Dirtfan,
When you ask,"why don't I ride anymore?", does that mean 3 wheelers or? I still ride as often as I can. I currently own two 2003 Honda CRF 230/250's that I've hopped up and also a 2003 YZ250 that I ride at Pala raceway here in So.Cal. I rode with Donny Luce about 6 years ago up at a place called Hungry Valley. It's California's second largest off highway facility. We had a great time! I also have a road bike. My current mount is a 2008 Honda VTX 1300. Hopefully I made a positive impact on your youth. Back then I never thought much about what the younger generation might be doing and you described it well in your post. I'm sorry your racing endeavors were short lived, but as you quickly found out, it's not for everyone and parents are very protective. When I first started racing bicycles, my father, like yours, was against it. My older brother is a Junior. He would forge my dads name on my entry forms. This worked fine until I started winning and he found out from someone at his work who congratulated him on a race I won. The guy read about it in the local paper, but that's another story... Jimmy White was a villan for me while we were on the track too. The guy got awesome starts and won many races. He was then and is now a great guy and I always admired the competition he brought to the track. Barnett468 posted a great picture of the start of a race held at Big Bear California. It's around 1984 I think. Jimmy White is in his customary position in the front at the start. I last saw him 16 years ago at an event held in 2000 at a popular race facility in Ohio. Boy, time really flies...