You replace your rear tire because you can see the signs of wear, but the signs of clutch wear are trickier to spot. You can lay your bike over and pop off the clutch cover easily enough, but what do you look for then? Ron Hinson of Hinson Racing demystifies basic clutch inspection.

01 You should have 11/48 to 11/44 inch of freeplay at the lever. To check, pull the cable assembly away from the perch, then pull in the lever and watch the gap between the lever and perch before the cable engages the clutch. (If you use the quick-adjust when riding, reset the freeplay after the bike cools.)

02 Stock steel clutch plates are an unfinished aluminum/silver color. If your plates are blued, then these plates, the fiber plates and the springs have all been heat damaged and should all be replaced. If there's no heat damage, check the steel plates for flatness and measure the thickness of the friction plates (check your owner's manual for specs). Springs cannot be tested by length. Stock springs are stiff enough when new, but their rates go away easily when exposed to heat. Replace them often-every 10 hours for clutch abusers.

03 Check the clutch basket ears for notches. These will cause the clutch to drag and make engagement/disengagement sticky. Filing these smooth is a bad idea-you can create an edge that could break plates or uneven contact points between the different tangs, and you will be taking off any hard coating. (A telltale sign of a notched basket is if the bike won't shift into neutral easily.)

04 Check the inner hub splines for grooving. Same rules apply here as to notching/grooving on the clutch basket ears.

05 Reassembly: Petroleum oil is better than synthetic oil for the clutch. In a motor that shares trans oil, the oil will become contaminated from the clutch long before it degenerates, so the long-lasting benefits of synthetics are wasted. Use high-quality pure petroleum and change it frequently. (Do not use any oil with moly.) Install the steel plates with the rounded edges toward the inside of the motor. Soak new fiber plates, ideally overnight, in the same type of oil you will use in the transmission.

Riding narrow trails can be daunting, since they're usually confining for a reason: There's not enough room for something wider due to a quirk in the topography. The trail might be on the razor-edge top of a ridge, it could be a goat path on the side of a mountain, or there might be more treacherous obstacles next to it.

That last example is the case here, a narrow trail leading out of a gully that was tricky enough, but a bunch of rocks next to the trail threatened to rip your feet off the pegs-if those rocks didn't first lure you into them due to target fixation.

Of course, when Red Bull KTM's Robbie Jenks came upon the section, he blazed through without drama-a perfect display of the skills that earned him the 2006 AMA National Hare Scrambles Championship. When we cornered him later, he was perfectly willing to share his secrets.

Before every pro supercross race even begins, most riders take a lap around the track on foot. But they aren't just walking for the exercise; riders use the track walk as a time to evaluate lines, determine jump combinations and prepare for the race. According to AMA Lites racer Logan Darien, the track walk can be just as useful to beginners at a local track as it is to serious pros. Below, Darien explains the basics of a supercross track walk, which can be applied at any level of racing.

When I'm walking the track, I also like to study a section and decide which lines are going to deteriorate throughout the race in case I need to pick an alternate line. Picking the jumps that I am going to do is actually pretty easy. As a rule, you should know what you can and can't do just by walking it. After all, you know your own ability and what you can and can't do.

The first thing I do on the track walk is to just look around and check out the dirt. Obviously, some spots are going to be wetter than others, and you really need to pay attention to that because it determines which sections are going to have the best traction, as well as which sections are going to rut out. It is very important to know where the good dirt is.

Find out exactly what you can do in your first practice; it will help you a lot for the race. Starting the day off with a good pace will help you be faster for the remainder of the day; it's that simple. My goal in practice is to have my race line dialed by the third lap and to be going race pace by then. Guys will do some gnarly stuff here and there, but you should pretty much aim to have everything figured out by the third or fourth lap. Then start pinning it! But having a good idea of the track is what builds up to this, and that is why it is crucial to use the track walk to your advantage.

Ryan Hughes is a badass, plain and simple. He rides like a charging rhinoceros (hence the nickname), and his competition simply gets out of the way. Noticing how extremely focused Hughes seems before a race, we just couldn't help but ask him what was going through his head. Here is Ryno's very best advice for mentally preparing yourself to race-and win.

01 Leading up to the race, you should begin by first thinking about what you are going to do, plain and simple. Whether it is supercross or motocross, off-road or enduro, you have to get your mind set for that type of riding. The main thing I like to do is to just clear my mind and focus on the riding. I rid my mind of the fans, of the people, of the other riders, because I have no control over what anyone else says or does, only control over what I do. I try to visualize myself going around the track with precision, hitting every line and making every shift point flawlessly. I imagine everything. All of the stuff that I need to do, I try to visualize myself doing them perfectly before the race starts, which gets me prepared for the real thing.

02 I try not to think about who I am racing against. It doesn't matter, because it's all about how you feel inside and how you feel on the track. It doesn't matter if you are racing Ricky Carmichael or a complete novice; it's the same process. If you aren't riding correctly, you're not going to do well. But if you are riding correctly, you are going to do great. So you just have to concentrate and worry about yourself and nothing else. If you worry about other people and other things, then your mind is full of thoughts that aren't doing anything to get you to your goal. I just try to do whatever I can to reach that main goal of doing my best.

Proper fit is the most important requirement in a helmet-as long as the lid is a quality one in the first place. Some heads and helmets just don't match, while others fit like a glove. For those that come close, the fit can be tailored to near perfection. Troy Lee Designs' Mike David shows us how.

Contact Troy Lee Designs by visiting www.troyleedesigns.com or by calling 951/371-5219

Note: Trackside medicine is intended to provide a general medical guideline and is not intended to replace the clinical judgment of a doctor or take the place of the medical doctor's diagnostic or treatment recommendations. These articles will always err on the conservative side for safety purposes.

Let's face it: Motocross is a dangerous sport. And while no injury is a good one, head and back injuries are potentially the most devastating. If you ride motocross long enough, you're bound to have a dinger to your head sooner or later. The real question when this happens is, do you seek medical care? Well, concussions are separated into four grades: the classic dinger/bell ringer and grades 1, 2 and 3. A concussion is when you receive injury to the brain. This is usually caused by a blow to the head but may happen even without direct impact to your noggin.

The grading of concussions is based on the duration of symptoms, presence of posttraumatic amnesia (memory loss) and loss of consciousness. The loss of consciousness even for a few seconds is considered a grade 3 concussion by most medical standards and requires transport to a hospital for medical evaluation with a CAT scan or MRI. Less than 10 percent of all concussions result in loss of consciousness.

Some signs of a concussion are: headache, vision changes, dizziness, loss of balance, confusion, memory loss (called amnesia), ringing in ears (tinnitus), difficulty concentrating, nausea/vomiting, sleepiness and any loss of consciousness. Unfortunately, severe concussions or recurrent concussions can result in death, which really sucks for everyone involved.

Grade 1 concussions consist of symptoms lasting less than 15 minutes with no amnesia and no loss of consciousness. First-time grade 1 concussions with a normal neurological status are allowed to return to activity when no symptoms are present for 20 minutes with exertion activity testing. Second-time grade 1 concussions may return to activity when no symptoms are present for seven days. So no second moto-pack it up, go home and see your doctor. The general consensus on third-time grade 1 concussions is to return to activity in three months.

The reason for the criterion of recurrence is due to Second Impact Syndrome. Second Impact Syndrome is one of several serious risks associated with a premature return to activity. When an individual returns to activity before symptoms of the initial concussion have resolved, a second blow to the head-even a very minor one-can result in a loss of the auto regulation of the brain's blood supply, leading to vascular engorgement and subsequent herniation of the brain, which is usually fatal.

Grade 2 concussions consist of symptoms lasting longer than 15 minutes, and may or may not involve posttraumatic amnesia (memory loss) that lasts less than 30 minutes and with no loss of consciousness. This type of concussion requires medical evaluation. The return to activity for first-time concussions is usually a wait of at least one week, while recurrent concussions would need one to three months based on the number of episodes.

Grade 3 concussions are based on posttraumatic amnesia lasting longer than 30 minutes and/or any loss of consciousness. This individual requires immediate transport to a hospital for a CAT scan or MRI of the brain.

Returning to activity too soon may also increase the likelihood of Post-Concussive Syndrome characterized by headaches, fatigue, balance issues and difficulty concentrating that may last weeks to months after the injury. Any individual who continues to have symptoms of concussion for more than one week, no matter how mild, should see a medical doctor for a neurological evaluation and possibly a CAT scan or MRI.

Motocross is arguably the most popular form of off-road motorized sports. And despite how it may appear from the outside, it is organized. You just have to be on the inside to truly appreciate the system. It's a big family and one that's always looking to add members regardless of age or ability. So if you ride but don't race, consider the benefits of motocross and give it a shot. After all, it's a great way to meet with fellow moto-junkies (who may just become lifelong friends) and will undoubtedly fill you with competition-charged adrenaline. If you've never been to a race but love the idea of hitting the track on your dirt bike, check out these tips and you'll have a head start on the learning curve that is motocross.

What About A Bike

Motocross is definitely model-specific when it comes to bikes. Every major manufacturer commits a large portion of its time and money to developing its best machines for the motocross market. If you're riding an off-road-specific enduro bike or even if you're between bikes at the moment, racing motocross can still become a reality. Some racing series have classes designed for off-road bikes. Sometimes called sportsmen or enduro, these classes invite the headlight-and-spark-arrestor crowd to tackle the motocross track with their soft-suspended off-road bikes. If your local series has this class, it's a great place to begin. Usually, the class is pretty empty so you won't have to worry about too much bumping around. If you don't have a bike or the races in your area don't support sportsmen classes, you still have some options. The boom in four-stroke popularity has a lot of advantages for the serious racer. For someone who is looking to get into the sport without spending lots of money, the benefits are stellar. The value of used two-stroke motocross bikes has taken a dive. This means you can pick up a nearly new and still-competitive 250 or 125 for less than ever. Check your local newspaper classifieds or the bulletin boards at local motocross shops and you'll find plenty of cheap two-strokes for your new MX hobby.

Leave Your Bike At Home

When viewed from the outside, motocross can be overwhelming. Especially since everyone doing it seems to have secret schedules and rituals they're not telling you about. Almost all racers who have been racing MX for a while have a sort of internal clock to remind them of when practice is, how long races last and when they should clean and lube their chain...among other things. One of the best ways to start your MX hobby is to go to a race and leave your bike at home. It's best if you know someone who races-this way he or she can show you around. Without worrying about participating, you'll be free to observe the ritual and get an idea about what's going on. This is also your free trip to ask questions. And there aren't any stupid ones. Any time you don't understand something, just ask. The motocross community is an inclusive, welcoming group. Get to the track and begin snooping around.

Go Shopping

We can guarantee at least one person at your local motorcycle dealer races or has raced motocross. That is, of course, if your local shop sells motocross bikes and/or accessories. As with a lot of things, your relationship with those working at your favorite dealership or hop-up shop can be invaluable. For instance, want to know if a track on the other side of the state is worth driving to? Ask your shop. If the shop guys don't know, they can usually find someone who does. Want to find out what class (if any) your headlight-equipped trailbike is eligible for? Ask your shop (I'm sure they'd love the invitation to sell you a motocrosser!). The motocross shop is the original Internet search engine. Ask a question and you'll usually be directed to an answer. Next to hitting the racetrack, the motocross shop is the best source of moto-information.

Do Some Research

Does the race event you're entering have a club affiliation? Is membership required? If not, is there a discount or some other benefit that might make it worth joining anyway? Will this race be part of a series of races? If so, does the series require or make some form of membership worthwhile? What classes are racing? How long are the motos? What classes are you eligible for? These usually are split by machine size or age, sometimes both. Do your research when you're watching your first few races or nosing around your local shop. The information you learn before you race will help you be more prepared as you enter the racing world.

Practice

If you've never ridden on a motocross track or your track time is very limited, you're going to want to bust out some laps before tackling a race. First, this is going to give your arms, legs and back an idea of the complete flogging you'll put it through. If you don't practice MX, your body is going to be violently surprised about a lap into your first race. Second, you'll get used to riding your bike around people close enough to touch. The thing about MX is there are a lot of people around a lot of the time. And predicting when and what they're going to do is not only necessary for safety but also comes in handy when you begin passing slower riders. The key is to get in situations that mimic races and learn how to deal with the congestion of a motocross track. Last-this is going to give you an idea of how fast you are and, therefore, what class you should enter-find a local track and put in a few good practice days before you sign up to race.

Include Friends And Family

One of the best reasons to race motocross is so you can talk about your race immediately after racing it. It's called benchracing, and once you've done it you'll be hooked. Everything is more fun with a friend (why do you think there are so many people racing?). So grab a riding buddy and hit your first race together. Or make it a family affair and get sisters, brothers, moms and dads involved. You wouldn't ride off-road alone. So why do it at the track? Besides, if you find yourself cruising around at the back of the pack, you'll enjoy the company of a familiar bike to roost around with. Don't forget the all-important bragging rights. You're not going to win your first race. But you might beat your buddy or sibling, and some good-natured boasting is a fine substitute for a trophy (plus it doesn't collect dust).

Walk The Track

OK, you've done your research, practiced, paid the entry fees and are finally ready to race. When you get to the track, there are a few things you should do before the gate drops. First of these is walking the track. Walking the track gives you a slow-motion view of what you'll be flying by, over and across. It gives you the chance to make a map in your brain of the jump locations, corner directions, mud holes, slick spots and the all-important finish line. Also, if you've been hanging around some experienced racers in practice, this is a good time for them to say, "Hit this jump the same speed as in practice." Or "Don't, under any circumstances, try to jump this." Take the time to study the track before you go for it.

Get There Early

Nothing is worse for racing than showing up late. You can miss a lot of things by rushing around and trying to catch up. If you show up early and are ready to go, you'll be less stressed and much more likely to have a pleasurable experience. The beginning of a race day is a busy time and just racing one class requires many steps of preparation. There is sign-up, the rider's meeting, walking the track, practice and showing up to the gate on time-not to mention getting a good parking spot. If you miss any of these things in your first race experiences, you'll regret it. It's easier to show up early and take your time going through the motions. When you're ready to go with time to spare, you can ensure your bike, body and mind are all going to the starting line as prepared as possible.

Eat And Drink

Motocross is physically difficult. In fact, it's just plain hard. As with all endurance activities, your body needs a pile of fuel to burn to avoid the dreadful bonk. Without getting into nutritional theories and complicated diet plans, here's the idea: Drink plenty of water, more so than you think you should, and eat simple, nutritious meals throughout the day. If you're working out or training for your racing experience, you should already be eating right-cutting as much junk food and simple sugars (candy, soda, etc.) from your diet as possible. Eat complex carbs the days before an event and keep it simple on race day. You're going to be a little nervous, and the last thing you want is a stomach full of bacon and eggs cramping up on you. Popular prerace breakfasts include cereal, oatmeal, fruit and toast or bagels spread with peanut butter and honey. Lunch should be the same-simple and nutritious with more water than you think you should drink. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a DR staff favorite (include honey for an extra boost), as are Clif Bars and PowerBars for snacks. Some people down "energy" drinks and chow on caffeine-injected energy bars, but you're better off sticking to sandwiches and water. Replenish after a moto with a sports drink (we like to dilute them with water). Stay hydrated and fed and you'll be strong all moto long.

Stretch

Next to eating right and practicing, stretching is the best way to prepare your body for the physical punishment you're going to put it through. Do simple stuff such as touching your toes and then move on to stretching the major muscles in your body-you're going to be using all of them. Pay close attention to your arms, legs and back. These are the areas used most. Swing your arms to get the blood flowing and even break a sweat before the race starts. Arm-pump is the enemy. If you get your blood moving before the race starts, that can only help fight it off.

Bring Your Cash

The cost of motocross begins when you buy a bike and start dumping cash into helmets, boots, gear, goggles and gas. But it definitely doesn't stop there. As soon as you get to the motocross track the day of a race, you'll likely be hit with a gate fee. These serve different purposes and can range between $5 and $30. Usually they go to the track or sponsoring club to offset the operating cost, with a small portion sometimes being taken out for pro-rider payback or other awards funds. After the gate fee, there are usually more charges once you hit the sign-up booth. First is a club membership of some sort. Usually, this is a yearly fee to the sanctioning body of the race series. In some cases, you can get a temporary membership for one or two races. Then you have a race fee. This is the fee you pay to race each class. After that, you should be done paying fees. If you plan to camp, be aware that some tracks charge an RV hookup fee. Didn't know motocross was so expensive? Surprise! It is. But if you save up for a couple of weeks and plan a race in advance, you should be able to swing it.

Go Slower To Go Fast

You can't win your first race, so don't even try. OK, I suppose you could win, but in the long run you'll be a much better racer if you take it easy and develop skills and speed slowly. This is especially important if you're a true beginner and your seat time on any off-road bike is minimal. Riding and racing above your ability will only lead to crashes. Take it easy and always race inside your comfort zone. Even professionals do this. Mechanics' pit boards always say things like: "Ride your race" and "Race the track." What they mean by this is to ignore what's going on around you and race as fast as you can with the conditions given to you. Those conditions include traction, track obstacles, your ability and your machine's performance. If you push any of those outside what they can handle, you're going down. And let's be honest, crashing royally sucks. Minimize your potential for hitting the dirt by riding in your comfort zone. Some people hang it out right away and end up going pretty fast during their first few years. But more often than not, riding over your head will catch up to you and end up putting you on the dirt. Slow down and learn; speed will shortly follow.

When you race, do you simply gear up, start your bike and head to the line? If so, shame on you! Your body will perform much better if it has a regimented, solid warm-up program. It's a good thing that Destry Abbott is here to show you how this is done!

1. Here, Hawk sets the scene, pointing out the single rock and the spot on that rock that he'll use as a ramp in order to jump over to the left—and smoother—side of the trail on this particular climb. "As I come around the corner , I see there are two or three options up through there," Hawk begins. "Many would tend to look for what's easiest, but I look for a little lip on a rock.

2. "I carry my momentum—not too fast but not too slow—and I'm pretty far back on the bike. I kind of jump over and try to keep the front end light. If you hit it too fast, there's a pretty good sized rock here you could nose into, which would get you in trouble. This move sets you up a lot better on the trail because then you're on the high side of the rocks and not in the rough stuff where all the cobblestones are. You can carry a lot more momentum farther down the trail." And again, Hawk warns against going too fast in this situation: "If you carry too much speed, instead of jumping the rock you might land off to the side of it—it doesn't have a perfectly flat face. I'm not too worried about the front end; I'm worried about the rear getting into that spot." Note that he's not actually jumping from the rock all the way to the top of the ledge where the smoother trail is. Instead, he's just getting his front wheel onto it; the rear wheel will actually land below it, since he's not hitting it at a high speed. This will prevent the rear end from bucking or otherwise misbehaving.

1. Keep your speed up as you approach. Most riders make the mistake of slowing too much to scope out the hill, forcing them to use too much throttle too late. This results in wheelspin or wheelying.

2. Scan the trail and look out for big obstacles, such as logs or rocks, that may be best tackled standing up. Also, don't just follow another rider on the same line; you may get trapped if he makes a mistake.

3. Most of the time, in the absence of any big obstacles, the best position on the bike is sitting. In this position, you can have the best compromise between weighting the rear wheel with your butt and keeping the front of the bike down with the weight of your shoulders and head. Weight the outside footpeg and put pressure on the gas tank with your outside knee.

4. Once you have made the initial turn and are on the hill, keep the power on, but smoothly.

5. With a hill this steep, if I were to pull up on the handlebar with my arms to keep me from falling backward off the bike, the bike would tend to wheelie. While if I use my abs instead, the weight of my upper body will push down on the front of the bike instead of lifting it, letting me keep the power on and keeping my speed up the hill.

6. Use your body to keep the bike as vertical as possible. If the bike is vertical, the rear tire will have the best traction and won't want to skid sideways out from underneath you. Here I am starting to move my upper body to the left, in order to keep the bike straighter, so I can keep the power on.

7. As I am now on the steepest part of the trail; I must really work to hold the bike vertical and still use my stomach muscles to keep my upper body forward while I keep the power on smoothly. It sounds like a lot of work, but trust me, it's a whole lot less than not making the hill and having to turn around, go back down and retry.

Most people tend to follow the trail in front of them, but that may not be the best option. Conditions can change so dramatically that the primary path often becomes degraded, in which case it's faster and perhaps safer to avoid it.

Here, Hawkins chooses to ride alongside a rut, which used to be the main trail everyone rode. But if he dropped into the rut now, he'd have a much more difficult time, what with the root across it as well as small rocks. "If you look, you might not think there's enough room, but you have enough room to skinny through there ," Hawkins begins. "You don't have to worry about going too fast because this is not a fast section. The object is to get through it as smoothly and as easily as possible and the least amount of energy, then make up your time on a flat section, where you can go fast." A key point to remember is to look at the smoother ground beside the rut; if you stare at the rut, you're almost guaranteed to end up in it.

It's a balance between smooth air time and hard braking, but there are a few tricks to flying into the corners.

1. Sitting on top of the water break and looking over Jason Raines' shoulder, we can see there's a fairly sharp corner that follows. That—and the loose, rutted dirt with small rocks—makes it imperative that you don't hit the jump/water break with too much speed, yet you don't want to slow down too much and give someone the opportunity to pass.

2. Since the idea is to scrub some speed before you get to the jump—plus this one is a downhill at that—and accelerate off it, Raines throws his body farther back on the bike and maintains an overall level attitude. In addition, this lets him soak up a bit of the bike's upward trajectory, thus keeping the bike's flight as low as possible. Notice that he's also ready to hit the brakes and clutch the instant he touches down.

3. Faster and advanced riders may wish to kick the back of the bike out just a little (in the opposite direction of the upcoming corner) as it can help them set up for the turn.

1. Brown approaches the jump in a straight line aboard his Yamaha of Troy YZ250F. He's standing up with his knees bent and his head over the handlebar, and he has already determined how much speed he'll need to clear all three jumps.

2. He jumps with the front wheel a little higher than the rear wheel and maintains a steady throttle all the way off the first jump.

3. In midflight, he adjusts to a neutral body position and starts to let gravity lower the front end of the motorcycle. By holding a neutral position, he has the ability to change the angle of the motorcycle by leaning forward or backward and by adjusting rear-wheel speed.

4. The goal is to clear the third rise and land on the downside. You don't want to clip the top of the third jump; otherwise, it will upset the balance of the bike. Brown has jumped 10 to 12 feet high, but his descent is less than half that because of the uphill aspect of the jump. He's now standing straight up and preparing to let the suspension absorb the landing.

5. Brown lands with the rear wheel first, but only barely. Notice that he's already on the throttle, and his weight is still centered with his head directly over the handlebar.

Nobody likes headshake, but unless you have the proper tension on your bike's headset, the ever-frightening speed wobble is almost inevitable. Especially useful on rough terrain, proper headset adjustment is a very important element to proper handling. We recently asked K.C. Agnew, head mechanic for Team Bloodshot/HMS Capital/Hahm Motorsports, to shed some light on the subject.

Nobody likes headshake, but unless you have the proper tension on your bike's headset, the ever-frightening speed wobble is almost inevitable. Especially useful on rough terrain, proper headset adjustment is a very important element to proper handling. We recently asked K.C. Agnew, head mechanic for Team Bloodshot/HMS Capital/Hahm Motorsports, to shed some light on the subject.

You don't want your front end to be too loose or too tight, so having the correct tension is really important. The first step is to loosen the crown nut and top triple clamp bolts-which will take tension off the fork-so they don't pinch or bind when you adjust the headset.

Using a spanner wrench, adjust the spanner nut (located underneath the clamps on the stem). Tighten or loosen the nut depending on which way you have to go. Obviously, tightening the nut will increase the headset tension.

Next, check the tension of your headset-it is important to be precise. Agnew recommends doing this with a fish scale (the kind you would use to weigh a small fish). With the bar straight, tie a string or a piece of wire onto a fork tube and pull forward with the fish scale. There should be exactly 4 pounds of pressure on the scale before the bar begins to turn. You can go tighter based on track conditions, but 4 pounds is the place to start.

With the spanner nut at the correct tension, torque down the crown nut to the manufacturer's specifications. The headset will typically get a bit tighter as you crank down the crown nut, so sometimes you may need to go lighter on the spanner bolt to get the perfect tension. Over time, you will get used to what tension feels good.

Lastly, tighten the top triple clamp bolts to the manufacturer's specifications. Use the fish scale to double-check your headset tension. Another way to check this, without the fish scale, is by turning the bar with the bike on the stand, because at 4 pounds of tension, the front end should slowly fall to the steering stop when the bar is set at a 45-degree angle.

There's a characteristic of racing and riding in woods and many other off-road situations that's hard to ignore: People tend to go where others have gone before them. That's often the safest thing to do, since there could be unseen dangers lurking just off the main trail.

However, all that traffic on one bit of trail will tend to make it deteriorate into a rough, whooped-out, body-jarring ride for everyone who follows that path. That's when it pays to actively look for an alternate line, which is what Am-Pro Racing's Barry Hawk suggests here.

The 2003 GNCC champ points out, "This trail has been ridden many times, and everybody who comes up the hill ends up on the left side ." While it doesn't appear all that rough in the photos, it's certainly enough to keep you on your toes when you're hitting it at speed.

Hawk continues, "What I do—and what I noticed Randy and Jason do—is actually slow down. Once we get through the , we slow down and hop up on the right side coming up the hill. It's a lot smoother.

"It's slower at the bottom because you have to let off the gas and set yourself up. But when you get to the top of the hill, you're going way faster because you're missing 10 or 12 big chopped-out sections it's smooth. In the long run you're saving energy.

"The biggest thing is to set it up early so you don't get down in the rough stuff."

A. WRONG: Here, Barry Hawk rides through the main part of the trail, as most guys normally would. It's not a bad choice, but there's a better one.

B. RIGHT: What Hawk basically does is work the edges of the trail more. Although he has to slow down a bit to force the bike to change direction, it will pay off in the long run. As you can see here, he has already made what is normally a gentle bend into a sharper turn and is wheelying over some ruts to get to the smoother, little-used portion of trail.

C. Now he's on a small shelf of smooth ground and can accelerate hard up the rest of the hill instead of dealing with all the chop on the other, more-used side.

There are few things in dirt riding that make you feel more like a spode than trying to change directions while in sand. Either the front end tucks and you hit the deck, or you're so cautious that your turn radius exceeds that of the typical MX team's 18-wheeler. What's the secret to railing through a sand turn?

We posed that question to Fred Andrews, figuring he'd probably have some good input after his years on the National MX circuit, followed by a new career in off-road racing that's netted him an AMA National Hare Scrambles championship plus a GNCC title. "You get in the rut, lean it over and flow with the turn," he advises.Watching Andrews perform this maneuver a few times, we realized that commitment is the key to sand turns; you can't be tentative or you'll be dead meat. But there are other tricks that Andrews was willing to share, so follow along.

A. On the approach to this fairly fast, sandy left-hander, Andrews is up on the pegs, of course, and in a semi-crouched, centered position on his RM. "I charge into it pretty hard and I use some front brake, but not a whole lot because sand has a tendency to make the front end want to tuck," he points out. "Just a quick hit of the front and back together is enough to slow me down."

B. Here, Andrews begins to plop his bottom down onto the seat, near the front, though he won't be as far forward as if this were a hard-packed turn. In sand, it's unnecessary to exaggerate body movements, and since sand provides such a large amount of drag on the bike anyway, simply shutting the throttle is going to result in more deceleration than on hardpack. But you have to use both brakes to maximize braking, thus minimizing the time you spend slowing down.

C. "I let off , and I sit down right at the beginning of the turn, lean it over, stay right in the and just flow the whole way around. The key here is not to use too much front and to not to turn out of the sand—you actually have to follow the turn around. On dirt you can turn, whereas in sand, you go to turn and you tuck the front and then fall." Andrews sums up, "It's almost all one motion: You come in hard, charge hard , get on the brakes to scrub off some speed, let off the brakes, sit down and give it gas—but do not dump the clutch; you just roll the power on, and it flows right around."

If there's one thing Kellon Walch has seen a lot of, it's sand. Growing up in Nevada, he did his fair share of riding in it, and as a member of the 2005 Red Bull KTM U.S. Dakar team, he was immersed in it-literally, at times! Even so, he gladly demonstrated how he would tackle a sandy turn that follows a hard-packed surface-in this case, a downhill.

If there's one thing Kellon Walch has seen a lot of, it's sand. Growing up in Nevada, he did his fair share of riding in it, and as a member of the 2005 Red Bull KTM U.S. Dakar team, he was immersed in it-literally, at times! Even so, he gladly demonstrated how he would tackle a sandy turn that follows a hard-packed surface-in this case, a downhill.

"You definitely want to have all your braking done before you hit a turn," Walch begins. "You want to make sure you can set up for the turn just right because if you get off the , you're going to stick that front wheel and go over the bar or you're going to get squirrelly." Notice he's standing as he approaches the turn. "You can see that right before the turn there's a big bump," he points out. "You want to make sure you're standing until all the braking bumps-you have to be careful that your back end doesn't kick up." He's also looking ahead in the turn.

"Accelerate smoothly all the way through the turn," he advises, and you can see here where he began turning on the throttle (look at the roost still hanging in the air). "You're not going to get the greatest traction in the sand, so when you accelerate, you want to have your weight far back enough so you can really accelerate through the turn. As you get closer to the exit of the turn and feel you're in the rut decently, start to slowly slide back on the seat a little so you can get good acceleration in the sand."

He's fairly centered over the bike as he brakes here because he's transitioning forward to start weighting the front end more as he enters the turn. "You want to have your front end weighted some," he suggests, "but don't move all your weight to the front; it's not a hard-packed turn. In the middle of the bike is ideal, to make sure you don't knife .

By this time, Walch has plopped himself fully in the seat, his elbows remain up and he's looking ahead past the exit of the turn. At this point, his primary concern is getting out of the turn as quickly as possible. "When you come into the turn, you want to make sure you're in a good gear." In other words, don't have the bike in too low a gear because you'll rev out too quickly, but don't be in such a tall gear that it won't pull well. The trick is to keep your momentum as high as possible; that way the engine doesn't have to work as hard to pull out of the turn.

"I let off , and I sit down right at the beginning of the turn, lean it over, stay right in the and just flow the whole way around. The key here is not to use too much front and to not to turn out of the sand-you actually have to follow the turn around. On dirt you can turn, whereas in sand, you go to turn and you tuck the front and then fall." Andrews sums up, "It's almost all one motion: You come in hard, charge hard , get on the brakes to scrub off some speed, let off the brakes, sit down and give it gas-but do not dump the clutch; you just roll the power on, and it flows right around."

On the approach to this fairly fast, sandy left-hander, Andrews is up on the pegs and in a semi-crouched, centered position. "I charge into it pretty hard and use some front brake, but not a lot because sand tends to make the front end want to tuck," he points out. "Just a quick hit of the front and back together is enough to slow me down."

Here, Andrews begins to plop down onto the seat, near the front, though he won't be as far forward as if this were a hard-packed turn. In sand, it's unnecessary to exaggerate body movements, and since sand provides such a large amount of drag on the bike anyway, simply shutting the throttle is going to result in more deceleration than on hardpack. But you have to use both brakes to maximize braking, thus minimizing the time you spend slowing down.

The limited space in baseball and football stadiums requires obstacles to be very compact. Therefore, to allow riders to maintain speed in the turns, track builder Dirt Wurx uses a lot of bowl turns in its designs. This enables riders to carry more momentum through the turn so they can accelerate hard toward the next obstacle, which is usually some type of double, triple or combination jump.

Ricky Carmichael is considered to be one of the masters of these unique turns. He's able to get in and out faster than anyone else; and we recently spent a day with him at Suzuki's private test track in Corona, California, to learn what makes him so quick.

A. Carmichael enters the right-hand turn standing up and sits down only after he gets into the middle of the corner. He's hard on both brakes, looks for the smoothest line with the most traction and maintains a neutral body position. His elbows are up, the clutch is pulled in and he's looking straight ahead the entire time. He uses only one finger on the front brake; he wants to make sure he's not too aggressive on the front brake, since it could lock up and cause the front end to wash out. When this "pushing effect" comes into play, riders have to quickly let off the front brake if they want any chance of saving the front end from tucking under.

B. RC slides toward the front of the seat and starts to get back on the throttle at this point. Although he's under hard acceleration, he's not being too aggressive. He wants to drive out of the corner with a limited amount of rear wheelspin. If he dumps the clutch with too much rpm, the back end of the bike will be difficult to control.

C. The harder RC gets on the throttle, the more he readjusts his body position. He grips the tank with his knees and uses his arms to pull himself toward the front of the bike. Notice that his head is now over the handlebar; he still has not let the clutch entirely out, and his inside foot is down for support. What you can't see is that he's weighting the outside peg to balance the bike from side to side, and he's rolling on the throttle instead of pinning it to the throttle stop.

D. Carmichael continues to grip the tank with his outside leg. By keeping his body weight forward, he's able to steer with the front wheel and prevent the bike from wheelying.

E. RC is now wide open, and the bike is beginning to get a little sideways; but it's totally manageable. This is as crossed up as he gets on this loose soil, and to get the bike back in line he simply uses the clutch to control rear-wheel traction and to keep the bike driving forward.

Besides being kind of cool and flashy, the seemingly huge double and triple (and other kinds of) jumps motocrossers do can save time and energy. Despite spending all that time in the air, they find it's generally quicker to leap as much as they can at one time than to take off and land two or three separate times, and it's also easier on the body.

The same holds true on the trail. If you can jump over a couple of obstacles at once, you'll save time and energy compared with riding over all of them. We asked two-time AMA National Hare Scrambles champion Jason Raines to demonstrate how and where he might turn a trail obstacle into a ramp and do a double as he'd typically do during a race or even a trail ride. Here's how he'd do it.

A. Raines begins by pointing out the rock that caught his eye for its potential employment as a launching ramp (uneven though it is) and the small tree beyond it. Their proximity makes this a very doable little double jump. "When I came around the corner , I saw a little rock sticking up and thought, `The rock's not quite square, so it'll kind of throw me to one side--I've got to be really careful not to hit it too fast,'" he says.

B. "It's not that far of a jump, so I come around in second gear and carry my momentum. I stay centered in the middle of the motorcycle, and as I come up to the rock I accelerate. I try to stay centered over the bike just in case the bike kicks to either side. If you stay centered on the motorcycle, it leaves you room to shift your weight for extra control.

C. Here, Raines goes around the rock as a typical novice or otherwise unconfident rider might do. While he'll have only one obstacle to ride over, it's slower than using one to jump over the other. "In a situation like this," he coaches, "you'll want to keep your eyes open for obstacles on the trail that can help you go through a section a little more quickly and maybe a little more smoothly than you would going around them, which would require more energy."

The limited space in baseball and football stadiums requires obstacles to be very compact. Therefore, to allow riders to maintain speed in the turns, track builder Dirt Wurx uses a lot of bowl turns in its designs. This enables riders to carry more momentum through the turn so they can accelerate hard toward the next obstacle, which is usually some type of double, triple or combination jump.

Ricky Carmichael is considered to be one of the masters of these unique turns. He's able to get in and out faster than anyone else; and we recently spent a day with him at Suzuki's private test track in Corona, California, to learn what makes him so quick.

You don't need to be in Hawaii to experience slippery clay and rock downhills. As many an off-road racer has discovered, this combination can be found almost anywhere. For advice on how to tackle this obstacle without ending up on our head, we turned to Team Throttlehead.com Kawasaki racer Steve Hatch. With nearly two decades of racing experience under his belt, Hatch has no doubt encountered this situation many times. Here's how he safely gets to the bottom in the least amount of time without any drama.

A. "In a downhill section," Hatch says, "you'll want to constantly scan far down the trail so you can pick out the straightest, fastest and easiest line before you arrive at a certain spot. The main reason is you won't have very much traction as you head down the hill, which hinders your ability to change lines. Looking far ahead means there will be no surprises, and you should be able to descend at your maximum speed with a minimized risk of crashing."

B. "The next important move is to position your body back toward the rear fender. This enables you to hold the bike tightly between your legs with your weight over the rear wheel, keeping the front end light so it can float over obstacles. Remember to be smooth with the brakes—try not to skid them, and use them only as hard as you need. And always look for the best places to apply them. Too often I see riders applying their brakes on slippery rocks or roots—exactly where you actually should let off the brakes for an instant to avoid losing control of the bike. When you do find good braking real estate, try to keep the bike perpendicular to the ground. This provides the best traction for slowing."

C. "You also need to keep your elbows up. To accomplish this, you may have to change your grip slightly. Allowing your palms to push up and out on the grip lets your elbows come out and gives you more leverage on the handlebar and more strength to handle the front end should it slide. This also helps you set up to gas or clutch it not to stall or drop into a sitting position to dab across slippery ruts. This all translates into more control and safer and faster descents."

Face it: Sometimes, no matter how carefully you line up at the gate, you're not going to get the best of launches that earn holeshots. However, that doesn't mean you have to be at the very back of the pack going into the first turn—unless you really screw up and crash on the way.

But if you get just a little out of shape, there are a couple of things you can do to make the best of the situation and at least salvage a midpack start. While at Glen Helen Raceway Park, we snagged Subway Honda racer Joe Oehlhof and asked him to demonstrate what he does on those rare occasions when things don't go quite as planned at the start.

The key, Oehlhof says, is doing the little things right: "Obviously, the best way to avoid getting sideways is to have good throttle control and good clutch control out of the gate, especially if you're on concrete." But that's just one part of the equation. Read on for more.

A. One of the most-common mishaps is wheelying, as Oehlhof is doing while complying with our goon-ride request. Most of the time, this is a result of incorrect body positioning (too far rearward). A good start often finds the front wheel just kissing the track surface as the rider speeds down the start straight—a sign of ultimate control. A giant wheelie means out of control, as the rider panics, shuts off and, hopefully, doesn't take out any of his fellow competitors while he flails along.

B. Another common problem is getting sideways and/or spinning too much out of the gate.

C. "Keep your head over the ," Oehlhof advises. "The big thing is to get your weight to the front of the bike so it doesn't wheelie and then try to stay centered on it—don't lean one way or the other. I start with both feet down to keep all my weight centered on the bike. Stay a bit loose with your arms. If the bike's going to lean or kick a little from one side to the other, stay loose with your body. Whatever does, react to it and get it back straight as quickly as you can."

D. RIGHT: The key to recovering from a botched start is to try to avoid it altogether, of course. This means prestart prep, which begins with lining up squarely behind the gate at a 90-degree angle (perpendicular) and keeping the bike straight up and down. If you're unable to touch the ground and the rules permit, use a small box or block of wood—anything to help get you balanced and ready for launch.

E. RECOVERING: What should you do if you spin too much and get sideways or get too much traction and wheelie excessively? Don't panic, first of all. As long as the bike's not looping out or completely sideways already, you can probably recover without losing too much ground. The key is reducing power to the rear wheel, which is done by feathering the clutch. In other words, pull in the clutch lever slightly—but without letting off the throttle—which will bring the front end down or help bring a slipping rear tire back in line. "If you let off the throttle totally and get back on it, you might straighten up but, once you get back on it, you might spin again," Oehlhof points out. "You want to control that by feathering the clutch a little. All of your control is in that clutch." As he mentioned before, body English plays an important role, particularly if the bike begins to get sideways—you have to compensate by shifting your weight to the opposite side.

Whenever you go to your local track, you always see a cheater line around the whoops. But if you're serious about riding and racing, you're only cheating yourself by skipping the whoops section every lap. One of the easiest places to make up time on the track is here. Yeah, when you hit them wrong, they are also one of the easiest places to lose time! There are many techniques for going through them, but only a few get the job done right. We asked Doug Dubach to share his secret to tackling the intimidating rollers. According to Dubach, even though whoops come in all shapes and sizes, you can almost always use the same technique since consistency is a major key when attacking them. Riders often spend their time working on whoops, trying find the best line--the one with the smallest whoops to go through. There is nothing wrong with that, but your technique and determination will be your best friend when it comes to riding fast through whoops. Start off slow, take your time when learning and build your speed as you go along!

A. When you're entering the whoops, look ahead to pick the best line that will link you up the fastest with the next section of the track. The right gear is also super-important. You always want to be a gear higher to keep the rear wheel driving forward rather than spinning. Body position plays a big role here. You need to transfer your weight to the back of the bike, placing the balls of your feet in a neutral position on the pegs. This helps keep your front wheel light; if too much weight is moved forward, there is a good chance you will tuck the front wheel.

B. When you're blitzing whoops, things can go wrong quickly (like the front dropping down). Make sure you are going as straight as possible. Even though your weight is on the back of the bike, try to keep your body position centered. Use your legs and squeeze tightly; this will help the bike stay upright and allow you to use less effort with your upper body.

C. Throttle control is a must when tearing through whoops; smooth is the name of the game. The smoother you are with the throttle, the easier it will be to keep the bike straight. As you go through, you want to pick up momentum. In this photo, Doug Dubach is fully committed; he has everything lined up and is now hard on the throttle.

D. When practicing, be creative and let the bike take the hit in the whoops. If you're leaned back and your body position is right, the bike will do most of the work. The higher you can stay through a whoop section, the smoother it will be and the more energy you will conserve.

E. Exiting with speed is crucial. As you exit, transfer your weight forward to help get a good drive out and to get traction. Keep squeezing with your legs; you may get a bit of wheelspin while exiting. Keep looking ahead and stay aggressive all the way out.

Endless hordes of rocks can be terrifying. A miscue or bobble in the uneven environment can have you on your noggin or visiting your parts counter for new radiators. However, rock fields need not be treated as if they are minefields. Reigning Hare and Hound champion and desert ace Russ Pearson has some experience with this phenomenon. Here's how he negotiates the terrain obstacle.

A. "As you enter a rocky garden such as this one, your first step should be to scan ahead and look for the best, smoothest line. Upon entering you should be standing and gripping the bike with your legs. This will keep the bike straight—or somewhat straight, considering how gnarly the section is. You should be in the gear in which you have usable power; in this section, it was second and then first as it got rougher and rockier.

B. "When the rocks get really bad, you'll find yourself looking at your front fender. Whenever you can take your eyes off the rocks right in front of you, scan ahead to find the smoothest lines available. But don't waste time just balancing, looking for the smoothest lines. Choose and attack a line and make quick work of it; you need to practice at home, so it comes naturally when it's race time.

C. "Your body weight should be centered most of the time. Obviously, if there are some bigger rock ledges you need to get over, you will have to shift your weight back, give the bike a little extra gas and pull back so you don't find yourself going over the handlebar—that doesn't feel good.

D. "Clutch action needs to be very smooth. I will run with my pointer and middle finger on the clutch at all times, so my bike doesn't stall out in a rough spot and to give it a smooth burst of power to get over an obstacle. I also keep my middle finger on the front brake for slowing down in a hurry.

E. "Momentum is also a key factor in rocky sections. The bigger the rocks are, the more scared you may get because they can hurt you if you fall. But do not stop and panic; you need momentum to carry you through sections where your front end can drop, and you don't want the front end to find a hole that would cause you to wreck or come to a stop. You would lose time either way.

F. "In a section where your front end can drop between big rocks, you will need to grip your bike to keep it straight, keep up your momentum and give the bike smooth bursts of controlled power by using your clutch and throttle to stay on top of the rocks. Remember, practice so in a race you will know your limits and hopefully come home with a first-place trophy ."