FROM THE PRESIDENT

From the President and CEO TURNING THE PAGE

BY ROB DINGMAN

Maybe it’s because the end of the year tends to sneak up on me, but New Year’s resolutions are not something that I usually make. Each year I generally resolve to ride more, though that is typically less of a New Year’s thing and more of a commitment to improved mental health by spending more time on two wheels.

I don’t know that I was successful in riding more in 2022, but the quality of my riding experiences during the year was certainly higher than usual. One of the highlights was definitely the ride with AMA Board members at a Montana ranch managed by AMA Board Chair Russ Ehnes, which I wrote about in this space last October. There is truly nothing like trail riding in Big Sky Montana.

The main highlight, however, was the Mid-Atlantic Backcountry Discovery Route ride that AMA COO James Holter wrote about in the December issue (Plan It…And They Will Ride). The MA BDR was everything I thought it would be and more. Riding a BDR was definitely a bucket list item and I’m hoping there will be another one in my near future.

Even if 2022 wasn’t filled with more riding, it certainly was filled with more motorcycle activity. As you can see in the Up to Speed section starting on page 14, it was a very eventful year for the AMA in the area of government relations.

One of my chief concerns in this area remains the proliferation of autonomous vehicles that have not been adequately tested for their ability to detect motorcycles before being allowed to share the roadways with us. We even had an audience (at least virtually) with the U.S. Secretary of Transportation during which we discussed this issue, and we will certainly stay on top of this issue in the coming year — and keep members in the loop.

Last year was filled to the brim with motorcycling events. From the start of the AMA Supercross season in Anaheim, Calif., to AIMExpo in Las Vegas, to all the events that take place at Daytona Bike Week, to the MotoGP at Circuit of the Americas, to the Americade touring rally, to AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days, to the Motocross of Nations held last year in the U.S., to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, and lots more in between, I found myself on the road (or actually in the air) quite a lot.

Add to those events a number of AMA — as well as FIM — Board meetings, and now I realize why a New Year’s resolution to ride more is often impractical. Even when not riding, though, I am never very far from the motorcycle lifestyle that the AMA works so hard to promote and protect, and I’m looking forward to doing much of the same again this year.

As you’ll see on page 42, we’ve

U.S. MXoN Team left to right: Chase Sexton, Eli Tomac and Justin Cooper.

once again highlighted our yearly pick for the AMA Motorcyclist of the Year, an award that recognizes the profound impact that an individual — or in this case, individuals — had on motorcycling during the past year.

Given the dry spell experienced by the U.S. Motocross of Nations team over the last 11 years, it is significant that the 2022 team, which consisted of Eli Tomac, Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper, with five-time World Champion and AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Roger DeCoster as team manager, won the 2022 Motocross of Nations on home soil at Red Bud Track’N’Trail in Buchanan, Mich., and returned the Chamberlain Trophy to the U.S.A.

It is for this reason that the AMA Board of Directors has recognized the U.S. Motocross of Nations Team as AMA Motorcyclists of the Year for 2022. Congratulations to Team U.S.A. not only for its historic victory, but for being named AMA Motorcyclists of the Year!

Rob Dingman is the President and CEO of the AMA, and a Charter Life Member

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