Cycle News

VOL. 52 ISSUE 36 SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 P75 COLIN ON THE CAMP We sat down with Colin to get the lowdown on the TTBC How did you come up with the idea for the camp? I bought the piece of property I think in '03 simply to do what we're doing. I built the shop and we had about 10 bikes in the shop. I bought a dozer, dug a little track and that was it. Myself, Mike Myers and Joe just came in here to have fun by ourselves. One day and we were sitting around drinking beer and Mike said, "This may be weird but I think people would pay to come do this." And then it escalated really quickly. I've been to so many track days. Track days just really piss me off in a way. I've done the guest instructor and I've done my own track days. The only thing that really pissed me off is you show up at 8:00 am, everybody wants to ride and at 5:00 pm the track's closed, that's it. For the money that you spend to do that, the thing that always pissed me off was you missed the camaraderie, missed the people. So I said, "If we're going to do it I want everybody to stay in one area." Campers stay together, and when you leave here you'll have everybody's email and gain friends. First thing we actually built was the arena, because if I had Europe- ans or anybody come over I couldn't say "hey, come back next week, we're rained out." And it's come in very handy a few times. When did you build the arena? That would have been probably end of 2010, middle of 2010. Then we had the saloon that Bodak (Co- lin's buddy) more or less built. That guy, seriously he rocks. He is salt of the earth. Bodak built the Texas Saloon. It really works and with the whole dynamic of the camp, there's nothing like it in the world. Tell us about the beginner coaches? Motorcycle riding is all about repetition and gaining confidence. So it's great I have guys like Bodak and Joe and Shea for the beginners because I've never been a great beginner coach. They can sit there, teach people step by step. Beginners take a little while to do that. I bop around between all the groups. But as far as I would say I'm really not a good beginner instruc- tor, that's why I have people that are. But as far as getting to that next echelon, that next step, I can bring anybody there. You're a patriotic guy; tell us about the Army link I had lots of people offering money to put a hat on my head (in MotoGP). I preferred to wear my Marines or my Army. I had different hats on the grid. I don't really know why, it was just support. I don't have the balls to fight for our country, but I support the guys that do. It's weird, I would walk through airports with my hat on and people are like, "thank you for your service." And I'm like, "Oh, no, no, no. Sorry, don't mistake me," because they would associate the hat or whatever. I'm just a big supporter. So that started and then the Lone Survivor (http:// lonesurvivorfoundation.org) thing started in '05. I'd go to Japan or Qatar, and guys that were at army bases in the area would just bring hats. And if they brought me a hat, I'd wear it on the grid. It was just a way to show support. How did you link up with Race for the Wounded? We did the Baja 1000 at the end of 2013 and somehow Mike Myers got in touch with Brett for Race for the Wounded (http://raceforth- ewounded.com/). They helped us out as far as navigating, as we had no idea what we were doing. We were just bringing bikes down to go ride. So Brett stepped in and said, "Hey, we'll navigate and bring you through a couple trials." Mike's a great dude and we just developed a friendship. And then when you see the guys that he actually puts on the bike, or in the trucks... A lot of these organizations are so full of shit and that pisses me off more than anything. They collect a lot of money (for veterans), but where does the money really go? Whereas with Brett I know for an absolute fact every single dime goes into getting these guys in a truck or on a bike to race again. Dan is a case in point. He was in a six-sniper crew and hit an IED. I think it blew his left leg completely off, and his right leg was hanging by tissue. These guys are hardcore. So he was rescued and put back together. He's part of the Race for the Wounded crew and he just lives down the street.

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