Life Is More Than Loretta’s: Our 3-Week Family Motocross Road Trip

Every summer in amateur motocross, it feels like everything points toward one place: Loretta Lynn’s.

And don’t get me wrong — Loretta’s is awesome. I raced there when I was younger, we’ve been there as a family, and Landon has had the opportunity to race there. It’s a huge part of amateur motocross.

But this year, we decided to do something different.

We loaded up the moto van and took off on a three-week family motocross road trip with a pretty simple plan:

Ride new tracks. Race some motos. See new places. Spend time together. And have fun.

Honestly, it has been one of the best decisions we’ve made.

Fiddler Creek MX — Something Completely New

Last weekend we rolled into Fiddler Creek MX in Iowa.

New track. New dirt. New people. No idea what to expect.

And that was exactly the point.

One thing I’ve realized after spending so many years around motocross is that it’s really easy to get caught up chasing the next big race, the next result, the next qualifier, or whatever everyone else says you’re supposed to be doing.

Sometimes you forget why you started doing this in the first place.

We ride dirt bikes because this stuff is fun.

Getting to a track we’ve never seen before, figuring it out, meeting new moto families and just racing without a bunch of pressure reminded me of that.

Next Stop: Lincoln Trail

This weekend we’re heading to Lincoln Trail Motosports in Illinois.

Another new track for us.

Another place Landon gets to figure out.

And another weekend together as a family.

For me, that’s becoming just as important as the racing itself.

There’s something cool about pulling into a track you’ve only seen in pictures, unloading the bikes and knowing you get to experience the whole thing together for the first time.

Landon gets more experience riding different dirt and different track layouts, but he’s also getting something you can’t really measure on a results sheet.

Memories.

Then We Point the Van Toward Wyoming

After Lincoln Trail, we’re headed west for the RMX Wyoming State Championship.

Three weekends.

Three different areas.

A bunch of miles in the van.

Different tracks, different dirt, different competition and probably plenty of stuff that doesn’t go according to plan.

That’s moto.

And I wouldn’t trade it.

Life Is More Than Loretta’s

This trip has reminded me of something I think we sometimes lose sight of in amateur motocross.

Life is more than Loretta’s.

There isn’t one race that determines whether your kid is successful.

There isn’t one week in Tennessee that determines whether the year was worth it.

And there definitely isn’t one path every young racer has to follow.

Loretta’s is an incredible race and always will be. But motocross is a whole lot bigger than one event.

There are hundreds of tracks around this country.

There are local promoters working their butts off every weekend.

There are families pulling into tracks Friday night, grilling dinner next to their trailers, kids riding bicycles through the pits and parents sitting around talking moto until it gets dark.

That’s motocross too.

And sometimes I think that's the best part of it.

I Want Landon to Remember This Part

Obviously I want Landon to improve.

We train. We work on the bikes. We spend countless hours driving. We race seriously when the gate drops.

But he's still a kid.

I don't want him looking back someday and only remembering pressure, qualifying, results and whether he finished 3rd or 7th.

I want him to remember driving across the country with his family.

I want him to remember the random restaurants, the hotels, the campground nights, the new tracks, the people we met and all the stupid stuff we laughed about along the way.

I want him to remember that his dad was right there doing it with him.

Because these years go ridiculously fast.

The trophies eventually end up sitting on a shelf.

The bikes get sold.

The results get forgotten.

The time together doesn't.

Why This Matters to FlowVision

This is a huge part of why we built FlowVision the way we did.

Yes, we make motocross goggles.

We obsess over clear vision, comfortable fit, lenses, tear-offs and making products that work when you're actually riding and racing.

But FlowVision has always been about more than selling another pair of motocross goggles.

It's about the families wearing them.

The dad wrenching on an 85 in the pits.

The mom making sure everyone has everything before practice.

The kid nervous before the gate drops.

The brothers and sisters running around the track.

The long drives home talking about what went right, what went wrong and where we're racing next weekend.

That's the motocross community we love.

And that's who we're building FlowVision for.

Go Race Somewhere New

If your family has the opportunity, I can't recommend it enough.

Pick a motocross track you've never ridden.

Load the bikes.

Take the long way there.

Race a local series you've never raced.

Meet some new people.

Stop somewhere cool along the way.

Don't worry whether it's the biggest race of the year.

Sometimes the weekends nobody is talking about end up being the ones your family remembers forever.

We're only partway through our trip right now.

Fiddler Creek is behind us.

Lincoln Trail is next.

Then we're headed to Wyoming with RMX.

I don't know exactly how the motos are going to go.

And for once, that's really not the point.

We're riding dirt bikes, seeing the country and doing it together.

That's a pretty damn good summer to me.

See Clear. Ride Hard. Enjoy the ride.

– Nick
FlowVision®