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Red Dirt Trackcraft

Series 01 · Reading the Track

Reading a motocross track: line, grip and marks

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

Stories in this series

  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 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

Read this series next to Jumps and Ruts, and the desk note on the about page.