By Steve Matthes

How cool is the Motocross of Nations? I count myself being lucky enough to actually work as a mechanic for one of the USA rider’s and it remains near the top of my career achievements. Yes, we lost, but that’s beside the point; the Motocross of Nations is a cool event that everybody should try to make it to at least once. If you can’t go in your lifetime, picking up a copy of No Fear’s MXoN video called Sixty Years and a Day would be the next best thing.

I’m sure that all of you have seen or heard about The Great Outdoor videos that capture the essence and spirit of the AMA outdoor nationals. The videos have ushered in a new way to look at motocross, great cinematography, great narration and just the high, high quality of the DVD’s make the Great Outdoor's a great representative for our sport. If you ever have some cranky old relatives come over and want to know why you ride those dirt-cycles, throw in The Great Outdoors and watch them be amazed. On a personal note, I’ve been lucky enough to be interviewed and featured in the DVD’s and I have to say more people come up to me to tell me they saw me in these videos than anything else. They’ve got to make an impact for people to remember me!

Sixty Years and a Day continues the tradition of excellence by No Fear and director Troy Adamantis by capturing the Motocross of Nations that took place this past fall at Budds Creek Raceway near Washington, DC. None of us that were there will ever forget it, and this DVD just reinforces what a dominating performance it was from team USA, which was led by Ricky Carmichael, Ryan Villopoto and Tim Ferry.

The show starts with a bit of history about the Motocross des Nations and its sister race, the Trophee des Nations which was the name of the event when it first began; one race on 500’s and one race a week later on 250’s. The No Fear guys chronicle this beautifully, giving the viewer an idea of the roots of this great race. They make special note of how, in 1986 ,Johnny O’Mara made history by beating everybody on a 125. As a fan of the old days of moto-x, I especially loved this part of the DVD. Where the guys’ dug up this footage is beyond me, they go all the way back to the 50’s and 60’s!

From there the DVD segues into the 2007 race and captures everything perfectly. In their usual fashion, there’s a bunch of key people on the mic and this is compelling to me because I’ve been there and you can see the all-business approach from the teams and riders. The director got access to pre-race favorite Antonio Carioli and team Italy’s frustrating day, you can even learn some Italian swear words. The whole thing is shot with a Picasso’s eye towards our sport and the use of slow motion is applied just when it’s needed. I especially love the Tim Ferry parts and his phenomenal ride, as I’m sure you guys can imagine. My only complaint on the whole thing is that there are some shots in there that are a little grainy and not as sharp as the 95 percent of the rest of the race. It’s only because of the unbelievable gorgeous shots that make one really notice the shots that aren’t as good. It’s a very small thing and I’m sure the No Fear guys couldn’t cover everything, all over the track, all the time.

Beg, borrow, do whatever you have to get your hands on this DVD, we don’t have a movie rating here at Racer X Canada but I give this two thumbs, five stars, eight cheeseheads, 10 throttle tubes, whatever you want to say.

Online: ryekasport.com   Price: $26.99 CDN