by Landen Hill
Many Ouray students feel cooped up in school from day to day, and their answer to that feeling, often, is Motorsports. A lot of students spend a lot of time in class dreaming about zooming into the back country on the weekend, on two or four wheels.
Sophomore Roman Sackman tries to get out once a week on one vehicle or another. He said that he likes to ride “dirtbike, trials bike, fourwheeler, jetski, and snowmobiles.” Ouray is the perfect place to pursue this pastime, he said. “There are a lot of places to do motorsports.”
3rd grader Teagan Hill is very talented with motorsports. Teagan said he has motored on “water, land, and snow.” At eight years old, he is developing his skills by riding snowmobiles and four wheelers, and he has ridden along with a parent on a jet ski. Even as a passenger, he said, it is a very fun experience riding.
Sophomore Ethan Wood has done lots of different motorsports, just like Roman and Teagan, but has had more opportunities to ride. He usually rides, he said, “around here, Peach Valley, in Moab, and nearly half of the country” because of his family’s long road trips to new motorsport environments. Ethan states that riding “could be a stress reliever but is mostly a way of having fun.”
In motorsports there are lots of different skill levels. Roman, Ethan, and Teagan all have different skill levels but they all have lots of fun doing it. In motorsports there people want to discover more and challenge themselves. To challenge themselves they will either try harder obstacles or try to stay consistent while operating the vehicle. I like to challenge myself while dirt biking because without the challenge it's not as fun. Repeating the same obstacles is not really having as much fun as riding in new areas or environments.
The sound of a dirt bike when it's wide open is such a good feeling and sound. It's “a place where you can forget everything,” said Roman. When I am riding my dirtbike, nothing matters except the speed and fun I’m having. One thing that Roman said that I agree with is that motorsports will always provide that “free feeling” and the emotion that can not be experienced doing anything else.