Some new motocross pics from Nate

[UtahJoe]

So Nathan and I skipped the stewart race this past weekend to go to the High Point MX national in Mt. Morris PA. Here are some of the pics he got. Hopefully he will have time to come to the Bulldog race. If you guys have never been to an MX national, I highly recomend checking one out. Amazing to watch live.

Ivan Tesdesco

Ryan Dungey

Mike Alessi

James Stewart

Andrew Short

Ryan Villopoto

Austin Stroupe

Team Factory Honda

 

[UtahJoe]

couple more

Stewart

Track

 

[NJ-XC-Justin]

Looks like more fun than mountain biking. 😀

 

[Fogerson]

Looks like more fun than mountain biking. 😀

It was, for me. But my 43 y.o. carcass can ride a mountain bike...it can't take motocross any more. A little because of my age, more because of bike injuries (back), and a whole lot because of injuries from MX when I was a teen (wrists, shoulders, knees). I won't even go into how much crazier the jumps are than when I raced...

If I could do it without hurting constantly or fear of really f'in my back/body up (gotta' still provide for the family, ya' know), I'd sell every toy I have, buy a CR or YZ and mount up in a second. It'd be pathetic...but also awesome.

Nice pics guys.

 

[UtahJoe]

It was, for me. But my 43 y.o. carcass can ride a mountain bike...it can't take motocross any more. A little because of my age, more because of bike injuries (back), and a whole lot because of injuries from MX when I was a teen (wrists, shoulders, knees). I won't even go into how much crazier the jumps are than when I raced...

If I could do it without hurting constantly or fear of really f'in my back/body up (gotta' still provide for the family, ya' know), I'd sell every toy I have, buy a CR or YZ and mount up in a second. It'd be pathetic...but also awesome.

Nice pics guys.

haha, man do I hear that. Im 31 and up to 14 broken bones from motocross. I have pretty much retired from racing now, but I still love to do the occasional race on my 450 from time to time. Now I just stick to the 30+ "Vet" class. Much safer without the 16 year old kids wanting to kill each other.

 

[Fogerson]

haha, man do I hear that. Im 31 and up to 14 broken bones from motocross. I have pretty much retired from racing now, but I still love to do the occasional race on my 450 from time to time. Now I just stick to the 30+ "Vet" class. Much safer without the 16 year old kids wanting to kill each other.

I never broke a bone. My bones are apparently too strong as I ripped up joints. I would've been able to race/ride longer if I had broken bones instead, I think.

When I was 16 I wasn't racing other 16 year olds; I was racing 18-20 year olds (250 and Open classes) who had delusions they were gonna' be the next Bob Hannah and had no problem taking you out... I occasionally had those delusions too, but a good drilling into the dirt and throwing away a moto lead because I couldn't pull back on the wick, usually brought me back to reality.

 

[FallGirl1430]

Wow!

Holy poop Nathan, those shots are incredible!

Although he's not on my top rider list, Mike Alessi 's picture is the best. His body position, elbow's up and out, head over the bars and head even tilted, forearms level with the ground and a handfull of throttle from his re-grip, just plain wow. Utah Joe might disagree here with me, but I think USA Supercross and Motocross is the weakest it has ever been. I feel the only world class huge talent rider out there is James Stewart. For a slacker like Reed to win the Supercross title shows the lack of talent in the sport. There are up and comers like Josh Hill, but Hill to flat out beat Kevin Windam when K-Dub was just about 12 points behind Reed for the Supercross class championship is terrible. I have had the pleasure to see riders like ...Bob Hannah, Johnny Omara, David Bailey, Ricky Johnson, Ron Lechien, John Dowd, Ricky *The Goat*, Carmichael, Jeff Ward, Damon Bradshaw, Doug Henry and many many more who by the way (besides RC) that all raced together!!! Reed won two Supercross championships ... 2004 (RC didn't race, had knee surgery) and this year in 2008 (Bubba was out too with a knee injury) Now he's doing Supercross only. I was at the outdoor race in Binghampton, NY when Reed and Stewart were in the 125 class and Reed got the holeshot, Stewart caught Reed past him going into a corner and PARKED him and turned around and looked at him! Noticed served. I like Jason Lawrence who is from NJ, but he needs to get his head straight. Villipoto is an awesome rider too, but they are too few and far between.

Christina ... 🙂
#68

 

[DownhillR3]

I would love to go and watch a national MX race, never got too when I was racing MX a few years back, then again i'm only 17 so i'll have plenty of time to attend one either out in PA or Unadilla. Really amazing shots, I like the one of Villopoto the best, even though i'm not really a fan of him. This guy really knows how to take photo's, really hope he comes to some XC events, hell i'd even pay him something to come do some photo's at Diablo with me!

 

[t.wach]

Ever year i go up to Unadilla and watch the races. So much fun! The smell of the bikes is my favorite part.

 

[walter]

I havent ridden MX in a real long time, but there was nothing better than the sound of a two stroke and the smell of silkolene.

 

[Fogerson]

Ever year i go up to Unadilla and watch the races. So much fun! The smell of the bikes is my favorite part.

You missed the days when the bikes smelled really special; 20:1 premix...sometimes you'd choke from the blue haze at the start...ahhh, I loved the smell of Yamalube and 104 octane in the morning...'smelled like victory.

Still pretty hazy after Belray MP1 came out and we started running 50:1...yes, I'm that freaking old.

With all the 4-strokes out there, you're probably just smelling race gas exhaust (CAM2?)...'still smells great, but it ain't as uh, industrial, as the old days...

 

[cyclocrossfool]

Holy poop Nathan, those shots are incredible!

....... I have had the pleasure to see riders like ...Bob Hannah, Johnny Omara, David Bailey, Ricky Johnson, Ron Lechien, John Dowd, Ricky *The Goat*, Carmichael, Jeff Ward, Damon Bradshaw, Doug Henry and many many more who by the way (besides RC) that all raced together!!! ......... Christina ... 🙂
#68

somehow you forgot to list the BEST that ever played the game, that be a mr. joel robert

 

[walter]

I remember my first Hurricane Hanna Flak Jacket, it was about 43 sizes to big, but I got it anyway. I remember the day David Bailey got injured, devastating news.

 

[warcricket]

aww boo! where's the cycling elitism? motors are for cheaters! 😛

 

[FallGirl1430]

No Way

somehow you forgot to list the BEST that ever played the game, that be a mr. joel robert

You are lucky that I love you with a comment like that. The Euro's had the worst riding style. They sat straight up like they had a 2x4 up their butts. Their elbows were dropped and looked out of control. Their speed was way off the pace of the Americans. Roger D was far and away the best rider ever to come from across the pond. Once the "Hurricane" came onto the scene in the days of the Trans-AM's times changed. Roger D hated him. Hanna forever changed motocross on all levels. I've met him quite a few times when he would stay at Mickey Kessler's house in Farmingdale NJ. Hanna's riding style was feet off the pegs and hold it wide open no matter what. He didn't have a personal trainer like everyone does today. He would fill up the gas tank on his works Suzuki run it dry than fill it up again all that without stopping. Before he retired in the late 80's. He rode at the NJ State Championships at Raceway Park, that day the flag pole straight was all HUGE sand whoops. He had his butt off the back of the bike riding 4th gear wide open. That was the fastest I have ever seen someone ride a bike.

Christina ... 🙂

 

[Nathan Crisman]

Holy poop Nathan, those shots are incredible!

Although he's not on my top rider list, Mike Alessi 's picture is the best. His body position, elbow's up and out, head over the bars and head even tilted, forearms level with the ground and a handfull of throttle from his re-grip, just plain wow. Utah Joe might disagree here with me, but I think USA Supercross and Motocross is the weakest it has ever been. I feel the only world class huge talent rider out there is James Stewart. For a slacker like Reed to win the Supercross title shows the lack of talent in the sport. There are up and comers like Josh Hill, but Hill to flat out beat Kevin Windam when K-Dub was just about 12 points behind Reed for the Supercross class championship is terrible. I have had the pleasure to see riders like ...Bob Hannah, Johnny Omara, David Bailey, Ricky Johnson, Ron Lechien, John Dowd, Ricky *The Goat*, Carmichael, Jeff Ward, Damon Bradshaw, Doug Henry and many many more who by the way (besides RC) that all raced together!!! Reed won two Supercross championships ... 2004 (RC didn't race, had knee surgery) and this year in 2008 (Bubba was out too with a knee injury) Now he's doing Supercross only. I was at the outdoor race in Binghampton, NY when Reed and Stewart were in the 125 class and Reed got the holeshot, Stewart caught Reed past him going into a corner and PARKED him and turned around and looked at him! Noticed served. I like Jason Lawrence who is from NJ, but he needs to get his head straight. Villipoto is an awesome rider too, but they are too few and far between.

Christina ... 🙂
#68

Thanks for the props on these pictures.

Im not sure on how I feel about the talent pool at the moment. On one hand, Stewart and Villapoto are just making everyone look bad. Im not sure if it's that there is a lack of talent overall, or that we just seem to have a few phenomenal riders in the recent years pop up that dominate a normal level field. Either way, the racing has been pretty boring so far with Reed smoking the field in SX and James going undefeated so far at MX. Some riders doing SX only doesn't help the situation. Nor does Villapoto sitting in the Lites class for a third season, the defending champ being disabled, and many riders coming back from SX injury.

On the other hand there are some riders that are really pushing hard to improve and are putting in an exceptional effort:
Mike Alessi is hammering fast this year, I think he would be beating Reed and Windham if they were racing anyway.
Charles Summey & Gavin Gracyk
Sean Hamblin going top 10 on a real privateer bike
Austin Stroup and Nico Izzy are picking up some steam.
Unfortunatly these guys are just overshadowed by James and Ryan.

I should be shooting the next H2H race on the 29th.

 

[ChrisG]

Superb photos. Looking forward to seeing your shots from the next H2H event.

 

[Wobbegong]

Great photos, I love the clarity of the action you captured. Must have used some fast ass shutter speeds. Great work.

 

[UtahJoe]

Holy poop Nathan, those shots are incredible!

Although he's not on my top rider list, Mike Alessi 's picture is the best. His body position, elbow's up and out, head over the bars and head even tilted, forearms level with the ground and a handfull of throttle from his re-grip, just plain wow. Utah Joe might disagree here with me, but I think USA Supercross and Motocross is the weakest it has ever been. I feel the only world class huge talent rider out there is James Stewart. For a slacker like Reed to win the Supercross title shows the lack of talent in the sport. There are up and comers like Josh Hill, but Hill to flat out beat Kevin Windam when K-Dub was just about 12 points behind Reed for the Supercross class championship is terrible. I have had the pleasure to see riders like ...Bob Hannah, Johnny Omara, David Bailey, Ricky Johnson, Ron Lechien, John Dowd, Ricky *The Goat*, Carmichael, Jeff Ward, Damon Bradshaw, Doug Henry and many many more who by the way (besides RC) that all raced together!!! Reed won two Supercross championships ... 2004 (RC didn't race, had knee surgery) and this year in 2008 (Bubba was out too with a knee injury) Now he's doing Supercross only. I was at the outdoor race in Binghampton, NY when Reed and Stewart were in the 125 class and Reed got the holeshot, Stewart caught Reed past him going into a corner and PARKED him and turned around and looked at him! Noticed served. I like Jason Lawrence who is from NJ, but he needs to get his head straight. Villipoto is an awesome rider too, but they are too few and far between.

Christina ... 🙂
#68

Ya that working class hero element that the guys you named brought to the sport has kind of gone away. Not completely, but at the top level. I mean I think Stewart is awesome, but it seemed to me there was alot of "hey im a millionaire, who cares?" when Ricky was kicking his ass week after week. There just seems to be alot more spoiled brats in the field then there used to be. But that what happens with multi million dollar contracts at age 17 and living different lifestyle than the old guys had. But that said, the racing is still awesome. It might not be the best year with RV and stewart just dominating, but the lites guys behind villopoto are having some great battles. In recent years, some of the best I have ever seen.

One thing you would enjoyed.. Stanton, DeCoaster, Glover, Lamson, I think Emig was out there too. Few others, all got on some antique two stoke iron and did a lap around the track. Always cool seeing those guys. I fogret who was riding the KX500, but I almost completely forgot what they sounded like.

 

[UtahJoe]

Nate got some great photos in the pits too. Walking the pits is probably one of my favorite parts of going to a national. Just looking at the equipment is awesome. Ryan Dungey somehow cracked his frame and his crew had to swap it out in about 30 minutes. Awesome watching those guys work. Here are s few of the pit photos.

Grant Langston's YZF450 (not getting used as he is out with and injury)

Stewart giving his dad a hug before qualifying

Alessi

Hepler

Millsaps

Short

Lawrence

This guys makes a great point