• motocross image by Brett Bouwer from Fotolia.com
  
  Motocross is an extreme sport in which dirt bike riders race around a dirt track at high speeds, driving around sharp turns, jumping over large dirt mounds, and bouncing over bumps and moguls to try to do it the fastest and win the race. If you have a sufficient amount of space in your backyard, you can build your own Motocross track.
  
  

Jumps

• By piling up big mounds of dirt, packing them down to make them solid, and grooming them so they rise at a certain steep angle, you can make various jumps in your motocross track. These jumps should rise steeply enough for the rider to get some air but not so steeply that the rider can't land safely. The landing area must be at least twice as long as the length of the ramp so that the rider can still land on the track. The softer the dirt in the landing area, the softer the landing and the less chance there is that riders will bounce, lose control, and wreck.
  
  

Turns

• Turns should be banked with dirt so that they are higher on the outside and the motocross biker can actually ride up the sides of them. These banks aren't required on turns, but the higher the bank, the more speed a motocross rider can take around the curve, as the centripetal force will allow her to ride up the side of the banked turn at full speed. You can build as many turns as you would like and make them as sharp as you want, from gradual turns to 90-degree hairpin turns, as long as it is possible and fun to ride them. Banking turns helps riders because they don't have to slow down as much before making very sharp turns. On the inner edge of a turn, you should create a ridge of dirt, a ditch, or some solid marker so that racers have to actually make the turn and can't just cut it. For very talented riders, these turns can be alternated with small jumps.
  
  

Moguls

• In the areas in between the jumps and turns, where riders must drive over small bumps or ditches, you can make dirt moguls. These make a motocross track really interesting and can be built by simply piling up small amounts of dirt or digging up parts of the track to form ditches. Moguls require an extra level of skill and concentration for riders cruising around the track, slowing everyone down and giving capable riders a chance to catch up to those in the lead.