mich lin

Sendero, your right about the current US champion, he represents the sprit of the NATC and some isolationist riders. Riders like Bernie, Marland and in the future Patrick Smage are my champions! They looked at the world's best riders and think, hey I can beat those guys. I suppose Sendero when you go to Supercross or Endurocross you are a fan of the guys that fail to transfer to the main event? Or are you betting on Ricky, Bubba, Chad and Knight? I don't care about the riders who fail to transfer to the main! I'm betting and pulling for the guys who have a shot to win. Do you also support losing football and baseball teams? Those games are fun to play but not many people follow sandlot football or baseball. Why follow sandlot trials?

The only differnce between you and me Tom is that I've scored more world championship points than the whole US Pro class combined, wrote a sell out book on trials and I'm known all over the world for my stuntwork. You do have an advantage over me, I failed at officework.

I think Geoff will win once more, then Patrick will kick his rear!

windestone, I'd be top ten for sure if I was not banned from US Championship competition. It's easy to finish top 10 when they only have 5 or 6 riders in the whole US championship. Hey, the US federation can barely fill a TDN team! Most of the U.S. Championship class is filled with riders from out of the country. From places like Europe, Africa and Canada. If they allowed me to compete, I'd end up as fouth man on the US Trials De Nation Team. Can't have that can we? I simply rode the US championship again to show what a joke it is today. It is time for the US federation to do a total restructure. That way we can again produce riders the quality of Bernie and return bike sales and number of events to the levels we enjoyed back then. You Brits are spoiled, your sport enjoys a huge following, large numbers of events, a winning TDN team and champion anybody would be proud of "Dougie"

You guys have an edge there, I don't have TV in my house so I can't talk about soap operas ! If you want to talk about shows, go rent TROY, then maybe you will see what a Champion is supposed to represent to a people! He's the single man who stands or falls that represents a nation, people, army or culture in single face to face combat. He's your best, he's the peak product of a culture. Think of David and Goliath as an example, the winner of that combat represents the whole people and their fate, culture and destiny. The movie Troy shows this principle very well. We need a US champion that will represent us in "the battle of the world trials championship" to prove our culture is strong, not one that runs away from the fight! What are U.S. spectators going to say when their sons ask "daddy, why isn't the American Champion on the podium or the winner of the US world round?" Patrick Smage could be the kind of a champion that could beat the world if he and the other young tigers behind him were given the support of the US federation. Look to the world's best on how to win, the Spanish and British, how their federations support their young tigers! They provide training camps with tip top trainers like James Lampkin and Jordi, what do we do for our best and brightest youngsters? Nothing! They don't even provide for them the proper 125cc class sturcture to compete in so they can advance into world competiton. Our national federation the NATC has done nothing to advance the dreams of our best and brightest young riders, our future champions who are to represent our American trials culture at the TDN and world trials championship. The NATC has been a total failure in this area! The NATC cannot be allowed to produce another generation of champions who simply hide from the rest of the world. You guys may be happy sitting home watching soap operas, that's fine. There is a group of us who would rather stand like men and take on the trials world, not stand around like a bunch of women and watch soap operas or be spectators. Give our younsters, our future champions the tools they need to fight and win against the world's best. Otherwise the NATC will simply have to be pushed aside and left in the dust of history. A nation as great as ours cannot be without a champion and a team behind him that can beat anybody in the world.

Dman, good reply, it was my buddy Clive than dragged us there not me! He's a bud like Ringo and I don't mind him giving me a hard time, I simply fired right back. You really summed things up well and make it very clear why the NATC/AMA trials riders are the laughing stock of international trials competition. Some of us DO care about that and would like to see that changed. Nothing can be done however without our federation's "AMA/NATC" support, which they refuse to provide! Unless USA trials make a move to comply with international standards and rules, we will remain a backwater, isolated and umimportant part of the world trials community. Hey, who knows, it might even increase bike sales if we jumped in step with the rest of the world! Things can't get any worse than it is right now. Good reply though Dman, At least you were honest about the national federation not caring.

Clive, this would have been my year to ride the NATC 55 year old class at the US national championship. At least that was my plan until I was banned from competing by the NATC in the Pro class last year. Didn't this used to be a free country? Hey, they hurt my feelings! Last year was my planned Pro class year to compete. I would have finished 7th overall in the USA Pro championship! If I had not been banned by the NATC from competing, not bad for a 54 year old man riding with the US's best riders. I guess it was just to much for the NATC to see an old guy finish so high in their important US national Pro championship. No worries for me about being beat by a girl on the US Pro/Jr world championship line. I know she can kick my rear, now Geoff, Chris and the NATC have to worry about being beat by a girl and man will it be fun to watch! Remember, I'm retired by choice from the age championship and banned from NATC Pro trials. They can take their age class championships and stick it for all I care, all 17 age groups and classes. They didn't provide a fun product for me, So why return to their events? Why be abused even more by the NATC? The NATC has lost touch for sure, they have forgotten that the riders are the customers! They need to remember the customers/riders come first! When they give customers/riders a hard time like they did me or fail to provide a fun product they will not have a good rider turnout in the future. Bike sales will fall, national entry levels will drop and both the NATC and the importers will have to get by with a smaller working budgit. Maybe that's what the NATC wants? A smaller sport with a tighter budgit for both the NATC and the businesses that serve the sport! That way the old guys running the NATC can have their 17 plus age classes, keeping the US Pro riders to a minimum number. So that the 45-70 year old national riders can continue to compete NATC nationals as importer sponsored rides in the US championship. I bet we are the only nation in the world to have 65 year old works riders? Nigel, do you guys have sponsored riders 50 plus years old? Simply, if US trials moved to a world class standard, the old guys running the NATC would lose their importer sponsorships to the US age group national championship. These old guys didn't ride well enough when they were in their teens or early 20s for factory or importer support. But now as old men they get that factory or importer support because of the NATC 17 class age group foremat! We are the only nation on the planet with grey bearded works riders and these old guys run the national organizing body. What this means is they will do anything to protect their importer team position, even at the expense of the young up and coming riders who might someday be the next US world champion.

Nigel, now you are beginning to understand the sillyness I've got to put up with here in the USA. Unless your here to see it first hand it's really hard to understand how out of step American trials is under the NATC banner with the rest of the world. Yes, young Patrick will be on the harder Jr world round line on a 290cc bike. When the FIM feels he to young to be on a 125cc bike on the easier line! Not by his choice but by NATC decree! So don't hold Patrick or his handlers accountable for this situation, he'd rather be in with the 125cc world round riders.

Debbie finished 18th out of 23 riders at the US World Wide One in 1978. Being the first and only female rider to ever compete with the men at that level. Making her unoffical women's world champion that year. That was on a production 175cc Yamaha, not a works machine. She also tried to compete at the US round in 1977 but the NATC banned her from competing. Because of their belief that a woman couldn't compete with the guys at that level. She proved them all wrong, riding really well in the US Pro class! I expect Laia Sanz to compete World Wide One someday soon with the men. She's an amazing rider and I'm going to be very interested in her results during the JR World Championship US round. She will be riding the same line as the US Champ Class and is on a full blown works bike. How many US Pro class riders will she beat?

Simply put, the 2 days of training were amazing and worth every penny. ????John/James????? is an excellent teacher, a solid rider and a confidence inspriring minder. No wonder Dougie is so good and the ACU is using him as their training camp instructor! I'd have to say that being with him was the best two days I've spent around trials in a very, very long time. The young and old riders who attended all came away much more confident, skillfull and much more rounded. Just watching for two days, I learned a ton. To see the improvement in most of the young upper class riders was indeed amazing. The young Americans were good at zips and zaps but they didn't know how to get the bikes to hook up and grip, which is the foundation of John/James Lampkins class.

I've never claimed to be world trials champ, I've claimed that about Debbie but not me. If ABC said I was, it must be true however, because everything you hear on Good Morning America, ABC news and CNN is true, isn't it? They would never make a mistake in a story. These shows they shoot hours of video yet only air a few seconds! We never know what they are going to put on or leave in the editing room. I've not seen the piece yet, Daniel and I were up riding with John Lampkin when the show aired. Most people who have seen it have said it was pretty good, thanks to those who took the time to watch it.

Al, Go to International trials school on your search engine. Bill Markem has a video on training kids. At age 6, a Honda mini 50 4 stroke trail bike works great for beginning trials. then later you can use if for a pit bike yourself. What I do with kids is this! I'll have them push the bike around for a while, going backwards and forward without an engine running to get the feel of it. They need to understand the weight, lean, brakes, balance and turning of the bike before you allow them to ride with the engine on. Then when the do go to the motor, I play red light green light with them. Forcing them to stop and go until they can do that with good success. What you may find is that if she starts riding, you may not have time to ride yourself, it's a full time job watching after little ones on dirt bikes. So think long and hard about it.

Moderators, I'm trying to go the route of "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Oh and if you have any questions on anything, I will try to answer any of them, Just ask them one at a time. I've never meant to dodge any questions, simply poor writing skills on my part.

7am this Sat. a couple of trials riders will be featured on Good morning America, the TV newsmagazine show.

Thanks guys for the excellent coverage of the mental approach to training. I think we have covered that enough, now let's go onto physical conditioning. One last point to remember here however, an angry fighter is not a good fighter. What a rider must do is focus all that passion into his riding but not be mad. You will get bad calls by observers, political problems pop up, sponsors fail you, people cheat or a host of other negative things can happen. To work through them and ride your best always, is what it takes to be a focused and winning rider. Remember you can only do your own personal best, you cannot control outside factors, like if someone else simply is riding brillitantly. If you have done your very best, your a winner no matter what your results. Lastly remember the three rules to continued championship trials success- 1- score points 2- have fun or make a lot of money 3- always learn something, if you have acheived all three of these in each ride, you will continue to have success. Moving on- What I feel is the next possible breakthrough for the average rider is core conditioning. Now championship riders need a more scientific approach to their pysical conditioning by studying their weak link in their conditioning chain. I believe that takes professional trainers, like boxers or other professional athletes use. To find and address those weak links before peak performance can be attained by any trials athlete. Being that most professional trainiers don't understand trials, it makes peak athletic performance hit and miss. That's why I feel there is a large payoff lurking just over the horizon for increased athletic performance for the trials athlete at every level. All that is needed is some solid research in this area by knowledgable people.

Now this does have a great deal to do with trials training! Is there a pot of gold at the end of the quest? Is a total effort for trials worth the extreme sacrafices a youngster will have to make to get on top of the sport? Each individual must ask themselves that question! For me the answer was easy, I rode my first trial at 18 years old. I had no interest in college and decided to ride trials for a while before going into Moto-Cross. Trials came easy for me, within little more than one year's intensive training I was the best trials rider in the United States. So I skipped an MX career. I'd also earned suppport on the Bultaco Enduro team. I'd decided to pack it all up and go car racing because I saw nothing else that could be done with trials, when the phone rang offering me a paid job riding trials. I quit my regular job and went off on a five year paid trials trip, had a great time and had the chance to meet some great people. Including my future wife! When it all ended, wow, what a crash! Each young rider will face this same challenge! The rise, flight and fall of a competition trials career. The question is simply will there be a payoff at the end of the rainbow? For some there will be, for others there will be a horrible crash and burn! Today there has been created a support system for pro ball players who have been through this rise, flight and crash of professional sports. Our sport however does not have such a safetynet yet. Simply another interesting and important factor to consider during trials training.

Neo, your a wise old sage! Maybe I've got chips on both my shoulders? Maybe they are there for good reason? Maybe unseen forces are at work behind the scenes in our sport that hold it back for personal gain? Maybe my job is simple, to protect the youngsters coming up in the future from abuse, disappointment and exploitation. For real, I'm angry for being banned from TC for speaking my mind but not resentful.I understand Free speech and change always scares some people. The internet is indeed a revolution and we must expect some to resist that. Of course I'm disgusted that I was banned from the US national championship after having my entries accepted with 7th overall within my sights. If those who banned me lost the amount of money I did on their decision they would be a lot madder than I am. Sure I'm disgusted that our national organizing body refuses to move to the world standard and put our youngsters on the same displacement bikes as the rest of the world. Yet in the same breath they claim they want US riders to make an impact on the world championship again. Sure I'm disgusted that our top riders are not allowed to contest the US world round without losing national championship points this year. It's their best dress rehersal for their A class Debut at the TDN, an oppertunity now lost. I agree that if your not part of the solution your part of the problem. Also consider, you can't solve a problem you don't know you have. In America, our national organizing body sees no problem with their actions. The internet for the first time forces them to be accountable, don't blame them for not liking that. I wish I was the cause of all the problems, that would give me the power to fix them. I'm simply a guy pointing the obvious, with nothing to gain or lose. Other than the satisfaction of a lot of youngsters not having to suffer a lot of the headaches they will if they pursue the sport in earnest. A lot of them are in for a huge letdown and a huge crash in life. I'd like to see that crash minimized or made into a jump to future success. I know because I lived it and prospered but I was lucky.

I think BS hit the nail on the head! The toughest part of the game is not on the course. Often I consider, is this sport worth the effort? If a youngster puts half the effort and expense into another sport sanctioned by the schools. They will be popular with their peers and teachers. Plus in most cases get a free college education which will lead to a nice middle class life. A trials rider trains really hard, spends a huge amount of money and emotional engergy, then in the end there is usally not a payday. Maybe, just maybe they are better off doing school sanctioned sports and going for that free college education and popularity with their classmates? Then in the end they may even have the opprtunity to play Pro ball or go to the Olympics and make some money. Plus have the advantage of a free college education.

Good reply bikespace, your comments didn't hurt my feelings! Having an opinion is good but does open you up to cross examination. Thankyou for bringing up the important topic of attitude first before anyone else. I will not ask for you to be banned, I doubt anyone else will either. You have opened up too interesting of a topic. Of course fighting sprit is important but no man is an island as Atom pointed out. A great support team is perhaps the most vital link in an athletes progress. Look at boxing as an example, you need good trainers and cornermen. Question everyone, Do the British riders get the same support as the Spanish youngsters? I know the Americans don't and it effects their performance. If the Brit riders don't, does that effect their future performance? You have raised some interesting questions, plus your tough approach shows how heated emotions can get in sport. Without superior attitude, plus great support, nobody can survive the pressure of top level trials. NOBODY! So trials is really a team sport, look to how good a riders team is! Do you feel that emotions got heated when Raga lead the strike against Fugi and Lampkin riding the Spanish Championship? There's an example of out of the country riders not being welcome by the locals. How much passion was there with Raga when he was banned from the world championship in retrobution to their strike? As was pointed out, attitude is perhaps one of the key factors for success! Attitude includes confidence, a possitive outlook, how to handle negative comments or scoring calls, knowing when to carry on and when to pack it up. this of course is only scratching the surface on the topic. Then of course with a strong support team around you, it will help you make those tough choices, deflect unwarrented critizisim and keep your focus on what's important at the moment. In the Raga incident, I blame his support team or lcak of one as much as him. Onto another interesting topic, When do you think Dougie should pack it up?

Alan, when it was time to print the book I was flat @ss broke and didn't have two dimes to rub together. Len and I had labored over the book for over a year when I was on payroll with Bultaco, my contract ended right about the time of printing which put me in a horrible finatual position. I was unable to invest in the project, which cost me a lot of finatual returns of the book. It would have been a good investment. Len paid for the printing and published the book alone, paying for everything! Then paid me royalties as they sold. He was working at Dirt Bike as editor at the time and must have really believed in the project. This one book sparked a whole series of books! One with MX world champion Brad Lackey, another with the wheelie king Doug Domocas and of course the Bernie Book. So this flegling trials book project started a whole business for Len and created a revolution for riders everywhere in understanding trials technique. Why I was able to create and explain the text to Len was simple. Not living in Europe it became nessicary for me to figure out technique for myself, alone without riders better than me to learn from. Then doing schools and training camps for Bultaco I spent a great deal of time explaining and teaching the techniques to others. Together, Len put my theories on paper, took amazing pictures and had the courage and resources to put it out on the market. He gambeled and won! I'm simply glad to have been a part of the whole process.

Skinny or strong, which is better? That's an interesting observation and question! I'm not sure I'd call Dougie Skinny and he's done OK! Yes it is true that the machines need a bunch of power today with the rev and dump technique used by the Spanish. That takes horsepower and small riders have a better power to weight ratio. Check out the size of the roadrace riders sometime to understand power to weight ratios! In the end, strong riders are always better in my view but hey I give just one man's opinion. The bikes will generate more horsepower as designs get better taking away the advantage the light riders now enjoy with their current power to weight ratio advantage. I BELIEVE, strong riders can fight in the tough spots better, get more grip because they carry a little more weight and can have better endurance if they are trained right. Their only disadvante is power to weight ratio! The question is, can good tuning and design overcome the power to weight ratio of the light weight but not as strong riders? I do believe that being taller is always an advantage for footing, again the extra weight is always a trade-off. In the end, fate is a big factor in who's world champion! Physical advantage or disadvantage depending on current bike design, current social conditions in a nation and a host of other uncontrolable factors plays a big part in championship success. Overall it's a cocktail of factors deciding who will be top of the heap at any current moment in time. The trick is simply taking whatever cards you are delt, playing them with all your skill, knowledge and passion you have and letting the cards fall where they may. I've often wrote on this board, it's better to have aimed high in the game and failed than to never have played at all. Otherwise you will have never enjoyed the journey along the way which is really the joy in the sport afterall.

Good minder? I feel that the Lampkins are the greatest trials team of all time! There is a lot to learn from these amazing people. They have passion for trials, love of family and a good head on their shoulders. But their biggest plus is that they learn from their mistakes and ajust. In todays trials perhaps a 5th factor needs to be added into the four other rider improvement areas I've detailed, a great minder team! Atom that's an amazing observation on your part, without a dynamic combination of a great rider/minder, nobody is going to have a big impact on the world championship today, no matter how much talent they have. The success of Lampkin or Raga is amazing but how good would they be without Jordi and Martin? Really the men behind the men don't get enough credit, the greats of today always stand on the shoulders of the pioneers of yesterday.

Again excellent point GASGAS! Your Enduro background serves you well and gives you a very broad perspective. Also look at all the set-up work that is done for MX today even though the production bikes are amazing compared to just a few years ago. There is a very large business for suspension set-up, in my town there is 3 shops that provide that service, not dealers but tuning shops. Set-up, tuning and bike modification is a science! What you need right now is not the same as what you would need if you rode Pro. Likewise if most Mx riders tried to ride Bubba Steward's works Kawasaki they would fall on their head. So your indiviual needs are very unique, I can't say what you need without being with you, that's like practicing medicine over the internet! Picture this in your mind however! When I came back to the sport, 120lb women riders rode the same set-up as full size men riders. Overall here's where American trials riders are being shortchanged! Their national organizing body supports the sportsmen riders with 17+ classes at a US national. Yet the number of entries is something around one hundred, which means almost everyone entered gets on the podium. Todays National riders are not challenged to think or work their way up the ranks! They are handed a podium finsih without having to "work for it." Simply, this allows Americans to get lazy! How? They always have another class they can move to where the competition is not too tough. Even our best Pros are not encouraged to step up and contest the world round against the world's best. I agree with Dman's point, that you need to ride with riders better than yourself. How can the US Pros get better not contesting the world round and riding with those better?

My book sold out years ago, it was the prequel to the Bernie book and Len went with Bernie because he seemed like a good sales angle bringing in the new world champ. The books never sold out and they are still for sale today. The Len Weed/Lane Leavitt book revealed the foundations of championship riding! It for the first time in history revealed in plain English the fundamentals that unlock everything to come later. If you watch E-Bay the book comes up for sale once in a while. Hey, if you have a copy, I'll even sign it. The information today is now common knowledge but in the day it was a revolution. Nobody had ever revealed it before, which raised the level of clubmen riders worldwide. Actually Wayne, I consider bike set-up and design as vital! I was shocked at the poor state of the set-ups I found on everyone's modern bikes when I returned to the sport. Geoff Aaron does a good job for himself but I've not seen anyone else that really understands what they really need but please understand that I've not spent time with ALL the top American riders. My two nationals I rode this year gave me tremendous insights on todays US pro riders. It was my plan to compete in this class and watch and learn where and how each of these riders sized up. Learn their mental and physical strong and weak points, plus study their bike set-up and minder interaction. Sadly this plan had the rug pulled out from under it by our short sighted national organizing body. I was also doing research on physical conditioning for the sportsman rider, having already great insights on how to train as a pro. This also was blown out of the water by the NATC! Since I've not trained a single day since having a call from the head of the NATC banning me from the US nationals. So the sportsman training project was put on hold,perhaps never to be picked up agian. I feel this would have been as big a revolution as the riding techniques that I revealed in the Trials Techniques and training. Sadly I feel that one of the biggest handicaps for American riders reaching their full potentual is the US national organizing body, the NATC.

Gee. I'm a little surprised that nobody has responded to this tred or asked me to break down the four areas of developement even more! Well, guess that's why we are in the state we are in here. The sceintific approach is dealing with each of these four areas of possible improvement and fight for success, betterment and progress in each one. Every inch of progress creates a higher level of rider in any of the four. My advice is idenify the weakest link in the chain yourself like I did or if you can have a great mentor help you do it with you.