From the Editor
26 How to Throw a
Moto Party
32 Tricks are for Kids
38 In Bear Country
40 The Green
Machine
60 Best of
#MammothMX
62 FMF Unsung
Hero
68 Taking on the
Team
74 Stars & Standouts
84 Cross 71: Diary
of a Racing Kid
88 A Reason to Ride
Again
98 Mammoth MX
Scene & Heard
102 Back to
Beginnings
104 Smoke & Fire
Vintage Ntl.
113 Next Issue...
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16
theROOTSMX • ISSUE 3 2014
JUNE 2014 / THE ROOTS MX
You have to come to Mammoth, they
all said. It’s a moto party. A Vacation,
they said. And we said, Vacation?
We’re in.
We had heard legends of all the fun
there is to be had at Mammoth Motocross, but words do not suffice.
Over the course of the Monster Energy
Road to Mammoth series, the tension
was building in anticipation of the
grand finale, the great Mammoth carnival where the dirt meets the village.
No, literally. They brought dirt into The
Village for the most epic pit bike race
you’ve ever seen. The competition was
so fierce, Scott Champion crashed
and lost his mind. A Wool ly Mammoth
performed heel clicks in a floatie. Shit
got cray.
But that was just the beginning. Jeff
Ward showed up on a 1974 Honda
Elsinore 250 and made Lil D eat his
roost in the Smoke & Fire Vintage
National. Every day was Happy Hour at
the podium and Kevin Kelly spit more
one-liners than can fit in this magazine. Yamaha side-by-sides may or
may not have been driven around the
track by rowdy adults to the tune of
Guns and Roses, “Paradise City.”
On Any Sunday was watched for the
swept every moto and every overall
win one day, and Sean Collier broke
out a KX 500 in the FMF 2-Stroke Challenge and smoked everyone.
I teamed up with a kid after my own
heart, 11 year-old Hunter Cross, both
rider and writer who’s first-hand account of racing Mammoth appears in
this issue.
We endured the wild storm that came
through one night, destroying every
last pop-up on vendor row before it
gave way to a beautiful rainbow.
And speaking of miracles! I won
second place in a golf contest for my
very own bear. Well, I was part of a
team that won second place.
The competition was so fierce, Scott Champion
crashed and lost his mind. A Woolly Mammoth
performed heel clicks in a floatie. Shit got cray.
fiftieth time on a giant projector in the
middle of town. So many kids won
AmericoreSMX scooters and Team Associated RC cars, it was like Christmas
in the mountains. Bears were everywhere. Wooden trophy bears, but also
real live bears rummaging through
town looking for treats.
Leann Rimes sang the National Anthem everyday for eight days straight.
Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green
Never have I ever been to a moto
event for ten days straight, and been
so sad to see it end.
So here’s my attempt to convey the
mayhem. Enjoy.
Rachel A. Witt
[email protected]