Tuesday Toolbox: Ballance and Gallagher

The highly anticipated Motosport.com Snowshoe GNCC is finally upon us and one of the things that makes the coveted event so special is the 3-day running of GNCC University that leads up to a weekend of racing on the mountain.  9-Time GNCC Champion, Bill Ballance, heads a group of Yamaha Racing's finest off-road racers in what has proven to be one of the most accredited riding schools around. Accompanying Ballance in this year's instruction is Johnny Gallagher, XC1 Pro racer, who has been involved in Yamaha's elite program for years. Both Ballance and Gallagher have much experience in teaching riders and with their knowledge of woods racing and their undeniable people-personalities, it's no wonder the spots at GNCC University continue to sell out year after year.  We caught up with GNCC U instructors just as they arrive to the mountain to begin the weeklong celebration of GNCC Racing.

GNCCRacing: Hey guys! What's happening?!

Bill Ballance: Not too much, we're down here at Snowshoe right now getting ready to lay out the course for GNCC University.

Bill, tell us a little bit about this year's instructors.

This year we have Traci Cecco, multi-time Women's class champion, Johhny Gallagher, Walker Fowler XC2 points leader and then Taylor Kiser #2 Pro and myself.  We'll probably break it up into three different groups and two instructors will go to a section and they'll stay with that section all day long. The riders will rotate through the sections so that one group of riders won't be stuck with the same two instructors all day long. So they're going to get to see new faces and hear some different opinions from all the different instructors. They're going to hear a whole lot of input from all of us and since we all tend to explain things differently, it will keep things fresh and the students will be more interested.

Do you have a specific focus for instructors according to their riding strengths?

The instructors have pretty much seen it all and I don't think that anybody will have a so called strength as far as teaching a certain type of section but we'll break it up once we get out to the trail and get the course laid out. We'll kind of see who feels comfortable taking about a certain section we'll break it up accordingly.

So Johnny, does working with students at GNCC U help you with your game, kind of going back to the roots of racing?

Definitely working on the building blocks and the fundamentals of a race program for an amateur rider takes you back and makes you remember some of the things that are easy to overlook when you're into your rhythm of training and riding every day.  When you're focused so much on bike set up and your training program and everything else that goes into preparing for racing at the highest level, it's easy to forget about a number of the fundamental small things that it takes to have the basics to not only go fast but have a solid program.  So certainly going back to teaching here at GNCC U and working with younger kids and also just seeing their enthusiasm for riding definitely helps keep you near the ground and better prepared for the upcoming races.

Bill, what does a typical day at GNCC U look like?

Well there are a lot of kids that come to the school. There will be a few grown ups and big bikes that will come but I would say at least half the class will be kids. We'll find a little rocky section that has a little bit of a hill climb to it or something that's more like an obstacle course. Something that we can work with on picking good lines and learning how to maneuver through some things without getting hung up, which is a good part of cross country racing. That section may be something a little tougher than what you see on the youth tracks but at the same time may be something that as soon as they come out of the youth class they're going to be tackling.  It's a good way to try and get them ready for those obstacles. We'll incorporate a lot of down hills into different types of cornering, whether it's off cambered or a tight corner - we'll work on the body positioning. Basically we'll work on how to attack different situations to make passes in corners or keep someone from passing you and protecting your lines. How to pick the fastest lines or how to set somebody up for a pass - we'll basically cover as much as we can cover in two days to help the students become safer riders and better all around racers.

Johnny, is there a chance for the riders to get to know the instructors off the track?

There's a meet and greet on Wednesday night prior to the school starting and then we eat three meals a day together during the course of the school and really get to know the students one-on-one that way.  There are several opportunities for group discussions as well as one-on-one discussions about different things they can do to better their riding on and off the track. Also, if they have any general questions of us we certainly welcome them not only during the course of the school and not only the riders involved in the school, but any rider to approach us at any time with any questions or any guidance we can offer certainly is not only a duty but an honor to help the younger riders and the amateurs with their program.

That's great. What is the best part about being an instructor of GNCC U?

My favorite part is just seeing how much people improve over the course of the two-day school.  You've got riders coming in at all different skill levels from youth riders just starting out to seasoned veterans alike. We've had a number of XC2 riders come to the school over the years and just seeing the progression that they make from just small pointers is amazing. Obviously some of the riders are going to be working on everything from the mechanics of riding, to the lines that they choose - to their bike set up and everything in between, but across the board you can always see a huge improvement and it's a really satisfying and fulfilling experience to make that much of a difference in something that people are so passionate about.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, guys. You never know, I just might pop over to your side and get a crash course in ATV racing!

Johnny: Haha we expect nothing less!