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JUMPIN' WITH McGRATH

A Mammoth Mountain MX Adventure

By Rich Diegle

 

A few years ago, four buddies and I went to Mammoth Lakes, California to race the Mammoth Mountain MX. As it turned out, I had the MOTO adventure of my life…and an awesome jumping lesson from one of the best, Jeremy McGrath.

 

Not only was the track at Mammoth continuously groomed to perfection throughout practice and on the race days, the dirt was that perfect woods loam that we dirt bike riders always dream about. The elevation of the track is 8,200 feet but I was surprised how well I could breath there (Actually the Sacramento air-quality is so bad during the summer, I think the oxygen content is about the same). I had trained hard for three months prior to Mammoth and rode most of the MRANN series in Nevada (Virginia City Grand Prix, Yearington, etc.) to get ready for this race. I was in the best shape that I’d been in a long time.

 

Riding in the Old Fart’s class, we got to ride two practice sessions on Friday with the Vet Pros, which included Jeremy McGrath, Ty Davis, Brian Meyerscough, Jeff Ward and Doug Dubach. When I signed-up, the sponsoring club had given me # 2. I didn’t request it…luck of the draw I guess.

 

Speaking of #2 - I almost took a number two in my weasel squeezers at practice when I pulled off the track for a breather; when who should ride up? Jeremy McGrath! He came off the track to talk with his mechanic who was standing right next to me.

 

“Hey great number!” Jeremy said to me as he rolled up. He talked to his mechanic for a second about making some adjustments to the rear suspension and then turned to me and asked me how I liked the track. “It’s awesome,” I said. “Better than I ever could have imagined. How about you?” I asked. “I’ve been coming here since I was a little kid. I love it,” he replied. “Hey, are you clearing both the table tops on the far side of the track?” Jeremy asked. “Just the 60-footer,” I said. “Follow me, I’ll show you how to clear that 75-footer – it’s easy.” I put on my goggles and hit the track right behind Jeremy.

 

In one short straight and three turns, he was pulling about five bike lengths on me. Two more turns and a long straightaway later, he was gone - like some rocket booster fired and he hit hyper-drive – I think I dropped anchor.

 

A few turns before the 60-foot tabletop, I saw Jeremy kind of cruising. I’m not sure if he was waiting for me, but when I caught up to him, he wicked the throttle WFO. This time I was right on his tail. Following Jeremy’s line around the outside of a left turn, near the top edge of the berm, we rocketed out of the turn and cleared the 60-footer easily then headed for the 75-foot jump. With that additional corner speed, clearing it and landing easily on the downhill side of the jump was a piece of cake. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever generated that kind of cornering speed in my life.

 

It was a fantastic weekend. The weather was perfect, the racing was a blast, and best of all, I got an impromptu riding lesson from McGrath. By the way, Jeremy won all four races that weekend by a long shot. In the last race on Sunday, he waited until everyone had a 10-second lead off the gate then took off. By the fourth lap, he had lapped everyone – even Davis, Meyerscough, Wardy and Dubach – Amazing!                                       

                                  
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