Monday Conversation: Blake Baggett
Monday, September 10, 2012 | 2:00 PM
Alpinestars has been delivering performance of the highest level on the motocross tracks of the world for almost 50 years. Racing on Sunday and developing on Monday is a way of life at Alpinestars. Welcome to the Racer X Monday Conversation.
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PrintEveryone was counting points for Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki's Blake Baggett heading into the final round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Lake Elsinore. Except Baggett. He set out to just win the race, figuring it's easier to treat the race like it was just another weekend on the schedule. The strategy worked, and Baggett is the new 250 National Champion. He talked about it post race.
Racer X: First off, congratulations on the championship! You carried the red plate from the first race of the year to the end, and in the four years we've been doing the red plate thing, you're the first to ever carry one through every single race. Tell us about the day and the championship.
Blake Baggett: The two weeks before coming into here I just didn't ride like myself. I knew I just needed to get up front. Fourteen points wasn't a lot when you started thinking about it. So I came out swinging. I figured we would either go to the front today or we would go down the drain. First moto was gnarly, I wanted to win it. [Justin] Barcia was right there, we were battling, then I got around him and all of a sudden [Eli] Tomac was right there…like right on my back tire! It was crazy! I was really glad to get that moto win, it gave me a little more of a cushion going into the last moto. But I wanted to win that one, too.
Everyone was talking about the scenarios. You know, if Tomac goes 1-1 you can go 3-4, or whatever. But it looks like today you just were going to try to win.
Yeah, all kinds of people were telling me all kinds of things coming in. They were saying I needed to finish here or do this or whatever. I just wanted to win [the race]. I feel like I ride a little better when I have a little bit of panic in me. It's really hard to try to finish third, I'd rather do what I normally do and just go into the race trying to win.
Blake Baggett clinched his first career 250 title at Lake Elsinore.
Simon Cudby photo
Yeah and you proved that in moto two when you had the title clinched, you had the overall wrapped up, and then you crashed trying to catch Barcia anyway!
[Laughs] I know! I wanted to win it so bad. I started way back, just got a horrible start; I was in the thirties. But I wanted to win it. I got into second and was just putting in the hardest charge that I could. I came into that corner way, way too fast. I figured I was just going to go flying off of the track, but I tried to make it, I locked up some front brake and crashed. I decided to hit the eject button! [Laughs]
Were you panicked? Were you afraid you might have broken something on the bike?
No. The crew was probably thinking I should chill out, but I still got up and tried to charge back and win the moto! [Laughs] I wanted to go 1-1. I don't know, a 1-2, it gets the overall, but I don't know, it just doesn't look as good, I guess.
[Laughs] So, people are going to think you have an advantage here because you're from California, but when was the last time you rode here?
Last time? It was on an 85, I think, not even a supermini. It was a long time ago. And even if I did race, it was maybe four or five times. I live closer to Glen Helen, so that's where I normally ride. I guess I just like staying up north!
So what did you think of the track?
I would be happier if the last race was at Hangtown! I like that track. But kind of like Hangtown it was hot and dry and rough. It was really hot, and I like the heat—the hotter the better for me. They did a lot of work to the place, you could tell that. When I first heard about it, I think we were all like, ‘Lake Elsinore, really?’ But they did a pretty good job.
A crash in the second moto didn't stop Baggett from charging back to get second in the moto.
Simon Cudby photo
You were a Team Green rider as an amateur. A lot of people are going to assume you just worked your way through the Kawasaki system and this road was pretty easy for you. But it really wasn't like that for you—the transition from amateur to pro was tough.
Yeah. In '09, we left Loretta's and we didn't have any offers. So we drove all the way back home, we were home for one day, and we decided we would just go and try some Nationals on our amateur bikes and see if we could get something going. We went to, I think it was Budds Creek, first, didn't do anything special there. Then Southwick, nothing. Finally at Steel City I got a fourth in a moto there. Then we came home and still nothing. Finally I got a call from Bobby Hewitt (Rockstar Suzuki) and I got a ride for 2010. We had some good motos, but then we went to Budds Creek, and I hated the place at the time, it was like my worst track—I won there this year so I guess I got some revenge. But at Budds Creek in 2010, I broke my arm in practice. That was it for me that year, I was done and I was just over it. Luckily Mitch [Payton] called and offered me a ride for 2011. We had a good year and won some races.
Yeah, so think back three years ago and you didn't even have a ride, or two years ago, you're on the couch with a broken arm. Were you even thinking, "Yeah, this is going well, I'm probably about two years out from winning the championship!"
[Laughs] No! Not at all! I wasn't even thinking about getting top fives back then, it was more like top 15s and I would have been happy! It was definitely tough at times, and my family was really there supporting me through it all. That's what really paid off for me. And of course everyone at the team, it's a great team to be on and I'm glad I could get them a championship.
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Dude is in shape like no other in the class, also has speed that only Tomac could match once in a wile.
@323MX Don't even start that, Aldon has been a huge advocate for MORE testing on the riders because he knows his guys are legit.
Congrats to Baggett, well deserved!
He's a 'fighter' thats for sure. Kelly Stavish: congrats on the MMA title! Ooops I mean the AMA title (neither of those Kelly!) Lucas oil had to be cringing. She makes Erin look good! Give her the boot!
@323mx
There are a select few that can do a program like Aldon puts riders through. What he gave Baggett was the tools to to be in that kind of shape. It was Baggett who did the work. Aldon has trained many riders
and some have been able to
weather the storm so to speak and
achieve that level. For some of the
greats like James Stewart it was not
for.
All the riders are in a drug pool and
are tested randomly. Do not taint the effort that Baggett put in this championship.
323mx, RD looked fine after 30+2 also!! I think you are just maybe a Tomac or Barcia fan??
I doubt there is anything you can take that can help you deal with the heat. some guys can just take it better than others, could be genetics, where you were raised, where you train, I dont know. Tomac and Roczen both fizzle out when its hot, doesnt seem to bother Baggett. Either way he deserved this title...
thats the stupidest thing ive ever heard, the top guys in both classesare subject to steroid testing at any time
@323MX What do you think Aldon has given him? you can't be for real dude. If this is a steroid thought, think again, steroids raises the body's core temperature...so that's not it. Stimulants? nope, same thing, it can raise the bodies temperature and cause heat illness. So how about BB is in phenomenal shape and has a great trainer who knows how to train for the heat....
So which career single digit number is he going to pick? 4, 6, or 8, or stick with 12.
Steroids are for a older group of athletes. The younger men do not need the extra Testosterone. Endurance comes from 1-2 years of consistant training, they develop this type of conditioning over a long period of time. You just can't decide your going to get in shape for a 30 minute + 2 under 6 months.
Having grown up in the inland So Cal heat, control of energy expenditure is key. You hit the wall much sooner when it is hot. I think Tomac is a great rider, but he seems to muscle the bike around more than Baggett. Same with Roczen. I think that Baggett isn't necessarily in better shape, just doesn't need to be.
First all the riders are in great shape, and second you cannot train a body to take the heat if it is not genetically inclined. Ronnie Lechien never trained and Jeff Ward was one of the fittest athletes in history. One year in 100 degree heat in Texas Lechien won and looked like he had been in an AC vehicle while Ward was toast. Baker has trained many athletes that did not do so well. He was fortunate to have RC, RV and Baggett with bodys that repell heat and other things that bother mere mortals. Besides Baggett rides smooth and conserves his energy and like Emigh says he is a very effecient rider. The implication of drugs is just plain STUPID and shows lack of intelligence.
My congrats to Blake, job well done. Anybody who has ridden in the Sahara Desert in the summertime, ok I mean Elsinore, it's brutal. I guessing since that Blake is a local boy riding the 100 degree heat, asphalt like tracks, I am sure he has become acclimated. I am with most of you, the drug thing is STUPID.
Conditioning, plus a calm presence on the bike help keep the body temp down. If you watch these guys and most of you other posters have said it, Tomac muscles the bike while Bagget lets the bike flow underneath him. Musquian is another with a calm presence on the bike but it looks like he is still adapting to go for broke pace at the drop of the gate.
As for the sublect of doping I don't believe Baker does that for his athletes that he trains. Steroids and stimulants help raise body temp. If you were going to cheat with a supplment of some kind I believe HGH would be the one the would most benifit a motocross racer. It's not detectable via a urine screen and the only way to detect it is a blood sample. The reason why HGH would help in motocross is it speeds up recovery time after physical exertion. Aldon Baker has been pro blood testing because he's heard the whispers about his athletes and his training regieme.
Performance enhancing drugs are used in every sport. But, I honestly have to say, in my experience, I have not seen much of it in motocross. We may actually have one of the only clean sports on the planet. I know they do random testing and all, although I don't know the details. Of course, every few years, something new comes out that there is no test for yet. The bicycle racers are on the cutting edge of performance enhancement drugs...always have been. I remember in the 80's there was alot of talk about what riders might be using as a number of trainers came over to motocross from the bicycle world. Most steroids would only be usable in the off season as they would cause some serious arm pump (most steroids...not all). For 323mx to suggest Baggett is using drugs is kind of funny when you consider that Tomacs dad is a former multi time mountain bike champion (and most likely an expert on this stuff). I do believe, however, That Eli is also clean. I believe it even more when I see him fade occasionally.
Tell ya what, if there's a drug you can take that will make you faster and last longer on a dirtbike, sign me up! Unfortunately there's no such thing or we'd all be dopers... Sure steroids might give you more muscle mass, but that doesn't make you a faster rider and sure as hell doesn't keep you cool as ice either.
@151rider haha i was just thinking to myself shit count me in on that!
I believe mitochondria primarily regulate your body temperature and the efficiency of your body temperature control isn't affected by any performance enhancing drugs I have ever heard of, outside of being in good shape and drinking plenty of fluids. Genetics is the prime mover of the efficiency and quantity of your mitochondria in your cells, and genetics dictate the construction and capabilities of your secondary cooling mechanisms.
I am weary of conspiracy theorists squeezing out steaming piles of theories so as to wipe their excrement on hard workers like Aldon and his people. 323mx - you need to take your lithium more regularly and the world will be a better place. Stop raining crap on people that truely deserve the praise they are getting.
Great job Blake!
Wow Big Ugly! A mitochondria reference! Look that one up everyone, he's right on target.
21 MotoRules, that MMA thing was hilarious! Make one wonder how many other sports she's trying to cover.
Congrats to Baggett and Mitch's program. I am ashamed to admit that I thot it was a fluke when BB won his first Supercross after his crappy start and the first turn pile up he drove around for the win !
Way too much attention for the 323 pee-pee toucher. Look it up. Congrats Blake. I'm happy for you, your family, and your team. I love the way you ride. Can you teach me!
@ BigUglyManiac "YOU Believe " Come on you people act like you know something. Of coarse you have already looked it up.Why else would you make a statement like that..............If you know state it if you dont..........Dont pretend. and think that the powers above just bestowed some great wisdom on you will you were typing..............I hope they unplug this editorial section and just write the damm stories...................... next month all the stewards will run the board and the Josh Hansens of the world...........then for 2.5 months it will be a steward assault on A-1 and probably be making excuses for that...........In the meantime he's probably talking to "RUPAUL" for the next big gig on tv................No it alls !!
@ BigUglyManiac I agree .........Yes great job Blake Baggett and to all that compete in moto......................
Congratz.......Blake was BEAST!!!!! Way to go.....saw him in TX @ Freestone. He electrified the crowd jumping "the wall!" What a lites season. 450 class zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......boring. Need all the injured guys back.
@151rider and jeramey it's call EPO blood doping and it will do just that.Just ask any competitor of the tour.They all do it.I personally think Baggett is clean and it didn't even cross my mind to think that until I read the comments section.That 323 guy is probably just another jealous ahole.
Amazing season Blake put together! I wonder if he'll be able to take the next step and win indoors. I hope he can because being pigeon holed as an outdoor only. Alessi type rider limits your earning potential. Kudos to Mitch for hiring him in the first place. I just wish he didnt have QUITE so many sponsors. That podium shout out is positively brutal. I know, I know, they pay the bills. But man, its brutal.
@ fred
aGREED ! BB luckey if he can get a glass of OJ down the hatch let alone anything else...........
Oh, and I wouldnt be so naive about doping in any sport, especially one that requires strength and endurance like mx. It certainly doesnt mean you'll bulk up. How few factory rides are left out there? Sixteen? Twenty six? Maybe the amount of one professional baseball team. Would you be tempted to use something if it meant you'd be financially set as opposed to never making more than gas money? I would. They are already risking their lives everyday.
Parents are willing to risk their kids educations, never mind the financial commitment, on a ten year old. At the same time it isnt right to point to someone and accuse them with no proof. Also, masking agents are so far ahead of testing that its very difficult to uncover cheating.
I'm not trying to take anything away from these guys fitness level but you can't compare riding a dirtbike for 35 minutes to competing in an endurance event like a marathon or cycling stage race. While there are PEDs like EPO that enhance the bloods ability to carry oxygen to the muscles most "steroids" only aid in recovery. Pro motocross riders only perform once a week at maximun exertion for less than an hour and a half. Most fit teen agers and guys in their early 20s are perfectly capable of naturally recovering from that kind of physical exertion. I think if you asked guys familiar with the highest levels of competition in both types of sports like John Tomac (Eli's dad) they would agree with me.
Blake BAGs/GETs the championship. Class act, great family, hard worker, and thrilled for the whole team. Mitch always seems to pick winners. And Blake is all that, on or off the bike. And SoCal to boot yeah! And he didn't back into it. He did it the old fashioned way, he busted his tail!
@texag ....yeah they never ride till race day and then they just sorta putt around (or like trained monkeys 'perform' as you would put it..lol) for an hr or so on nice flat surfaces........ What about the "hangin on" to 50+ horsepower thru the whoops part ..dropping out of a 4 story buildin (Baggett) or a nice 450 shotgun blast to the face every corner exit when they 'compete'.....lets add that kind of stuff to the equation...I would truly be interested to hear what JTomac has to say about the 'comparison' as i won't presume to know...
@ tonewall
GOOD STUFF I like that post..........Need more of the same
323mx wrote: .......@BillC: yea, he's in shape alright, with Aldon Baker, you don't know what he actually "gives" his riders? Kinda strange how he was the ONLY rider who could manage the heat like that. Kinda makes you scratch your head, doesn't it? It was soooooooo hot out there, on Saturday! I am in good shape, and riding for 15 minutes would have been tough.I wonder if they tested him after the race?
OK, let´s nip this crap in the bud right now shall we. Aldon Baker was a professional BMX racer in the world champs before moving to America where he hooked up with RC, and the rest is history. The reason he retired from BMX is well documented. He said that it was simply impossible to win unless you were prepared to take "stuff", which he wasn´t, so the only alternative was to stop. He was taught his ethics by his father, Gordon Baker, who finished 2nd in the famous Comrades Marathon (92 km race from Durban to Pietermaritzburg in South Africa) 5 times, and even though he wanted to win that race more than anything else in the world, he never resorted to taking "stuff" to accomplish his goal. Aldon would simply never, I repeat, never, be involved in drugs. It´s against everything he stands for, period.
The only people that are stupid are actually naive. Anyone that knows anything, knows testosterone is a bulking steroid. Blood doping, EPO, among anything else that raises red blood cell production will enhance a riders being able to take heat and endurance. Look at lance Armstrong, who was trained by Chad Reeds old trainer. Sorry guys, but there is a lot of speculation of what these top riders are taking.
Personally, if they are, I don't think it's a big deal. If they arent, that's great too. But when a rider is in 3 times the shape of others, don't be stupid. Tomac and Barcia both faded!! Stanton and John Tomac trained athletes! You don't think they aren't in shape?
It's possible baggett is just a genetic freak. But why are all of Aldons riders...
Suspicious, but we will never know.
@rickamatuzio....glad you said it, as I feel the same way really. If top riders are blood doping, than all it means is that motocross has finally made it to the big time.
If I knew for a fact that certain top riders in the 80's were doping, I would still deny it,as there is a certain code of honor regarding these things. I am not saying anybody was...lol
@stonewall this interview is a year or two old but....
http://www.racerxvt.com/article/trainer-talk-with....john-and-eli-tomac
'As to whether I think drugs are being used in the sport, it's just pure speculation but I think there are probably a few guys using them.'
John Tomac
If your going to all the trouble to see if the riders "smoked a joint" ---
It seems much more important to the integrity of the sport to do the EPO testing instead.
I still don't understand why some people want to make to Baggett the Lance Armstrong of the sport.
'As to whether I think drugs are being used in the sport, it's just pure speculation but I think there are probably a few guys using them.'
John Tomac
Like he said, just pure speculation! Other than it is widely used in the cycling?
Ask Lance, just pure "Speculation". Also that was the best thing I have heard out of Euromike, what happened? lol
As far as lance, I am upset they are doing this to him. Who cares if he blood doped.. That means he beat 300 other guys that blood doped. Lance is a hero and has done tons for cancer.
Let's pretend baggett does dope. As long as nobody finds out, I am fine with it. He just becomes an inspiration to train harder
People are making Baggett out because it's extremely rare when a rider in 110 degree heat can lay down faster laps after 30 min than he was after 5 min. He doesnt even appear tired after. All other riders train as well.. So something seems out of the ordinary with Baggett. The reason I don't think this is important is because NO DRUG will enhance Baggetts athletic ability and pure speed. He is obviously a much faster rider than anyone else and he was born with that.
Motocross is an endurance sport.. And like any sport that requires endurance people look for the edge over the competition.
I love watching Baggett ride and regardless of what he does, I will always be a fan. But for Pete's sake he needs to change his podium speechs.
Any of you druggies consider the fact that JB and Tomac work a lot harder on the bike than Baggett?? Watch JB ride.. Over rev everywhere all over the bike ect, Baggett smoth and little body english. Anyone from New England remembers Jim meenen right?? Guy was so smooth he used little energy, did not train like others but still beat them.
@ rickamatuzio
HGH WOULD MAKE HIM AT LEAST GROW HAIR!! hEY IN EARLY 20'S I never seen a guy that was that bald.LOL ! Hey who said bald guys cant get chicks......LOL...........You should see his women..........Big slong maybe who knows LOL .......ha ha
@rickamatuzio-Agreed! Lance has given many people hope and has given back to the community for several years through his foundation. Last year nobody questioned Blakes speed and indurance, it was his inconsistency that puzzled people. Well he did find away through that.
@BillC- Blake didn"t have to ride harder, just ride smarter. You are correct though, conserveing engergy.
I have to agree with BillC's last comment that Bagget has a smoother presence on the bike. If anyone was actually listening to Emig during the broadcasts, he said the same thing.As for Aldon Baker doping his athletes, um no. He has called for blood screening at the begining of the season for riders (from what I've heard but can't be verified) so they have a baseline for later in the season. JMB vs Stanton is a good example of smooth on the bike vs muscling it around the track. Do I believe Baker's riders are doping.....no. They just put in the work. Look how bad Stewart's fitness dropped off after he dropped Baker.
I in no way think Baggett or anyone else is doping, but the comments that PEDs wouldn't help endurance is ridiculous. Obviously, if a bunch of Tour de France cyclists have been caught using PEDs, they work for endurance athletes. People think muscle heads at the local gym when they hear PED, but that is not the only focus. I do not know much about them, but I do know the stuff exists. Hopefully, no one in this sport is using, and shame on anyone that points a finger at anyone with zero proof.
Congratulations, Blake! On a very well deserved 2012 250cc US National Championship series.
Blake may have sported that Red Plate all summer long, and made it look easy to casual viewer. But, I would love to sit with Blake over a few cold ones and just find out how hard this year really was. All due respect to the other 39 riders on the gate, this was no cake-walk series for Blake. He had 3 to 4, or more riders that were just waiting for him to have an off day, every weekend. He showed superior skills, speed and tenacity to overcome all obstacles in the path to the Championship this year. "Well Done, Champ"
Good luck in a few weeks at Lommel...
PS To clarify, I think ole Blake knew exactly what he was doin at Unadilla, and Steel City. Creating suspense among the natives! Ha!
I'm 50 years old, not in the best of shape for sure, hate the heat, but get this - I ride with a heavy t-shirt under an EVS G6 Ballistic Jersey and regular MX jersey. A race day for me consists of 2 practise motos and 4 race motos, between 10 and 12 minutes each. A practise night will have at least 1 60 minute ride. A couple of nights ago I logged 1.6 hours on the bike with only one or two very short water breaks. I'm no where near the fasted on the track, but this summer was the HOTTEST and everybody asks me why I don't drop in the heat with all that gear. Other than regular food for energy, I drink water and PowerAid. No drugs of any kind. Some people can endure better than others. Bagget is definitely one of them.
Well I no for sure That Blake is not a Doper. He is just a hard working young man that has endure 17 years of riding and and working out for hours every day with the help of trainers and Family.He is devoted to be the Best Rider In the World and will not take 2nd well. He is as smooth on a bike that anyone can be and has Proven it this year for sure. You Rock Blake Man.
UR