VOL. 51 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 12, 2014 P107
unlike a lot of his competition, he
doesn't ride every day.
"A bunch of people just ride all
the time, and I like to ride, but if
that's all I did all day and that's all
I thought about, then I would get
bored of it," says Forkner. "I hang
out with my cousin almost every
day and we ride scooters. Scoot-
ers are like my second life out-
side of motocross, just because
you can do jumps and tricks."
That's not to say that Fornker
isn't dedicated to his craft.
"I've been working hard and
riding almost every day lately get-
ting ready for Loretta's," says For-
kner. "Like I said, I usually don't
ride every day, so I've been rid-
ing a lot and riding long motos.
I've also been training at Robbie
Reynard's place, which has been
a big help."
Reynard, who won the Vet 35+
title at Loretta Lynn's has sort of
taken Forkner under his wing, al-
though Forkner doesn't train with
Reynard exclusively.
"I just started training with
Robbie about two months ago,"
says Forkner. "I went down to
his place and stayed for about a
week and I really liked it, and I felt
like I got better on the bike, so I
decided to go back every other
week. He helped with technique
but mainly we just focused on do-
ing long motos. I've been riding
really rough tracks and in really
hot weather to try and get ready
for Loretta's. I definitely came
into this year more physically pre-
pared than I did last year. I knew
I was fit this year and I knew I
could win."
Forkner also went to RedBud
and to Millville a number of times
to ride those tracks, just to get
some variety into his training.
"I've been all over, which is
why I haven't been to Reynard's
full time because I've just been
trying to ride a bunch of different
tracks with different dirt," says
Forkner.
Before hooking up with Rey-
nard, Forkner trained with Bran-
don Beebout off and on.
"I used to go out to California
and train a little bit with Beebout,
and I still do sometimes," says
Forkner. "I really don't have a full
time trainer right now; we're just
One of the top racers coming out of
the minicycle ranks after Loretta's is
Missouri's Austin Forkner, who has
done well at all of the major amateur
events this year.
