Before practices I asked Richie if I could have photo with him. I would have to have payed for that and prices had gone up.. Suddenly I wasn't interested of the photo anymore.
Clinic last 3 hours, so I'm not gonna explane all things what we did. But all the time point was on pedaling. Whole clinic was about motivating. Richie talked all the time, he remember everyone by name and there were lots of us! He pushed for more. Also he got huge ego with him all the time. Some comments forexamble; Are you Champion, no you are not, who is Champion here, that's right I'm the Champion!
Well, what did I got from clinic. Tips for technique was given that much. I got few because I pressed him to give some. Atleast for time to time you need practicing like that, you concentrate only on going as fast as you can. You concentrate to pedal in every sincle place you are just able to. Before I thought that there is not place to pedal on the rhythm section or on last straight. Now I feel that almost whole last straight can be pedaled.
Interesting thing from the clinic was that you weren't allowed to jump. Richie made clear that you go faster on a ground. From ground you can get more speed and jumping is only unnecessary risking. Actually you had to do push-ups if you jumped!
First impression wasn't that good, but anyway I learned things which are worth of gold, about pushing myself to do more..
I was just sitting here working and for some reason the name "Denny Davidow" popped into my head. He was a BMX star from my years racing (1980-85) and then immediately I wondered what Richie Anderson was up to these days and googled him and found this. So happy I did. I had met Richie a few times and I was smiling when I read your comment about his ego. Yes, some things never change. The one big memory I have of him is at the JAG World Championships in Las Vegas...he walked into the elevator at the casino and my heart stopped because this was my hero. Then, for some reason, he grabbed me by the throat and started calling me "Jackson." "Hey, Jackson..." I don't know why. Not good to have been nearly strangled by your hero and called someone else's name but it's still a fond memory for me. But I'll tell you this about the guy: He was magic to watch in his prime. It's interesting what you say about his forcing you to pedal as much as possible. This was the first thing I noticed when I watched the guy race in the 80s...his legs never stopped and he was so smooth that to watch him couldn't help leaving one inspired. You're a lucky guy, kid!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment! Nice to hear some other ones stories too. Yes, I can tell that I'm lucky. Not guy or kid, but lucky you got right :)
DeleteActually at the moment I'm back in SoCal again. My new moves can be found on www.odetobmx.com!