To say that Chad “de-throned” Ricky is giving him way too much credit. Ricky left on top, and let the rest fight for the top spot. If anyone was close to dethroning him it was Stewart. Regardless, that was such a magnificent era of motorcycle racing. Mad respect to all 3

The morning after winning his first perfect mx season....RC was up at 6am working out. You can't beat that kind of work ethic mixed with talent.

Ricky is one of those rare athletes, that he found EXACTLY what his mind and body would be perfect at.

As someone who has attended sx races in 6 decades and been riding on and off for all of those decades, I would have to say the biggest change is the corporatization of motorsports like supercross. Monster energy and 4 stroke only designed tracks has made supercross something that resembles a sporting event from the movie "Idiocracy". It has become a caricature of itself. Long ways from spring 1978 when the parking lot at Pontiac Silver dome was full of campers .pickup trucks, and box vans. and racers amatuer and pro tuning bikes in the parking lot.

I think that James Stewart was the fastest person I’ve ever seen on a dirt bike. But it didn’t translate into the championships like Megrath and Carmichael. But Stewart just amazed me with the speed at which he attacked tracks.

Its called progression. Ricky is the goat. The problem started when 2 strokes went away imo, and the way tracks are designed. Back in the day there would be parts of the track that only the best could try to hit. I don't really see that anymore. I don't care what anyone says 2 strokes are harder to be fast on the 4 strokes.

Aldon Baker was 100% a major influence on premature burn-out in the careers of top racers from Ricky to Villopoto, Dungy ect. They all packed it in too young. Anderson was wise to get away from that regime in my opinion

Ricky only elevated the sport. Dude was rad

Love the moment in world championship when Håkan Carlqvist stopped midrace to take a sip from a beer and keep going to win the race. Will never happen again

Don't overlook Jeannie Carmichael. She played a big part in Ricky's development and demanded perfection

Chad is making a lot of sense. I slowly faded away from watching the sport after Villapoto.

Let’s not leave RV out of the conversation!!!

Gypsy does it again. The ability to create a open, honest, blunt, non judgemental space by just being himself and others can be their self is amazing.

I feel so lucky to have seen ( in person ) riders like Roger Decoster , Bob Hannah and Ricky Carmichal in their prime just obliterating everything in their paths . Roger put motocross on the map . Bob Hannah was so fast and determined that they joked about making him start backwards just to give everyone else a chance . Ricky was Hannah part two and Hannah saw that . I feel very lucky to have seen that . PK

Maybe the switch from 2 stroke to 4 stroke made a huge difference nobody had realized

"You (Chad) dethroned Ricky..." - dude stop. Chad is a legend, but this did not happen

Everything has just gotten so refined technically, which is natural "progression"- the bikes (more complex than ever), the tracks (go take a look at a video of the epic RJ vs. Bailey battle at Anaheim '86 to see what that track was like), the riders (nutrition, physical training, starting at very young age, etc), and the business/team side has changed dramatically too. With this refinement, the raw-ness and fun has taken a hit (and don't even get me started about how we no longer have sweet 2 stroke music and smells, haha). On the plus side, the field is deeper and we have more manufacturers involved. But regardless of all of this, it's the greatest sport in the world!!!!!

I agree in a 110 percent! On that time, we felt you guys fighting hard and from the heart! Every single weekend was a show! Thank you all for the moments you guys provide us!

It seemed to me what made Ricky so good was he could make that bike pivot in a corner so cleanly and get going sooner. The battles that him and james had were pretty dam good.

ricky lapped me because i kept crashing trying to keep up. and the next day i sold and gave away all my bikes and got a job. you gotta know when to hold em know when to fold em. nobody could beat tricky ricky, same with mcgrath. they trained so hard and dominated everyone with dedication and determination to be the best and they deserve every bit of success they've earned. ive never seen someone go so fast on the worse test track conditions ever seen. i couldnt even keep up the pace for 2 laps and i was spent and this dude fro florida just clicked off 30 laps like nothing, his speed and consistency was and will be some of the greatest moments ever seen in mx. being on the track with him was surreal, that one day changed my outlook on whats it takes to be the best.

I agree in almost every way, except that it ended with the Stewart era. Villopoto was definitely an era, he was dominate in a way we hadn't seen in a while and haven't seen since.

Here's my take: MX/SX became the straight-laced corporate side of dirt bikes, and the free-riding guys have taken the "Havasu" mantle from moto racing. MX/SX will never go back, but if you want that freedom-loving, party vibe, it's still kinda there, but it's with the freestyle guys. Look at Axell. He has a genuine love for riding because he ISN"T racing, and from all appearances, he is enjoying the hell out of life.

RC was so much more talented than anyone else, and worked his ass off. I liked this interview, because they cover that fact, and brush off the "just worked harder" absurd type of thinking, which to be honest I have never heard about RC. Universally, the vast majority of people simply rate RC as the best to ever come along.

Chad Reed never replaced Ricky, Chad only won when the top guys weren't there.

I can't disagree to harshly with Reed here, because this is pretty out of date. Yes, things are changing, and what he said might've been true in '09, but what we're seeing - with JA and Eli on top, and the general transparency of many top riders (AC talking about his injuries, etc) - is a renewed love for racing by the top riders. IMO, the guard is already changing. Aldon's days as the kingmaker are numbered: Webb had enough, and he's still looking good (a mediocre start to the season, but he's getting better, and might even be back in the contention if he continues to improve), and team managers are talking about keeping the riders happy. That's the line, and you can see it in the interviews, and on the track: Eli is having fun. El Hombre is having fun. Roczen ISN'T having fun (but he wants to be). Mookie is mostly having fun. The old model, of being in superhuman physical shape, and having the mind of a samurai, is showing its weaknesses, and more attention is being paid to mental fitness and enjoyment.

Reed is being politically correct about it, but McGrath was the last Champ that got radical publicly. With stiffer competition, the fun will be squeezed out of anything. It's about dollars & sense today not filming Crusty Demons getting hammered and crazy all weekend. Reed & Windyam my favorite riders from thay era.

1:05 Wait, WHAT? Chad never dethroned Ricky. I know Chad is your fellow countrymen, but that just did not happen. Chad may have succeeded Ricky, but he did not dethrone him.

I miss the Hannah/Howerton/etc era but also I was in love with the Johnson/Ward/Bailey/O'Mara/Glover/Lechien/etc. era. Just two magical, transformative eras in motocross. the Stanton/Bayle era was good but the drop-off had began IMO. Carmichael picked up where the others left off. Thankful to have seen all of these riders in person

I was at Daytona Supercross 98. RC was new, on a 125, and was a second faster than Jerey McGraff on his 250, in the sand. Both riders were amazing in their day.

Can we get Chad traded out for Leigh Diffy in the booth!! I would be great to see Chad, Ricky and James announcing !

Sir Chad Reed you are 100% right. There is very little LOVE in this sport anymore The crazy training, counting calories and burning out is not what motocross is about

It was more fun to watch when the riders were riding two stroke bikes for me.

Ricky was never dethroned the way McGrath was. He stopped winning because he wanted to retire, not because he couldn’t. Who knows how many more titles he could’ve won.

Chad is a standout imo ..he left his home country from a young age to pursue his dream in world Mx and then SX ..and succeeded all the way to the top..definitely one of the toughest yet is such a cool dude and giving so much back to the sport he Loves

Time line is about the same time as when fourstrokes made racing boring. Two stroke racing was so much better.

I specifically remember when Chad came over to race in the US. He felted we owed him a 250 ride. He whined and complained when he had to ride the 125 class. Ricky never complained. Ricky worked hard and represented his sponsors well. Ricky didn't even complain when Honda did not renew his contract and he was forced to ride a Suzuki. When did any manufacturer EVER not renew a contract with the current world champion in any motorsport? Never. The Big 4 conspired to help Suzuki regain a little market share by putting RC on yellow and showing that Suzuki did make a good bike. Suzuki was not competitive on track nor in sales. Travis Pastrama had just left MX and there was a huge void in the Suzuki lineup. Despite numerous clutch failures and DNFs, RC rescucitated Suzuki. Chad was a good rider, but no where near as good as Ricky Carmichael or James Stewart.

We all know who dethroned Ricky and it wasn't Chad. It took the fastest rider of all time AKA James Stewart. Chad is an elite rider but let's be honest he held down 3rd place while Ricky and James were on the track

I grew up watching all of the old motocross heads like McGrath, larrocco, Emig, Stewart, etc. But I love when reed says it seems like it’s no longer fun anymore, because in todays motocross and supercross world it seems like more of a job and no longer fun. A lot of great moments/battles in motocross history for sure.

Reed got on the podium at buds creek and i was front row watching, it was hot as hell, and when they went to spray champagne 🍾 Chad Reed looked me dead in the eye and B-lined straight towards me and sprayed the champagne in my face. Lol. Thanks for cooling me off.

I see 100% where he is coming from. But it seems to me a slow shift is coming back to the fun side. The 250 interviews are pretty layed back, and tomac and anderson seem to be actually enjoying riding same with craig.

Anyone else see that spark/magic he talks about in Jett? He's the next one!!!

Ricky vs James outdoors was just amazing! James was capable of the fastest laps but RC would keep almost the same pace for the entire race until he was top of box. The races were RC had bad start or went down were amazing… Dungey/RV was good stuff too but just didn’t last enough seasons… burn out thing, plus that RV leg injury at GP didn’t help

The end of two strokes did it for me

Yeah,supercross isn't what it used to be. My buddies and I used to ride our bikes almost every day back in the 90's. We used to go to nearly every motorsports event at either the Tacoma Dome and the Kingdome. My most memorable Supercross was 2-1-92 at the Kingdome. Damon Bradshaw was my favorite rider and he won that night. I didn't even have a Yamaha,I had a CR80. 😂 Now I'm in my mid 40's. I still ride,but I still have an old ass bike. 1990 KLR 250. I like having having an older bike because I don't really have to worry if it gets scraped up,stolen or wrecked or something? I'm not out a small fortune.it is still in nice shape considering it's 32yrs old.

As someone who’s been in charge of doing analysis and making decisions for professional athlete training for almost 10 years now, Chad is right. In regular pro sports we account for guys going and partying, living up life and not being able to always stick to the schedule we have planned. Motocross has more of a military training attitude or triathlete training mentality than a pro athlete training mentality. Just an observation but it’s also related to most motocross physical trainers and coaches being in the Stone Age when it comes to sport science.

Interesting to have this conversation directly after yesterdays upload with Gared Steinke saying he never wanted that racers life of today with all the working out, training, and regiment. He just wants to race for fun. I think it's also safe to say there are several well known riders out there that did the racing thing early on and then found out they could make more money freeriding and have fun doing it. Crazy world. Great topic btw, and you guys are absolutely right, I think that the vast majority of the current day pro riders don't like what they're doing anymore. They're like robots when they're being interviewed.

Sorry it stopped after RV2. Ryan was special and could of won a ton more..

So true! Motocross lacks the personalities, character, and spirit that comes with loving what you do. Chad Reed was the last rider I had a serious interest in. Before that, Emig, Stanton, Bradshaw and riders like that kept our attention and made the sport fun. I think this is one example of what Ronnie Mac is spoofing on. It's also why I'm such a big fan of Uncle Ron. He's everything the sport has lost in the riders, and the entertainment we're missing.

Their rivalry was so minuscule compared to what it could have been. James was always injured, and in the year Chad won the title Ricky was injured. I think their rivalry was more an idea than something that actually happened very often. But when all three were on the track together and close it was super exciting…. that is definitely lost nowadays sadly.

I'll never forget seeing Ricky race for the last time.. got to see him his last time at Hangtown outside of Sacramento, he won the race (both if I remember correctly), and then did a victory lap with his helmet off, it was surreal

4 strokes are tooo dam expensive . No weekend warrior can afford race bikes anymore or the modifications.

Best SX years when Carmichael, James and Reed were all on the track.

For whoever is new to this sport. Chad Reed never once dethroned Ricky. Ricky is the G.O.A.T for a fucking reason.

Back in 75, I raced at Elsinore TT track , and we used to pound beers and smoke joints before and during races, I trophied several times. In 98, I tried that before just riding tracks, and crashed constantly . Different times !

The love of the sport isn't as prevelant as it once was with the riders and I hope the next generation can bring that back. Starting to look like danger, casey cochran, and some of these younger guys are getting tired before even making it to the money

Hasn’t this happened in every sport since 2000s? Literally everything. Min maxed

This happens in every sport with every generation. I quit watching basketball when MJ retired. Quit watching football when Peyton manning retired, quit watching Nascar when Dale died. Quit watching Supercross when Ricky retired. But there's still young kids that see the new guys as we saw the legends.

The part of people around the riders forcing them to be pro 100 percent accurate. If they take a break from the sport n come back they will love it every second.

I don't think kids these days realize how good RC was

Love the reality check I hope it is for many and maybe even someone in charge will be moved by this conversation and learn to relax a little bit.

Rickys corner speed/line selection was ridiculous, aside from his fitness and determination his cornering was probably the greatest assest to his ability

Tomac loves what he does which is why he's not burned out, which is why he is so fast, which is why he is breaking records and setting records

IMO TOP 5 MOTOCROSS RIDERS OF ALL TIME (*there are a few combinations/other outliers IMO like Eli Tomac,Chad Reed, Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey, Roger DeCoster, Jeffrey Herlings, Tony Cairoli, Ricky Johnson) 1)Ricky Carmichael 2)James Stewart 3)Bob Hannah 4)Jeremy McGrath 5)Stefan Everts

Its funny that chad said everyone including himself was watching RC yet RC has said MANY times that James was the fastest rider he has ever seen or competed against.. i also think that rly rly pisses chad off

Ricky set the bar for Motocross racing. Maybe Ricky took it to another level but his result can't be denied. It's not for everyone. There is a great documentary on Ryan Villopoto on this subject how the sport has changed. It's way harder for the riders, mentally, physically, family life and diet. Keep in mind it's only a sport like any other. It's not the end of life for most of these guys.

I think that was the reflect of the SX/MX evolution. As everything, there is evolution with the time, and Ricky was the spark of the new evolution and development towards a more competitive era, and I think, it put the sport in a higher level for everyone on the pits to catch up and became more demanding due to new competition goals. XX

Reed did not dethrone Carmichael,reed won cause Carmichael set out to fix a knee injury,came back following year and took back his title and reed never took it away from Carmichael.

Personally watching Danny Magoo Chandler was what the sport was all about regardless how it ended, Most ride with the whole year in back of mind, Danny rode every lap like you were trying to steal his bike! Best quote you’ll ever hear, “ Guys out there trying to figure out the triple jump, Danny cleared it cleaning out his carburetor in practice” Brad Lackey…

Best overall & consistent - RC4 Purely Fastest ever - JS7 Best supercross / bike control - MC2

Jeremey McGrath said it best, sometimes Ricky is super smooth and sometimes he’s totally out of control but he’s always going fast!

Aldon Baker. When Anderson left the Baker factory I commented on the announcement " now you can live" both his parents agreed. Carmichael is one of my all time favorite riders.

GOAT! CR22 laying down truth. Bakers Factory mentality is why the athletes get burnt out! They don’t live for the race when their whole life is training only.

It always feels like CR doesn't give Stewart his flowers..even Ricky has said that James is the fastest he has ever seen and raced

i remember as a 12 year old at kenworthys MX track in Troy, Ohio. I met all my favorite riders at the time except for McGrath. Him and Ricky were my favorites. McGrath was as smooth as butter, and Ricky was gritty and tough. I got all their autographs met Pastrana at 16 years old on the 199 RM 125. We waited on RC to sign autographs he wasnt the friendliest at the time. He may have been having a bad day. My hotel room was beside Brock Sellards at the time. I thought that was cool. My takeaway RC was a$$ but i could be wrong. any other fans have this experience?

finally a real expert says what I've been saying all along. Rickys talent is/was a off the chart. (taking nothing from James and Chad)

Back in the day, racing and free riding was a lifestyle, it was an attitude, it was a key component of who we were and effected every aspect of our lives, with extreme passion and intensity on and off the track. Today it's more of a full-time job, it's similar to punching a clock in a factory. Once you're off the track, you go on with life, like everyone else. However that also could be a change in society that dictates it to a certain degree... MX/SX is seen as a corporate mainstream professional career instead of a crazy fringe hobby we all lived and loved.

RC was great for sure but i have huge issue calling him the goat, thats obviously showtime, hes won more, more charismatic,t he ladies love him and he single handed brought supercross back, mcgrath is and always will be the goat

100% percent agree with everything Reed said except id add that Ricky dethroned McGrath, reed and Stewart dethroned Ricky, villopoto dethroned reed/Stewart

Sounds to me like Reed is saying, without really saying it, is this is just a job now. Which makes 100% sense. The way he talks about it, is the same way Casey Stoner talked about MotoGP and is the reason he retired. Like anything, it's all about making money - Supercross/Motocross is about about = bike sales at the end of the day. How do you get there? Results. You get the results by trying to one-up the other riders by training like an elite endurance athelete. I also agree, SX/MX just isn't the same. I grew up in the McGrath era-Vilapoto era. Perhaps some of the greatest racing in history. How do you top that? I haven't really watched in years since...

RC4 revolutionized MX. He took it from just dirt bike racing to requiring yourself to be a professional athlete to win races.

Ricky not sure he would be as dominant today. For sure riders wouldn’t put up with his take out your competition in order to get by riding style. Today your take a guy out, he pays you back. Ride clean and your competitor’s file suite.

Eve Roczen said while try all the different bikes... "I learned to love it again"

No one better than RC and JS7. CR22 wasn’t all that. He was great but never the fastest. Never liked the goat but he was a beast. James was the ultimate showman

Poto vs dungey is just as good as anything.

All the champions since Hannah/Glover late 70s trained like mad men. O'Mara and Bailey use to compete in triathlons. Barnett rode hours every day wfo on his gnarly ungroomed paractice track. I think MC lasted because he didn't burn out. He gave up MX and just run SX. He went to the lake and partied and recharged after a race....bottom line if you can charge a whole moto/heat from start to finish that's the top condition you can be in, why over train. Body needs rest as well and so does the brain/spirit.

Those days were amazing with the beat battles, Carmichael, Stewart, reed....

Saw same thing happen in downhill mountain biking, was way more fun to race when gym training was not needed! But that is what happens to every sport when money is on the line. but just riding for fun can still be considered training!

It's so funny to hear this discussion because it is the same one across all sports. Even downhill. People try to say Gwin came.in and took it too seriously & no alcohol this, all work that. It really just boils down to the the information age catching up. Heart rate monitors became available, training data could be tracked more accurately, sleep cycles...better understanding of nutrition & recovery cycles. Guys like Jeff Stanton and Johnny O'Mara retired, got into cycling & started learning from elite European scientists in France, etc who trained road cyclists. Those trainers were directly funded by their governments to win Olympic medals. O'Mara, etc brought that information and training to MTB & Moto. And guess whose DAD was one of those international ROAD racers before he got into MTB? That's right...John Tomac. Ricky's generation wasn't the training era...they were the first legitimate information era.

Great interview fascinating insights,chad reed is a legend and Supercross has become stale since the greats retired

Correction, Carmichael was never dethroned.

Hahahah wtf, Reed never de-throned Carmichael. Not in the slightest sense.

I don’t think there’s anything left for speed . The bikes , the riders , the tracks the fitness . Is maxed out they can’t go any faster and the winners are just the ones who are gambling in the danger zone and don’t crash . That’s why James was blaze of glory or crash and burn . Rolled the dice every race , especially in suoercross .I think the sport needs rule changes . Maybe something like every other race is a 2 stroke race with track designs from the 90s or entire sand tracks . Shake things up and let them race bikes not just holding on for life at the pinnacle of speed .

RC didn't ruin it, he got there first. Anything competitive and someone is going to take it as far as possible. Look at gaming. It went from an Xbox and a TV. Now it's $2000 monitors, $10k gaming pc's, $300 controllers and fiber optic connection. Those saying ricky ruined it are the ones that don't or didn't want to work as hard as him. It's a race... who crosses the finish line first, everything else is mute.

If that’s the argument let’s talk about MC. Ricky worked his ass off to beat that guy.

RC used to train on a road bicycle. I heard him say (paraphrasing) you know you’re training hard when you collapse in a field with no one around to see it. That’s the kind of commitment it takes now and that can’t be fun to train at that level all the time.

With Ricky Carmichael he never got cocky if you don't get cocky you don't think you're the s*** then there's always room for improvement you just keep on excelling when you think you're the best you stop trying

I saw RC at Southwick his rookie year. He rode that awesome pro circuit kx125. He hit those corner ruts at full speed, sideways and crooked only to hit them perfect and fly out . He is amazingly good.

I would think this podcast would have way more attention and way more subs than 87k

Bring back two bangers and you bring back racing.

Chad only won when Ricky and James got injured...FACT!