Some of the world’s most elite athletes live lifestyles that are vastly different from any other professional athlete. Motocross riders endure the most physically demanding and dangerous conditions and are only recognized by a small part of the total population. These athletes compete year-round for championship tokens and race wins for racing teams that are much like employers. These athletes must maintain their extremely demanding training lifestyle to stay competitive with other high performance competitions. As new technology advances, these race machines become even faster and more maneuverable than ever before.
This has pushed these athletes to their limits as the races have become increasingly dangerous. A small mistake at these speeds can cause serious injury to these athletes, forcing them to sit out for the season.
Training never stops for these athletes as they transition from an indoor season straight to an outdoor season. They are then exposed to the natural elements of extreme temperatures in the equipment from head to toe, plus wet and muddy conditions, increasing the risk of making a mistake that can be devastating for riders. They are forced to relocate their family in order to train at the team’s racing facilities located in Florida and California. These strategic locations allow these race teams to practice year-round for both indoor and outdoor seasons. Controlling these 250 pound-for-pound machines on technical tracks battling 20 other riders is no easy feat. The heart monitors of these cyclists show more anaerobic heart rate results. This form of endurance has earned motocross the title of the most physically demanding and dangerous sport in the world.
The journey to becoming a professional athlete in any sport, be it baseball, basketball, soccer, golf, or motocross, begins at a very young age. Many athletes were introduced to a particular sport by their parents in which they competed for many years. Your will will become a point in a child’s life when he or she begins to make his or her own decisions about whether or not to continue their passion for a sport. Unlike any other sport in the world, motocross forces kids to sacrifice many things that other sports don’t, making their dream and passion a lifestyle. For example, the other sports I mentioned above allow all athletes to compete in school organization functions or city-related teams that allow kids to compete on the weekend when school is out of session. Motocross is not one of these sports. Schools and towns cannot host their own motocross teams due to the high risk and responsibility of hosting one of these events. These athletes then turn to national events that host the best cyclists from around the world for each age category. These events require most athletes to travel hundreds of miles to compete. At a young age, these competitors rely on parents or guardians to cover costs and travel arrangements to stay competitive. Then many kids are forced to be home schooled as most of their time is spent traveling and racing in the hope of one day achieving their dream of being a professional motocross racer.