The Nevada track where motocross dreams never die

Reno Gazette Journal

Benjamin Spillman, bspillman@rgj.com

On race days everyone from octogenarians to local moms bond over a shared love for living out their motocross dreams

A racer takes a practice lap at the Fernley/Wadsworth Lions Club International Raceway in advance of the Old Timers International Moto-X which was held April 16-17.(Photo: Benjamin Spillman/RGJ)Buy Photo

Richard Lyons’ first motorcycle ride was a short one.

It involved riding a borrowed bike down the street far enough to realize he couldn’t stop it, going over a curb and crash landing between two homes.

Roughly six decades later Lyons, 80, has improved greatly.

The retired elementary school teacher from Phelan, Calif., was one of two octogenarians ripping around a Fernley motocross track during a recent race weekend.

Lyons, who has broken countless bones during his motocross exploits, doesn’t catch as much air on the jumps as he used to.

But his desire to push his body and his mind in competition hasn’t diminished.

“I can come out here now because I can get up in the morning, I’m healthy, I feel good and it is fun,” he said after taking his practice laps. “I do it for the fun.”

Lyons and James “Sonny” Neff were the two 80-year-olds among nearly 150 racers at the Old Timers Motocross Club Internationals.

Richard Lyons and James 'Sonny' Neff have been tearing up motocross tracks longer than many racers have been alive. They recently raced in Fernley, Nev. Benjamin Spillman/RGJ

It’s a racing circuit with events in the United States and Canada that caters to people of all ages ability levels who share a common desire to race motorcycles in competition.

“When you are out there on the track you can’t think about anything else,” said Sedanna Losey, 38, of Reno.

Losey, a former racer who gave up motocross while she was raising five children, recently returned to the sport she loves. She races through the Over the Hill Gang motocross club.

In 1998 Losey, who was raised in a family with six brothers and sisters and two parents who raced motorcycles, finished second overall in the women’s national series.

Now she’s riding with her husband and her own kids and rediscovering the adrenaline rush that comes with launching a 220-pound dirt bike airborne over distances of 40 or 50 feet.

Octogenarian racers James "Sonny" Neff and Richard Lyons line up in the starting gate at the Fernley/Wadsworth Lions Club International Raceway on April 15, 2016. (Photo: Benjamin Spillman/RGJ)

“You concentrate on what you are doing and try to do each lap better than the one before,” Losey said. “I like being able to be in control of the motorcycle.”

Although Losey comes from a racing background she says people who aren’t familiar with the sport have difficulty grasping the physical demands.

To get in shape for the track she takes aerobics classes and does strength training.

“They think you’re just riding a motorcycle, but you are making that motorcycle do every move it is making,” Losey said. “People can’t understand that until they ride one.”

The recent Fernley races were the second time back on the track for Jeff McCallum after eight years away.

“I didn’t do very well but I didn’t care,” said McCallum, 55, of Reno. “I’m healthy and that is the main thing.”

He described motocross racing as an addiction and said once people get a taste of the track the desire to ride again never disappears.

“It is something you just kind of have to do,” he said.

Watching the older riders helped inspire him to revive his own racing dreams.

“I have got no excuses, go ride,” McCallum says he told himself.  “If they can do it, I can do it.”