While watching the first moto at Hangtown last weekend it occured to me yet again that it doesn't get much better than watching Kevin Windham ride a dirt bike. Silky smooth, with his trademark low elbows and leaning way over the front, Windham makes riding a motocross bike look effortless.
It is one thing to go as fast as anyone in the world on a motocross bike by trying hard, getting out of shape and riding on pure heart. However, it is another thing to beat the best in the world while in total control, with a fluid, technically perfect and yet nonchalent style. It is almost magical to witness and something that very very few guys in the world have the skill to perform. Kevin Windham is one of those guys.
Windham led the first fifteen minutes of race one at Hangtown, despite only riding the bike once prior to the race. Nothing has changed, the pace is still there, his style flawless. You could have been forgiven for thinking you were watching the 1999 Hangtown National, Kevin's first year on big red. The sheer riding talent Kevin has is unbelievable, his transfers during the supercross series are becoming stuff of legend, his performance in Las Vegas stunned even James Stewart, and everyone loves watching him ride including the great Ricky Carmichael. Windham oozes control, class and style on a bike.
Guys like Kevin Windham or Stefan Everts, Christophe Pourcel, Jeremy McGrath, JMB, David Bailey, Steve Ramon and Chad Reed to name a few aren't just motocross riders, they are artists on a motocross bike. Ignore the titles they have or have not won but look at their riding style, and when everything clicks there is no one better, smoother or faster on the track. These are the guys that make you want to ride, they turn motocross from a tough rough mistake strewn sport and make it beautiful. They float over bumps, and flow effortlessly round corners, they glide around the most treachorous track and make the difficult look easy.
For me these riders are worth the admission price alone, in the same way the Barcelona football team currently encapsulate the beatiful game played the perfect way, and Roger Federer has transformed tennis into a sublime artform, these guys encapsulate how everyone should want to ride a motocross bike. It is motocross the right way, the way it should be - motocross in the purest form.
Kevin Windham is a pleasure to watch and for any fan or aspiring rider out there, take some time to closely watch the way he rides a motorcycle, and enjoy the last couple of seasons of one of the smoothest most naturally talented riders the world has ever seen.
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