mich lin

I'm not buying one until I can be gareteed that whoever was the sandbagger keeping Team USA in the B group is out of the picture. I'm looking for some German and Cech hide in 07, not another cherry pick down in the B group. Say, are those riders in that DVD wearing pink or purple outfits? You know the ones so popular in the 80s

Geeez, my mistake, guess I need stronger glasses, sorry Norm! Hey everybody makes mistakes otherwise we would not have taken the apple from the snake in the garden of Eden, screwing up a great deal we had going. Sad though, I thought that it was Patrick's mom and we actually had a woman on the board. Guess it really is just an old boys club after all.

Alan and North Yorkie, I have no idea what your reading in to my posts??????????? Is it wrong to stick up for Mom when she intended NO harm or is it horrible to have the opinion that a world championship is more important than a national title??????? If someone like Patrick has the oppertunity to do both and must make a choice between one or the other! Why do you think that everything must have a negative slant? I really don't understand what you two guys are hinting at? Why does every comment have to be negative in your eyes? Perhaps if you two looked for the good insted of the evil in everything, you might not jump to conclusions so fast. That's exactly what sendero did, saw evil in an innocent comment by mom, reading into it negative insted of positive outlooks! Face it, some see the glass half empty, some see the glass half full!

Doc, Thanks for reminding me, I have not pennied up for the youth team yet! As for Team USA, I'm waiting t see if they ride A or B.............

No Jive, you are indeed "the man" for sure for Team TDN Geezer USA! Do you suppose that either Alexz or Sam realized who they were training at the Lewisport organized trials school? There is no doubt that you will simply spank both Team Spain's Jordi and Team GB's Saunders at the old guy TDN with the great info we picked up at that school. One question No Jive? How come you didn't kick into fund raising mode before you were the hot property for the US TDN team? Now, I really don't care bud, I'll take a win anyway I can for TEAM USA! And there is little doubt in my mind that we will win the old guy TDN hands down with you out front.

I'm holding back to see if the guys are riding A or B line! I just bought two new motors for our drift cars and I'm broke! If you catch me at the 15th any month, that's a good time because my social security check arrives that week. Besides I've heard you have Blue Ray versions coming and I'm waiting for the HI-Def version.

IMDB is a useful but partual list of credits of people working in flim and TV. As to who Northernmom is, it's Patrick Smage's mom!

Send, your off base here! Who's ragging on Nick? Neither Mom or myself has made one single negative comment about Nick. Yes Mom commented that he was blessed with luck and I think Nick would be the first to admit that. Read his Cycle News interview! She was simply hoping for a similar miricle for Patrick! I've been the BIGGEST supporter of what Nick did at Enduro-Cross and yes I agree that it was the biggest promotion of trials riders in years. Way overdue! In fact RYP has Nick's bike and is taking it unwashed to the dealer show, with a video of his race for promotion. Simply to show that Trials bikes can be fast! This mom is a perfect example about how life near the top gets tougher! Your innocent comment is taken out of context, mixed into Sendero's world and your suddenly a bad person. When that was the farthest thing from your mind or heart. Get used to it! Send, don't take this as a personal attack, I'm simply letting you know that neither mom or me would ever RAG on Nick's super amazing ride at Enduro-Cross. I won't back down though that the 125cc World Title is much more important than the NATC series. If Patrick had to choose, the world title should always take priority over the NATC series.

The Fireworks stores are indeed World Class, Wow, worth the trip just to try firing them off. Mom, 5 or 6 rounds is nothing to sneeze at! Try not limit yourself with any thoughts right now. If Patrick goes well in Europe, he may decide to bypass the NATC Series if he has a chance at a podium finsih at the World Championship. The NATC series is a good thing but if your going well at the World Championship, why worry about the US Title? There's lots of time for that, while your window for the World Championship is fairly small.

Sirhc, well we will have to fix that! I've not been around much since the NATC banned me from the US Pro class competition, I was a little discouraged so I stopped coming to trials. Face it the NATC knows me and they knew I would have beat Geoff Aaron in 06 if I would have kept training. Which would have ruined his bid for 10 US national titles........Which all the Geezers at the NATC where promoting! We don't have the ITS events anymore but maybe we can get Zip-Tie Cullen out to my compound for some training sometime. It's located in a former secret NIKE Missle base, protected from A-Bomb attacks by huge mountains. Where we practice is the very place where the Terminator appeared in T-3 from the future and sometimes we even go where the Moorlocks came from in HG Well's Time Machine. It's a funny place Lane'sWorld speaking of time machines, one day Doc Brown's Time Machine from Back to the Future was outside our compound gate. So bring Zip-Tie here at your own risk.

Fajardo on Beta for a year or two would be a good idea, they can groom him for Montesa, then they can hire him when he's ready to win.

No Joke Malibu, I found Ridgecrest much more friendly and modern than Truckee. Debbie also thought it was a one horse town not having been there in a while but it's really taken off, it even has a Starbucks now! What most impressed me was the JP Racing Gas Station, the first one I've ever seen anywhere, Racegas at the pump! They have tons of Hotels, the food is good "try to find breakfast before a trial in Donner." We even found a PlayStation 3 in town for under $600 bucks that we snapped up right away. Try to find a PlayStation 3 in Truckee or Malibu, Don. Dan, of course your right that World Champions must be great at everything. That's why Raga and Wigg won! Watching Raga on Mexican TV, it was obvious that he is still not as good in the Mud as he could be, I believe his GASGAS is overpowered. This next year will be interesting, can Raga hang on? Wigg will be riding his 125cc GASGAS against the 250cc bikes in the Jr World Championship not in the 125cc class which he is still young enough to contest. That's leaves the 125cc World Title WIDE Open, Could Smage be the next 125cc World Champion?

Paul, thanks for the kind word. I love to do training and help people! I also really enjoy going to other riders schools. I've been through Sammy Miller and the Mick Andrews schools, observed Lampkin's, the FIM Women's training camp in Italy and now Alexz and Sam's schools. I've also watched them teach at TCC, so I've witnessed a lot of great people at work! I've made it a study to observe teaching styles and tried hard to learn from others, each individual brings something unique to the table. I believe you can learn little tips everywhere that can add to your overall knowledge, that's why I try to always keep an open mind and a sharp eye on the scene. I don't wish to sound like a braggard but I would be surprised if there has been anyone who has had more time as an instructor than me. For several years I was the head instructor at the week long training camps at Donner, Which put a lot of hours, days and weeks in my log book as an instructor. I also believe I've had great success understanding the female trials athlete, by training Debbie Evans. Of late, I've secretly put in a lot of effort training the Califorina Youth trials team. Now of course those kids are better than me and they don't really care much what I think or say about their riding anymore, which is fine and brings great satisfaction to me to see them doing so well. It felt good to work with the all you guys at the Youth Nationals, a class is only as good as the students. And you guys were great!

Not Death Valley, whatdayamean? Why did Patrick almost die there then, sirhc? Sure it was Death Valley, it makes such a much better story. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge! I'd like to see a world round there and who from Europe wouldn't want to come and ride in Death Valley? The trouble with Donner is it's at 7000ft and the bikes don't run as well. The Death Valley location has much better sections, I also believe you could have 12 World Class sections with about a 1/4 mile loop, which would be amazing for spectators. Ridgecrest is also a much nicer town than Truckee for hotels, shopping and places to eat. Zippy, I think that Patrick, Noel and Citytrials are committed to the task of doing whatever it takes to make an impact on the World Championship. Patrick is motivated, Noel and family are nice, wonderful people that anyone would love and Citytrials is a junkyard dog, just what you need when people start to push you around...............Just the ticket, in a pinch.

Now Paul, I'm really sorry you got stuck with me at the training camp. They had to drege the bottom of the gene pool to find me but hey I work cheaper than most of the crew so I got the gig. Next year I'll be back with a pay raise, I hear the minimum wage is going to be raised by the new congress. YeeHaa! Next time we will work on all the Zips and Zaps I learned from Wiggy and Sam! Gotta share the love!

Peace, Love and veggies! Please reread my posts, I stated very clearly that club sports are the foundation of everything! Without duffer golfers Nike wouldn't have anybody to sell clubs and balls too, neither would they have the money to develope new technology! The same is true with hockey, football or just about any sport including trials. Local clubmen are the foundation of everything! But how often do you get to ride with Alexz Wigg or play golf with Tiger Woods? That was my point! At the world rounds and I've attended a few in my day, sure you get to watch. But these two weekends we had the oppertunity to ride with and ask Sam and Alexz questions, get imput and generally hang around with these two great guys. Along with watching them ride like you would at a world round! I think that's where some people miss the boat, they think it's an either/ or situation! That Our sport must be all or nothing, all sportsmen or all Pros, which is not true in any other sport, so why do people think that has to be the standard in trials? I love clubmen events perhaps more than anybody yet when something speical comes along like these two weekends with the World Champ! I'm not going to back down from stating that this was a VERY UNIQUE oppertunity. A lot of people have been PooPooing the world's top riders and world championship efforts here on this board! Boldly stating that they could care less about them! They must remember though that the fantastic motorcycles that they enjoy are developed by the tireless teams that contest the world championship. If it was not for these dedicated people the clubmen would be riding motorcycles that are not nearly so good or as much fun to ride. So be honest! We clubmen owe a huge debt to the dedicated people who contest the world and national championships!

TCC, snooooooooze! I ride local trials too but geeeeeeeeez, this week in Califorina was a major event, even better than going to a world round. How often do you get to train and be schooled by the world champ? The TCC trial was like a game of golf or tennis played at any local club, it was grand for those playing but nothing noteworthy to the sports world. Those types of matches are played everyday at clubs throughout the world in golf, tennis or trials. Those types of games are as normal as white bread, but to have the World Champ around, wow, now that's cool and something that dosn't happen everyday. Now that's news! Where was the Trials world focused this week? On Califorina, with the new 125cc World Champ in the country. Let me say for all those that didn't attend, you lost out boys! The schools were amazing, plus the chance to see Cody and Patrick face off with Sam and Alexz was simply the best. They drew crouds, inspired young minds and brought a lot of cheer and progress to the US Sport. Of course the local trial is the foundation of sport, like club level football, tennis, hockey, golf is to those sports but it's the Tiger Woods and the Alexz Wiggs of the world that inspire. Only with the talent, passion and inspriation of Youngsters like Tiger Woods and Alexz Wigg around can any sport hope to progress. Yes the TCC youth national training camps are good but give me more weeks with the World Champ like Lewisport just brought to USA trials. Remember I put my money down both weekends and spent more of my hard earned cash than anybody else did to attend the schools. Yes the TCC Youth training camp are a great idea but how often do you get to ride with the World Champ? No comparison in my view. Those who didn't bother to attend to see and learn from Alexz and Sam, Hey, you guys missed out! Maybe next time?

Ridge, a bike with a top national rider on it cought your eye, then you bought one! I thought that you didn't care what the top guys rode? Gotcha buddy!

Being honest, I've seen a ton of cheating, gamesmanship and bad calls in my time. That's why I believe we need a core of professional observers for the World Championship. That being said, We need some honest, tough and fair officals if we ever hope that this sport will make it on a grander level. Professional riders, teams and minders will always push the limits with sportsmen observers. In my view, every world round section needs to be staffed by at least one Professional FIM observer, then his back up can be the local clubmen.

Hens, I've always been for choice! Ride whatever you like, I'm accused of all sorts of things, that's just another example of people putting words in my mouth! Now about old guys on 125cc bikes, I believe that riders like Ray Peters would encourage and help the youngsters if he decided to contest the 125cc National Championship. Face it, Ray has whatever support he already has, him on a 125cc bike would give the youngsters a target. A very solid target that would build the young riders confidence when they beat him. The 125cc National Championship is about building for the future! Having an old Pro like Ray in there would help not hurt in my opinion. On the other extreme, how many 12 or 13 year olds can ride the Expert line at the US Championship and be safe and learn? I can't think of a single one, so including these age riders is also a pipedream of the NATC. Clearly they have missed the boat on both ends of the age spectrum on this exciting and important new Championship. Remember hens and company, I'm for choice not restrictions on Americans, if anybody has shown a tendency for restrictions lately it's been the NATC not me! Hey, remember, they wouldn't even let me ride the nationals in the Pro class. Now that's restrictive and closed minded, which I'm not. It's funny, the movie Rocky is about following your dreams as a young person and is considered one of the greatest movies of all times by movie experts. I also consider it one of the most important trials inspriatinal movies of all times. Rocky 6, which will be released Dec. 20th is about an old guy getting one more shot at the big time by accident. Really these movies need to be seen by all the NATC and taken to heart! The NATC has lost their way, they have lost the dream, they need to find their hearts again. They need to remember how to live a dream!

Who are the horrible people who are trying to force anyone to ride a 125cc bike? I've never heard of anyone in the US attempting to force anyone or anyone's kids into only riding a 125cc bike before! In the proposal I sent to the NATC about a 125cc US title, it was far more open in scope than the restrictive program the NATC adopted! My original proposal allowed anyone of any age to compete in the 125cc national Championship. It seems that the NATC has forced us into a very narrow 125cc class if you really look at it honestly.

Bama, I'm always thinking of what's best for the US Team as a whole! What would it take to put a US Team on top at the TDN. To do that some minor changes of the Youth Nationals would help. Also, what would maximize the competition at the US NATC Nationals to develope our best youngsters for the 125cc World Title. In my view, when the tide rises, so do all the boats with it.

Paul, in the world of the blind, the one eyed man is KING!

I believe there needs to be a 125cc Jr and adult Champion, two classes! One class should be for the best 125cc riders of any age and this would be the offical 125cc national champion who rides on the Expert line like was announced. Then we also need a 125cc junior class that rides the sportsmen line. That would prepare our best youngsters for the 125cc national championship and prepare them to compete with the rest of the World's best 125cc riders. The only reason to have a 125cc national title is to prepare our best youngsters for the World Championship and the TDN. Then of course, next we need to look at the foremat of the Youth Nationals and improve the classes structure to create an atmosphere where our best kids would get even better training and preperation for the world title.

Good! What a great looking motorcycle! Now I simply wonder, can they overcome the hard starting problems that have plagued Sherco's 4T and the spit back problem that is common with non- fuel injection 4T trials bikes? I think all of us have to admit that Honda has done an amazing job with their 4t trials motor. Will the Beta be as good? Can't wait to ride one and see!