Off the Cuff with Jacqueline Ross | May 2025

By Jacqueline Ross

Greetings, Humans!

Charles Darwin taught us, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” Oh, the quotes that make one ponder.

The next photo from the Direct Motocross Vault is one I remember quite well. If I’m not mistaken, it was right after the 2nd moto of the Ladies class at Ulverton MX in Quebec. (Round 2 of the 2016 CMRC East Coast Championship Series).

The thing with being Italian is I always need to remind myself that my face needs to use her inside voice! Allow me to break down the photo for the audience: It was in this moment I had “thought” I was done with racing. Just done. Hanging up the boots for good and going back to college. Isn’t it funny how thoughts, like feelings can be so fleeting? Also, how much weight they carry, impact they can have on us, and how they shape our belief systems? Yeah, pretty in-depth. All of my fellow neurodivergent people will understand! 

Back to the photo examination.

I can’t speak for Joe Ross (man on back of the bike/mechanic/coach/Dad), but he doesn’t look too thrilled. I know I was disgusted. My performance was awful and I was perplexed about many things. I had just gotten on a 250 2-stroke, because I “thought” I needed that bike to be competitive. I for sure wasn’t ready to “change” and ride a 4-stroke either! Long story short, it was a long twenty-three-hour-and-thirty-eight minute drive with Joe Ross back to Florida!

Let’s time travel to the present moment; today, almost 9 years later. I say these things to give legitimate facts and bring hope to others who may be going through a tough or confusing time. I’m living another dream that I didn’t even know was in the cards for me; more so bestowed upon me. Thank the Lord! I travel all over the United States (hopefully, the world one day) paying my knowledge forward to other two-wheeled enthusiasts and I’m riding and racing again on a 4-stroke, none the less (after 12 years of a misdiagnosed knee injury/ 2 surgeries/ and not being able to walk for 1 year)!

Moral of this story, plans go awry, learning never ceases, and perhaps destiny is shaped by our decisions rather than our conditions.

Attached to nothing, but connected to everything,

Jacqueline