Just a handful of girls and women competed yesterday, including 21-year-old Becky Tees of Middleborough, Mass. She said she's addicted to the adrenaline rush.
"A lot of girls don't know about [motocross]," she said. "They don't think they can do it."
Her boyfriend's son was one of the few who were injured yesterday; he was rushed off in an ambulance with a broken leg.
Tees and others said they prefer traditional motocross and its long outdoor tracks to Arenacross, which they said can feel cramped and dangerous.
In the main event races, as many as 16 riders crowded the track at once. Event staff members stood watch over the race, occasionally plucking toppled riders from the path of speeding bikes.
Threat of injury doesn't seem to dissuade the devoted riders. But worries about injuries can take its toll on the parents.
Beth Meckel said her husband was so stressed by watching their boys compete in last year's amateur day that he couldn't move his neck for a week.
julie.bykowicz@baltsun.com
