Dec 28, 2018 5 min read

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Ian Flynn started out riding a little dirt bike around the family home in Greensboro six years ago. After participating in a series of small local races, his interest in motocross grew even more. Now, at 16, he’s won two Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) championships in two separate classes.

Things started to build when the family planned a small Florida getaway in 2012. That’s when they discovered that a GNCC race was scheduled to be held at the same time nearby. They decided to take along Flynn’s bike, and after he entered the competition he liked the experience so much he’s been an avid racing participant ever since.

Last year, he won the 250 C amateur GNCC championship in the 14 to 17 age category. This year, he took home top honors in the 250 B pro category at the age of 16 (the category’s minimum age), vying against a total of 86 riders this year as old as 30 from around the nation and world.

“Racing can be brutal,” said Ian’s mother, Stacey. “Last year in the amateur category, he raced for two hours. This year, in the pro category, the race lasted three hours.”

To win the national championship, riders accumulate points over a 13-race series held in places as far flung as Florida, New York and Indiana. The rider who accumulates the most points based on where they finish wins the championship. After the fourth race this year, Flynn never relinquished his hold on first place.

The courses, which vary in distance of 12 to 20 miles, go over a varied terrain of fields, woods and streams. Along the course, designated pit stops allow for things like gassing up, getting a drink of water and changing dirty goggles.

“Racing is very physically demanding,” Flynn said. “At the start of the season down South, riders from the North have to get acclimated to the heat. Dust from the course makes breathing difficult and gets in your eyes. Some racers see several injuries; others get none.”

Over the years, Flynn has been injured twice. Once he broke a knee. This year he broke the pinkie on his right hand rounding a corner and smashing it against a piece of metal, but he continued the race and finished second.

On Dec. 1, he took home a trophy presented to him at a banquet attended by 500 to 600 people at the Waterfront Place Hotel in Morgantown. He also won national champion license plates, a jacket, and personal and race sponsor prizes like bike parts, riding gear and other merchandise. He also earned small monetary rewards from a sponsor Maxxis Tires and Husqvarna, the brand of bike he rides.

Stacey said the total isn’t enough to cover the expenses for the 15,000 miles of travel involved annually to participate in the races.

On the road about 50 days each year, Flynn and his parents travel by pick-up truck with a trailer towed behind. Flynn is able to attend the races because he’s a student at the Agora Cyber Charter School and is able to pursue his studies online.

“One of the best aspects of racing is that I get to travel and see new places,” he said. “It also allows me to ride on different conditions like sandy courses in Florida and rocky and mountainous ones in West Virginia.”

Ian practices riding on a track his parents built on a property they own. He also practices with friends on their property and at the Race Shop in Kirby as a member of Coastal Racing Team. The team is coached by Barry Hawk of Smithfield, who’s won more national cross country championships than anyone else.

“In the past two years, Barry taught me just about everything I know,” Flynn said.

One of the members of the Coastal Racing Team, Cole Whitmer of Amity, is one of Ian’s best friends. At the end of the racing season, Cole and Ian were neck-and-neck with only a single point separating them for the championship. Flynn finished with 173 total points while Whitmer finished with 172. The third place finisher, Kyle Prysmont of Ohio came in with 141 total points.

“The competition doesn’t affect my friendship with Cole,” Flynn said. “We like to keep everything fair and clean.”

Bikes like Flynn’s run around $10,000 each, but when you factor in additions needed to bring them up to racing standards the total cost can rise to $15,000. Flynn said he has two bikes – one for practice and a second for racing. For the past two years. he’s been doing his own mechanical work on the bikes, thereby eliminating some of the maintenance costs.

When asked why he got into cross country racing, Flynn said the love of the sport just spiraled and grew on him.

“Once I started, I couldn’t stop,” he said. “There’s so much room for improvement and so many challenges.”

Stacey said it’s important to explain that it has been far from a case of instant success in racing for Flynn

“For his first three and a half seasons or so, finishes in the double digits were common,” she said. “But we were always happy with that, knowing that he had done his best and that he was progressing at his own pace. We have seen many examples of kids pushed too hard, and the destruction that can wreak not only on the child, but the entire family. It has always been our focus that racing and the time it allows (requires) us to spend together as a family be a positive thing.”

“Racing has also taught him how to handle himself in a variety of situations,” she continued. “Things won’t always go right in life, so I value that he’s learning how to handle adversity as well as success.”