If the NATC had not banned me from competing I would have beaten every rider in the USA but six. What was your highest national number ever in the US Pro class? In fact I'd ask that of just about everyone who decided to not let me ride this year. Did they ever do that well?
Winning National number seven at 55 years old would have been something I would have been as proud of as winning the 4 national titles and then giving one of them away. Setting personal goals is important! Without them you cannot have enough enthusiasm to do a championship.
My goals were to study and learn about todays national championship. Watch our best riders and study their styles, have fun and score national championship points. Then next year come back and do my age group championship! After that I was going to sponsor a team of young riders for the nationals and world championship.
Ringo riding the Endurocross is another example of someone reaching for a personal goal. A lot of people may have thought he was crazy but he reached for something most people would not have dreamed of. I respect that!
For me the goal of being national number 7 Pro seemed like a worthwhile personal goal to work hard toward. It motivated me enough to train in the gym everyday and practice on the bike everyday as well. I knew that the sections were over my head and that I'd have to really improve to manage to ride some of them. I was hurting nobody and improving myself a lot which is what personal goals are all about. Dispite what anybody else thinks!
I had submitted my entries, which were accepted. Arrainged a machine from the importer for the eastern events. Had purchased my airfare, Rented a car and planned to travel with Bill Markem. Everything was in place and ready for my first eastern nationals in 25 years.
I didn't cut and run Alan, I'd never do that, the NATC pulled the rug out from under me! They accepted my entries then at the last minute took my entries away. I'm still out my airfare of $350 because it was not refundable. What a waist of money because of their give an entry then take it away policies! I wish I had the $350 now for Christmas presents.
In retrospect the NATC didn't and still don't have much vision or understanding of what motivates people to spend the time, effort and money to compete at a national or world championship at the top levels. Perhaps that's why it took my organizational vision for an American rider to score world championship points for the first time since the middle 1980s, that was Spain in 2000. That's another example of setting personal goals and making the effort, no matter what anybody else thinks.
Goals, goals, goals! Worthwhile personal goals Alan. Lead by example! Just do it! Aim High! Go for the Gold! Step into the arena, win lose or draw. It's better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all.
At least I tried, I won some championships! Scored some World championship points. That's better than not trying at all, Not entering, being a spectator all the time in life.
Heck I'd ride the world round this year if they would let me! Who knows, maybe only 14 European riders might show up and I could score a world championship point. None of the other Americans are in a position to do so. I would be if they would let me.
If I'm differnt than most people fine, at least I'm being true to myself.
Sorry if this offends anybody! It's meant to be an inspiration for somebody to get out and simply participate in life insted of being only a spectator. Remember there are two types of people in the stadium, those watching the game and those playing on the field. Which will you be? I prefer being on the field insted of in the stands.
If I can't be in the game as a coach or player, I'll find a sport where I can participate. Not just be a spectator.
Ishy brought up the point of sponsorships and money in sports. Sports is a business and the sponsor always must get something for their investment. I feel that Trials does not give back to its sponsors!
Ishy sponsored youth trials in his area, yet did he get back his money's worth? We sponsored the Trial De State, did we get our money's worth?
To ride the nationals, to sponsor riders, people have to get their money's worth. I feel that the NATC ripped me off for my national efforts! I'm $350 bucks in the hole with my lost airfare and I'm reluctant to invest more, either as a rider or a sponsor. If I feel this way, other potentual sponsors might feel the same.
Just some personal observations! Until this atmosphere changes, nobody will bring any money into this sport.
Your barnstorming point is a great one! Todays top riders are not made available to the general riding public as they were in the 70s. Not having Adam Raga or Dougie come on tours of the United States makes them more mystical to our top American riders. Which means they never get to practice with them, learn from them and most importanly have a shot at beating them. So they become legendary, insted of simply someone to beat.
The same is true with the US top riders, they are insulated from the general trials population are are not available to practice with, learn from or have a shot a beating as much as Bernie, Marland or myself were. It creates sort of a closed shop atmosphere.
When we build name riders into mental giants as we have Geoff on a national level and Dougie or Adam on an international level we see a climate where young riders cannot even imagine beating them. If youngsters cannot see themselves beating a Geoff Aaron they never will, just like if the US champion cannot see himself beating Adam Raga he never will.
It might be true that the top riders perfer it like this because they do not get as much pressure from the young lions coming up. It just might keep their place at the top more secure for longer peiords of time. So doing anything to open up the top ranks of the sport on a national or international level might get some resistance from the current champions. Simply a thought!
Barcota was right to some extent of his appraisal of my goals for riding the nationals in 05 but I disagree with his contempt for it. My riding the US Pro class was to prove a point and of course have some fun!
My final overall national number for the year in the US pro class championship would have been national #7. I wanted to show the youngsters that if you don't compete with Geoff you cannot even figure into the results or ever hope to beat him. The point was simply just do it, jump in and get involved!
If you wait to long, your going to be to old to beat Geoff and for sure Adam Raga. I was pleased to see Patrik Smage take my challenge and move up to the Pro class and face off with Geoff and crew mid season. What he did was what I was hoping all the young tigers would do, jump in and join the Pro class fight!
A US Pro class with only 6 0r 7 riders is really sad! Seeing all our best youngsters in their most important formative years segregated from the best American Pros is counter productive to their development. It derails the time table they need to follow if they ever hope to beat someone like an Adam Raga.
So your observation of barnstorming really is a good one and perhaps the reason we have Geoff and Dougie winning such a long string of championships?
I beleive we cannot live in the past and bask in the glory of what we did to put an American on top in world trials. Or marvel at the huge numbers of riders we had back then. We do need to be aware of history, understand what worked and what didn't, then be clear if we really want a bigger sport and world class riders again.
I asked this question and requested a clear set of goals at my last NATC meeting in 1980. Without clear goals you cannot move in any kind of a direction. The NATC responded by stonewalling my requests for open clear cut goals, yet they did give me enough respect to pull me aside and make it clear what their goals were for the sport.
The goals of the organization was to have no more world class riders from the USA because they created too serious of an atmosphere at the US nationals. This race face atmosphere mentioned above does indeed come with Professional riders "fighting" it out to be top dog. Yet without feeding that dog, riders cannot mature into winnning fighters/riders on an international level.
Next their other goal was to keep the sport small! The NATC didn't want an enviroment where you had to lock your truck between laps or create a situation where sportsmen riders couldn't ride the nationls because the entries where filled with young riders wanting to be the next Adam Raga.
They wanted well organized events they could ride in their senior class divisions and have fun at. So the stagnation and direction that our sport went was clearly planned by the NATC and they successfully created the sport they wanted.
Today none of these people are still riding anymore! So we really do have an oppertunity to reconsider the course of the sport. Now if the NATC is content to keep things as they are, we can go with the new organization just created and set some new more progressive goals for trials if we want. Provided sport growth is indeed something we want.
I believe that the sport stands at a crossroad, we can go anyway we choose. There is no reason why a new professional series cannot be created in the Oktoberfest model,maybe an indoor series, a youth series, a set of regional championships or anything else that can be imagined.
Or we can continue with the NATC model designed to keep the sport small and targeted to senior class riders to have fun. The decision of the movers and shakers of trials is simply this, do we leave this a sport for senior riders only? Or do we figure out a way to include new riders, youngsters and potentual Adam Ragas?
Today trials does not give oppertunities for all possible interests. Yes we provide excellent entertainment for senior class riders but other age groups or interest levels are not given room to participate. How these riders are included I'm not sure about yet but the untapped potentual is there provided we really do want sport growth today.
in the Sammy Miller book the key point I came away with was this. Sammy asked someone what the secret to being a great rider was, I can't remember who he asked but it must have been someone Sammy respected. The answer he was given was enthusiasm. Sammy stated he didn't think much of the answer but the more he thought about it the more he realized it was the most important thing about trials.
Each individual is exceited by something a little differnt, the old "differrnt strokes for differnt folks" concept. I really don't believe that US trials offers differnt strokes for differnt folks! When people have enthusiasm for something they get involved, when they don't they stop.
I've experenced that if you don't conform exactly to the mold or program set foreward you get resistence in this sport. Your expected to be a cookie cut trials rider or promoter in the USA. Otherwise your given a hard time and run off.
It's hard to have enthusiasm for trials for long when your put down for having a little fun, set high goals or simply be yourself. Since I've been back in the sport I've gotten flack for taking a team to Europe, organizing the Trial De State, for riding the US Championship and having an interest in trials growth and US riding levels.
Simply, I've lost interest and hope for the sport. I would have loved to get involved on a BIGGER level. Helped more riders, organize more events, donate more money but everytime I did some of that somebody had a bone to pick.
Simply because I didn't want to play their game, or be happy as it was. When I organized an event "the Trials De State" which favored states with big youth programs there was flak because states with small youth programs didn't have a chance. Why didn't they simply get off their behinds and build one? You begin to ask yourself why lisen to all the complainers? The do nothing croud.
I'm sure you can relate in some way after organizing the kids program for the PNTA, investing your own time and money. That's exactly what I did only in a little differnt direction. We simply lose enthusiasm.
A couple of last examples of differnt strokes, gone bad! Two girls rode the Donner Youth National agaisnt the boys that you and your son did a few years ago. Your son won 2 of the 3 days but didn't ride the third day because of needing to return home. A girl rider won the overall agaisnt the boys because of your sons absence at the last round, yet she was not allowed to stand with boys on top of the boys podium. She has had no interest of riding since!
Another older girl also finished on the podium against the boys in a higher class yet she was also not allowed to stand on the boys podium. She also has not ridden a single event since then. Their goal was to place with the boys, yet they where not allowed to. Again differnt strokes, yet their hope and dream of competeing with the boys was taken away along with the enthusiasm for trials.
Sorry for the negativity, I'm generally a possitive person! I've simply lost enthusiams for riding and the sport. Only because there is no diffent strokes for differnt folks allowed here.
Look at the high quality of the posters on this tred! The unoffical president of the ATA, a leader in the PNTA, a major player from STRA, an importers rep and a long winded hasbeen. Not a bad croud!
Ishy, I agree with you that the local clubs should not be tapped for funds to support national or regional competition unless they volenteer to do so. Their main focus like you pointed out needs to be local events that are really fun to ride.
Your also right about big entries in the past. Looking at some old ATA results from the 70s there was 35 or 40 riders in the kids class, over 100 riders in the Novice class.
I also agree with you that trials has become a hidden sport. Little or no dealers that you can walk into and sit on a bike. Little information about local events! Little or no coverage of the sport in Cycle News or the major magazines.
Ringo, your point is very valid. Local enthusiasm or grass roots involvement of any sport is the foundation. Be it football, soccer or NASCAR.
Local enthusiasm or the grass roots is the bottom of the pyramid, which is successful local trials,something really fun for the clubman, pop Warner or high school football for that sport is the foundation of football.
College ball would be the next level for football, regional championships or state championships for NASCAR. Which we simply don't have for trials would be our next step, we go strait to the sportsmen age nationals for trials which are all over the country. So we have no interm step for our sport to build from.
The top of the pyramid is a Tiger Woods, a Jeff Gorden, Raga or Bernie. The Guys who live the dream! Without those super star players living the dream, you cannot create the grass roots enthusiasm that football, baseball, golf or NASCAR has.
American Trials has nobody living the dream anymore, your right in saying the trials demos have created simply a sideshow of our best riders.
They are busy booking shows instead of chasing the dream of beating Raga and the other best riders in the world.
That's a distinct change from the atmosphere of the 70s. Yes Bernie, Marland and Debbie did shows but they where exhibitions before 10s of thousands at the half time of Supercross races. I really don't think they were paid, they did it to bring trials before the motocross public.
Perhaps your right that Chris, Geoff and Bruce make about the same saleries that I did for riding. I'm not sure what they are paid!
Bultaco was also kind enough to let me ride in Europe and pay for those trips as well. Including several Scottish Six Days. With gas and Hotels paid for I also was able to travel around the country and compete and train with other riders throughout the nation.
I would often go to the Northeast, Michigan, Pacific Northwest, Southern Califorina, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and other areas to compete and train with the locals. I would also follow the tours of European riders who came to the USA to promote the sport. It seemed to me that I got around more than todays riders do.
That's what I see as being a little differnt. Why don't todays top riders get out and around more? The other thing that is differnt, is that the importers in the 70s always had European stars coming to America for schools, Demos and competition tours.
Why don't we see Raga, Doug, Albert and others coming to America and showing us their stuff. Promoting their brand, amazing us mortals and giving our best riders a chance to rub shoulders with them a little?
That was very common in the 70s. In fact when a European rider came I'd follow them accross the nation. Which gave me several trials to compete agaisnt them,learn and often a win over them.
This Pro trials series concept would be the perfect venue for a Raga or a Lampkin to come to.
I think your pointing out if we had a series of events just like the one at the Oklahoma Oktoberfest, organized accross the country. That we would have something really good.
The Cycle News coverage of that event was perhaps the best for a Trials event in years. Your saying I believe that it would give incentive to our better riders to get out to these events and get together more often. Maybe even provide a Pro series for them?
Alan, for 5 years riding trials for the factory was all I did 1972-77. I didn't get rich doing it but it gave me the skills I needed to do well in my own business later in life.
What Bultaco paid me was this. The loan of a Dodge Maxi Van with a company gas card for all my fill ups for 5 years. A company expense account that paid for all my hotels, food and entry fees for the events I did.
The salery I recieved was not huge but I did manage to buy my own place in Rescue Califorina which is where a lot of the pictures in my book are taken of me riding.
My only source of income beside my Bultaco paycheck was doing some trials schools, or organizing trials for the fun of it.
Bultaco paid for my boots, helmets and riding gear but most of the time it was free from somebody anyway. They gave me bikes, parts and tires but again most of the time my tires where provided by Dunlap for free.
Foxshox paid me 2 dollars per pair later in my career but that was after my Bultaco contract expired. They sold a ton of those Fox trials shox, they where the biggest selling trials shocks in the world for a few years.
The book I did with Len Weed also paid a little until it sold out. But both the book and the FoxShox deal was when I was a privateer still contesting the Pro class, which I did as long as I could afford it.
To this day I believe I'm the only privateer who ever won the US national championship. 1978 but that's a very long story I'm not going to get into.
Ishy, I agree with you that trials is not a spectator friendly sport, neither is off road racing.
That's what's so cool about areacross, it allows us to see these guys ride for the first time. The same can be said for world indoor trials, it's a good TV show.
To be honest bike racing cross country is not a very good spectator sport either but Wayne has shown us that it pays.
We have to admit that the NATC does eat up a lot of the entry fees for a national. For good or bad!
First more trials bikes were sold in the USA, a lot more back then. Which meant that the importers had more cash to spred around.
Second we didn't have all the age groups at the nationals, each of these 16 plus classes have riders with some degree of support from the importers. So insted of all the money going to the top Pro class like it was in Bernie's day.
It's devided into 16 tiny little pieces giving a tiny little bit of support to each age class.
Today we have importer supported riders in the 30 year old, 35, 40,45,50,55,60,65,70 year old age groups, plus Expert, Expert Sportsmen, Highschool, ladies and now we have added a grade school class and women's B class. Each class is hotly contested by the importers and they all recieve importer support. So the pie is sliced 16 differnt ways today.
Todays smaller sport simply cannot support all these sponsored riders in all the age classes with the same level of suppport that Bernie, Marland or myself had. In the 70's only the top few pros recieved factory or importer support, riders in the senior classes were club riders and did it for fun without importer sponsorship.
Think about it, the pie was bigger and the slices were also. The slices always went to the countries very best pros, today the pie is also cut up to feed the senior and club level riders who contest the age group championships of the NATC nationals.
Bernie and his rivals, were on payroll from the US importers to ride trials. There never was a purse trials event that I remember. We did get bonus money for winning from our sponsors if that can be counted.
Being paid to ride we simply didn't have to hold down a regular job. We just traveled, practiced and rode trials.
Of course Ringo is right, money is always the fertilizer of top flight sport. Bernie, Marland, Myself and a host of other Americans were paid to ride during the last push to the top by American riders.
The other factor was desire, there was a national desire for US roadracers, MX, speedway, enduro riders and yes trials riders to beat the world. Today our US riders in every motorcycle discipline still have that drive. Except in trials.
Win, lose or draw, you don't know what you can do until you try. You also can't learn the game if you don't play it, Americans are simply not playing the world championship game today. The only way to improve is to jump in and play!
If you skin you knee, if you get beat so what! Simply don't give up, work on the weak points, learn, observe and try your best. Do better every event if you can, pick off your compeditors one by one until you reach your best.
Then sit back and enjoy the journey you just had. It's far better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all. Having been on the field or in the stadium as a player a few times in life is better than never having been one at all.
You don't need to do the nationals Ringo,there they only ride the easy line, won't help you get ready for the Wagner cup World line or the TDN. Just jump right in like you did at Endurocross. That's really the best path for success.
Look how well your world championship sponsorshop program is going already! Your now the highest paid American rider in the world championship and your just getting started.
Picture you and me as this years TDN team! Hey, if enough Euros are No shows at the Wagner cup. We are going to score world championship points, shouldn't the top two world championship points scorers for the USA be the TDN team?
It was NOT John Wayne it was Steve McQueen! Get the facts strait.
My last good ride against Bernie was in 1979 at the first round of the ATA championship. I spanked both Bernie and Marland that Sunday, they both jetted off to Spain for the Spanish world round the following week.
Bernie won that year in Spain and Marland finished 3rd, that's two Americans on the world podium at the same time. Both these men were great riders and we all pushed each other a great deal for years!
I went back to work at the airplane factory Monday and started making myself useful to society, insted of being a motorcycle bum. Hey, now I even pay taxes! Bernie went onto be world champion and marry a rich French girl. Marland races mountain bikes and builds houses in Montana.
I think Marland was really a better rider than Bernie, he just didn't like living in Europe. No McDonalds or surfing!
Our coverage of the event from inside the tapes will be fantastic for sure. We will scoop all the other journalists. Have you got your entry back yet? I'm still waiting on my FIM licence.
The rider was Speedway champion Mike Bast, Doubling for James Cann. The movie was indeed Freebie and the bean. That was way before I was in the movie business.
Mike is a great guy, who won a bunch of Speedway championships. He told me the story years later of going out in the desert to practice for the job where he found an old wrecked car that he proceeded to start riding over. As he was practicing a man came up and claimed that was HIS car and make Mike pay for the damages.
Alan, good stuff, I rode on the same team with Bernie and on the same sections for years. So I know exactly how he came to be successful.
He came along like any other rider way back in the pack and didn't show much promise but then recieved some great mentoring from Steve's Bultaco's Boyd Bernard. Bernie's bike prep was junk until Boyd helped him out with his bike prep problem. That's when he began to move up the leaderboard a little.
After that the Bultaco factory took an interest in him and began to mentor him. Bultaco always believed it was good for the sport to have an American in the World Championship, that's also why they supported Jim Pomeroy for MX GPs. So they began to bring Bernie to Europe for seasoning.
His unique style grew from where he practiced, Big Tujunga Wash which has huge bolders with sand and gravel in between. In that area it's easier to ride over the rocks than between, so he became adept at riding onto them insted of turning around them. This style became known as the Schriberline, it was either a clean or a crash, so it had mixed results in national competition.
We trained together there a bunch, in fact I've taken other riders there like Florida's Brock Saddlemyer. Ask him about it!
The gravel and sand force you to build a ryhthm you will not have training on normal sections. In fact I call this area the "Schrieberzone." You take someone there who thinks they are good and put them in the simplist sections and they fall all over themselves.
At this years US world round I suggest you watch and lisen to the speed and rhythm of the best world championship riders compared to the US riders. They move and flow at a very precise rhythm which in missing from todays top Americans.
One comment that was heard spoken about our best riders was they don't. They don't know when to go fast and when to go slow, they are always riding the wrong speed.
That was overheard by one American spectator in Deluth, the father of an up and coming US riding star. Learning the correct rhythm is perhaps the hardest thing to pick up, unless your riding with riders who have it already.
When you don't ride with the best, chances are you never will learn it.
Bottom line Dan, if you don't compete with the BIG DOGS you can't score any world championship points. To have them step down from the world championship line at their one shot per year with the best, loses a good dress rehersal for next years A class TDN debut. O'Well another lost oppertunity.
Remember that one US rider and one US based rider not with an American passport scored world championship points last year in Deluth, the first time since the mid-80s by our male riders.
I was very happy for these men even though there was only 13 WCT compeditors. Which made it impossible for them not to score world championship points. They still made the record books and that's a big deal breaking a twenty year dry spell of no US world championship points.
To take the course of action which makes it impossible for our best riders to compete without losing national championship points is indeed a difficult position for them. This has been business as usual for the NATC for the past 25 years, placing our best riders in a no win position.
When will this madness stop?
Only by riding with the best, in the same sections, seeing it done right and then doing it yourself will our riders ever get back to a WCT level again.
Get the facts strait.
Usa As A Wr Contender
in USA Trials
Posted
Alan,
If the NATC had not banned me from competing I would have beaten every rider in the USA but six. What was your highest national number ever in the US Pro class? In fact I'd ask that of just about everyone who decided to not let me ride this year. Did they ever do that well?
Winning National number seven at 55 years old would have been something I would have been as proud of as winning the 4 national titles and then giving one of them away. Setting personal goals is important! Without them you cannot have enough enthusiasm to do a championship.
My goals were to study and learn about todays national championship. Watch our best riders and study their styles, have fun and score national championship points. Then next year come back and do my age group championship! After that I was going to sponsor a team of young riders for the nationals and world championship.
Ringo riding the Endurocross is another example of someone reaching for a personal goal. A lot of people may have thought he was crazy but he reached for something most people would not have dreamed of. I respect that!
For me the goal of being national number 7 Pro seemed like a worthwhile personal goal to work hard toward. It motivated me enough to train in the gym everyday and practice on the bike everyday as well. I knew that the sections were over my head and that I'd have to really improve to manage to ride some of them. I was hurting nobody and improving myself a lot which is what personal goals are all about. Dispite what anybody else thinks!
I had submitted my entries, which were accepted. Arrainged a machine from the importer for the eastern events. Had purchased my airfare, Rented a car and planned to travel with Bill Markem. Everything was in place and ready for my first eastern nationals in 25 years.
I didn't cut and run Alan, I'd never do that, the NATC pulled the rug out from under me! They accepted my entries then at the last minute took my entries away. I'm still out my airfare of $350 because it was not refundable. What a waist of money because of their give an entry then take it away policies! I wish I had the $350 now for Christmas presents.
In retrospect the NATC didn't and still don't have much vision or understanding of what motivates people to spend the time, effort and money to compete at a national or world championship at the top levels. Perhaps that's why it took my organizational vision for an American rider to score world championship points for the first time since the middle 1980s, that was Spain in 2000. That's another example of setting personal goals and making the effort, no matter what anybody else thinks.
Goals, goals, goals! Worthwhile personal goals Alan. Lead by example! Just do it! Aim High! Go for the Gold! Step into the arena, win lose or draw. It's better to have tried and failed than to have never tried at all.
At least I tried, I won some championships! Scored some World championship points. That's better than not trying at all, Not entering, being a spectator all the time in life.
Heck I'd ride the world round this year if they would let me! Who knows, maybe only 14 European riders might show up and I could score a world championship point. None of the other Americans are in a position to do so. I would be if they would let me.
If I'm differnt than most people fine, at least I'm being true to myself.
Sorry if this offends anybody! It's meant to be an inspiration for somebody to get out and simply participate in life insted of being only a spectator. Remember there are two types of people in the stadium, those watching the game and those playing on the field. Which will you be? I prefer being on the field insted of in the stands.
If I can't be in the game as a coach or player, I'll find a sport where I can participate. Not just be a spectator.
Ishy brought up the point of sponsorships and money in sports. Sports is a business and the sponsor always must get something for their investment. I feel that Trials does not give back to its sponsors!
Ishy sponsored youth trials in his area, yet did he get back his money's worth? We sponsored the Trial De State, did we get our money's worth?
To ride the nationals, to sponsor riders, people have to get their money's worth. I feel that the NATC ripped me off for my national efforts! I'm $350 bucks in the hole with my lost airfare and I'm reluctant to invest more, either as a rider or a sponsor. If I feel this way, other potentual sponsors might feel the same.
Just some personal observations! Until this atmosphere changes, nobody will bring any money into this sport.