Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126983
Russ Darnell demonstrates cornering technique while his students observe at the second day of the seven-day advanced camp. A student is stopped during cornering drills so that Darnell can show him the correct technique for getting through the turn smoothly. Russ Darnell's Motocross School Learning-the finer points of motocross By Nate Rauba There are many motocross schools throughout the country but very few, if any, are as extensive as the Russ Darnell Motocross Schools' Seven Day Advanced Camp. If a rider is committed to improving his motocross raci ng skills, - R uss Darnell is ready to h~lp. Darnell has been conducting 20 hi s school since 1969. He is co m m it' ted to th e sport o f motocross an d to helping .riders improve their skills, determination and safety conscio us n ess. Darnell's schools are co rnp rehe n sive co urses on improving riding an d rac ing skills. H e offers four different classes; o ne -day private lessons, twoda y motocro ss schools, a four-day mot ocros s training cam p a nd th e seven -day adv anced ca m p. In eac h o f th e schools, riders p rovide th eir own mot orcycles, parts, fuel a nd sa fety eq u ip me nt. Riders of a ll skill levels ar e welcome to a tten d any of the lessons. The o ne-day private lesso n is by appointme nt on ly and just the student and Darnell spend the day at 'the track workin g on whatever th e student wa nts. T he six -hour semi nar costs $400. Darnell 's two -day school a ttracts the most riders. I t is a comp lete , co m prehe ns ive instructio n program o f motocross techn iques. For th e two-day school, as well as the fourday sch oo l, Darnell usually travels arou n d th e co u ntry, a nd so metimes th e wo rld, stop pi ng at local trac ks to cond uct th e course. The clas~ is usuall y hel? on weekends and durmg ~iS~~1 hol idays and costs $100 per The four-day training cam p con sis ts of a daily exercise program, five hours of o n -b ike technique training . and da ily time trials in which riders race agains t th e clock to ch eck th eir lap tim e imp rovement. Darnell claims that th e average improvement is 5-10 seco nds per lap. This class costs $200 per rid er. Riders learn more th an just riding techniques at th e seven -day advanced ca m p . For one week , the students actually live th e life of a professional ra cer. The cla ss begins on Monday and en ds with ra ces on Saturday and Sunday. The class is limited to five students who stay at Darnell 's spacious home in Canyon Lake, loca ted in southern California. Each day Darnell transports the students and th eir bikes to a local race track where th ey study a di fferent sec tion o f a co urse a n d are . videota ped in actio n. After studying and riding over certain sections of track th ro ughout th e day, the stu dents participate in a 40-m in u te mo to . This " ra ce" is used for co n di tioning, an d Darnell times eac h stude nt every lap an d records th e lap ti mes so students ca n later see their time improvem ents. Ea ch night, the .