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/128245
AMA/NATC Observed Trials National Champion GeoHAaron r~m Geoff Aaron with the most Q Had it not been for the Euros ( form er World Champion Tommi Ahvala and Belgian champ Freddie Crossett ) whom Gas Gas brought over , you would probably have 10 championships, Was there a li ttle frustration over that? A w ell , yea h, of course . I' m competitive, and I always wan t to win, but I un der st and why the Eu ropean riders would be att racted to the American lifestyle. Th ey want to come over here and win , but at the same time, it probably raised our own game and made us have to try harder. So I think , in the long run , we probably be nefited from it. I'm the only one that really was affected, because I was go ing fo r the record . B ut now I've achieved it, and I' m happy ' we 've had a good run . Q You ' ve been the dominant Amer ican rider since 1994. How have yo u m an aged to keep it up for so long? STORY AND P HOT O S BY SHAN MOORE / T RIALS COMPETITION NEWSPAP ER 1.:'\ uring the pas t 15 years , two men have tot all y IV dominated the spo rt of observed trial s in the Un ited States. From 1988 to 1993, Ryan Young made a run of six straight tria ls championships and in the process established records for most National wins ( with 50) and most National titles (with six ) . In 1994, a youthful Geoff Aaron ended Young's reign as America 's best and has dominated the U.S. scene ever since. D uring that period, Aaron has continued to raise the standards for U.S . trials, win ning a record -breaking seventh National title and bette ring Young's record for most National wins Aaron 's record now stands at 53 . In 2003, th ough , many ins iders pr edi ct ed an end to Aaron 's incredible run , citing Aaron 's ag e and a schedule of northern rounds , which seemed to favor the Canadian riders. Aaron , however, proved he is truly a master of every type of terrain by claiming nin e wins in the 13-round series to add the seventh title to his res ume. Unfor tu nately for his co mpetit ion , A aron doesn' t appear t o be slowi ng d o wn , and at the rip e old ag e of 30, he is as co mpetitive as eve r. A. IT hiS yearj has just been an amazi ng y e a r for me. It star ted off with the first -ev er Indoor Champ ionship. Then I worked really hard all year and won the National Championship and EI Trial de Espana and the Ute Cup, and I'm j us t kind of wa iting o n lightn ing to strik e, because everything seems to be going reall y well for me . But I guess I've also put in a lot of time and a lot of hard wo rk, so I guess I feel I deserve it , as well. We've be en do ing this a long time, and it really feel s great to fina lly achieve my goa ls and win that seventh championship. The last couple of years , th e Euro pean r iders cam e over and plucked that away from me, so it gave m e so me ex tra moti va tion t o do we ll this year. I' v e bee n worki ng reall y hard , an d I'm rea lly g lad t hat it's pay ing off. I'm Q HOW does it fee l t o win your record-breaking seventh cha mpio nship? n eVIl' real h ap p y w ith the way things played out thi s year. s