Jeff Grove didn't waste any time getting his son, Jacob, involved in the sport he grew up around. Jeff bought Jacob a PW50, a small dirt bike, when he was 4 years old, and Jacob has been riding ever since.
The Frederick native honed his skills on his family's backyard track, growing more competitive with his dad as he increased bike sizes. And after spending 16 years racing as an amateur, he earned pro status last year.
Grove's path is a common one: Learn from Dad, rise through the amateur ranks, make it as a professional. On Saturday, Grove was among those racing on one of the local tracks he grew up on, Budds Creek Motocross Park in Mechanicsville, as part of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship's Budds Creek National.
"It's a good track," Grove said. "Probably one of the most natural terrain tracks in the United States."
Added MX sports event director Tim Cotter: "The dirt here is to die for."
But Budds Creek, built in 1973, is one of just two active racing parks left in the state; the Landing MX Park in Easton is the other. Longtime Budds Creek owner Jonathan Beasley said there used to be about 25 tracks, but zoning and Environmental Protection Agency restrictions have forced nearly all to shut down.
It isn't easy getting riding time at the two sites, either.
Budds Creek is open to the general public for only the first weekend of every month, and Landing MX Park is available only on weekends. Riders can rent out Budds Creek on weekdays for $300 in July and August and $400 in all other months.
Most kids who get into motocross, such as Jacob Grove, have a family connection to the sport. But, Beasley said, the danger inherent in the sport leaves him wary of encouraging other kids to pick it up.
He said he lives every day in pain because of the arthritis he developed from his time on a bike, and he doesn't allow his 17- and 15-year-old sons to ride. When parents approach him at trade shows, Beasley tells them to buy their kids a set of golf clubs instead.
Jacob Grove knows how dangerous racing can be. The 22-year-old Mount St. Mary's graduate has suffered three ACL injuries and has broken his shoulder, collarbone and wrist while riding. But, he said, that's just part of the sport.
"The danger is always in the back of every family's mind, but you ride because you love it," said Grove, one of the few pro racers who has graduated from college. "You know you're going to get hurt; it's just a matter of when."
Despite the risk, Beasley can't blame youngsters who want to get involved.
"The adrenaline is the biggest thing," he said. "If a kid at school comes in after a weekend of riding and says, 'That's the wildest thing,' then others want to try."
Motocross doesn't get the attention in the state that other sports do, but fans lined every fence and hill at Budds Creek on Saturday. Last July, about 20,000 attended Budds Creek to see what Cotter believes are the best athletes in the world.
"Those kids that race motorcycles are in as good or better shape than the kids they go to school with," Cotter said. "But sometimes it goes unnoticed because they aren't playing under the lights on Friday nights."
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