Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Dan Brown is the owner and operator of the Trials Training Center, a 670-acre motorcycle resort and training facility near' Sequatchie, Tennessee. For the past six years, Brown has hosted the AMNNATC U.S. Youth National Trials Championships, a three-day competition for riders 5 to 16 years of age, which is similar in structure to the Loretta Lynn's event for Amateur motocrossers. 0'1: It SEEITlS like you always have SOITlE top ridEr I\ErE such as KEvln Schwantz or Trey Batey riding or training INith you, What is tl1E appeal for thEsE guys? danbrown: I think the attraction for them is that they just enjoy riding. Trials is something fun to do on a motorcycle, and it's different from their normal activity. Trey tells me that he does his road race schools at Road Atlanta, and after a long day he likes to get out in the surrounding woods on his trials bike. It's good exercise and it is just a lot of fun. Kevin has ridden trials since he was a little boy. In fact, he learned how to ride a motorcycle on a trials bike, and he still maintains that trials is the best way to learn how to ride a motorcycle. You learn to steer with the feet and to have good balance and throttle control. en: Even though you are offldally known as the Trials Training Center, you do much more than just training for trials. You are teaching basic and advanced riding technique. danbrown: We teach all kinds of people motorcycle-riding skills. We start with the fundamentals that come from riding a trials motorcycle and then build from there. And that includes steering with your feet, body position, balance, throttle control it's all about balance and control. We don't try to teach anybody speed, but after they master these fundamentals, theyautomatically become faster. We've had c1ass-A Enduro riders come here who were really fast in the woods, and we taught them a few things about body position on a camber or on the side of a hill and about making traction when it is slippery. Enduro riders are always wowed by what they can learn on a trials bike and how well it helps with technical trail-riding skills. Almost always, they get hooked on trials. co: A big part of what you do here is to introduce new people to motorcycling in general, and you just finished your Family Camp. which ran tl1E WEEk before the youth evenl Tell us about thal dan brown: We started that tradition a few years ago in connection with the Youth Nationals for trials. The Family Camp happens during the week leading up to the Youth competition, and it has turned into just a fun time for families and kids to get together and ride and have fun. We have some of the pros offering instruction to the kids. And then we get together for other riding activities and games. This year, we went to Raccoon Mountain and we explored caves. We rode go-karts and had a hay ride to a nearby farm and went SWimming under a waterfall and a lot of other fun things. Bruce Ie Riche, Stevie Darrow, Pat Smage, Will Ibsen and others. We have about a dozen kids who have come out, and these are really our pros of the future. en: This year will be the first year for your American Trials training Camp. danbrown: The focus of that is to just bring together some of the promising young stars of the future of trials and give them a chance to practice together. We've invited many of the top 14- to IB-year-olds from around the country to come and just spend the week practicing. We put them in the cabins and take care of them and let them work out ,pe~ial A very with the pros that are here - Cody Webb, autDgraph ,e"iDn $ en: How can people find out more about you? danbrown: You can go to www.trialstrainingcenter.com on the web. We also have a lot of "How to Ride" articles posted on the web for people to read, with some video clips and photos. By SIron MooreITrioIs CompetJtJon New!popel SUZUKI. rz.;tt1larmitha,' and T.am $ign autograph$ Ma¥ita 'buz.u¥i at fa1 World to ",1\1 b~ M1~r$ Motor"1,,1~ tufy ""nd from lb, ,. . . . . ................._--, ":~opm to 1:~opm fl.M-lASo ~ __1bf U'tlrruf, Four-Strot, WNpon 'n-.fo£t .f My,re SUZUki F.., Fa1 M1.r. Motorc.1c.\. Wor\d.••tab\i.b.d in 114&. i. on. of Am.ric.a·. o\d••t and \arg••t po~.r.port. d.a\.r. and -. and _ For .... '*Y, - , . .... - . "'" ~ ~ Ridilg or _ cl-ugs doo'j nil. A . . .... ....... Be_anfI

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