Riding Camp

Well,  we just finished up another successful 3 day camp. This time we had twelve kids, and what a great bunch of kids they were. Being in July the temperatures were definately up, we went through plenty of water and it was great that with help from our freind and Bicycle Therapy owner, Lee Rogers helped by donating some squeeze water bottles and some HEED from Hammer Nutrition. This definately helped the kids stay enthused and energetic. Also we have to send a big "Thank You" out to Chris Galt at Enduro Engineering, Gloria Wood with NAPA, and Evan Yarnell with Solid performance for all there contributions.

We started off day one with some balance drills which require great clutch, brake and throttle control.  We split up into two groups of six and one group would work at the drill while the other six would complete laps around a two and a half minute lap woods track standing the whole time using only their front brake and throttle........thats right NO CLUTCH AND NO REAR BRAKE.  This proved pretty tough for a few just due to not being used to standing so much.  Our goal for day one was to be on their way to carrying more momentum by proper use of their legs. 1) By standing we learn that with the use of our legs our knees work as shock absorbers over bumps therefore increasing our momentum because we can keep the throttle on more consistantly. 2) We also learn that some turns can be dealt with easier while standing up, because while standing through a turn you can carry more momentum by using your knees to turn the bike rather what most do and use the rear brake pedal.

Day two was some of the same stuff from day before but now we moved on to gear selection. Most riders ride in too low of a gear and work the throttle to far and to often. We learned that just by shifting to a taller gear at the same rpm you can increase your momentum rather than overworking the throttle and by holding the throttle a little less open you can hold on longer into a corner therefore increasing momentum After some much needed lunch we then we broke into some front brake practice.............first by doing a front brake drag, then a front brake skid, and thirdly a nose wheelie. We explained the the front brake should be 65-75% of your braking power (more than half haha) and how this was also very important in keeping better momentum through a corner. Because even under proper hard braking the front wheel still keeps rollin carrying more momentum then a skidding locked up rear wheel .Boy, we had some dirty filters this night, so I took advantage and showed 8 youngins how to properly wash their air filter, while the other four just swapped dirty ones out for clean ones..

Day three was some quick laps through some more balance drills such as slow man race, and one armed laps around a short open track. Then Paddy took the boys to do some turn practice on one of our traingle drills, while I tended to a broken bike. After we fixed the broken zuki and had some lunch we finished up on some open practice at our pistol range track, where I witnesssed a different type of rider in all twelve students then three days prior. Before we headed back to the house to greet the parents to pick them up, I gathered them all around and told them all how proud I was of them and how I appreciated their awesome behavior over the passed three days. I meant it, this is one of the best camps ever, due to their outstanding behavior and the help of Paddy and his extremely positive attitude.

 Next camp is scheduled for August 8,9,10. You can find out more info
by emailing me at my website at www.richlaffertyracing.com. Camp is for ages 10-16. We supply food. Cost is $400 per child. Hurry interest, is high.

                                                                              Keep it smoothe, Rich