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The rider must maintain incredibly ultra-precise control of a machine that is not only traveling, but racing, over the type of terrain that most people would have difficulty walking across. They have to do this while maintaining as fast a speed as possible. The rider is astride a machine weighing a large amount of weight and, at the most elite professional level, has an engine that pushes them at almost seventy-five miles per hour at top speed. A riders arms and legs are constantly moving during a race, fighting for control of the motorcycle while absorbing the energy produced by high-speed landings from heights that can often exceed twenty feet, not to mention the two-foot high stutter bumps (called whoops) that beat the crap out of both the motorcycle and the rider. The G forces produced from the race test the absolute limits of a riders strength and endurance. Finally, a typical professional race lasts a minimum of thirty minutes, if not longer. That means for a full half an hour, the faster the rider goes, the more violently and frequently he or she is punished. Unlike Nascar, there are no pauses, breaks, time outs, or pit stops. The National Sport Health Institute in Englewood, California, tested several professional motocross racers in the early 80s as part of a comparative study of athletes in different sports. Most of what was tested was the cardio-vascular (heart) fitness of athletes from various sports across the board. Athletes from track and field, American football, basketball, and soccer were tested, among several others. The cardiac stress and strength showed, to many peoples great surprise, that the motocross athletes had just as high of a fitness level as any other discipline tested. In other words, this isnt a sport to get into unless you are willing to do the type of high level conditioning that athletes in other sports must endure to get to the peak of their game. Argue however you want, but tests show that pocket bike racers and motocross racers are athletes, and need to be viewed as such. |
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