neonsurge Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 Can I ask a daft question? If any of the top American riders want to ride world round lines, why don't they just... y'know... enter a few world championship rounds outside the US? I appreciate how expensive it would be to mount a full championship campaign but if they're serious surely it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility to get over to Europe for a couple of events? I'm sure local distributors would be pleased to help out with bikes etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mich lin Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 neosurge, point well taken! Getting all the practice you can with the world's best is very important for improving performance. I believe that Smage and company are planning just that. I remember Canadian Champion Ryan Bell riding at the Andorra world round in 2000 with Christy Williams as his minder, while our national champion was a spectator at the event! It was the weekend before the TDN in Spain. The Andorra world round proved great practice for Bell and it really did help his riding. Bell had the lowest score of any rider in the B group that year. Even Beating Geoff Aaron, our US champion who sat out the week before in Andorra. My point is this,as a rider your best value and greatest chance of scoring world championship points comes in your home round. It's a very selfish position for some US Pro riders to take, voting to make this experence impossible for those who have an interest in riding the world round. Then for dbrown the organizer to also take this position creates a double hit agaisnt these riders with an eye for world round experence. Clearly this thinking is one of the major roadblocks in the quest to bring US riders back up to world championship levels. When the topic comes up of the USA as a world round contender, look no farther than some of our own riders and organizers as the main problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no jive Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 (edited) From Lane, I tend to beleive that Team USA's secret plan is to lose big this year at the TDN, then drop back and be the big fish in the small pond again. I don't believe this generation of US riders really wants to ride with the world's best. Lane where do you get this secret plan with the TDN. You make it sound like the CIA or the Maffia. Did Geoff, Keith, Chris & Cody all get together and come up with a secret plan. Or can you not let us know this top secret information. I think you have been watching to many movies. As far as your negative comment that this generation of riders does not want to ride with the worlds best. Did you ask any of the riders? Why dont you call Cody because he is going to Europe this year. He has been planning this for several months. This information was not top secret. In June Cody will ride 3 world rounds. Cody has gone to Europe I think for the last 2 years to compete and has done very well. Every year he has ridden more World rounds than the year before. Every year he steps it up a notch. This is not a cheap or easy thing to do. But every year his family has made the effort. Once again you contradict yourself. You are very good at that. You said the Patrick Smage is going to Europe. Is he not in this generation? Why dont you keep your negative comments to yourself or your team (who is on your team anyway)? Or is that top secret? Edited January 7, 2006 by No Jive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austini Posted January 7, 2006 Report Share Posted January 7, 2006 You guys need to get out more! How many of you chaps are riding the SSDT compared to the Aussies, I know its not the WTC but most riders cut thier milk teeth there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mich lin Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 (edited) The rider vote was taken, the results were clear, ride down a line by the US Pro riders was what the majority wanted. This sends a clear signal to all of us, they don't want to compete with the world's best, even with the home court advantage! Chris to his credit, wanted to ride the world round but a vote is a vote and according to dbrown, the US Pro rider majority were in favor of not riding with the men they will ride against at the TDN. This takes away our most important and cheapest rehersal for next years TDN A class debut. Its simply common sense that our best shot at the European and Japanese riders, is at the American World Round on home turf! To pass on this oppertunity and to vote to NOT RIDE simply proves my point without a shadow of a doubt. What generation is Cody Webb in, the old or the new, that's a good question? That choice will be his, if he rides the US world round in the 125cc class, the stepping stone to the World Championship,then goes to Europe to contest more 125cc world rounds, he's the first of the new generation. If he rides the US Pro class instead of the US World round, he's the last of the old generation! What age is he anyway? 125cc age or Jr World Championship age? We commended him for his up coming efforts to ride in Europe. We also have made that effort and understand the finatual burden of the undertaking. It takes total commitment for success because the Europeans run a tough contest and give the impression they don't like Americans showing up to compete. Now we simply wait and see, will Cody ride the US world round or the US Championship? That will answer our question if he is really a serious US world round rider of the next generation? Or simply part of the old guard following in the footsteps of the old guard with no world round hopes! Edited January 8, 2006 by Mich Lin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the artist formerly known as ish Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Get help you sick bugger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mich lin Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 If you go back and read my very first post on this topic, it really says everything about the topic of Americans in world round competition. The majority of this generation of US Pro riders have NO HEART for the battle for world championship points. Really this topic should be, how to change that! As long as this is the prevailing mindset, this generation of riders is doomed to 2nd class riding levels. It takes a majority culture of really wanting to excel against the world's best to really have that impact at the world championship. One individual cannot create that atmosphere alone in the country. Unless we can create a similar atmosphere like we had in the USA during the time frame of the Michigan world round. Where 6 of the top 10 finishers were from the USA and the Europeans could barely score points on our turf. Our results will be very poor compared to a world championship standard. I've been through this process before, Fought the fight in the trenches and took my licks. Scored some world round points, had some success and some failures. Then was there when one of our own peers took the world title and cheered for him and the USA. If you guys want my imput on how we did it, great! I'll offer it free of charge. If you would rather reinvent the the wheel and do it yourself, go for it and knock yourself out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mich lin Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Ishy, your one sarcastic Yorkshire import. With a side that has a spark of pure genius. Your 125cc class win at the Scottish was brilliant! That's your possitive side, Your negative side, is what you just showed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mich lin Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Now, after some thought Ishy, I don't want to be too hard on you. I like you, your always good for a beer or two and a good bench race. Are you speaking like the glass is half full or half empty? I simply can't tell your tone in your post, is it negative or positive! In extreme sports being sick is being really good and yes I would need help, lots of help to put USA back on the map as a world round contender. Nobody could do that by themself. It would take a whole trials community like we had last time we pulled it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dman Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Mich, you got to use the modify button man and put like all three of those last posts into one post. I believe this thread is really just a bunch of words with no actions really taking place. You can only say something so many times. Let the current riders do their thing, its not like you choose what they do, either they go for the national wins, go all out for WTC, or ride trials have fun and then get a job. Nine pages of talk is not going to help cody, stevie, or patrick go anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mich lin Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 dman, your right! I do have faith in Patrick and imagine he could break the mold! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne thais Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Lane, It is very obvious that you are passionate about a USA rider becoming a WR contender. Why don't you find a young man who has the full support of his parents who wants to be a WR rider and groom him to do the job? Spend the time energy and money to make it happen. Show the nay sayers on this forum that you are serious. Make a change! if one young rider proves that it can be done then maybe others will follow. Maybe you can find the next trials Lance Armstrong. What about Daniel does he have that kind of desire? It would seem that maybe he has the genes? Just a thought. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mich lin Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Wayne, I really don't want to reveal the cards in my hand just yet, I don't know how the game will unfold for certain. Your right that Lance Armstrong proved that it is possible to overcome the European sport fortress and with amazing style as Lance did. He also overcame amazing personel adversaty, he's an American superstar in a European sport which is hard to do. We would be wise to follow his lead! What has been under the radar is the work I've done with the Califorina Youth Trials team. I've been working with them for a few years now, have build a culture of winners and have been tempering them for quite a while. Our oldest rider is Andrew Oldar and we have won every Trial De State so far and a string of national youth championships in wide age groups. So watch out! Also most people forget the work we did with Debbie Evans! Bringing her out of an 18 year retirement to finish 8th in the world. Then her scoring the first offical FIM world championship points by an American since Ryan Young in the 1980s. She's also the oldest rider ever to score world championship points for trials. Our goal with Debbie was to show that an American could get back in the world championship points and on the podium "box" again in Europe. I believe we did that with great style and set some records that will be very difficult to beat. Plus we learned a lot and met some great contacts in Europe. The rider that impresses me most outside of SoCal is Patric Smage, I'd like to adopt him into our team! No single rider has impressed me outside of SoCal as much as him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridgrunr Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 (edited) I've waded through all of these posts and I'm pretty sure I'm an IRC man from here on out. I think what we seem to not underdstand is that your average club rider...read that as 95% of the riders in the U.S. don't really care if the U.S. ever competes on a world level...at least in the format that Trials is today. Most of them have never heard of most of the top world riders or who rides what for who. Maybe a few have, but not very many. Same half dozen guys have made all the posts here, except for Mich Lin who has muddied the water so much that nobody know shat he's trying to say. You want to get the next generation excited, make the sport into something that will exite them. Or we can leave it like it is...just like your Dad's Oldsmobile. And we all know what happened to Oldsmobile. Edited January 9, 2006 by Ridgrunr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendan Posted January 9, 2006 Report Share Posted January 9, 2006 Wayne, I really don't want to reveal the cards in my hand just yet, I don't know how the game will unfold for certain. Your right that Lance Armstrong proved that it is possible to overcome the European sport fortress and with amazing style as Lance did. He also overcame amazing personel adversaty, he's an American superstar in a European sport which is hard to do. We would be wise to follow his lead! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Wait a minute, Greg LeMond already did that way before him, and he has a better personality, also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.