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/127649
By Donn Maeda Photos by Kinney Jones thO Ught I knew it all. . Well, not really - but I did th ink that I was as fast as I'd ever get: After all, at 25, I'm not exactly a spring chicken wh en if comes to racing motocross. And how does that saying go ? ..You can't teach an old dog new tricks. As far as my motocross skills were concerned, my learning curve had mor e than leveled off - it had fallen off the graph. All in all, I had pretty much given up on the idea of ever getting any faster, and had come to terms with my mediocrity - that is, until I met "Professor" Gary Bailey. I raised an eyebrow wh en I heard the news that Bailey's traveling MX school would visit a nearby track, and having recently reviewed his latest video, The Winning Edge, I was in tereste d in at least meetin g the man behind the camera. And who kn ew, ma ybe I' d even learn a thing or two. My he ar t sa nk, ho we ver, w hen I learn ed of the school's location - Starwest Supercross Park in Moreno Valley, California. Not that I di d n't like Starwest, mind you, it's just that the numerous double jumps, tabletops and whoops didn 't particularly agree with my better sense of judgemen t. Flashbacks of an extremely painful knee surgery carne to mind each and every time I approached one of the aforementioned obstacles. If Bailey could help me overcome my fear of flight, it would be a miracle indeed. Instruction during the tw o-d ay school started at 9:00 a.m. sharp and ran well into the late afternoon. As a matter of fact, we found ourselves undressing and loading up in complete darkness on both days. Meeting Bailey for the first time was an odd experience. When I first traded I 28 in my ATV for a motorcycle, my older brother gave me a Gary Bailey Ridi ng Techniques boo k for Christmas. That, coupled with th e ma ny tim es I had heard and seen him in his videos, gave me the feeling that I alread y knew him well. To my surprise, the 6'2" gian t-ofa-man was quite friendly. The Nationa l motocross star of th e 60's makes you feel at ease immediately - there's no hint of any "better than thou" atti tude from the Professor. I was disapp ointed , however, that he didn't wea r the whi te tuxedo that he does in his ad. Day one began with a short lecture in which Bailey outlined his course objectives. "My goa l is to help each of you gain confidence in your riding ability," said Bailey, who then went on to point ou t several common mistakes that most ri ders make . I w on't go in to th ose details, how ever. You'll have to attend one of Bailey's schools, yourself, to gain his knowledge. If there's anything that Professor Bailey must be declared the king of - it has to be making his stud en ts un derstand his point. Bailey is extremely animated, and goes to great lengths to make his stud en ts understand not only whi ch techniques are better, but why they are better. On seve ral occasions, we found ourselves rising from our seats, jumping up and down, and going through several other motions that p robab ly wou ld have looked silly to a passer-by. Bailey exudes enthusiasm, and th ou gh our hearts yearn ed to be out on the track instead, it was eas y to rem ain en tertained while wa tch in g his eyes grow wide and his arms flail the air. After the "classroom" sess ion, each student reported to Bailey's tru ck for a complete motorcycl e eva luati on . According to Bailey, proper motorcycle set-up is one of the most important fac- (Top) Master and student. During his two-day school, Gary Bailey made sure to spend lime with each and every one of his studen ts, Incl udi ng Associate Editor Maeda. (Above) One of the sport's fi rst true Instruct ors, Bailey has po inted many of todey's top MX and supercross riders In the right di rection.