Motocross: It revs in the family

[totalmotorcycle]

Motocross: It revs in the family
Monday, November 27, 2006 - By ALISHA J. RICARDI, The Virginian-Pilot -content.hamptonroads.com




Lindsey Greer watched through her 1-year-old eyes as one by one, members of her family rode around a small dirt track one evening this summer.

Four engines growled as the motorcycles whipped around the dirt course. Lost in their own world, the Greers zipped into the woods until the only evidence of them was the dull buzz of their bikes heard in the distance.

But they soon came ripping back into the open air, one Greer right behind another, uncle Jason guiding the way, followed by Lindsey's dad George, mom Heather, and 6-year-old brother Carter tagging behind.

On the side Lindsey sat with her grandfather, George H. Greer - Big George, the man who kick-started the legacy of a clan of cross-country dirt-bike racers known for their name and the success they've enjoyed.

Jason's name is the most recognizable of all the Greers, with his record seven Virginia State Grand Champion titles. There's a reason his bike bears the No. 1 plate.

Among the 500-700 state riders the Greers compete with each year, not only is Jason the leader of the pack, but his older brother George isn't far behind. As the oldest professional cross-country rider in Virginia, George, 35, ranks No. 4. Even after 25 years of racing, he remains one of the state's best.

George's 35-year-old wife, Heather, also adds to the family resume. Despite having never ridden a bike before meeting George as a senior in high school, she became a pioneer of women's racing. She helped develop the state's first competitive women's class in 1996. Ten years later, the class has grown so large that it is divided into three age divisions.

Riding is a major part of the lifestyle of the Greers, who spend most of their free time preparing for their lengthy races - they can cover anywhere from 40 to 100 miles - by swimming, bicycling and riding a few times a week. But it all began as a simple hobby passed on from a father to his sons.

George hit the clutch of his first bike when he was 10, after growing tired of watching his father, Big George, from the sideline. Big George was the state champion for 250CC riders in 1978 after taking up the sport a few years earlier. Seven days after he first jumped on a bike, young George was on the track competing as well.

At the time, Jason was 2 years old and already riding a two-wheel bicycle. The following year, he was trying out a small motorcycle.

"They just grew into it," said Big George, 58. "It's hard to find too many kids who don't like motorcycles and my boys were no different."

Over the years, the brothers would spend hours on the homemade track in their back yard while Big George studied the latest training techniques. Though Big George coached both his sons, Jason's early start gave him a leg up on the competition. By the time he was 7, Jason had won his first race.

He skyrocketed from there. Jason now has four class championships and 95 overall victories - a state record almost doubling the previous mark for wins - to accompany his Grand Champion status. He beat the No. 2 rider in the nation in his past two races, the second a Nov. 5 competition that was the last of the season's 15-race series and which guaranteed him enough points for his seventh Grand Champion title.

"Coming up through every class, I always hoped to get to No. 1," Jason said. "I went through the ranks and got it. I know I'm only 27, but I'm happy with where I've been and where I've gone."

Jason was set to make his second appearance at the prestigious Red Bull Last Man Standing race in Bulcher, Texas, Dec. 1-2, a national competition at which he was in 10th place last year before pit-stop mistakes led to a 20th-place finish. But Jason severed two tendons in his hand when he cut it with a box opener Nov. 11 while working on the Smithfield home he's building for his family and had to have surgery four days later, bagging the trip.

George was supposed to join Jason at Last Man Standing to face the nation's best riders for his first time, but chose not to attend without his brother, who faces an eight-week recovery.

It's no surprise.

Although Jason is eight years younger than George and ranks three places above him on the state level, there has never been any rivalry among the two.

"I've never thought of it like that," said George. "We're real close."

So close that even though the various family members live apart in Smithfield, Rushmore or Suffolk, they might as well live together during the competition season.

Every other weekend from March to November, the Greers pack into a van and drive across the state to races. The family works as a unit from there on. While Jason, George and Heather are riding the two- to three-hour events, Big George and wife Jean man the pit stops, refueling and providing snacks and water.

"One of the neatest things about this sport for us is that we're traveling as a family every weekend," said George, whose first child, Carter, began racing two years ago at age 4. "It's kept us real close."

The family has several sponsors these days, helping cut the costs of their traveling and equipment. But making riding a reality wasn't always so easy.

"I can remember many times when the motorcycles were held together with bailing wire," Big George said. "As long as we could buy the gas, they would ride.

"There is money to be won, but not enough to make a living off of. You do this because you love it."

And none of them are ready to stop.

Heather Greer, the head science administrator of Hampton schools, hopes to stay in the sport long enough to see a senior women's class develop - and to ride in it.

"I want to keep racing so that I can be on the track and be with my kids and have fun," she said. "We see uncles and cousins every other weekend; I don't know how many families do that."

George, a mechanical engineer, would like to race "until I can't throw my leg over a bike."

Jason, a nuclear metals inspector at the Naval Shipyard, where his father works as a nuclear engineering technician, wants to make sure he stays out of second place.

And all the Greers have one long-term aspiration: to pass their love of motorcycle racing to the next generation of Greers.

It shouldn't be difficult. Carter wanted to start riding when he was 4, before he'd even learned to ride a bicycle. So George tied a rope to a small motorcycle with training wheels, hung on and ran behind his son as Carter rode through the mud on a wet day.

Now Carter can't be kept away from his bike. He loves going fast and taking jumps. And when he soon outgrows the 50CC he rides - the smallest size motorcycle - it will be passed down to Jason's 2-1/2-year-old daughter, Holly, who can follow on the path Heather has paved.

"We can't keep anybody immune to this," George said with a laugh.

And then there's Lindsey, whose favorite toys include mini-motorcycles. At the practice session, she was fixated on Carter as he pulled off the track in stride with his family. Lindsey reached toward her brother, but it wasn't him she wanted.

She was reaching for the bike.