Many northwest racers took advantage of his school closer to home and just over 20 quads, big and small, showed up. The only complaint I had in the whole weekend was the number of riders. I’m glad that Joe decided to let the minis in on the school, but they needed to be taught at a separate time. With the minis included, it was like trying to teach two very different classes at once and with only two days to learn, that took away from everyone involved.

Now that I got that out of the way, I was really happy with the school. First order of the weekend was diet and nutrition. Byrd stressed his point that if you ever want to be competitive, you have to eat right and train as often as possible. Instead of McDonalds, go for Subway. Instead of pizza, get pasta. Just try and eat as healthy as possible, but also allow yourself a treat once a week.

After nutrition, Joe went over bike set up with everyone. It’s surprising how many people don’t know how to set caster, camber, toe and ride height. There are a few products to help you, but Joe shows you how to set all three with just a speed square and a tape measure. Knowing how to set it correctly could save you precious time on the track, but will also make it safer for you to ride.

It was then time for Joe to take a look at everyone’s quad for anything that might not be race-ready. Gas tank not full – push ups for you. Axle hub loose - add some more pushups. Tie rod not have a cotter pin in it - rack up some more. Joe and his crew were able to find at least one thing on every rider’s vehicle. Hopefully the pushups will help burn into everyone’s mind how important it is to go over your quad every time you ride. Something coming loose at an inconvenient time could quickly send you and other riders around you to the hospital. Before anyone headed out to the track, Joe sent everyone back to their trailers to fix the stuff that Joe spotted wrong.

After everyone was given as many laps as they needed to get acquainted with the track, it was time to get some laps times. In order to get a better idea of how much everyone learned, Joe takes a lap time before he teaches anything, and then at the end of the day Sunday after everyone is tired. If their laps times are improved, even when the riders are tired, it was a successful school.

With laps finished Joe began with showing everyone the proper riding and turning positions. Elbows up and two fingers on both the clutch and the brake at all times. Just like after every thing that Joe taught, he questions riders to see if they were paying attention. Answer wrong and you guessed it, more pushups. If the pushups aren’t enough, there is a drill to go along with everything Joe teaches you. Every rider goes through the drill a couple times until Joe thinks that you have it down pat.

Of everything we went over all weekend - diet, nutrition, exercise, bike setup, riding stance, turns, braking, cornering, jumps, starts, passing, whoops, drop offs, trails, and hills - the thing that was going to make everyone save the most time on the track was braking. Joe instructed all the riders to take the corner however they normally would. No tips or anything to make them faster. Originally everyone thought Joe was watching their cornering ability, but that was later in the day. Joe was actually watching the point that everyone was braking at coming into the corner. And amazingly, almost everyone was within about 3 feet of each other. All Joe had to do was put a cone out and everyone braked easily 5 feet farther than they were. He then proceeded with the more skilled riders to move the cone even farther, after giving them a few tips about braking correctly. I personally was able to move my braking point almost 20 feet closer to the corner. One rider was able to brake almost 30 feet later. 30 feet in one corner, 10 in the next, and 15 in the one after can save massive time in a few laps.

By the time we got all of that done, we had about two hours left until dark. Those two hours were spent with the toughest part of the school - the fitness test. Every rider had to run one lap, mountain bike two and then ride five more on their quad, skipping none of the jumps or hills. The track was really slick, and everyone quickly learned to skirt the edge of the track while going up the steep hills and jumps. The toughest part for me was trying to carry the mountain bike up the hills. If you didn’t have much experience on a mountain bike it made the test even tougher than it already was. Everyone was able to make it to the quad section, but Joe had to cut some a little short so that the mini riders could get in their test before dark. Joe’s point in all of this, is that quad racing is one of the most physically demanding sports there is. You should be able to pull up to the starting line of a moto, have them hold the start while you run a lap and mountain bike a couple more and still not be tired after the 20 minute moto.

All the riders were plenty tired from the fitness test and some stories were told the next morning of a couple of the mini riders falling asleep in their dinner. But no one wanted to miss anything and end up with pushups, so everyone was accounted for early the next morning and ready to ride.

After stretching out, which Joe requires of every rider before each day, we all met at the starting line to practice starts. The biggest thing Joe had to work with most riders on was their speed shifting. Most riders, including me at first, were letting off of the gas when they shifted on the start stretch. By just pulling in the clutch and shifting while you’re pinned wide open you can gain a second or two coming into the holeshot. After individual starts, the riders that wanted to paired off for head to head starts. The prize - not having to do pushups if you win. Congratulations to Brandon Brown on his LRD-equipped Honda 450 who barely edged out Branden Smith for the fastest holeshot.

A couple people were a little surprised when the next thing we practiced was riding on two wheels (either the left two or the right two) and also wheelies. If you accidentally get into a situation where you get put into one of those positions, you need to know how to safely ride it out without loosing too much time. Knowing how to wheelie correctly can allow you to get the front end off the ground and over small bumps and whoops that could slow you down. It’s also important for doing something called sea-sawing through the whoops. If someone has crashed in a whoop section you can use sea-sawing to get your speed back up and start getting a rhythm again.

The final thing to practice before we put in our second lap time was working on jumps. Joe never pressured anyone to do any of the doubles or step ups, but if anyone wanted to make a certain jump he helped them do it. By getting them to do the jump 4 or 5 times, jumping a little farther each time, he was even able to get a couple of the modified 90’s doing a step up that they weren’t doing before. The riders that were already doing the jumps, Joe worked with on adjusting the quad’s position in the air to land correctly with the rear tires six inches before the front.

The second day was almost wrapped up so everyone put in their second lap times. It was amazing to see the difference in lap times that just two days of practice could do. Every rider had a faster second lap time, and two riders even put in laps that were 30 seconds faster. WOW! Branden Smith, who had the fastest lap time of the weekend and one of the riders that had the biggest lap time difference, received a set of Power Madd hand guards along with all of the other certificates. Every rider received a certificate showing their completion of the Joe Byrd Quad Riding school as well as hundreds of dollars worth of gift certificates from Joe’s sponsors. The mini riders were all over the free stickers and hats that Joe had to pass out, but Joe also had Joe Byrd Quad riding school t-shirts available.

So, was it worth the $400? Absolutely. Joe personally offered anyone their money back if they didn’t think it was worth it, and not surprisingly, no one spoke up. Everyone was happy with their results and several asked when there would be another in the area. If you are interested in attending a riding school held by Joe Byrd and can show there is an interest in the area, check out Joe’s website and send him an email. He’s willing to hold a school in most areas with the permission of the track, as long as the interest is good. So what are you waiting for? Send that email and learn the tricks of the trade with Joe Byrd!