(The article below appeared in the weekly motorcycle racer’s Bible
known as Cycle News in 2002. Mr. Rousseau, himself one of the most enthusiastic
dirt track fans conceivable, was kind enough to let us reproduce the text
here.)
FEATURE
American
Supercamp
Supercramps Revisited
Learning the art of the
slide.
Story And Photos By Scott Rousseau
I'm standing in a cavernous pole barn outside
of Charlotte, North Carolina, where the humidity is so high that it feels like
I'm wearing a fur coat. Even the mosquitoes are panting. I should be looking
for the nearest swimming hole, but instead I'm preparing to throw my helmet on
and spin what feels like my one jillionth lap on a choked-up Honda 100. If it
sounds crazy, then at least I can plead that I'm attending American Supercamp,
and riding is the only way to keep the air moving. Aside from that, it's about
the greatest learning experience you can enjoy on two wheels.
I don't care who you are, if you're
reading this, then chances are that you're a longtime <I>Cycle
News<I> reader who may have perused the dirt track stories in this
newspaper and wondered what it might be like to actually slide a
Harley-Davidson XR750 alongside Jay Springsteen, Chris Carr or Johnny Murphree
at 80 or 90 mph on the dirt. Well, American Supercamp is where you learn that
stuff, only on a Honda XR100 at more like 18 or 19 mph.
American Supercamp was dreamed up by Walker,
39, of Ft. Collins, Colorado. A former AMA Superbike, 250cc GP racer and GNC dirt
track license holder who spent his formative years flat tracking on a
motorcycle, Walker, like most riders who make the transition from dirt to
pavement racing, was quick to realize the benefits of applying flat track
riding techniques to road racing as well as other forms of motorcycle racing.
Even before his retirement from active competition, Walker initiated the steps
that would lead to the formation of American Supercamp.
"The idea was that there needed to be
a place to learn this stuff," Walker said. "What we wanted to create
was an atmosphere where you can concentrate solely on your riding - no Pro
payback, no trophies. And we would ride right along with you, yelling, jumping
up and down, doing whatever we have to do to teach you. Every time I ride, I'm
still learning something new myself."
American Supercamp held its first classes
in January of 1997. Since then, it has grown to become respected as one of the
premier riding instruction schools in the country, receiving official backing
from a host of sponsors, including Honda through its Honda Riders Club of
America, Dunlop, Fox and Tsubaki chains.
The basic premise of American Supercamp is
the same as many other instructional riding schools: to build better motorcycle
riders. In most cases, riders and racers looking to improve their abilities
will choose a riding school with a programs tailored to hone skills in their
preferred Motocross riders look to former top riders like Gary Bailey, Tony
DiStefano, Donnie Hansen and the like, road racers can choose from schools run
by such luminaries as Freddie Spencer, Jason Pridmore, Keith Code, and others,
and there are schools for dirt track, trials, drag racing, and additional specialties.
Walker claims that American Supercamp is
unique, however, in that he has fashioned the curriculum so that it applies to
a wide variety of disciplines. Over the course of a typical two-day Supercamp,
that curriculum involves putting students on a variety of flat dirt layouts -
not just a counterclockwise oval - and coaching them to grasp the basics of
machine control and traction management. Before it's over, a student will have
run clockwise, counterclockwise, on ovals, on TT courses with one opposite-lock
turn, with multiple opposite-lock turns, riding feet up, with one hand on the
gas tank... With a host of special drills thrown in to emphasize certain
aspects of the technique. He or she need not worry about getting enough laps to
learn, but instead will more likely be concerned with the location of the
nearest hot tub.
Mastering the art of sliding the small
six-horsepower XR100s on a low-traction surface translates immediately and
directly into more controlled riding on full-size machines, Walker says. Put
into perspective another way, remember that pipedream of sliding an XR750 into
a curve at your favorite dirt track? Well, if you can get it right here,
chances are good that you could do the same against Carr - with loads and loads
of practice.
It's harder than it looks if you want to
do it right, though, and most students can expect to spend a lot of time on the
ground while learning Walker's technique. Crashing sucks, but here it is raised
to an art form, the idea being that you crash a lot now, on a little plastic
dirtbike so as not to crash later on a most certainly higher-buck two-wheeler
of your choosing.
"If there is ever a time to get out
of your comfort zone, than it's right here, right now," Walker tells his
students. He also tells them that it's a lot of info for beginners to absorb in
one day, hence the two-day format.
"Most people don't get what we're
tying to teach them until that second day," Walker says. "Then it
clicks, and it's like, 'Oh, okay. I get it now.' We see a lot of improvement on
day two."
And it helps to have good examples set by
the two best flat trackers in the business, reigning AMA/Progressive Insurance
U.S. Flat Track Champion Chris Carr and AMA runner-up Johnny Murphree, who not
only appear at most Supercamp sessions as guest instructors but, like Walker,
spend most of that time riding right with the students. Carr has been partnered
with Walker in American Supercamp since its inception in 1997.
"I'm pleasantly surprised to see that
it has continued to flourish," Carr said. "We're always running at
near capacity, and we have seen a lot of repeat students come through. On a
personal level, I have always wanted to spread the gospel of dirt track racing,
and this school does that. To see people go away with a smile on their faces
makes it all worth it."
And Carr is also pleased to see that the
school itself has evolved nicely, incorporating new ideas into the same basic
philosophy.
"It's a little more detailed now, and
we have tried to incorporate some new things to help students get a better
understanding of what we are trying to teach them," Carr said.
Murphree's career was just getting ready
to really take off when he hooked up with Carr and Walker for a Supercamp
session. He was hooked immediately, and has been one of the more regular guest
instructors ever since.
"Chris has helped me out since I was
young," Murphree said. "He always said that if I really wanted to
learn, I should take the course. So I did. After that, they figured it would be
good to have me come to help them."
After seeing the program, Murphree became
an instant believer.
"I thought I used to know how to ride
a motorcycle before I came here," Murphree said. "What's neat is that
it's the same program, whether you're teaching a beginner how to use the clutch
or a guy like me how to deal with a front-end push. Once I saw how much it
helped me, I was sold."
Murphree isn't the only one. The school
has presented an all-star cast of top American talent as guest instructors.
American Supercamp students have learned from such dirt and pavement greats as
Nicky Hayden and Tommy Hayden, Ben and Eric Bostrom, Jake Zemke and Aaron
Yates. It's a highly interactive process, with Walker and instructors Scott "Scooter"
Larm and Eldred "Dred" Bristol either standing in the center of the
track to bark out directions or climbing on a Supercamp motorcycle and barking
out directions. You learn by example.
According to the basic American Supercamp
curriculum, sliding a motorcycle on dirt is a four-step process. It isn't just
a matter of skidding the rear wheel and then slamming the throttle open.
"We're trying to change that
thinking," Walker said. "The only time that you should really try to
slide a motorcycle on the exit of a corner is to change direction. If you're
sliding on the exit otherwise, then you have made a mistake. The only time that
the motorcycle should be sliding is to scrub speed for the corner entry - or
for the street rider that could be necessary because a car pulled out in front
of you. It's the same for motocross. Have you ever seen Ricky Carmichael
sliding the rear wheel on the exit of a turn? No, you haven't."
Carr agrees.
"Nobody has ever won a race, be it a
dirt tracker a road racer or a motocrosser by spending the most time on the
side of the tire," Carr says. "The object of one, two, three, four is
to get in, get slowed down, get it turned and get back to the center of the
tire."
That's when you have the most amount of
weight on the tire, the biggest traction patch, and can open the throttle all
the way up. The key to executing one, two, three, four properly lies in
assuming the correct body position as follows:
* The upper body should stay perpendicular
to the ground.
* The shoulders should stay straight with
the bike.
* Sit up against the tank with your butt
on the high side of the seat.
* Extend your inside arm - push the bike
down under you.
* Pivot the bike under you (think gas cap
to your knee).
* Elbows up!
* Your head should be up - eyes looking
downtrack.
* Your inside leg should be down, just off
to the side a little and in front of the footpeg - always keep your knee bent.
Your outside knee should be tight against the tank.
"When that comes together, you'll be
able to feel the center balance point on any motorcycle, where your body weight
influences the handling of that motorcycle most dramatically," Walker
said. "Now, on a road race bike, you won't be on the outside of the seat
like you are on a dirt tracker (as in number three), but the
<I>awareness<I> of that center balance point will let you know
exactly where you need to be for control of any bike."
American Supercamp has incorporated many
drills primarily to teach the fundamentals of this body positioning. Many of
them are taught on the very first day. They include spinning donuts in the same
tire tracks and something as unfamiliar as running the oval with left-hand on
the gas tank.
"These drills emphasize certain
principles of the proper upper body position, throttle position to lean angle
and seating position that we teach," Walker says.
And he's right. Even something as simple
as spinning a donut can expose flaws in your riding technique. When done
properly, however, you can spin a dizzying amount of revolutions without ever
leaving your original wheel tracks.
"We are always trying to figure out
new ways to help people achieve the proper body position sooner," Carr
said. "These are the ones that we feel work well."
The gas cap drill is another exercise that
shows just how much control can be gained by using knee pressure to turn the
motorcycle. Students are required to negotiate the oval and TT courses with the
left hand on the gas cap, thus forcing them to squeeze harder on the tank to
initiate the turn-in. Walker says that Nicky Hayden found it so enlightening
that the reigning AMA Superbike Champion is rumored to have incorporated the
rather bizarre ritual of sitting on his F4 in the garage at home and squeezing
the bike with his knees for an hour at a time just to build up strength in his
legs.
"So he's a weirdo," Walker
jokes, "but I hear he's making quite a bit of money."
Another area in which students can gain
insight at an American Supercamp session is via videotape - and lots of it.
Walker and Carr will not only show students a considerable amount of footage of
AMA National road race and dirt track events, analyzing it to show both the
right and wrong techniques, but they also videotape each Supercamp riding
session so that the students can get a feel of what they are doing right or
doing wrong. While one group is on the track, the others will be able to
analyze their previous session.
"What you feel like you're doing is,
99 percent of the time, not what you are doing," Walker says. "The
reason that we show footage of some of the top riders is to drive home the
point that the thought process is the same, regardless of speed or skill level.
The thought process and feel is
<I>exactly<I> the same," Walker says. "When you get it
right, it will be because you're thinking exactly what Eric Bostrom, Aaron
Yates or Chris Carr is. In fact, I tell people this and they look at me like
I'm crazy, but on a half mile, it's actually a slower process than it is here
on an XR100. Sure, the speeds are greater, but there's so much more room and
more time to think about the proper technique."
A lot of them get it right, some of them
don't, and they return for more, but that's why American Supercamp students,
many of them repeat customers, come to visit Walker - to immerse themselves in
proper technique. Les Murphy of Atlanta, Georgia, a former road racer and high
performance street rider, definitely got more than he bargained for.
"I thought I might come out and
improve my skills a little," Murphy said, "but it has been quite a
lesson in motorcycle control. It makes me want to go out and buy an XR100 for a
training tool, because this is awesome."
During his two days at American Supercamp,
Murphy definitely put Walker's "go ahead and crash it" edict to the
test. It seemed like he spent as much time on the ground as he did on the bike.
"Hell, I'd rather make a few mistakes
here so that I don't make them on the street," Murphy said.
Bob Steinbugler, 53, of Raleigh, North
Carolina, another former road racer who enjoys riding sportbikes on the street
nowadays, learned a lot about what to feel during his sessions.
"It's all about feel, and feel is
applicable on anything you ride," Steinbugler said, adding that mastering
rear brake control was the one area where he still feels the need to improve.
"That's what separates the men from
the boys," he said. "It gives me something to aspire to. But I love
coming here because the whole thing isn't stuffy. No one is walking around here
with a big chip on their shoulder. It's organized, but it doesn't feel
regimented or stuffy. A guy with credentials like Chris Carr has could be a
snob, but he isn't. And Johnny Murphree has taken me aside and helped me on
several occasions. It seems like he has a genuine interest in seeing me
improve."
Monty and Lana Rast of Orangeburg, South
Carolina, are a flat-track racing husband and wife team who compete at the
Mid-Carolina Speedway in Neeses, South Carolina. Both found American Supercamp
to be well worth their time.
"What really helped me was to get the
idea of countersteering out of my head and also how to get back on top of the
[rear] tire after initiating the turn," Monty Rast said. "This was
also the first time that I ever turned right on dirt."
Rast said that the course was well worth
the money.
"These guys are really good
instructors," he said. "They are very good at spotting your weak
points as you are riding, and it's kind of fun when they get behind you and
start hollering. The video also helps a lot. I'd come back and do this
again."
For Lana Rast, the trip to American
Supercamps was a birthday present.
"I just started racing in March, so I
came here to learn everything that I can," she said. "I liked the
braking drills the best. I liked the speed. I was able to get through the turns
much better after that drill. I also really learned how important it is to look
where you want to go. I definitely enjoyed this 100 percent, and I'd love to
come back next year."
The bottom line? The vast majority
American Supercamp students come away with a taste of flat track racing and the
feeling that they have learned a lot more about how to control a motorcycle in
a variety of situations. They have also had loads of fun in the process. In the
end, that's what it's all about, Walker says.
"What we are trying to teach people
is often completely different from what they have ever experienced, and
sometimes they tend to get down on themselves if they're not getting it
right," Walker says. "But then we'll stop those people and tell them
that the first thing they need to do is smile. You'll learn better when you're
having fun. If we're having fun, then we know our students are having fun. For
the past six years, it has been an absolute blast."
ã2002, CN
Publishing
Reproduced with permission.