My first motocross race is a memory I will never forget. I was only five years old and I had been riding a motocross bike since I was four. My first race took place at the fairgrounds in Kennewick Washington. I remember being nervous, but excited about racing. I did not realize that I was very young to be racing motocross, but I was confident because my dad was confident in me.
We pulled into the fairgrounds and I started seeing some of the older riders checking out their dirt bikes for any problems. I saw kids my age running around and playing with other riders, while their dads were checking out there bikes. We pulled in to an empty place and unloaded my dirt bike, then my dad told me lets go walk the track. I was so excited to walk a motocross track for my first time. My dad was showing me the routes I should take because they were the smoothest. We came up to the big jump which was the finish line and It was really scary to a kid my size, but I was still ready to race.
Now it was practice time for me. I went out and did a couple laps, I was really nervous, but my dad reminded me it was practice and to take my time and learn the track and to not race anyone. The finish line was really scary, but I went over it really slowly so I did not jump it. I started to become more confident in myself and started to go faster and faster around the track once I got to know the track and what to expect.
The moment I had been waiting for, “Race Time!” I got lined up at the gates with the other kids who were mostly a couple years older than me. Then my dad told me something that I will never forget, “ OK Bubba, just go out there and ride your own race, but most importantly just stay on your own two wheels and you will do great.”
My dad started up my dirt bike and I waited for the gates to go down. The gates went down and I was on my way listening to my dad’s words of wisdom to keep the bike on its wheels the whole race. The more I rode the faster I went and at the finish line the crowd was provoking me to go faster. They saw how small I was and I started jumping off the finishing line. They would scream every time I went over it. The feeling was so great and made me love it that much more. I finally finished the race and had no idea what place I finished in. Since it was my first race I expected to get dead last.
I got my racing medal after a while and it was 5th place. I asked my dad if that was last and he said no there were a lot more than five riders out there. My dad told me how proud he was of me that I kept the bike on its wheels the whole race. While I was heading back to truck, two girls came up to me and asked me for my autograph! I didn’t think it was because I was so cute, so I was really happy that someone thought I was good enough to get my autograph. We loaded up the bike and went home. There were many races to come after my first race, but this is a memory I will never forget.