Motocross is a sport that has grown tremendously in the time it has been in the United States. Since its start in Great Britain and migration to the United States, it has become popular for families on a Sunday outing and professional riders seeking the same fame and fortune as other professional sports.
The sport began around 1920 in England, the exact date is not certain. It began as a form of cross country motorcycle racing called “scrambles”. Scrambles was a cross country off road race in which the fastest rider was the winner. This is opposed to other forms of off road motorcycle racing where the more technically correct racer may be the winner. The name motocross is derived from the French word motocyclette, meaning motorcycle. Motocyclette was shortened to “moto” and “cross” was added which was shortened from cross-country. MX became a popular closed course race on an off road track with many turns, jumps and other obstacles. The sport spread across Europe through the middle part of the twentieth century; it was not until the late fifties that the first U. S. Race was held. By the end of the sixties and early seventies MX began to grow in popularity in the United States.
Local races have become the sight for many families to spend weekends bonding; many will arrive a day early with camping gear in order to be prepared for the next day’s race.
Families attending race weekend have begun to need bigger and bigger haulers for the trek to the race course. This is because more bikes are needed as there may be an opportunity for nearly every member of the family to race. Nowadays, there is a class for men and women of every age and every size of motorcycle. Children can start to race around the age of four; there is a class for every age group all the way up to the forty plus class and beyond. All family members may race over a weekend.
A typical race day will consist of each class racing in two separate “motos”. Points are awarded based on the finish in each race; the two finishes are then averaged together. Based on the averages, an overall winner is then determined. Motos are generally raced for a certain amount of time, not laps. Generally, the motos are twenty to thirty minutes long.
Famous riders like Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart have had a large part in bringing the sport into the minds of most Americans. The heroics of these men have brought attention to the sport from the mainstream. Prior to the nineties when McGrath became a dominating racer, mx was somewhat of an underground sport with little or no television coverage. Nowadays, races can be seen live on certain cable television channels and taped delayed to the next day on network television.
Two variations of moto-x must be mentioned, supercross and free-style motocross. Supercross is similar to mx; supercross is raced in a stadium with very tight turns and very high jumps. A supercross track will usually fit in an area the size of a football field, as opposed to an mx track which is on an area nearly four times that size. In freestyle, daring riders perform death defying stunts for style points; the one with the most points awarded is the winner.
In order to understand the popularity of moto-x, one only has to watch television on a Saturday or Sunday; the professionals can be seen performing daring antics. There are also many local tracks all over the world; a track may not be far away at all. For a small admission fee, a person could take in a local race; it may involve friends, neighbors and co-workers. Many lasting friendships are made at the local tracks amongst the racers.
Motocross fans may enjoy these free motocross games. They can be played online and there are many different motocross games to choose from.