A WORD ABOUT KURT CASELLI AND MXA

Godspeed! Kurt Caselli (1983-2013).

We can’t believe that we have to justify our actions in the face of the death of a friend, but for those who question our decision not to run the news reports of Kurt Caselli’s death on our website, we had our reasons and maybe you will understand them and maybe you won’t.

MXA had a close relationship with Kurt?not just because we covered his races, did interviews, tested his bikes and had Kurt ride for our cover, but because MXA editor Daryl Ecklund was Kurt’s best friend. They were not only childhood friends, but roommates, training partners and almost like brothers. Out of respect for Daryl, we did not want him to have to read any more, mostly wrong and speculative, news blurbs about his best friend’s death. And we especially didn’t want him to read them on the MXA site that he works on.

Kurt Caselli (43) and Daryl Ecklund (83) having fun on MXA test bikes.

Did we harm anyone by our choice? No, because we were never going to be the best source or the only source?we were just the only ones who chose not to be a source. We didn’t want to harm someone that we care about (and who cared more about Kurt than almost anyone). We will pay our respects to Kurt in our own way.

Kurt not only called and asked us if we wanted to ride his Dakar Rally bike for the October issue, but he came along to show us how to do it. That is Daryl Ecklund on the bike that won two stages last year.

And for all those who took the time to complain on the internet that we didn’t write a story, it was obvious that you had already read many of the other reports?were you actually trolling sites to read the gruesome details one more time?

Friends forever.

As for some of our thoughts on Kurt and Baja, John Basher and Robby Bell share their personal thoughts in this week’s Mid-Week Report on the home page. And, there will be a Kurt Caselli Memorial Ride Day at Glen Helen coming up in December.