Rochester’s Henry Miller races during the Spring Creek Pro Motocross Nationals on Saturday, July 13, 2024, at Spring Creek MX Park in Millville.
ROCHESTER — Henry Miller’s plan and focus never shifted.
Whether he was going to ride in all 11 rounds of the Pro Motocross national championship series this summer or ride in three, his training and his routine were the same.
Bulldog Insider S6 E24: We answer your questions in Part II of season finaleBulldog Insider S6 E24: We answer your questions in Part II of season finale
“The day-to-day, week-to-week never changed,” the Rochester native said. “I’m still riding and training just like I always would.”
Miller, 28, had a largely successful winter season, placing eighth in the 250 Supercross-East standings, including finishing the season with back-to-back top-10 finishes at NFL stadiums in East Rutherford, N.J., and Pittsburgh.
“It was my best overall season,” Miller said. “I really felt strong on the bike going into the season and throughout the season. We were learning a new frame to the bike because Honda changed it a bit, but once we figured it out things started to click.
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Henry Miller.
“I felt really good and confident coming off that season.”
Still, life as a privateer (a pro racer who does not receive financial backing or mechanical assistance from a factory team) isn’t an easy road, though it’s one Miller has traveled for all nine of his professional seasons.
His initial plan for the summer was to ride in three of the 11 rounds of the Pro Motocross national championship; the three closest to home — RedBud (Buchanan, Mich.); Spring Creek (Millville) and IronMan (Crawfordsville, Ind.).
Miller was receiving backing this summer from Iowa-based Storm Lake Honda (the team he rode for during Supercross season), which helped him with bikes and parts, but the rest of his funding for travel and equipment was left up to him.
That three-race plan, he thought, would help him save money and save wear and tear on his body.
“It has helped my body … and my weekends have been freed up,” he said with a laugh. “It’s given me two to three extra days a week to spread out my normal schedule and do more recovery to help my body. We take a pretty good beating out there, even when you do stay on the motorcycle.
“It’s been good. I’ve had some lingering injuries and this (downtime) has helped those.”
A phone call last week brought that downtime to an end.
Beginning today at RedBud, Miller will race the remainder of the Pro Motocross season for Mx6 Racing, a team based in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He’ll have his familiar No. 55 on his back while riding in the 450 Class atop a Yamaha bike.
It’s the first time in nearly three years he’ll ride a Yamaha competitively, and he’s learning to adjust quickly. Very quickly.
“I have three days on the bike as of right now,” Miller said with a laugh on Wednesday. “It’s quite a bit different from a Yamaha to a Honda, the power and the way it rides. It has been a bit of an adjustment, but I’ve been logging a lot of laps and getting a good feel for it.
“We’ll be all right. I’m just ready to get behind the gate and go.”
While the post-Supercross downtime helped Miller spend more time in Rochester around friends and family, he’s ready to get back on the road. Even an injury suffered a month ago during training at Spring Creek isn’t dampening his mood. He credits the chiropractors at Optimal Movement in Rochester for keeping him on the bike and mentally focused.
And the timing of the Pro Motocross schedule is optimal, as many of those recent practice laps Miller has logged came at Spring Creek. That’s where he’ll be next week, along with the rest of the world’s best riders, for Round 7 of the national championship series.
“I’d say the same thing as anyone would, it’s your home track,” Miller said when asked what he most looks forward to about riding in the Millville pro national. “You have so many people around the whole track cheering for you. The energy level is really high.
“That gives you confidence and helps your energy, as opposed to ‘this is just another day or another race.’ It eases the mind on race day, like ‘I don’t have to worry, I could ride this track with my eyes closed.’”
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