Email Received: 6/12/03
We have a track here in Arizona called Speedworld and the owner is now holding night races under portable lights, very dangerous! He could care less about our safety, this is the same track where Brian Manley was injured due to a jump that jumped to nowhere but flat ground, now Brian is confined to a wheelchair. Yes, one rider lost his life at Speedworld due to improper medical staffing, off duty EMT's out in the middle of the desert, not a very good idea, pay them $25 and a free hot dog just to watch a rider die because they are not trained to handle more than a bandaid and a ice pack. Now if the promoter would set his greedy ways aside and pay to have a ACLS ambulance on hand, now we would have a better chance of recovery if such an injury should happen. When track conditions become dangerous at this track, such as kickers, lips, things that would send a rider to the ground ! well rather than take a few minutes to prep such an area, the promoter has the balls to say, "Thats Motocross" I think and feel that it's time to bring this tracks dangerous ways to the attention of the state of Arizona.
Rumor has it that this track has no lease and no insurance!
It takes a lil fire under the ass of a promoter to make them change their greedy ways.......what do you think ?
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Email Received: 11/21/2002
Dyno Port,
I do believe that you are completely correct when you question the logic of unsafe double and triple jumps on local and even national caliber MX tracks. There's a track in Michigan called "Big Air" and it is accurately named! That track over the last 3 years has single handily ended the MX career of at least two good riders that I know of (and I'm sure there's more - lot's more!). Virtually every jump is a leap of faith, because the landings are either blind or so far off that if the guy in front of you (for position or a lapped rider) if he doesn't make it, you are going to crash or your just going land on them and crash. It's that simple. The local medical station knows this track by name, and has even gone so far as to schedule a doctor on the weekends that they're racing! This is no lie and they do a very brisk weekend business. I went there once for a practice day and I'll never go back, which is a shame because this track is only about 30 minutes from my house (my regular track is 75 minutes). But the jumps are so outrageous there that it's just not worth the time and gas that I'd save racing and practicing there. So keep doing what your doing and I'll keep boycotting this track, and hopefully they'll learn before they run out of riders and shut down from a lack of business.
This track gets my vote for one of the worse tracks in the USA, please consider adding "Big Air MX" in Newaygo Michigan to your unsafe MX tracks list.
Thank you and keep the pressure up!,
Rich Klein AMA#128006
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Email Received: 6/25/03
To whom it may concern,
My name is Mike Pilato. I am a certified athletic trainer (Rochester NY area), racer and medical care provider for the Big East Snocross Tour. An outstanding web site and information!!! I am trying to do the same for the snocross injury and am just starting to run into the politics (national level..local organization is on board with me) you already have. In addition to the goals you have already mentioned, I am presently working with a member of a national standards committee on developing a torso protector that provides more protection than what is presently available. I have a paper under consideration that details the impact properties of such protectors in comparison to snocross protectors. I have also enlisted a retired motocross friend of mine and am in the final stages of planning a vest for production that will provide significantly more protection than what is available. I am curious as to how your battle is going and would like to speak with you about how you have dealt with the opposition from people. Again, this is an outstanding site from a medical perspective! Keep up the good work!
Michael L. Pilato M.S.A.T.C. Medical Care Provider Big East Snocross Tour
p.s. You can add another to your injury list. Silver Springs I think the first week of June. Boy is in a Buffalo area hospital in a medically induced coma. A fellow racer is a medic at the track. No one saw the accident.
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Email Received: 5/20/02
Sir in reading your expose' on "safer tracks", I thought I might make known of the REM facility located along the grounds of Glen Helen. The manager is the former promoter of the famed Carlsbad venue. His REM sanctioned races feature a course that is void of doubles and consists of steep decents and ascents, off camber turns and varied soil. The jumps that do exist are very safe. Negotiable on an Evo bike. However, those that compete on the super X style tracks and then deciding to cherry pick the REM regulars, find themselves at the back of the pack. None of them learned the fine art of dealing with turns or setting up lines. When the track first opened a few years ago, about 2-3 dozen riders showed. Now they flock there in droves, bringing their younger 80cc riders with them. Most all of the moto-journal employed folks have made the track their regular haunt as well. Why? I think its quite evident. The safety factor of course.
Bill
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Email Received: 9/17/02
Hi Rich,
I have some good news on a new local Seattle area track! Dirty Dawg Motocross{ www.oakwoodracing.com} Very organized and well done. They run practice 2 times a week,wed and sun, 15 min. groups, kids, Quads, full size novice, full size int. and experts. 6 or 7 nice table tops, no open doubles, 5 or 6 seasoned flaggers, no trees, one place to enter, exit with a worker there to control that area, an ambulance/peramedic present at all times. The track is challenging, long, and a lot of fun. They have really made safety a priority. 2 thumbs up !!!
Dan Prince
Seattle, Wa.
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Email Received: 12/1/02
November 26, 2002
Bad mainstream news from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The anti-motocross articles are starting to mount. After not-so-flattering recent articles by the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has published an article entilted "Children and Motorized Bikes are a Dangerous Combination" by Dr. Barbara E. Swan. The article is not about jumps; it's about riders too young for the sized bikes that they are riding. You can read it <A HREF="http://www.racerxill.com/pages/news/#">here</A>.
Thanks to longtime Racer X reader and moto friend Tony Bamonte for pointing the piece out to us.
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Email Received: 5/30/03
Just read on the Thumpertalk forum where a 17 yr old kid died when he over jumped a 120 foot triple, hit a berm on the other side, became airborne and then hit a tree. A 120 foot triple!!! When is this insanity going to end? On the same forum is a benefit for a father of two because he is paralyzed for life. No more deaths! No more wheelchairs!
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