A group of unlikely partners gathered together last Sunday, November 12, 2006, under the bright sunshine of Southern California to embark on a sacred journey. These unlikely partners weren't gathered inside a sanctuary of stone and stained glass, they collected under race canopies at a Los Angeles County Sheriff's facility and around an unopened crate containing a Yamaha WR 250 donated by Montclair Yamaha. Their prayers were that the still-boxed dirt bike would be successfully assembled, modified and compete in a test that was two and a half months away.
Just as thousands of Americans gather in churches for a common purpose, this diverse group of people was brought together by one common purpose as well - a dirt bike. This group of unlikely partners, two teenagers from the Sheriff's Vital Intervention and Directional Alernatives (VIDA) Program, a team of off-duty Sheriff's Deputies, a Registered Nurse, a school counselor, a real estate broker, a local business man and several family members were all gathered this day to embark on their sacred journey of preparing the bike to compete in one of the longest, toughest and most grueling motorcycle torture tests in the United States, the Dirt Rider 24 Hour Torture Test.
The motorcycle racing team known as LASD (Los Angeles Sheriff's Deputies) Motorsports - Motorcycle Racing was founded by deputies who have a passion for racing and for helping young people. This team, consisting of 10 Sheriff's Deputies who compete in motocross, desert events, Baja, and road racing was invited by Dirt Rider publisher Jimmy Lewis to participate in the 24 Hour Torture Test based on our charitable organizations outreach programs and its interest in having two at-risk youth participate in every phase of the preparations for the event.
Once invited, the team had to select the two deserving young people from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Departments VIDA Program. The VIDA program is specifically designed for at-risk youth by utilizing proactive, innovative techniques for positive redirection. Overseen by Deputy Sheriff personnel, the program offers treatment, prevention and positive reinforcement to alter negative behavior. The most typical scenarios involve referrals to the Sheriff's Department or requests from parents to have their children admitted to the program. Once admittance has been approved, the minor is directed to the program's available assistance components, including anger management, family counseling, mentoring, educational assistance, health training and physical fitness, career guidance, tattoo removal, and community services, including graffiti removal and weed and trash abatement.
All the young people in the VIDA Program were screened by the Deputies managing the program and 18 potential candidates were selected. Those 18 candidates were then subjected to an interview board consisting of LASD Motorsports - Motorcycle Racing members. After the exhaustive interview process two young people were chosen - Waniesha Cunningham and Joseph Arango. They were selected because of their candor, willingness to accept direction, their outstanding effort demonstrated in the VIDA Program and their communication skills. Now dirtrider.com and the LASD Motorsports - Motorcycle Racing team is putting those communication skills to the test by introducing them to the world of journalism, here on dirtrider.com.