WHAT ' S ON PAT SMAGE ' S MIND ?
CATCHING UP WITH THE 11X AMA NATIONAL TRIALS CHAMPION
words by : Steph Vetterly photos by : Mary Rinell // mjsmotophotos and Patsy Davis
After signing with FactoryONE Mototrials earlier this year , marking his 20th season on a Sherco , the record-setting 11x AMA National Trials Champion has been taking advantage of the cancelled 2020 National season to do some cross-training on the big bike . To date , Pat has competed in round two of the South East Extreme Riders ( SEER ) enduro , the Bootlegger Extreme , where he finished in second place , as well as opening round of the Kenda AMA East Extreme Championship , where he finished sixth overall .
If you ’ ve ever met Pat , you ’ ll know he ’ s an extremely humble athlete who expects nothing but the best from his riding . We met with him to catch up and see how this change of pace , and being able to dab without penalty , is going , and how he ’ s preparing to defend his title against a sea of rested and hungry competitors .
YOU ’ RE FRIENDS WITH NICK FAHRINGER , CODY WEBB , ETC . HAVE YOU TAKEN ANY TIPS OR TRICKS FROM THEM TO HELP GIVE YOU A LEG UP ?
I ' ve definitely asked some questions and tried to pick their brains a little bit on just how to manage the race and how to think ahead . I feel like I get a bit tense , and I forget everything that I want to do in the race . I ' ve tried to learn what i can ; I ' ve watched a bunch of Cody ’ s GoPro videos and have tried to take from it what I can , but you got to apply it too and that ' s what I ' ve
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