20-year-old Gilroy racer Mike Rush makes a big motorcycle racing
splash, taking the checkered flag at the flat-track in Florida
Gilroy – While other kids were still struggling to grasp basic reading and writing skills, 4-year old Mike Rush climbed aboard his first motorcycle. Now 19, his inclination for bikes has been transformed into a source of pride and income.
Rush, a Gilroy native, became the front-runner for the 2007 American Motorcycle Association championship, flat track division, after placing second and first at the circuit’s first two events March 7 and 8 at Daytona Beach, Fla. The achievement netted Rush $3,510 and represents a high in his three-year career.
Though he’s excited about his success, Rush is not surprised.
“It’s been a dream I always wanted to do,” he said. “My uncles Dominic and Anthony, they bought me a little bike when I was young. They’ve been doing it since they were little. Ever since I’ve been little, I’ve been wanting to do it too.”
Rush first raced when he was 5, wrestling a Yamaha PW50 – nearly 30-inches tall and weighing about 80 pounds – around curves to finish second.
From there, the budding professional continued to take part in competitions every weekend. As he got older, he began to practice during the week to get ahead of competitors. Soon he was riding every day.
When in Gilroy
For Rush, riding motorcycles was not just a sport to be practiced – it was a way of life.
Along with his uncles and family, Rush went on camping trips where riding bikes was the main event. Nearby Hollister Hills and Clear Creek, state-owned off-highway vehicle recreation areas in Hollister, were favorite haunts. When older, Rush also frequented these places with his friends, most all of whom also ride motorcycles.
While these parks contain more hilly terrain, in competition Rush stayed in the flat track category, which features competitors riding 25 laps around a quarter-mile to mile-length dirt track with few or no jumps.
Within this category, however, the tracks do vary and Rush bases his choice of motorcycle on the terrain.
“On the rough tracks, you want a soft suspension so it sucks up everything off all the holes and bumps,” he said.
Suspension, engine size and tire types are just part of what makes a bike worthy of riding, and a superficial part at that, Rush said.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Rush has an intimate knowledge of bikes thanks to his passion for working on them as well. For the majority of his life, he maintained and modified his own bikes. He also worked at a dirt bike shop during his high school years.
Last year, however, after two years on the professional circuit and a 20th-place finish in 2006, he was scooped up by the Dave Burks Motorsports team and given a mechanic to tend to his team-supplied Suzukis.
“They just want me to focus on riding it, not working on it,” Rush said.
While the team keeps some sponsor money, it hooks him up with the materials and means to race. In addition, Rush keeps 90 percent of any winnings from his races and gives the other 10 percent to his mechanic.
Now an entrenched member of the professional circuit, he has 19 races ahead of him this year, most of which will come during the summer out at tracks in the Mid-West.
The dozens of other riders on the track with him will be vying for the number one spot, which Rush is hanging on to with only a three-point lead.
“There’s a lot of fast guys out there,” he said. “I’ve just got to be consistent.”
Only Human
Back in Gilroy this week, the 19-year old was feted by his parents Friday night for his recent win at Daytona Beach. It could have been as much a celebration of his coming home in one piece.
Rush’s mother “doesn’t like going to the races too much,” he said. “I make her nervous, she says.”
She has a right to be nervous as Rush – who is 5-foot 8-inches and 130 pounds – rides bikes weighing about 220 pounds at speeds of up to 140 mph. In his 15 years of riding, he has had multiple accidents, smashing his collarbone, bruising his ribs and breaking both of his wrists nearly half a dozen times apiece.
To ward off injuries, Rush wears a veritable suit of armor. Knee braces take strain off his joints as he plants his foot and pivots around sharp corners. A chest protector blocks rocks spun up by the wheels of other riders and protects against impact against the handlebars. A back brace gives extra support to the spine and neck in case he is thrown from the bike.
Rush also has his own method of escaping harm.
“You just try to fall as smooth as you can,” he said. “I just try to curl up into a ball and not flop around too much.”
Despite these distractions, Rush has a long road and many races ahead before he can claim the 2007 championship and the $15,000 bonus that comes with it. However, he is calm about the days ahead.
There’s no secret to success, he said, just the right combination of the right stuff.
“I’ve just been riding a lot and I’ve got a good team and good bikes and hopefully it’s going to be a good year,” he said.
