Courtesy of KandNFilters.com

Women have been riding and competing in motocross for every bit as long as men, ever since the wide, first-turn sweeper, narrowed to thin the pack and the Coliseum turnstile jump upped the excitement ante. Yet, it wasn’t until 2009 that the newly branded Women’s Motocross (WMX) Championship delivered the sort of popularity, legitimacy and acceptance that the sport deserved. Last month, less than two years later, the bar was raised once more when Vicki Golden went toe-to-toe with the men in the AMA Arenacross Lites Class in Denver, Colorado.

“I have been racing the WMX Pro Nationals since 2009,” said the Temecula, California resident. “I also did the ESPN X Games last year. But the Denver Arenacross in January was my first time racing in an AMA Pro class (the men’s). Being the first girl wasn’t really why I decided to race, but it was definitely a bonus! I do get a lot of publicity, which is helpful to me, my sponsors and women’s racing as a whole, but I really just wanted to be able to race year round. The WMX Nationals run May through September. I also love the more technical side of Arenacross.”

In 2008 the K&N sponsored racer crowned her amateur career by winning a woman’s class title at the Amateur National Championships. In 2009 Golden exploded onto the professional motocross circuit at the age of 18. She was a contender from the first moto, but an injury end her first full season prematurely. In 2010 she was back, finishing the season fourth overall in the championship. Golden says she spent most of last year finding a way to bring her faster training speed to the actual race.

My 2010 season went somewhat differently than the year before. I did finish a lot more races last year, so that was good. But my race speed has just not been the same as my practice speed, so I’ve just been struggling some with that. If I could figure out how to turn my practice speed into my race speed, I know that I would be doing a lot better.”

And every indication has that Golden, who’s still at the very beginning of her career, has found a way to put it all together in 2011. Speaking about the particular challenges she faced racing in the men’s pro class Golden says, “Well, guys are naturally stronger, so in that sense I had to work harder, but my program hasn’t changed that much. I ride on Supercross tracks with a few men pro races several times a week, and I workout with a trainer for strength and endurance. I am working on being a little more aggressive overall.”

“My brother and dad had bikes, and I wanted to be just like them, so that’s when I first wanted a motorcycle too,” explains Golden when asked what inspired her to get into racing.

“Growing up my results as an amateur weren’t that special until my last Amateur race, the AMA Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National, that’s when I won the Women’s Championship. Did she feel any extra pressure being the first girl to compete in the pro Arenacross Lites Class?

“I didn’t really. I just want to be a good role model on and off the track. The outside pressure never really gets to me, in any event. It’s more the pressure I put on myself that hinders my performance at a race. I just want to focus on making main event and learn to be more of an aggressive rider. I was amazed by how the other riders treated me though. They all had nothing but nice things to say to me, and even helped me with tips on line choices.”

As for her racing goals for the 2011 season she says, “For Arenacross I’d like to be making main events and start scoring points toward my Supercross license, but I’m taking this more as a learning opportunity than anything. It will be something I can carry over to the WMX Nationals, where I’d like to be on the podium consistently, and get my first National win. I also really want to win an X Games gold medal this summer in Women’s Super X.”

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