On The Pegs January 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 1 | Page 114

On The Pegs
What advice would you give a
young rider who wants to get to the
championship level and to be the
best that he can be?
I’d say the biggest thing is to have fun
and don’t expect too much of yourself
and don’t let mistakes or bad days or
bad weekends or bad years really get
you down too much. There’s always
another event. There’s always another
year. There’s always ways to improve.
Use any mistakes you make as a way to
learn and a way to get better. It never
comes down to the one day. It’s always
the big picture. It’s learning out of mis-
takes and getting better. One mistake
isn’t going to keep you from getting
better and learning from it. Keep en-
joying it and realize that riding motor-
cycles is a fun thing to do and that’s
why everybody gets into it in the first
place. I think that’s the biggest thing to
remember is just to have fun and ev-
erything else will come if you put the
time in.
Do you think it’s possible for a
young rider to move up classes too
fast? That maybe he should stay in
stay amateur class longer and learn
the basics better?
I think it’s important to learn the ba-
sics. I have seen a few kids that move
up too quick and then they’re crashing
or just pushing through things and
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they’re not learning the correct way, so
it’s not helping them that they’re riding
harder sections because they’re just
throwing themselves in there and not
even really thinking about it and just
trying to ride. You’re better off riding
the class until you’re almost bored with
it and not learning anything, and then
you move up when you’re really ready
for that challenge. Even the Pro class
sometimes, there will be days that are
very easy so it’s important to learn how
to be consistent. Even if there’s an easy
section you can still make mistakes,
but to make sure you don’t on a com-
petition day, that takes a lot of practice
riding those easy sections and being
mentally focused. That’s something
that you can develop by riding that
class you’re in until you’re really set on
it and really ready to move up. You can
always learn.
The old 125 versus a big bike con-
troversy. Some little kids, sometimes
their dads want to get them on a
big bike as soon as possible. Are
you in favor of staying on a 125 and
learning how to use your body more
rather than using the power? Or do
you think you should move up to the
bigger bike and learn how to use the
power?
I’m definitely an advocate of the
125 even though I didn’t take the ap-