Why ride MX, when your too damn old?

Something occurred to me last winter, I made one of the great forehead slapping, why didn’t I think of that moments.   I finally figured out that if I wanted to ride better, I needed a bigger and better “why”.   What do I mean by a why?   It’s your reason, your motivation, you heart and soul.    Here is one guy’s reason for returning to ride mx   (quoted for National Speed Sport News see “http://www.nationalspeedsportnews.com/motorcycle-racing/ama-supercross-motocross/carmichael-returns-to-competition/” title=”RC4 tells why” target=”_blank”>

Carmichael, 32, maintains that fun is the most important part of this venture.

“I have a lot of stuff going on. It will be a great story and it will be a lot of fun. The plan as of right now is to keep going with the regional qualifier in Alabama in a couple of months,” Carmichael said. “I am doing this because it is fun, and I like giving back to the sport. The sport provided many opportunities and a great lifestyle for me, and it is definitely fun.”

April Fool’s Day or not, Carmichael was simply enjoying the ride.

“It is so exciting for me to be able to go there and to race and have fun with no pressure,” he said. “I grew up racing the Loretta Lynn Amateur Nationals for many years up until 1996, I think. Now that I am able to go there mentally in a different place, it will be nice to go there with no pressure and just enjoy it.

“It had been a long time and it was really cool to be back behind the gate.”

Fun, now that is a good reason to do this, check out this idea “It is not length of life, but depth of life.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Here is a quote from Joan Erikson, on the definition of play:

Joan M. Erikson: Play is what you do, in a lighthearted way, for your own pleasure
because you find it amusing and enhancing somehow. Many will say that the opposite of
“play” is “work” but I say that the opposite of “play” is “obey.” A child may be playing
and having a good time but the play comes to a stop when there is a demand to obey. An
adult will play or work, but for a child, there is no work. So the opposite of play is the
order to stop, because you’re told to, or you’re told to do something else, or, in some way,
you’re interrupted by an adult or someone in charge of you who has the authority to say
“Now you stop playing and do this, that or the other.”

At the last race I was at the saddest words I heard all day was, “Oh well, guess it’s time to back to the real world”. That was at the end of the day, when it was time to leave.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that racing mx makes me a better person, I can site the exercise benefits, the interaction with other people, and the mental activity being good for a person my age the the truth is I race for the same reason as RC4, because it’s fun. Fun, a little three letter word that means so much.