Cycle News

INTERVIEW LORETTA LYNN'S CHAMPION AUSTIN FORKNER P108 trying to see how I do on my own. But it's starting to get to the point where I need to spend more time riding and training at a track with a trainer. Or maybe just riding by myself and just have a mechanic there. We're still trying to figure that out. I mean, some of the pros don't even have trainers." Forkner still lives with his fam- ily in Missouri, where his grand- mother runs a farm, which has been a big influence on his up- bringing. "When I'm at home, I usually go to my grandma's every day," says Forkner. "She has workers there that work on the farm, so she cooks meals for the workers. It's a pig and cattle farm, so the food is really good; it's usually pork or steak, which I really like. She also fixes healthy meals, so I eat up there almost every day and then I make a smoothie for myself for breakfast." There is plenty of "kid" stuff to do on the farm, which competes with racing for Forkner's time, al- though he makes sure no matter what he does it includes plenty of physical activity. "My cousin also has a pool at his house so I've been going down there and swimming in the afternoon, mainly to relax and get some exercise. On days that I don't ride then I'll do a workout in the afternoon," says Forkner. "Most of the time I just try to stay active, it doesn't matter what I do. If I go to the skate park for a couple of hours, then I come home dripping in sweat. When I do that, then I won't work out that evening. I just try to do some- thing physical every day." Forkner's prowess on a mo- tocross track is quite evident, however, he's equally as good on a Supercross track, which was confirmed by his two Monster Cup titles. "I like Supercross just as much or better than motocross," says Forkner. "Ever since I've been on 50s I've liked to jump and I've always been good at it. Super- cross is technical and it's got a lot of jumps and being smooth is the key, and I'm a pretty smooth rider, so I think Supercross really fits my style." Luckily, Forkner has a place nearby where he can work on his Supercross skills. "There's an outdoor track near my house that's kind of like a Supercross track and it's really good to practice for Mon- ster Cup, it's kind of similar. So that's where I've gone the last two years to practice for Monster Cup and it's paid off. So I'll keep that going, plus I may go down to Trey Canard's house some and practice on his Supercross track. Robbie Reynard also has a track I can practice on. I went down to Trey's house once when I was on 80s and I hit his big 120-foot jump and he told me I was welcome to come back and ride whenever I wanted to." CN Forkner swept all three motos in the Super Mini 2 class at Loretta's.

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