That’s a funny title, isn’t it? If you’re a “sand flea” you probably think it’s an impossibility. Not so! It just takes a  little practice and most importantly – proper bike preparation. Now there are some guys like Mikey Beeler who can ride anywhere, anytime, with no bike set-up, really fast, but these guys are few and far between. The typical sand rider goes to the rocks for the first time without a clue. After some pain and suffering, they kind of figure it out …if they stick with it.

 Now I may not be an “expert” in the rocks, but I kinda figured some things out over the 500+ events that I have entered. I did win four Overall ECEA events over the years – get a load of this span – (1983) O.T.H.E.R. club out of Chips Folly Campground was the first. I have a great story for that event, starting out with the Wet T-Shirt Contest and live band on Saturday night before the event (tell you later), then GreenBriar (1986?), MCI Stumpjumer (1995) beating Mike Lafferty…. Ha, ha, ha ….. he burnt a check and gave me the win!!! And SJER’s Curley Fern (2003) riding on # 1 through the mud! So, as you can see, you didn’t see any “rock runs” in that list. Oh well, I was close a few times with a few third overalls at RORR. The closest I ever came was 2^nd Overall at Canyon Riders in Wellsboro, Pa. Mike Melton, a Husky factory rider at the time, coming back from an injury rode a local event to get back into the groove and beat me out from the late numbers.

 Sometimes you take things for granted because you’ve been doing it so long. I’ll just cover some basics for the beginning rock rider. If you  do these simple things you are on your way to large plastic trophies! Like I said, proper bike setup is very important in the rocks. Lower your tire air pressure to 10 lbs. Yes, lower it! Use a heavy-duty tube or double wrap a regular tube. If you have the frog skins, buy some inserts and forget the air. The difference between 10 lbs. and 13 lbs. is amazing! Anything over 12 lbs. your bouncing all over the trail, regardless of how good your suspension is. Speaking of suspension, lighten up on the compression of course, but most importantly speed up the rebound clickers. Here’s the theory – slower rebound for the whoops, faster for the rocks. Whoops are 3 or feet apart. Rocks are ½ or 1 foot apart. You need your suspension to act quickly and get back to the full stroke before the next “hit”. If not, the suspension will “pack up” and be in the harsh part of the stroke when it hits the next rock. Can you say quick left? 

As far as riding, there is one word that comes to mind – MOMENTUM! Forget about fanning the clutch in the turns you sand fleas! Ride the bike in a gear higher than you normally would and just pull yourself through the turns without chopping the throttle off and on. If not, it’s called wheel spin! Wheel spin means your bike isn’t moving forward. Get it? Just flow through the turns. When you come up to a “rock garden”, set up first and keep a steady throttle all the way through! It takes a little guts the first time you hit these “bone yards”, but after some practice you’ll be doing it without even thinking! 

Of course there’s a lot more to it, but hey, you have to start somewhere! Keep the rubber side down.