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Red Dirt Trackcraft
Late afternoon sun raking across an empty hardpack motocross track, long shadows sitting in the ruts, a red course marker leaning at the edge of the berm

A private motocross track, read from the fence

Reading a private motocross track, from the fence

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PROGRAMEvery story, dated

The whole site in one register, newest first, all four series mixed.

  1. A rider walking the inside of a corner on foot, crouching to touch the surface with one hand, tire marks fanning out across the entry behind them

    · Reading the Track · in writing

    How to read a track before you ride it

  2. A steep jump face seen from the approach in bright sun, the lip edge crisp, two parallel tire marks climbing it and stopping exactly at the crest

    · Jumps and Ruts · in writing

    Jump faces: speed, gear and a clean takeoff

  3. A water truck laying a fine sheet of water across a straight at dusk, the surface dark in stripes where the spray has already passed

    · Track Care · in writing

    Watering a track: how much, and when

  4. A dirt parking area at seven in the morning, riders looking toward a track whose first corner still holds a dark band of water, coffee cups on a tailgate

    · Reading the Track · in writing

    Reading the conditions from the parking lot

  5. Gear laid out flat on a garage floor in rows: boots, knee guards, a chest protector, gloves and goggles, a notebook with a pencil lying in the corner

    · Gear and the Weekend · in writing

    A gear checklist for a day on the track

  6. The inside of a tall berm photographed low, its face polished smooth and darker than the flat behind it, small clods thrown out onto the verge

    · Jumps and Ruts · in writing

    Berms: carrying speed through the turn

  7. A compact tractor dragging a chain harrow across a flat corner, the loosened surface behind it lighter and freshly scored, a rake leaning on the bucket

    · Track Care · in writing

    Grooming a track with a small tractor and a rake

  8. A corner photographed from a drone height showing three distinct dark lines through the same berm, the middle one widest and most worn

    · Reading the Track · in writing

    Riding lines: where the clock is actually won

  9. A dirt bike on a blue stand in the shade of a canopy, a chain tool and a rag on a crate, the rear wheel off the ground and still turning

    · Gear and the Weekend · in writing

    Between motos: the maintenance stand routine

  10. A shadowed corner cut by four deep ruts running side by side, a rider boot on the ground at the edge, the churned dirt lighter where it has been pushed out

    · Jumps and Ruts · in writing

    Rut corners: picking a line and holding it

  11. A half-built berm seen from the outside, a stacked face of cut sod still visible at one end, a shovel and a tape measure resting on the flat beside it

    · Track Care · in writing

    Building a berm that lasts a season

  12. A straight seen side-on in late light, its surface cut into a regular line of braking bumps, dust hanging low over the far half of the lane

    · Jumps and Ruts · in writing

    Whoops and braking bumps on a beaten straight

  13. A row of red and white marker boards along the top of a berm, one leaning, with a yellow flag tied to a thin pole against an overcast sky

    · Reading the Track · in writing

    Course markers, flags and what they tell you

  14. A tent and a pickup backed up to each other on grass beside a track at dusk, a lantern on the tailgate, the track lights still on in the distance

    · Gear and the Weekend · in writing

    Camping at the track: a weekend base that works

  15. A shallow swale cut along the outside of a corner after heavy rain, water running out of it at one end, the track surface behind it still holding puddles

    · Track Care · in writing

    Drainage: keeping a track rideable after rain

  16. A sign-in table at the edge of a track in the morning, a board with group times written in chalk, riders unloading a bike from a ramp in the background

    · Gear and the Weekend · in writing

    First time at a track: how a practice day runs

01-04The four series

Where the stories sit, and what each series takes on.

Series of Red Dirt Trackcraft
SeriesWhat it coversStories
01 · Reading the Track4
02 · Jumps and Ruts4
03 · Track Care4
04 · Gear and the Weekend4

Start here

How to read a track before you ride it ·

From the desk

DESKWhat the desk keeps current

The pages this desk rewrites most often, reread each time the season or the surface changes.

  1. A rider walking the inside of a corner on foot, crouching to touch the surface with one hand, tire marks fanning out across the entry behind them

    · Reading the Track · in writing

    How to read a track before you ride it

  2. A rider standing at the fence line looking down a hardpack straight, one hand flat on the top rail, dark braking marks visible at the entry of the corner

    · Series · in writing

    Reading a motocross track: line, grip and marks

  3. A compact tractor with a box blade smoothing a damp corner of a motocross track, water spray still dark on the surface behind it

    · Series · in writing

    Track care: water, grooming and the week between rides

  4. A workbench against a garage wall with a stack of track notebooks, a tape measure, a camera body and a coil of survey tape on the surface

    · The desk · in writing

    About the Red Dirt Trackcraft desk