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With Special Guests:
Davi Millsaps, Erin Bates, Josh Grant, Mike Mason, and Adam Jones.

The event will be rocking at the Wasted Space at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, come on out, one and all!

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See you there, and good luck!

You watch a motocross or supercross event, and you say, "Great riders." Indeed. But "great athletes" applies as well in motocross and supercross. So does "best-conditioned athletes."

Motocross enthusiasts still point to a 1980 study by the National Sports Health Institute in Englewood, California. Athletes in various athletic endeavors were tested for levels of physical conditioning. Motocross riders scored higher than athletes in sports ranging from American football to basketball to track and tennis. Overall, motocross riders placed second only to soccer players.

More recent follow-up studies have yielded similar results, from sources that include the medical schools at the University of Florida and the University of Pittsburgh. On a typical day of motocrossracing, riders must participate in qualifying heats in order to qualify for the real races, also known as "motos." A typical moto lasts about 40 minutes, and there isn't just one, there are two. The rider must keep complete control of a bike that weighs more than 200 pounds, while maintaining top speed and fighting for top position among competing riders. Fans see thrills and spills, but riders feel the muscle strains and the injury pains.

The University of Florida researchers, in cooperation with the Jacksonville Orthopedic Institute, reported, "Supercross and motocross are physically demanding sports. The cardiovascular demands are higher than have been reported for professional road cyclist during similar duration events and for professional mountain bikers during events on similar terrain." That's saying a lot!

A physical fitness web site, hyperstrike.com, asserts, "At first sight, motocross racing is a spectacular and entertaining game, but the physical demands of this sport are beyond what a mere spectator could imagine." As a result, motocross racing requires a unique blend of strength, power, flexibility and endurance.

Former motocross star Brad Lackey was part of the historic study by the National Sports Health Institute. Lackey recalls that the motocross riders who were in the best shape had body fat ratios of less than 10 percent. Even though the riders are not muscularly "sculpted" like athletes such as gymnasts, they are noted for having extremely strong arms and legs, with cardiovascular systems similar to marathon runners. "The muscles are endurance muscles, and they're really strong, but you can't really see that," Brad Lackey observed. "When you're doing 45-minute motos, you're not big and bulky. The body just doesn't show how good physically you are."

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motocross#Physical_demands
http://www.racerxvt.com/virtual_trainer/Dr_A_heart_rate.html
http://www.articlecube.com/article.php?id=268521&act=print
http://www.motocrosscanada.ca/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1800&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

James "Bubba" Stewart may be known as Tiger Woods of motocross, but it might better be said that Tiger Woods is the Bubba Stewart of golf. After all, Bubba Stewart entered 24 outdoor motocross races during the past summer and won all of them. Tiger Woods won consecutive pro golf tournaments back in 2006, but 24 in a row? It boggles the imagination.

Bubba Stewart, as of early February, also was on a winning streak during the winter/spring supercross competition under the auspices of the American Motorcyclist Association, drawing crowds in the 40,000 range at baseball stadiums in places such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix. Bubba Stewart's only defeat was at the start of the year at Anaheim Stadium, when competitors knocked down his bike not once, but twice.

Speaking of bikes, Bubba Stewart has switched to Yamaha after many years with Kawasaki.

James "Bubba" Stewart and Tiger Woods have many similarities that go beyond their status not only as the first African-American superstars in their respective sports, but also as arguably the best ever in motocross and in golf, respectively. Bubba Stewart pursues Ricky Carmichael, while Tiger Woods pursues Jack Nicklaus.

To start, Bubba Stewart (12/21/85) and Tiger Woods (12/30/75) both were Christmas-time babies.

Both grew up with hyper-involved fathers, James Stewart Sr. and the now-deceased Earl Woods. Golf fans and sports fans in general are acquainted with a film clip of a 2-year-old Tiger Woods appearing on the old Mike Douglas Show and knocking a golf ball into a net with perfect form. Well, James Stewart Sr. reportedly took Bubba on his first dirt bike ride when Bubba was 2 DAYS old! Bubba Stewart entered his first motocross race as a 4-year-old rider and had a sponsor as a 7-year-old competitor.

Eldrick Woods was "Tiger" from birth, but James Stewart Jr. wasn't "Bubba" under the age of 8. His favorite motocross racer was Jeff "Chicken" Matiasevich, and so the younger became "Baby Chicken," which somehow evolved into "Bubba." He admits his nickname may seem odd, explaining, "A typical Bubba looks like an older white gentleman, kind of fat, who lives on a farm, has a toothpick and wears overalls and a straw hat."

Bubba Stewart's parents traveled the country so that Bubba and younger brother Malcolm could follow the junior motocross circuit, and so the two children were homeschooled.

James "Bubba" Stewart, at age 22, hasn't forgotten from whence he came. His home back in Haines City has an outdoor motocross track.

Sources:
http://www.motopress.net/Main/Riders/jamesstewart.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stewart_Jr.
http://www.kidzworld.com/article/3776-james-bubba-stewart-biography
http://www.pgatour.com/2007/tournaments/r473/03/19/tigernotes031907/
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/events/raceresults/1/sc/374/supercross_january_31_2009_san_francisco_ca_results.aspx

While classic car enthusiasts are unlikely to race in one of their painstakingly restored automobiles, some motocross riders like putting their classic motorcycles to the ultimate test. The American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association (AHRMA) sanctions vintage motocross events for riders of all skill levels.

These races truly test a motocross lover's skill at restoring a bike as well as riding it. For competitions, AHRMA separates motorcycles into different categories, with 1965 serving as the dividing line between vintage, classic and contemporary. Different road rules apply for pre-1965 models and those produced from 1975 onward.

AHRMA's National Vintage MX Series for 2009 is shaping up to be one of the best thus far, with a kickoff on February 7 at the Arizona Cycle Park in Phoenix. Each motorcycle class is subdivided into separate skill levels (novice, intermediate and expert); AHRMA also has MX races geared for riders who are over 40, 50, 60 and 70 years of age.

Vintage motocross clubs can be found all across the country, many of which work closely with AHRMA and its regulations. The folks at Florida Vintage Motocross, for instance, also are quite strict about the rules, especially when it comes to insurance. When racing a vintage machine in one of their events, you must secure you own medical, liability and life insurance. Your motorcycle also needs to be in good working order before heading to the starting line.

While training for a vintage MX race, you always need a good watch, which is where a Timex Ironman comes in handy. The Ironman helps you keep track of your speed and performance on the track - and it tells time, too.

Besides racing, MX clubs also offer knowledge and resources that help with the restoration of vintage cycles. Most motocross racing organizations require that a bike be "period ready" (accurately restored to its year of manufacture) before it is allowed to compete. Preserving the past while keeping an eye on the future, vintage MX racing is like getting the best of both motocross worlds.

Resources:
http://www.ahrma.org/
http://www.calvmx.net/
http://www.flvmx.com/rules.html