Julien Almaguer is the epitome of what you would think a 7-year-old dirt biker might look like.
Rocking a hot pink Vans hat with a checkered bill, he has a ton of energy, bouncing around with his eyes lighting up and mouth moving as fast as he races when talking about the first true love of his young life: dirt biking and motorcross.
Almaguer has been riding dirt bikes since he was 4 years old. But his dad, Richie Almaguer, who has been riding dirt bikes himself since he was 10, saw it coming practically since his son’s birth.
“I enjoyed it as a kid, it was really fun,” Richie said of motocross. “So, I was hoping he would enjoy it as well, and he does. He loves riding, he loves racing.”
When asked what his favorite part about motorcross is, Julien provides the answer that most would expect from any 7-year-old:
“I like being fast, winning and getting trophies,” the youngster said.
He giggled as he added that his favorite trophy is the one he won last March after threepeating first-place finishes in local races — the trophy is 7 feet tall.
His father said that since Julien took up the sport, he has grown a lot and at a faster rate than what is average for a kid his age, noting that he trains 10 to 15 hours a week. “He’s very mature, in a good way. He’s gotten really strong and can do anything he puts his mind to.”
Getting his revs in
Richie and Julien ride together in the desert near their house in Sorrento.
“It helps me get used to sand tracks,” Julien said. “It’s sandy and it’s rocky, so it’s a little bit of a challenge and different than what I usually practice on.”
Pat McMullen has been Julien’s coach for the past year and sees him twice a week.
“His progress has been huge,” McMullen said. “He’s a little warrior. He wants to go super-fast, so it’s about getting better with his techniques. But he has progressed a ton on riding … mental, physical, everything has gotten better.”
McMullen, who was a professional motorcross rider from 1984 to 2005, has been training riders since 1999.
“My whole training is based on bike control,” McMullen said. “I take it to fundamentals. Of course, the little dudes, they’re fun. We do a lot of drills that always kind of gets them to get the muscle memory of technique down.”
The national races are typically 20-minutes-plus-two-laps, and the local ones are five laps, which take 10 to 12 minutes. Riders are awarded points based on the position in which they finish the race.
“The bigger the event, the more minutes they give them to race,” McMullen said.
Going into 2025, Julien ranked No. 1 in his age class, which was the 51cc (ages 4 to 6). Last year, he raced around these United States: Texas, California, Nevada and Oklahoma, to name a few.
“He’s put the work in, that’s the main thing,” McMullen said. “That is the main deal about motorcross because you have got to put the work in to get results. And I’m very proud of him; he works hard.”
Julien competed in his first international competition — Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Motorcross in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. — July 22 and came in 12th of 43. Competitors came from as far as France and New Zealand.
“I had fun, but I almost fell like five times,” Julien said. “It was muddy, rutty and bumpy.”
It takes a village
Julien’s mother Mireya Almaguer said it takes a lot of work to get him to the competitions.
“The first year we really got into amateur racing, it was kind of hard because we had to figure out the schedule for school and everything,” Mireya said. “And then traveling to … all those places, it was very important to get him to where he needed to be because we don’t have a lot of local tracks here in Arizona.”
Mireya explained there is also a lot of preparation that goes into competitions such as taking Julien’s bikes to their mechanic in Gilbert to make sure they are race ready.
At the competitions, it is a family affair with Julien’s mom, dad, sisters and sometimes grandparents coming out to support.
“Richie’s parents come out all the time to watch him race and help out with whatever they can,” Mireya said. “They’ll get gas, or sometimes grandma makes breakfast while I’m at the gate.”
Sometimes Lyla, the middle Almaguer child, helps Julien (the youngest) put his gear on.
“Or if there’s a bunch of mud on his bike, she’ll take it off,” Mireya Almaguer added. “It’s just like a team event, and all the extra hands help out where he needs.”
Richie said he feels like he is racing alongside his son when he is watching from the stands.
“My heart’s beating as fast as his, so it feels like I am in there with him,” said the dad of three.
With his racing experience, Richie also provides Julien with advice and constructive criticism after his races.
“He’ll run up to me after, all excited, and he’s like, ‘Dad you were right. Did you see how much better that was?’” Richie said. “And I’ll say, ‘Now you’re learning.’ All he has to do is trust what his coach and I am telling him. And it’s hard to trust because it’s a tough sport, it takes a lot of courage.”
Julien said he is grateful for the support he receives from his family.
“I feel happy they are there,” he said. “Especially when my grandma is there cheering me on.”
What’s next for Julien
Julien is moving into a new class of competition — and with a new bike. He will be riding a 65cc dirt bike with 7- and 8-year-olds.
“One good thing is that we have been training on it already, so we have a good jump on that,” McMullen said of the new bike. “It definitely changed my coaching because he can jump bigger and farther.”
It’s a learning curve, though, said Richie. “You have to use your brain a lot more. You have to be a little smarter about how you check the lines and what gear you’re in. It does get a lot more complicated.”
Julien is more than ready for his new bike and is excited already to learn how to ride it.
“When I am on the 65cc, I know how to do all the things, but the only thing I don’t know how to do is go in neutral,” he said.
If he continues following in his dad’s footsteps, things will get pretty pricey.
During Julien’s time in motorcross, he has already gone through 10 bikes — which can cost 4,000 to $6,000 each — and Richie said he will go through 20 to 25 throughout his career and into adulthood.
Mireya emphasized while she and her husband would love Julien to continue riding and competing in motocross, they will support him in whatever he decides to do.
“I just hope whatever he wants to do, he does it with a lot of courage and pride,” the mother said. “He can do whatever he wants. If he wants to get to the podium somewhere, then he could do it. He can get there; it’s just up to him.”
But, at least for now, Julien knows what he wants to be when he grows up: “I want to be a professional motocross rider.”
The history of Motorcross
Motorcross first came about in the United Kingdom in the early 1900s, when time trials hosted by auto-cycle clubs evolved into off-road competitions called “scrambles.”
The very first motocross event was held in 1924 in Camberley Heath, England. It consisted of 80 riders but only 40 managed to cross the finish line at the end of a 2.5-mile course featuring steep hills and rough terrain.
The newfangled sport became very popular in Britain and abroad with countries like Belgium and France adopting it wholly. Despite the Crotona Motorcycle Club in New York that year creating its own event called “TT” to rival British motocross, it took 40 more years for the sport to reach U.S.
The first official American Motorcross Championship happened in 1972 and just two years later, in 1974, the American Motorcyclist Association was formed to promote motorcross and keep the rules organized. Today, the organization ranks riders like Maricopa’s Julien Almaguer, ranked No. 1. in the 51cc division.
Motorcross continued to evolve and get bigger and with it the number of American riders in the sport.
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