Below are excerpts from the article "Day Six" by Kit Palmer. For the complete article, please read the June 2, 1999 issue of Cycle News.

Day Six
By Kit Palmer

A new motocross track opened up in our area, which is always a good thing. But when I heard that this particular track was going to be tailored more toward the "Vet" rider - meaning less emphasis would be placed on double jumps - I thought this was going to be more than just good. This was going to be awesome.

...Where I live (in the Southern California area), there are at least five or six motocross facilities within a few hours' drive of my house. Most of them are loaded with doubles, triples and tabletop jumps, so not being a jumper certainly curtails the amount of fun I can have on these tracks - especially when it comes to racing on them. Sure, there are a few doubles I can safely negotiate and actually have fun doing, but inevitably, every track has at least one or two monster doubles or triples that I simply cannot or will not attempt....For me, and maybe for you, too, the risk of coming up a foot short over a double or triple just isn't worth it.

But before I go any further, let me clear one thing up right away: This is not an anti-double-jump column, so you can go ahead and put that pen and paper down, or log off of your computer. Actually, I don't have a problem with double jumps at all. In fact, I don't have a problem with track owners filling up their tracks with doubles, triples, tabletops and many other "man-made" obstacles....It's also because of doubles and triples that the sport of supercross, especially, has become as popular as it has for rider and spectator alike. As a result, the motocross industry has flourished. Doubles are here to stay, as they very well should be.

...Not being able to double the jumps is one thing, but what really bothers me the most is the fact that by not doing one or two of the doubles on the track, I'm pretty much rendered noncompetitive. Now that bugs me. I might be getting older, but that competitive thing is still as young as ever. I can still get through the turns, whoops and off-cambers (do they even have those anymore?) okay, but when you concede two or three seconds over doubles (possibly two or three times a lap), well, you may as well not even show up. Come to think of it, I don't. But I'm not the only one.

Tracks without doubles and triples, however, aren't nearly as demanding on your timing skills, and the consequences are not nearly as high. Sure, you can roll over double and triple jumps, but you still run the risk of getting landed on by another rider. I've heard all too many people say that they would consider buying a motocross bike and get back into racing again if there were more Vet-oriented tracks out there. They simply don't want to look over and see a skid plate passing them.

In Australia, I've been told, where they have motocross series that feature double-jump-less tracks, they're having huge success all over the country, pulling young and old riders in droves. Is there something to be learned here?

Again, I'm not bashing doubles, but I do think that there is a need for more natural-terrain-type tracks out there, not just for vintage bikes, but for modern bikes and their not-so-modern pilots as well.

Rich's Response: Kit has a good point. To put it bluntly, he knows that if he misses a triple, the percentages are increased that he will be seriously hurt. I am puzzled as to why he still wants two tracks. I'm sure that he's aware that others could be seriously injured missing doubles and triples. Kip can have his outdoor track and how about some journalism on how to redesign SX tracks.