in for pin the throttle in the hope that the rear end will
drop and you’ll land safely. Nope, at best you’ll be limping around for a couple of days.
After a while you learn to gauge how far you need to jump to land on the down ramps and your getting pretty good. Someone forgot to tell you about ruts on jump faces though and for some reason the bike kicks sideways of the peak of a ramp and you are all crossed up when you land, oh no, here comes that soil sample again.
How do you become a better dirt bike rider? Ride your bike. Take your time when trying new things and build up to them slowly, knowing what you can and can’t do. Think about what people tell you and take everything you read online with a grain of salt. Watch what the faster riders do on the track, look at their body position, listen to what the pro’s have to say. You probably won’t put any of it into practice until long after you knew about it though.
Unfortunately the most important lessons are those we learn the hard way, like the things I did when learning to jump that I mentioned in the beginning of the post. You can’t just get advice on something and expect to go out and do it straight away. When your able to do things it will come naturally and you will then realise what you should have been doing all along was something you had been told or read about before.
So reality aside what advice can I give you?
When learning to jump keep your body in the attack position central to the bike, try to stay relaxed, you’ll most likely become a statue in the air though. Start with table top jumps and gradually work your way to jumping the full distance. Keep the bike in a higher gear rather than under power and keep a constant pace don’t back off but give the bike a little more power just before taking off.
When cornering try to put your leg out straight, don’t dangle it down or sideways. Sit on the opposite side of the seat to the direction you are turning, lean the bike and push against the outside of the bike and down on the outside peg. Power out of the corner from the apex. Make sure you’ve got good tires on the bike and practice pinning the throttle to get a feel for the rear end slide.
Use your legs to steer the bike and point your toes in to grip the bike over rough obstacles. Shift your weight off the seat and to the opposite direction to steer the bike while standing.
Keep your weight way back when braking to get maximum traction. Practice taking the inside line and braking harder if you usually take the outside.
Make adjustments to your suspension in small increments if you think it could be better. The more you play around with it the better you’ll get, but be careful as the wrong adjustments can be very bad for the bikes handling, if not dangerous. I increased the compression dampening so I didn’t get as much spring when learning to jump and not quite making the distance. This was great, only problem was now I had head shake in the front end at high speed. Not so great.
Former two-time AMA Supercross class champion Chad Reed is expected to make his return to racing tomorrow night after suffering a hand injury at the second race of the season in Phoenix.
“I
set the fastest lap in Daytona, so I know I have the speed,” said Reed. “I’ve been riding as much as I can and trying to stay in shape for my return. This week should be a fun one for me.”
The win for Reed won’t come easy as the series points leaders Villipoto and Dungey will have something to prove. If Stewart turns up as well it will make for some very exciting racing.
“I’ve had a good couple of weeks of training,” said Villopoto. “I know it isn’t going to be easy to win the title, but I’m going to try and win out and hope things go my way.”
Dungey, a rookie in the premier AMA Supercross class, has four wins on the season and nine podium finishes. His consistency through the first 12 races has paid off.
Cam Sinclair has successfully made his return to Freestyle Motocross with an impressive performance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Cam suffered near fatal injuries while competing in the Red Bull X fighters competition in Madrid last July. He was rushed to a hospital in critical condition, suffering severe internal bleeding from a lacerated liver, a bruised brain, broken shoulder and broken cheek. Medical personnel put him into an induced coma and rushed him into surgery to repair his liver.
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After making his recovery Cam once again got the chance to perform and as an added bonus it just happened to be in front of his home crowd.
“It was so great to get out there again and ride in front of a crowd. I’ve been training at my setup at home, but there’s nothing like hearing the crowd cheer for you; that’s something I missed the most since my accident in Madrid,” Sinclair said.
Cam is now the first person ever to ride a motorcycle on the hallowed turf of Melbourne’s landmark sporting arena, which is estimated to be worth $1000 per square meter if damaged.
“I’m still amazed they allowed us to ride today,”, “I was so careful not to damage the grass and everything worked out perfectly”
Sinclair will return to competition at Round One of the Red Bull X Fighters, in Mexico City, Mexico on 17 April.
Sinclair’s FMX career has hit new heights in recent years. In 2008 he set a Guinness World Record for the longest distance ever back-flipped on a motorcycle (129 ft) and soon after became the third person ever to land a double back-flip on a motorcycle. Sinclair’s long list of recent achievements include:
World record longest back-flip (129 FT)
World first double back-flip in a competition run (Texas, USA 2009)
4th Red Bull X Fighters FMX World Championships (Mexico City, Mexico 2009)
3rd Red Bull X Fighters FMX World Championships (Texas, USA 2009)
Most double back-flips ever landed to date (25)
Current Australasian Dirt Bike Magazine FMX rider of the year
2009 AFMX Awards ‘biggest slam’ winner
Star of ‘Crusty Demons World Tours’ (2004 – Current)
Star in upcoming ‘Nitro Circus Live Tour’
Ronnie Renner wants you to come out and ride. You have the opportunity to ride and hang out with Ronnie Renner and other FMX legends at a few of his favorite moto playgrounds as he heads out to
some of the top off-road riding spots in California. Renner and his crew will visit Ocotillo Wells (March 26-28), Glamis (April 7-11) and Pismo Beach (May 28 -30).
Come join motocross superstar, X Games gold medalist and Guinness World Record-holder for highest air.
Load up the trucks, bikes and haulers and come be a part of the action. It’s not everyday you get to ride and party with the best. There is no rigorous schedule, no info booths and no egos … just pure freeriding.
Round 1 – January 9 – Angel Stadium – Anaheim, CA
Round 2 – January 16 – Chase Field – Phoenix, AZ
Round 3 – January 23 – Angel Stadium – Anaheim, CA
Round 4 – January 30 – AT&T Park –
San Francisco, CA
Round 5 – February 6 – Qualcomm Stadium – San Diego, CA
Round 6 – February 13 – Angel Stadium – Anaheim, CA
Round 7 – February 20 – Lucas Oil Stadium – Indianapolis, IN
Round 8 – February 27 – Georgia Dome – Atlanta, GA
Round 9 – March 6 – Daytona International Speedway – Daytona, FL
Round 10 – March 13 – Rogers Centre – Toronto, ON, CANADA
Round 11 – March 20 – Cowboy Stadium – Arlington / Dallas, TX
Round 12 – March 27 – Jacksonville Municipal Stadium – Jacksonville, FL
Round 13 – April 10 – Reliant Stadium – Houston, TX
Round 14 – April 17 – Edward Jones Dome – St. Louis, MO
Round 15 – April 24 – Quest Field – Seattle, WA
Round 16 – May 1 – Rice-Eccles – Salt Lake City, UT
Round 17 – May 8 – Sam Boyd Stadium – Las Vegas, NV
James “Bubba” Stewart is aiming for a return to the AMA Supercross series for round 13 in Houston Texas. The 2009 AMA supercross champion is continuing rehabilitation on his right
wrist and is hoping to make his return to racing the open class.
James Stewart
James Stewart started riding a dirt bike at the age of 3 and entered his first race the following year at just 4 years old. Bubba has since won AMA Supercross, FIM World Supercross and AMA Motocross Championships, and also has the Motocross of Nations and US Open of Supercross titles in his list of achievements.
When James does return to Supercross he is sure to give the points leaders a run for their money.
Black Duck Valley is once again open to the public and I was fortunate enough to spend two days riding and camping over the Easter long weekend 2010. The tracks are exactly the same as they were when the park closed down in December 2008.
It seems that the park has seen little use since it closed going by the grass growing over the tracks
Black Duck Valley - Circle Track
and the number of people around was certainly down on what there have been during previous holiday periods. But all in all the park is a great place to ride and caters for all skill levels and ages from novice to professional.
If you haven’t been to Black Duck Valley before there are two
tracks to cater for complete beginner and junior riders, another two for intermediate junior riders and one for advanced junior riders. Then there are three more tracks that cater for senior riders from novice to advanced.
Track one is for advanced riders only and includes an awesome 90ft table top that launches you high into the air. I hit this one in 3rd gear in the meat of the power on my CRF450 to clear it. As well as a bunch of other fairly big table top jumps there is also a set of three fairly short table tops in succession which are pretty cool once you get the correct rhythm.
Track two attracts riders from novice to advanced probably due to its wide sweeping corners and fast flowing open straights with a mix of step up, step down and an 80ft table top jump. The first step up jump on this track is awesome and the 80ft table top lies at the end of the main straight which gives riders ample time to set up before tackling the ramp.
Track four is a tight track packed with table tops which will have you jumping more than you’ll be on the ground. This is a fun track once you get a decent rhythm going with a couple of medium length table top jumps mixed in.
There are a few payment options if you want to pay a once off registration with a yearly subscription fee which will save you heaps if you go to the park regularly. You can also pay on the day now, which is sure to attract more people to the park once again.
Yearly subscription will cost you $360 a year after a once of registration fee.
1.$1100 Upfront ( 1 payment )
2.$360 Upfront ( 1 payment ) Followed by 10 monthly payments of $80 ( total cost $1160 )
3.$100 Upfront ( 1 payment ) Followed by 11 monthly payments of $100 ( total cost $1200 )
Alternatively you can pay on the day based on your age.
Under 8yrs $10
8-12yrs $20
13-18yrs $40
over 18yrs $50
Camping costs $10 per night for a registered family or single member.
The facilities haven’t changed. They still have 3 hot showers at the top camping area. Flushing toilets in both camping areas and cold showers in the bottom camping area, but from what I’d could see the cold showers didn’t appear to be hooked up anyway.
Drinks, ice and firewood are available from reception. They don’t however, carry any spare parts so it might be worthwhile to pack some spare levers and stuff if you plan on staying a few days. They do have a tyre changing machine if your stuck.
There is a renewed focus on safety at Black Duck Valley. You must complete an induction before you are permitted to ride on any of the tracks at the motorcycle park. It is also made clear that you are not covered by insurance if you participate in any activity associated with a dirt bike, including unloading the bike from a trailer. I initially wasn’t concerned with this as I knew the problems the previous owners had with liability but thinking about it now, I have a Motorcycling Australia (MA) licence which includes insurance at MA affiliated clubs. Clubs like Fort Lytton have their own public liability insurance, but Black Duck Valley still can’t get it?
In contrast to this it is also made clear that the park wants to create a place were you’ll be coming back for years. A relaxed environment were you do not exceed your abilities, do not attempt ramps that are beyond your ability and keep a moderate pace.
On Easter Sunday 2010 there were over 50 riders spread over all of the tracks. There was a person delegated to each track to keep an eye on the riders and also to assist in the event of a crash. I did see the flashing lights on the patrol vehicles go off a couple of times and delivered riders back to their campsites with fresh ice and assistance.
What else would you expect, after all it is all about dirt bike riding. A big thumbs up to the guys making a visit to Black Duck Valley again a reality and lets hope they get enough support to continue and improve the park into the future.
