IN Peters Township December 2016/January 2017 | Page 53

PETERS TOWNSHIP’S GAVIN TOWERS
IS MAKING HIS MARK EARLY ON IN MOTOCROSS.

BY
NICOLE TAFE

PHOTOS BY
KEVIN TOWERS

“MOTOCROSS IS DEFINITELY A PHYSICALLY DEMANDING SPORT—YOU HAVE
TO BE IN THE BEST PHYSICAL SHAPE POSSIBLE,” SAYS TOWERS. “THERE ARE
NO TIME-OUTS, NO SUBSTITUTIONS AND NO HALF-TIMES. IT’S JUST YOU,
YOUR BIKE AND THE PODIUM YOU’RE TRYING TO GET ON TO TAKE THE WIN.”

winter months and heads south when he can. When school is out during the
summer, Towers and his dad make trips down to Allendale, SC, to train at Real
Deal MX Training Facility. “It is absolutely awesome there and I love it!” says
Towers.
Towers trains both on and off the bike. “I do a lot of cardio, bicycle rides and
hikes,” he says. A typical training day consists of a warm-up in the gym followed
by Motocross bike sets for a few hours at a time. He wraps up his day with a full
workout in the gym and a 10 to 15 mile bicycle ride.
“Motocross is definitely a physically demanding sport—you have to be in
the best physical shape possible,” says Towers. “There are no time-outs, no
substitutions and no half- times. It’s just you, your bike and the podium you’re
trying to get on to take the win.”
Towers has competed in dozens of races, but perhaps his most prized
accomplishment was taking seventh place in this year’s Loretta Lynn’s Amateur
Nationals. Each year there are over 1,000 kids that attempt to make it to Loretta
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