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Kicking up sand in the boys' faces
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By Ainslee S. Wittig/arizona range news
For six years, Larae Harguess has been working hard to accomplish what she could only imagine.
This year, at the tender age of 15, it happened.
Larae, who will be a sophomore at Willcox High School, will head to the national championships in Tennessee -- not for volleyball, basketball or dance -- all of which she does in her spare time. Instead, she competes in the male-dominated sport of motocross.
"I have been riding since I was nine. My Dad (Dean) fixed up his old 50cc, and I saw it and said, 'I wanna ride that,'" she said.
"My brother Blake, who is now 11, started at the same time -- he was six. I also have another younger brother who rides now and he (Jaden) is nine. Our whole family on my Dad's side (who also live in Willcox) has a lot of experience riding," she said.
The first race Larae won was at Mt. Graham Motorsports Park in Safford.
"I was nine. I didn't realize I won - I was just having fun. So when my Dad told me afterwards that I'd won, I was really excited!" she said.
Now, Larae is in the girls 12-16, 85cc class, also known as the Girls Super Mini class.
"I have a Suzuki Super Mini, but it's taller than most because I am tall (5 foot, 3 inches) and I got big wheel" to make the bike taller.
In local races, she said, "I ride with the boys. I'd much rather have the competition."
She has ridden at tracks all over Arizona - "I can't count all those places," she said, and in California.
Each race is 15 minutes, plus one lap. There are 42 kids in each class, and everyone races at the same time.
"Everybody starts at the gates (lined up horizontally with first to sign up and in subsequent races, higest ranked in the center), and when the gates drop, we all go. Everyone has a transmitter on their bike, which counts your laps. The track for nationals is about three-fourths of a mile long, which is one of the longest tracks (in the country). All the tracks have flats, corners and jumps," she said, estimating that the track at nationals will give riders about seven or eight laps in 15 minutes.
To get to nationals, she had to place in the top 10 at the state competition and in the top five at the regional competition.
At state in the end of May, she placed second at the Arizona Cycle Park in Phoenix.
She went on to the West Coast Region championship in mid-June near Los Angeles, Calif., and despite being sick for a10-day period before, during and after the race, she placed fourth.
"I had some kind of virus and I couldn't eat. I didn't do as well as I wanted to, because I was weak. But I was in good shape, so I didn't lose all my strength," she said.
Larea said she has crashed and hurt herself, but "they were really only minor injuries," she said of her dislocated bones (wrist and a few in her left shoulder), injured sternum and now perpetually "bad back."
"I have to go to the chiropractor every other week or so for the pain because they can't fix it. I've crashed and banged it up -- But it's worth it," she said.
"(Crashing) is always in the back of your mind, but you try not to think about it. If you do, it will slow you down because you're worried about crashing," Larae said. "You teach yourself to crash when you are younger - you try to relax, because you won't hurt yourself as much."
The 2010 Amateur National Motocross Championships are in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., at Loretta Lynn's ranch, on a track that no one is able to ride except at nationals. The Harguess family will arrive July 31, and Larae races on Tuesday, Aug. 3, Wednesday, Aug, 4 and Friday, Aug. 6 - one race each day, which will be averaged to determine the winner.
The winner's prize is a six-foot trophy, some money, and the oportunity to get sponsors to help with expenses, she said.
"There are also some of the big names in bike manufacturers there - like Suzuki, which we can go to if we need to fix something on our bike and they'll do it free!" she said.
"At Loretta Lynn's ranch, there is so much to do between the races. We can go to the house, the pool, the creek, and there are parties and concerts for the families to enjoy," she said. And with 35 amateur classes there during the Aug. 2-7 competition, there will be plenty of people to meet.
Larae said she met a few riders in California, but there are not many girls in Arizona.
"I'd love to be able to ride in the boys' classes (at state and nationals) - there's more competition," she admitted.
"But girls do process things differently. Once I was in Phoenix with a trainer and when I was about to crash my bike in the mud, he saw me jump off the bike to avoid it. He said I 'crash like a girl' and made me go back and get in the mud!"
The Harguesses built a track at their home north of Willcox about three years ago, but Larae said competition tracks are "much different, because Willcox dirt is so different. Our dirt here is sandy, and the dirt at other tracks is more like mud and grooves form in it. You have to drive in a groove on those. Here you don't. Our track is mostly to have fun on."
Her family travels to Phoenix every weekend to practice on a track there, she said, and she also rides daily at home.
"It's an expensive sport," said her father, Dean. "The biggest expense is getting to and from the races and practices, and the maintenance and repair of bikes."
Dean started riding as a child; but he said, "I haven't entered a race in three years because I'm helping the kids. The races have gotten much faster as they've gotten older - it's harder to watch."
"Terri (Larae's mother and Dean's wife) hasn't watched a race in three years. She'll go and stay in the motorhome," he said.
The next step up beyond amateur nationals is going pro, Larae said.
"That would be awesome, but it's really a lot of hard work," she said. "They have trainers; it takes a lot to get there. That'd be amazing!" she said, "but I think I could do it - I'm pretty sure I could."
What's the biggest draw for her to motocross?
"Adrenaline - the fun part is going fast!"
For more information, visit www.mxsports.com.
This year, at the tender age of 15, it happened.
Larae, who will be a sophomore at Willcox High School, will head to the national championships in Tennessee -- not for volleyball, basketball or dance -- all of which she does in her spare time. Instead, she competes in the male-dominated sport of motocross.
"I have been riding since I was nine. My Dad (Dean) fixed up his old 50cc, and I saw it and said, 'I wanna ride that,'" she said.
"My brother Blake, who is now 11, started at the same time -- he was six. I also have another younger brother who rides now and he (Jaden) is nine. Our whole family on my Dad's side (who also live in Willcox) has a lot of experience riding," she said.
The first race Larae won was at Mt. Graham Motorsports Park in Safford.
"I was nine. I didn't realize I won - I was just having fun. So when my Dad told me afterwards that I'd won, I was really excited!" she said.
Now, Larae is in the girls 12-16, 85cc class, also known as the Girls Super Mini class.
"I have a Suzuki Super Mini, but it's taller than most because I am tall (5 foot, 3 inches) and I got big wheel" to make the bike taller.
In local races, she said, "I ride with the boys. I'd much rather have the competition."
She has ridden at tracks all over Arizona - "I can't count all those places," she said, and in California.
Each race is 15 minutes, plus one lap. There are 42 kids in each class, and everyone races at the same time.
"Everybody starts at the gates (lined up horizontally with first to sign up and in subsequent races, higest ranked in the center), and when the gates drop, we all go. Everyone has a transmitter on their bike, which counts your laps. The track for nationals is about three-fourths of a mile long, which is one of the longest tracks (in the country). All the tracks have flats, corners and jumps," she said, estimating that the track at nationals will give riders about seven or eight laps in 15 minutes.
To get to nationals, she had to place in the top 10 at the state competition and in the top five at the regional competition.
At state in the end of May, she placed second at the Arizona Cycle Park in Phoenix.
She went on to the West Coast Region championship in mid-June near Los Angeles, Calif., and despite being sick for a10-day period before, during and after the race, she placed fourth.
"I had some kind of virus and I couldn't eat. I didn't do as well as I wanted to, because I was weak. But I was in good shape, so I didn't lose all my strength," she said.
Larea said she has crashed and hurt herself, but "they were really only minor injuries," she said of her dislocated bones (wrist and a few in her left shoulder), injured sternum and now perpetually "bad back."
"I have to go to the chiropractor every other week or so for the pain because they can't fix it. I've crashed and banged it up -- But it's worth it," she said.
"(Crashing) is always in the back of your mind, but you try not to think about it. If you do, it will slow you down because you're worried about crashing," Larae said. "You teach yourself to crash when you are younger - you try to relax, because you won't hurt yourself as much."
The 2010 Amateur National Motocross Championships are in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., at Loretta Lynn's ranch, on a track that no one is able to ride except at nationals. The Harguess family will arrive July 31, and Larae races on Tuesday, Aug. 3, Wednesday, Aug, 4 and Friday, Aug. 6 - one race each day, which will be averaged to determine the winner.
The winner's prize is a six-foot trophy, some money, and the oportunity to get sponsors to help with expenses, she said.
"There are also some of the big names in bike manufacturers there - like Suzuki, which we can go to if we need to fix something on our bike and they'll do it free!" she said.
"At Loretta Lynn's ranch, there is so much to do between the races. We can go to the house, the pool, the creek, and there are parties and concerts for the families to enjoy," she said. And with 35 amateur classes there during the Aug. 2-7 competition, there will be plenty of people to meet.
Larae said she met a few riders in California, but there are not many girls in Arizona.
"I'd love to be able to ride in the boys' classes (at state and nationals) - there's more competition," she admitted.
"But girls do process things differently. Once I was in Phoenix with a trainer and when I was about to crash my bike in the mud, he saw me jump off the bike to avoid it. He said I 'crash like a girl' and made me go back and get in the mud!"
The Harguesses built a track at their home north of Willcox about three years ago, but Larae said competition tracks are "much different, because Willcox dirt is so different. Our dirt here is sandy, and the dirt at other tracks is more like mud and grooves form in it. You have to drive in a groove on those. Here you don't. Our track is mostly to have fun on."
Her family travels to Phoenix every weekend to practice on a track there, she said, and she also rides daily at home.
"It's an expensive sport," said her father, Dean. "The biggest expense is getting to and from the races and practices, and the maintenance and repair of bikes."
Dean started riding as a child; but he said, "I haven't entered a race in three years because I'm helping the kids. The races have gotten much faster as they've gotten older - it's harder to watch."
"Terri (Larae's mother and Dean's wife) hasn't watched a race in three years. She'll go and stay in the motorhome," he said.
The next step up beyond amateur nationals is going pro, Larae said.
"That would be awesome, but it's really a lot of hard work," she said. "They have trainers; it takes a lot to get there. That'd be amazing!" she said, "but I think I could do it - I'm pretty sure I could."
What's the biggest draw for her to motocross?
"Adrenaline - the fun part is going fast!"
For more information, visit www.mxsports.com.
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of willcoxrangenews.com.
Freddie Romero wrote on Jul 30, 2010 1:47 PM:
" Dean, please call when you head this way, I have plenty of room and can make arrangements for what ever you may need. My sons and I have raced Loretta Lynns for years. My motorcycle club is avaible and again I have the contacts for the best places. I'm looking forward to watching your girl race.
So please give me a call or look me up on Facebook. "
So please give me a call or look me up on Facebook. "
Soccer Mom wrote on Jul 30, 2010 8:57 AM: