As he pulled off a pair of mud-spotted motocross boots, Ty Erquiaga was elated. He had just raced his first motocross race after a three-year hiatus and the adrenaline he carried on the track was still with him. Erquiaga, a strong, compact man in his early 40s, spoke passionately as he rubbed the dirt from his hair and relived the race that had ended just moments before.

“I felt so lucky to be back out there,” Erquiaga said. “It was just so much fun to get out there and mix it up again. I was tired after, like, two laps but this was another step back from my injuries today. It felt like such a privilege.”

The excitement Erquiaga described is common at northern Nevada motocross races. On most weekends, there are between 200 and 600 riders at motocross events in northern Nevada. And the passion for the sport that most of them carry is hard to miss.

As the owner and founder of Nevada Motocross Development, northern Nevada’s most active motocross-event company, Erquiaga has dedicated much of his life to the sport. But his own racing efforts had been stalled in recent years by injuries and the demands of his business. When he put in his first race laps in over three years at the May 1 race in Stead, it marked a return to the side of the sport that he appreciates most: the riding itself.

“I can ride a motorcycle better than I can walk,” Erquiaga said. This was more of a comment on his closeness to motocross than a boast. “I love this sport and it’s in my soul. It’s really just the best sport in the world.”

To those outside of motocross, the allure of racing dirt bikes might seem peculiar, especially considering the risks and expenses involved. But northern Nevada motocross has grown steadily in recent years, breeding an increasing number of riders and families that invest much of their lives in the sport despite the dangers and costs.

Cheryl Samson, a community liaison at Washoe Medical Center, deals often with the bodily injuries of others in her work. But when her 14-year-old son Chris developed an interest in motocross last year, she decided the benefits outweighed the downfalls and bought him a bike.

“He started with a little bit of ranch riding with his friends,” Samson said. “Soon the competition was there and the drive was there. When I found out it was such a good physical and mental challenge for him, we went for a race bike (a Honda CRF250R) and started coming to the races.”

After racing a few times in the 125cc Beginner class, Chris broke his collarbone at a race in Carson City. But by that time, he and his mother were hooked. Samson said that there was no apprehension in her decision to let Chris return to the track, which he did a few weeks after his injury at a race in Fernley.

“It was a little speed bump that we had to go through,” Samson said of her son’s broken clavicle. “But nowadays he’s ready to go.”

Chris Samson has raced twice since his injury, the second time being at the race in Stead, where he finished sixth in his class of 15. Like his mother, Chris said he never second-guessed his dedication to motocross during his healing period. When asked what the best part of motocross is, he was quick to respond.

“Competition,” Chris said. “But I just love to ride too. When you’re out on the track, you just focus on your riding.”

Ask most riders what it is that makes motocross so addictive and the answers will often involve adrenaline or accomplishment. But while other sports offer these things, many of the riders, including those who have participated in a variety of sports, often say that there is something unique in motocross that is hard or even impossible to find elsewhere.

“There are very, very few sports on this planet that I consider soul sports,” Erquiaga said. “I consider things like motocross, rodeo and surfing these kinds of sports. Surfers surf until they die. Rodeo guys rodeo until they literally can’t anymore. And when motocross is in your blood and your soul, it becomes a necessary part of your life.”

For some area riders, the addiction runs so deep that it becomes a career aspiration. But although the best professional racers make seven-figure salaries and travel the globe, the road to that status is lined with hardships. Physical and financial barriers will halt the vast majority before they ever approach the highest level.

Nonetheless, riders such as Aron Harvey, a 17-year-old amateur prospect from Carson City, are eager for their shot to succeed in motocross. Harvey will travel to a number of major amateur events this summer in hopes of attracting the support necessary to earn him a legitimate shot at a professional career.

“I don’t want to do what my dad does, which is being a contractor,” Harvey said. “So I want to try to make it in racing and see how it all goes.”

It’s obvious that Ron Harvey, Aron’s father, would love to see his son accomplish just that. Standing beside their sizable motor-home and enclosed trailer, Ron Harvey scrubbed the dirt from one of Aron’s Yamaha race bikes following another race victory in Stead (his third class win of the day.) As he worked the rear fender over with the sponge, he explained why he has invested so much in the sport for his son.

“I just want him to do what he wants to do,” Ron Harvey said. “He’s always said he has a fire inside for this and I’m going to try to get him there (to a professional career.) I'm not sure if I can but I’m going to try.”

But professional dreams aside, most of the riders at Stead were just out for the pleasure of racing. Erquiaga reflected on this pleasure at the end of the day, just before he and his crew went about the formidable task of packing up the race track.

“If you put in your time in this sport, it never leaves you,” Erquiaga said. “I know it sounds cliche, but I never take motocross for granted. I feel blessed to ride a motorcycle. It’s really a privilege.”


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