Photo by Tyler Nelson
Jeremy and Loyal Prach behind the 1950s Harley-Davidson factory race bike that will be raffled off during the Mama Tried Motorcycle Show.
Editor's note: This event has been postponed due to COVID-19.
People wearing leather jackets, steel-toe boots and riding motorcycles will always be nearly-universally cool. Counterculture figures, musicians and movie stars have been immortalized on the two-wheeled tickets to freedom since the most legendary bikes were created in Milwaukee in 1903.
While motorcycles aren’t for everyone – especially on roads today with all the texting and driving – people can still appreciate the eclectic community surrounding probably the most macho vehicle ever created. Since 2016, Flat Out Friday has been pitting different classes of motorcycles and riders against each other on a flat, Dr. Pepper-coated indoor track and it’s as much about the show than it is about the racing. The night of the races falls right in the middle of the five days of activities affiliated with the Mama Tried Motorcycle Show. This will be the first year the races are held at Fiserv Forum. The event sold out UWM Panther Arena last year with over 9,500 attendees.
“People are there of course to see the racing, but most people are equally, if not more entertained by the residuals around the event,” says Jeremy Prach who has organized and promoted the event since the beginning. “There may be some disappointment that the track isn’t that large and the speeds are not that great, but the quickness of the event and the skill they have to maneuver in such a tight space is what makes the races so fan-friendly.”
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He’s a teacher by day, but he cut his event-promoting-teeth after co-founding the Riverwest 24, a 24-hour bicycle race through the Riverwest neighborhood that’s been around for 12 years. He says he never would have been given the time of day by a major venue in the city if he didn’t have the RW24 experience.
Prach is not only responsible for the planning and smoothly operating Flat Out Friday, his 16-year-old son Loyal is competing in the AA class, which is made up of top-level amateurs and licensed professionals. Jeremy gave Loyal a motorcycle on his first day of kindergarten about 10 years ago and he’s been hooked ever since.
“It’s a sport that’s in its own category,” says Loyal, standing next to the 1950s Harley-Davidson racing bike that will be raffled off during the Mama Tried festivities, built by JR's Cycle Products. “You have a different relationship when you’re racing next to your buddy going 80 mph and you have to trust them. That creates a relationship unlike any other.”
Loyal has been working part time – when he’s not at Rufus King High School, where he’s a junior – at a machine shop where he helps out with projects, cleans and even does a little bit of welding. He says not a day goes by where he doesn’t think about Flat Track Friday. The race he’s competing in is a dedicated memorial race for a rider who was killed at a national competition.
The Charlotte Kainz Memorial Race for the Milwaukee native who was killed after crashing at the 2016 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship in Santa Rosa, California. Kainz was 20 years old at the time, a graduate of Greenfield High School and was attending UW-Whitewater. A celebrated and accomplished competitor, she was respected for her ability to handle her Harley XR750 and Honda 450 motorcycles, despite being quite small in stature.
There are 12 other racing classes for riders to join, including one for Bird/Lime/Spin scooters. The only stipulation on the scooter class is that riders must be 18 years old to compete. Funny, I thought you just had to be an idiot to ride a scooter like that.
Flat Out Friday takes place on Friday the 13th of March. While some struggle with triskaidekaphobia, I don’t think the riders who are participating have many fears at all. Pay attention for more coverage leading up to the festivities and enjoy the video of Jeremy and Loyal Prach.