PREZ SAYS

Second half coming up

As the holidays have brought a lot of family gatherings and a tremendous amount of blessings, it also means by the time you read this we are halfway through the season already. Where does the time go you ask, well for some of us preparing months in advance for a club event takes a lot of it. Prepping our equipment and rigs for a weekend of family camping and racing takes more time. Time seems like it’s something that all of us seem to run out of and there’s not much time for anything else. Day jobs, family responsibilities, school, church and chores all come into play when trying to balance our family life.

I wanted to lead into this time thing as I have been wanting to bring a very important subject to the podium. As there has been a tremendous increase of riders and families participating in our weekends of racing, it seems like our up and coming riders are missing something. When I say missing something, I mean the opportunity for our youth to come to an event with confidence, ability and believing in themselves. All of these items require knowledge, practice and time, but the most important item is knowledge and being taught the right way on how to do it. I have taken an interest in several of our up and comers and while keeping an eye on them during practice and race time, it has become a real eye opener watching everyone else.

Knowing the basics of just riding a dirt bike anywhere is the basis for a fun, successful and safe adventure whether you are just riding,practicing or racing. Lets face it, our kids don’t like us parents to show them or tell them how to do things and therefore opportunities are missed. With any sport, being taught the right way early in the game will bring benefits, satisfaction, safety and fun. Bike set up along with rider ability are two of the major aspects of any kind of dirt bike activity. It doesn’t matter if your child is just riding for fun or competing for a desired position, learning how to ride their bike correctly is one of the most important things. As all of our safety team can tell you, some of these kids don’t even know how to pick up their bike or start it when they end up on the ground. Every little thing can contribute or take away from your child’s ability to have a safe and competitive event. But going back to the parent/child opportunity to learn and apply the basics can be a little difficult. Don’t get me wrong, there are many parents that have a great teaching relationship with their children, but some do not. But there is a solution, find you a rider, possible A or B rider that is willing to take a few minutes just to watch your child ride and maybe spend some time giving them a few tips or some “what not to do ‘’ type observations .

I will guarantee that any one you ask would be willing to spend some time with your rider, even if it’s just one thing that can be worked on . Just getting the bike properly set up, which includes bars, levers and rear brake in the correct position can be a game changer. Give your child a chance to improve and if it takes the parent stepping back and letting somebody else help, everyone will benefit. Forget about becoming the next AA rider right now and figure out how your child can become a safer rider and gain confidence at the same time.

Thanks for listening,

Randy Faul

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