Out of Retirement and Bringing Several Beginners With Me?

fmxpaul

fmxpaul

PR Addict
Well, it's official. I've got my first real bike in three years. An 09 KX450f and my son has an 07 KX85. I got the 85 from the Ference family, right here in the Pitracer classifieds. I bought the 450 from a PDR buddy. The bikes are GREAT and it feels really good to be gearing up. The interesting thing is that I've convinced several of my buds to buy bikes too. One guy has never even seen a track or ridden a bike off road, but is an excellent BMX'er with talent and balance galore. Another guy used to run races in 125C back in 04 and hasn't been on a track since. (drag bikes only) He used to take LAST at Beans.
Another buddy has only ridden rockets on the street and rode a track once on a 2-stroke 250, flipped it over almost instantly. Regained composure and rolled everything OK for the rest of the afternoon. Two of his brothers also bought bikes to ride with us, one a track virgin on a 125 and the other a slow 35yr old C rider.
My 11yr old on the KX85 still has to learn to ride a bike with a clutch, but has been riding little bikes since he was 3. KDX50's, JR50's and an XR70 which he did very well on.

All these guys should make me look fast...hehe. I'm going riding with all of them more as a half assed "coach" to help them learn the ropes & keep them all safe.

My main question is "What in the heck do I do with all of them?" I mean, where should I take them for the first ride of the year? I want Beans, but not sure if that's a good idea. Dirtworld RULES but have no idea if they're even open or what shape the track is in. SVR? Spring Valley? What's left of the old D-12 circuit?? Who's got the best dirt? Which tracks will be safe enough for these guys?

Ideas? Thanks in advance-
Paul #360
 
Briarcliff is a little bit of a hike but we've spent a lot of time there practicing. They have a true peewee track, a bigger mini/pitbike track, a beginner/novice track, advanced A/B big track, and a wide path trail loop. It's tough to beat that place for a large group like you are describing.

DW is still open and TVLand is right down the street from DW; they probably still have snow. You already know Beans, super fun but might be a little much for some of those guys right off the bat.

Scenic Highlands and Spring Valley are closed, though I wouldn't be surprised if Tim jumped on here and posted his 6th annual "last ride day at Scenic" post...lol.

Western Reserve is CRA and SVR is GLMX.

Area330 has multiple tracks also.

I don't think you're going to find anywhere open yet though....
 
Welcome back Paul! I don't know you but my hats off to you for bringing riders into the sport. If you are taking all these beginners along you can't beat Battlesburg. The moto track is long and safe and there is 120 acres of woods too. Get ahold of Chet at 330-618-2765 for a schedule. Spring Valley unfortunately is no longer, same with Scenic Highlands. BJ at Beans still has one of the best tracks around and Dirt World ran practices last year too. The moto heaven is Briarcliff. Jeremy has all skill levels covered with several tracks to choose from so everyone will have a great time.
 
Does anyone see the irony of having FMX Paul be your mentor and guy to keep you "safe" while learning the ropes???? That's some funny stuff right there!

Seriously though, one other place to possibly take a group of people with large skill levels and various terrain would be Crow Canyon. They have a suitable MX track that isn't too dangerous and numerous trails to ride on also. You could pretty easily entertain a group of riders there of different skill sets and get them on their feet in no time.

Briarcliff would be great too, but I have a feeling that the Teacher / Mentor guy might end up jumping like crazy on the A/B track there and forget about all the other guys he's supposed to be helping out.

Battlesburg would also be good....... Beans might be too much for these guys early on. Give them a chance to crash on some easy stuff before you throw them up in the air too much.
 
is the burg still open, i see they took their website down..

Smith Road, battlesburg - it has a peewee track, briarcliff, tv land - all good places for beginers
 
KTM5555 said:
is the burg still open, i see they took their website down..

Smith Road, battlesburg - it has a peewee track, briarcliff, tv land - all good places for beginers
Click to expand...

Huh? What? I haven't talked to Chet in some time but would think he would be ready to go. Maybe he deactivated the site during the winter months since there isn't much going on anyway. Hmmmm
 
battlesburg better still be open its the only track that is closer to me that has practices every week.

Take them to ram jam cause if they want they could be seperated in a class or something that might be better and if you go during the week its not busy and the track stays nice. If it was my first time out i would not want to go to a crowed outdoor track with all levels of riders flying past my head but thats just me.
 
Have to agree

Take them to ram jam cause if they want they could be seperated in a class or something that might be better and if you go during the week its not busy and the track stays nice. If it was my first time out i would not want to go to a crowed outdoor track with all levels of riders flying past my head but thats just me.[/quote]

Many great suggestions. I agree, although you must consider, the place to be is also the place "everyone will be," as far as mx tracks are concerned.
May want to consider trails and less populated areas close to home the first few times. Just to sort of ease into things, and feel everyone out first.
I think "anyplace is a good place as long as it is safe" as long as you can ride. Be safe and enjoy.

PS almost forgot. Sounds like you got a great Posse.
 
Don't worry- I haven't jumped our freestyle ramp in more years than I can remember and I haven't seen it in person in at least 5, it's at one of my buddies. I'll not be taking any of these guys anywhere near it, they've all seen the pictures and I'm older & smarter now. I should probably go sandblast it, paint it and sell it. It's just sitting with weeds around it in a "top secret" location. (in a suburban neighborhood backyard SO out of place I can't believe the neighbors never complained about this steel monolith parked in a fenced in backyard)

Ram Jams aint happening, too many steel poles and a dark, cramped little place. No offense, I know it's popular, it's just not for us. Crow is an option, it would be great if they prepped for practices. Briarcliffe sounds like the ticket although I just might have to run check out the A/B track.

It looks like we've got at least a month, so I hope B'Burg is still around, that's another idea that sounds good for those guys.

I'm working on 2 more buddies, trying to get them to buy even cheap 2 strokes so that they can join in the fun. All these guys started getting pumped on the idea of riding when I said "we should all buy dirtbikes" after I sold my race car. I did have to do a bit of selling the idea and find them their bikes & make sure they're on the right bikes at the right price but it was worth it. It's like the heavens opened up and light shined down unto the group of would be motocrossers. :) I get texts every other day- "Dude I bought a helmet", "dude where do I buy chain & sprockets & can you put 'em on?" "my old boots still fit". It's getting exciting. Nothing great has ever been achieved without enthusiasm and it's building day by day. Keeping the new and excited guys around me has really revived MY enthusiasm for the sport in general and I know the people involved with Moto and Pitracer are all good people, so this is a great place to start it all again.
 
Thats awsome to turn some new blood on the sport. If you go to the cliff which I rec. get
there early, unload, get your gear on and be the first group on the track. It does get crowded
as the day goes on but its not bad early in the day and you can get a lot of riding in before it gets to bad. Like everyone has said the cliff has something for everyone. Welcome back.
 
I'm one of the guys in fmxpaul's crew. Been friends with him for years, but never tried this whole moto thing until now. I'm really pumped, and the community seems cool as hell, which makes it that much more exciting to become a part of. I look forward to meeting you guys and riding with all of you, I'll be the guy on the KTM that you're jumping over.
 
Glad to see that Paul got one smart friend that rides a KTM!!!! You guys will have a blast, it's more fun riding with a group of friends than it is going to a big race and having to go through all the hassles of racing. 20 minutes of a friendly moto with buddies gives a week of trash talking for sure!
 
That's all I'm looking to do. Ride and have fun. I started a little late in life to be getting serious about it.

As far as KTM, I always liked them as a kid, thought they were cooler than the standard Kawi's and Yamahas. I really like the bike.
 
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