After 20 years off the bike I went out and got myself a used MX bike. Went to the track the other day and I thought my legs were in good shape. After one hour of riding the next day my legs feel worse than after an IM. My arm and back muscles also hurt. I forgot how hard it is to toss 240 pounds around but what fun it was. Maybe once I get more relaxed on the jumps and not land so many on top I won’t get as sore. I hate to lift weights or do core work and this is way more fun.
I did moto style racing on a quad as well as scrambles. it is amazing how exhausted I would be after an hour or so. Ofcourse i also trashed my back and now have had surgery, so i sold my quad.
i think people consider cycling, gym-work, running and stuff as good training for being able to ride a dirt bike better, not so much the other way 'round.
I was in the same situation. Raced as a kid then a few friends got MX bikes so I jumped in as well. It is brutal. After a few laps around the track racing, we are all ready to take a long pull off the camelback. The constant squatting is great for the legs and core not to mention its a blast. Track just about in the backyard makes it easy to get out for a hard hour lunch ride.
Try throwing on the HRM and staying aerobic, its impossible for me on a track
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You guys would make David Bailey proud. 
Seriously though, my brother races AMA outdoor nat’s and arenacross. I’m helping training him and a couple of his riding buddies for their first tri and it will be a surprise on how hard a sprint race is even compared to 40 min motos plus 2 laps. 
BUT absolutely, fun cross training… Um, just don’t case a double and break an ankle or something stupid like that.
He currently runs number #378 (I think)
contrary to what TTN said, it does not surprise me that people do tri-type stuff to train for other sports… at the napa half iron I saw Nick Diaz (MMA fighter) on the run… a lot of motocrossers run to train and many have gotten into cycling, and youre seeing more and more different types of athletes in the pool now (with worse form than mine if thats possible)
Not only the dirt bike boys but the roadie boys as well - Casey Stoner, during the mid season MotoGP break, was back in Newcastle (Australia) knocking out a week of 100km plus days on his pushie. This included lots of hill work - he was training with a former local gun who was very impressed with his fitness and ability on the bike. Any wonder he went back to the 2nd half of the season and won the world title.
One of the greatest Motocross riders ever, Johnny O’mara, raced triathlons to stay in shape for motocross. “Johnny O’Mara was the 1983 AMA 125cc National Motocross and 1984 AMA Supercross Series Champion. In addition to his AMA titles, the O’Show, as his fans like to call him, was part of four American teams that won the prestigious Motocross des Nations, including the first U.S. team ever to win the international competition in 1981. He first came to prominence by winning the 1980 United States 125cc Grand Prix in Lexington, Ohio, and went on to win the 250cc USGP in 1985 in New Berlin, New York. O’Mara was a pioneer in bringing world-class fitness to motocross. He was equally at home competing in triathlons and national-level bicycling competition as he was on a motocross track.” ** He and Jeff Ward were a few of my heroes growing up and a big reason I went from racing moto-x to tri’s Back in the mid-late 80’s.
Try throwing on the HRM and staying aerobic, its impossible for me on a track
Sort of like trying to get aerobic for an hour lifting weights or doing core work. I can’t stay aerobic doing that stuff either.
Exactly… I raced for years, with absolutely zero knowledge of how to train ‘properly’ for it… just rode as hard as I could for as long as I could… After doing this for a little bit I wanted to see what it looked like with the HRM and I was surprised at how hard a workout it was… maybe I’ll just go back to going as hard as I can for as long as I can
wow that’s pretty cool. My two brothers are hardcore mx guys too, I’m the endurance athlete in the family. We go to the desert often and I ride my mom’s quad around (she doesn’t really ride it at all) and try to keep up with the other people we go riding with. But man that thing is gnarly in the whoops. My legs are shot after a long desert ride. If I stay in so-cal after I graduate from college I wanna get an mx bike rm-z450 maybe but first one of these:
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/mountain/1267/29366/
Any gains that MX may add will quickly be lost at the first injury. Landing hard from any jump can cause bruised feet and broken bones. After limping for 5-6 weeks from a rough landing (not a crash) on 3 separate occasions during 2006, I ended up riding just twice this year and while I still have my bikes I’ll likely not ride them for quite a while. I’ve also only had one broken bone in my life and that was the scaphoid in my right wrist from a hard landing. A coworker had the same injury last year (mine was in 99) and his bone has died requiring a wrist fusion as well as aches and pains for the rest of his life. Sorry to be so negative but Motocross has left kind of a sour taste in my mouth. Shifter Karts on the other hand will work your core to death as well as your upper body with little chance of injury. I haven’t checked it with a HRM but I am certain it will get it up to at least where MX was doing.
I found my way to triathlon through mountain biking through racing enduros. I started racing at the age of 11 and racing motorcycles was all that I knew. I got into bikes heavy when I could no longer afford a motorcycle or had ready places to ride when I was attending WMU. Having Fort Custer and Yankee Spring Mountain bike areas nearby was the perfect cure for my motorcycle riding blues.
As I sit in my mid thirties and have a 5 year old on a PW50 and a 9 year old that kicks butt at kids tris on a CRF80, I’m thinking that the motorcycle will be the ticket for replacing the CORE workouts that I dread so much. If you haven’t ridden motorcycles off-road, it’s impossible to understand what an overall STRENGTH workout riding motorccyles off road can be. There is a high level of skill needed to go fast, but not to make it a training effort.
I grew up watching Bob “Hurricane” Hannah, (my only idol in life) Johnny O’Mara, David Bailey, Broc Glover, Kent Howerton, Roger DeCoster battle it out on the GROUND. I say this, because motorcross/supercross didn’t used to be about the jumps as they are today, and there is no way to deny that this could be the most fun cross training that a person could possibly have.
I would recommend staying off the new motocross tracks if you plan on having knees, elbows, shoulders, etc still intact for triathlon, but hitting the off-road such as hair scrambles, enduro’s, and other cross country venues void of heroic 2-3 story jumps must be one of the most exciting cross training ventures one could partake in…
Ahhhh! Anyone for some Northern Michigan singletrack??? I’m getting my barkbusters out!
I used to race off-road cars before I traded in the car for a bicycle. I was not in very good physical condition by any means, but I could stay up all night and race through Baja.
http://www.off-road.com/offroad/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=299944
Alot of memories in this post, I used to race the 250 class(Team green!) when I had time and money:) It is funny when people think riding a MX bike is easy. Put them on a outdoor track for 30 min + 2 laps and see how they feel. MX riding was always a great workout for me, talk about a total body workout. Once you get over the arm pump in the first few rides it gets alot better. On a side note Jeff Ward was my hero growing up, I used to love watching all 5’??? of him throw around his KX 500, that was a workout! Anyone here been to the Red Bud Nat’l in MI??? Now thats a party!! I would love to be able to convince my wife that MX is great cross training, not going to happen. We used to have our own track, we would ride almost everyday in the summer, I sure do miss those days! Ride it like you stole it!
Any gains that MX may add will quickly be lost at the first injury.
Ditto…got rid of my recent bikes after two (incredible fun) years after realizing that the new MX tracks (more supercross than enduro, which I grew up doing) are just too hard on the body to be compatible with tri. Everyone rides with the various bruises and fractures that you get from MX, but you can’t train triathlon with them. Add to the serious risk of big-time injuries (check out the line for wheel chair access at a pro race) and it just isn’t worth it.
A real shame because it is one heck of a fun sport, but due to today’s style and rocket-launching equipment (no more Rupp Roadsters ;-), MX is one sport for the Darwin Awards.
I saw Ricky Carmichael at a Florida State Championship MTB race a couple of years ago – he raced the beginner class and won. He didn’t blow it away or anything but it was cool to see him out there. His forearms were bigger than most of the other dudes legs. He says he does a lot of riding (mostly road) to help him stay in shape all year long.
The track I ride has mostly tabletop style jumps, a step up and step down type jump. There is one double but I treat it as a single. As with any sport, if you stay within your ability you have less chance of getting hurt.
I rode MX bikes for 15 years when I was younger and never got hurt. Some of that was attributable to the old style tracks without the 12-15 jumps per lap but the equipment wasn’t near as good. I can’t imagine going over one of those big jumps on my old Can-Am 250. The thing probably had 6" of travel. Yeah I can see how you can get hurt and triathlon is important to me but I like the speed, the power and excitement of the sport.
At 48 I feel like the old guy at the track and the young guns are simply amazing at how fast they go. Watching some guy do a whip over a 50-70’ table top jump is amazing. Me, I haven’t even cleared the jump yet and have no plans to do any whips.
Looks like a lot of you guys are my age… I haven’t heard many of these names for a long time, but I sure was familiar with them in high school (86-90).
I would agree with what’s been implied with the posts - tri training would help with mx, but not so much the other way around.