Hi Jeff! How are you doing?
I'm good. I'm just trying to focus on the next thing on my plate.
There was a lot of worry that the flooding in New York was going to mess up race day. But it looks like you had a great day!
It was actually very good. New York had gotten a bunch of rain beforehand and there was flooding and some of the roads were washed out. But Unadilla is up on a hill and water runs down from there pretty well. If you got there, it turned out to be a good weekend.
Well, we wanted to talk to you about what it is like being the Trail Boss for such a successful series. As Trail Boss, what are you in charge of?
That's a good question! The biggest thing is getting there beforehand, and setting up the facility for the pits and the vending. Then there's the start and then deciding how the trail is going to work and how things are going to flow. You have to picture how it's all going to work when people show up.
I can imagine it's pretty tough designing courses for 13 rounds over varied terrain. How do you decide what a course is going to look like and what it's going to feature?
Well, it really depends. This weekend we were getting a lot of rain and there was a lot of wet stuff. Over the years, I've learned when you take the amount of riders we get, sometimes the track can get impassable when Sunday gets here. A lot of that factors on where we can and can't go. You'll see a creek crossing on Monday that looks great, and then after on Sunday it'll look like a bomb went off. You're like, 'What happened here?" Over the years, you figure out what happens to a spot when the race gets started. I go out and try to ride and try to find fun trails. Usually it turns into a race track that's fun riding.
I heard the Sky Coaster was a favorite spot this weekend. How do you decide to put in elements like that.
Honestly, in this case, it goes back to the rain again. Basically we got flooded out of the bottom land there and I knew we were going to get a lot of riders, and we wanted to make the track as long as we could. I wanted to integrate as much of the motocross track as I could.
Do you have a favorite track you've ever designed or helped design? Which year and track?
It would definitely have to be the Ironman. It goes back to the start of the whole deal. It was the very fist place that Big Dave sent me out to see if we could do a race. I went out and met the Shaver family and the people out there and came back and said yeah I think we can do it. Dave drove out there, across all of those flatlands, cornfields, and there's no hills, and we get out there and he says 'What are you thinking! It's going to be a flat race in a cornfield!' To make a long story short, it turned out great, and it's the most successful race on the circuit. The camaraderie at the end of the season is the whole thing. It's always the last event, and we've been doing it so long. It's going to be hard to pack up and make up the race afterwards this year.
Do you ever get to a track and feel a little stumped on what you're going to do?
Not really. If I get stumped, it's more on the pit area and how I want them to look , and the vending area than the track. The track is the easier part. Parking and trackside is the hardest.
What do you like most about being Trail Boss?
I guess, it's one of those things where I used to be the racer. It would be tough to go to work at a real job. I used to help a friend of the family set up races when I was a kid. That was the only way I was allowed to go riding because my dad worked construction and was working a lot. We'd set up enduros in the 1970s. I started out when I was 13 or 14 setting up enduro tracks with a friend, which got me into racing, then I found myself doing tracks again. I guess you can say I've been doing it my whole life.
So you must like it if you've been doing it that long!
I must! I've been doing it for 45 years.
Ok- now you have to spill the details on what your least favorite thing is.
The least favorite thing is being a referee and having to be the bearer of bad news, and make the tough decisions. I don't enjoy doing that but it has to be done sometimes. Everyone makes mistakes, it goes with part of the game. The series has been successful because people who ride it, know they're going to get same treatment if they are factory guys, or first time showing up. Same chance to win.
We're into the second half of the season right now, have you planned anything new for these rounds? Especially the upcoming Mountain Ridge?
Actually, right now I'm trying to figure out what to do with Loretta's. It's the first time ever doing a bike, then a quad, then a bike race. I'm trying to create something unique there, not the same old track three times. Then there's the whole deal without having to pick up the pits and move them. I've been thinking about it a lot. I'm trying to come up with something different and unique. Those other three events we've been at before, and I know what works and doesn't work. We'll wait to see what the weather does to dictate what we do with the track.
You know, my next question was going to be about Loretta's.
I'm really looking forward to it because the bikes will run first. That's the first thing that will be different.
You've got Barry Hawk on your crew now, and I'm sure he brings a lot to the table. What's it like having Barry on the team?
It's great. He has a lot of experience and he's definitely rode a lot of the races. I just need to get him out of the road! (Laughs) It's a work in progress and he has really helped out a lot and is more or less learning why we do the things we do.
I know JT always likes having the opportunity to talk to you at the track, and I was wondering, how often do you get the chance to interact with the riders and team owners?
Not nearly as much as I would like to. I'm trying to do the best I can. I'm starting at 8 a.m. with the youth race, the a.m. race and the p.m. race. I try to stop by and say hi for a brief second. They're there for their business and I'm there to make sure it's good. Sometimes in the evening I get to see the people who stay.
We know you have to travel a lot for the races, but when you have off-time what do you like to do?
Now I'm into bass fishing. I'm going to be competition fishing this weekend.
Oh, wait, you're competing?
Yes. This weekend I'm going to the State Bass competition in Ravenswood. I got the fishing qualifier when I got back from Loretta's. I'm really looking forward to doing it. It's an all new experience.
Had you ever competed before?
This is my first year doing tournaments. I'm doing some Wednesday night stuff locally. I got into a club and I've done four tournaments on my own, and then some team things on Wednesday night with a friend. So I guess I'm still a C fisherman. That's what I tell people, just like a C rider, I'm a C fisherman.
Do you still get a chance to ride? Is that still something you do for fun?
Not really, to be honest with you. I ride at the races, and I ride the ATV a lot. As far as during the week, no. I grab the boat and go fishing! I just upgraded my set up.
Ah, Factory support?
No factory sponsors yet!
Well, thanks for taking some time out to talk to me today!
No problem. I joke to people that now, I'm more famous for being Kailub's dad than being a racer. But it's a lot of fun, and I guess I could have been doing something else, but I don't know what it would be and still have as much fun.
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