Vurbwes Chilidog
With the sun cresting the Park City mountains in the rearview mirror, I turned on to I-80 west toward Salt Lake City for the final time. This was a trek we seemed to make for the 27 previous days, seeing as there were multiple supercross races per week, countless shoots on the other side of the state, b-roll missions in the city, and that really nice ice cream place one exit down. Shall we not forget, it was also the direction for Chase Sexton’s massive afterparty which we didn’t miss either.
As I cranked the music for my five-hour journey back to Boise, Idaho—the location of my current “satellite office”—I was immediately kicked right in the nostalgic feels thanks to Spotify, and it left me in an hours-long memory PowerPoint presentation that took me right back to my early years, and continued to click slide after slide until it concluded with the finale, making me realize what a whirlwind the previous 27 days had proven to be, and to go even deeper, the previous 15 some odd years had also been.
With The Starting Line’s “Best of Me” blaring, I might as well been behind of the wheel of Blake Spezzano’s 1985 Conestoga Wagon Motorhome heading to Loretta’s in 2003—one hell of a muddy year that would serve as my first time filming/attending an event without parental supervision. At the ripe young age of 17, equipped with a Sony VX2000 on loan from the Crosby Family and an epic group of moto friends, we parked in a mud pit that would serve as our home for that fateful week. Being young and dumb and, again, without parents, I don’t think my priorities necessarily revolved around filming whatsoever, unfortunately, but some of my most iconic video footage to date was actually recorded that week. Alessi vs. RV, Millsaps, Lichtle, AC on 50s, Pourcel, etc. All clips that make me feel old as shit now, but still put a smile on my face any day of the week.
What’s the have to do with this last month? Not a damn thing really, except for the fact that during those seven races I couldn’t help but think about how lucky I was to be one of the chosen few to enter Rice-Eccles Stadium and witness the conclusion of the 2020 Monster Energy Supercross season in person. That my life’s journey got me in the gates where many others dreamed of being. To see what will inevitably be the most historic time in our sport and our world for that matter.
For media guys like myself, it’s often easy to take for granted the places you go, the people you see, the things you do, and even sometimes the website you love with all your heart. But sitting in a damn near empty stadium, mask on face and six feet apart, with the ability to hear pen drops between races, while also knowing we re-launched vurbmoto, I was in the most unfamiliar position this sport has ever taken me, and it really helped me to appreciate how things have come full circle and that I have made a career chasing a childhood dream.
Hell I don’t even know where I’m going with this, but it’s basically to say it’s a dream come true to have this site up and running again. It’s a dream come true that dirtbikes have shaped my life to this extent. It’s a dream come true to write something at this URL again. And it’s a dream come true that I get to continue being a historian of our sport for many years to come. In my opinion, there’s been a massive void since we closed the doors in 2016, and I truly couldn’t be more excited to reopen these floodgates.
Thank you all for your continued trust and support, it’s humbling to say the least, and we look forward to making tons of magic in the near future. Whether it’s an empty stadium in SLC, Millcreek Summer Classic, Loretta Lynn’s, or your favorite showdown at Chickenlick Raceway, we’ll be seeing you around.
Viva la vurb.
