Gary Semics Motocross School Practice Manual (Second Edition) - Dirt Rider Magazine

Gary Semics (1974 500cc Supercross champion) has been teaching MX speed at his school since 1985 and has several DVDs and a practice manual available. His $14.95 manual isolates 55 different riding techniques and explains and shows the proper moves for each. Semics believes in practicing until it becomes your body's instinct, and that includes time on the bike on a stand. This means you can get faster even after a long day at work. Grab the book, head out to the garage (you know you were going to anyway) and teach your muscles the right positions.Each tip is simple and seems to help. Some will alert you to new ways to ride; others will just crystallize things you may be doing instinctively already. Regardless, it's great to learn during your free time and have something to focus on during your next ride.This second edition is the same as Gary's original manual but with a few added techniques. It's rough by publishing standards and many of the photos look dated, hence the publication quality score looks bad, but though this tool is crude, it functions great for anyone getting into the sport who wants to prevent developing bad habits, or for anyone whose speed has hit a plateau and wants to jump-start some improvement. When things aren't working, everyone always says "go back to the basics." Well, here they are. After all, if you're not working on riding better, you're just going around in circles. -Pete Peterson