IN Peters Township December 2016/January 2017 | Page 52

N EE D F O R S P E ED
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avin Towers got his first Motocross bike at age four. “After I learned
to ride a pedal bike when I was three and a half, my parents bought
me a RAZOR, battery-powered Motocross bike,” he says.
Towers, 12, is a seventh-grader at Peters Township Middle School. He is the
son of Kevin and Heather Towers and has one sister, Mary Sydney. At PTMS,
Towers enjoys math and has enjoyed great teachers throughout his elementary
and middle school years, including Mrs. Blosel, Mrs. Mongillo and Ms. Kern.
Since his very first ride on his RAZOR bike, Towers has lived for Motocross.
After receiving his first real dirt bike one Christmas, Towers began to attend a
local track on peewee Wednesdays. “Things really took off from there,” says his
dad who attends every practice and event. “The people we met told me that I
had to get him something faster because he had a real knack for Motocross!”
Racing outdoor Motocross means that the natural terrain makes up about
50 percent of the track, while the rest is usually man-made to include jumps,
whoops and other stunts. Indoor Motocross, on the other hand, consists of
completely man-made tracks housed in stadiums called Supercross. Towers
has competed in both, but prefers outdoor.
The amount of laps raced around the track depends on the type of race.
Outdoor Motocross generally has a 42-man gate while indoor has a 20-man
gate. All of the riders line up with their motorcycles running and then the start
procedure begins as a 30-second card is shown. This means that as soon as the

card is raised, the rides have 30 seconds to prepare before the gate drop. After 30
seconds the card is turned sideways, signifying that the gate will drop in the next
5 to 10 seconds.
With riders running lap times within just a few seconds, getting out of the gate
first (also known as a hole shot) gives the rider a huge advantage for the win.
The key to this advantage is a combination of concentration, quick reflexes and
throttle control.
“I try to train as much as possible,” says Towers. But because Pennsylvania
winters hinder outdoor training, Towers ends up chasing the weather in the
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