Speaking with Gary Heitzman, volunteer, “Gary, how long has FCA Off-Road been coming here and putting on a camp?”
Gary:Our first camp was just an experiment about 6 years ago. We did a 3-day, weekend camp in November. It went so well that we decided to do a week long camp during a better time of year. Of course, our target audience is the off-road racer and everyone’s schedules revolve around the GNCC schedule. So, the best time was summer. It gets a little hot here and our facilities are a bit primitive. We have an outdoor pavilion that doubles as cafeteria and chapel. But, we also have a pond to swim in, air-conditioned cabins, plenty of parking for parents who stay in their motorhomes, and of course, over 500 acres to cut trails in! It’s been working well for 6 years now!  

Turning now to Rob Gartman, trail boss, “Rob, how do you manage 60+ kids on bikes, plus leaders, instructors and more?”
Rob: We’ve cut two trail loops. One is a 2-mile training course that has stations in it. One station is a hill climb, another is off-camber with roots, another is log crossing. We have grass track/turn track. The bigger loop is about 4 miles and puts it all together. We break the kids down by age, ability and bike size and then attach a couple instructors to each group. The groups, or “huddles” as we refer to them, travel the training loop and hit the stations. By the end of their training, they’ll be prepared for the big loop and the instructors will take them out and help them piece it all together.

This has been an evolving process with lots of learning!
Oh yes! We try to learn every year. Brian Temple is my go to guy. He has been helping instruct since the beginning and we get together after every camp and figure out how to make it better so that kids can have a true learning experience.

Speaking to Brian Temple, lead instructor/GNCC Senior A Competitor. “Brian, typically every instructor has their favorite station that they like to instruct. What is yours?”
Brian: I’m usually on the hillclimb! Its fun to see kids come in at the beginning of the week and not have the confidence to even try it. The first thing I teach kids is to NOT make the hillclimb, turn their bike to the right so they can cover the rear brake with their right foot, and then back around and roll down the hill. Once they master that, they have the confidence to try the hill. By the end of the week, anyone who wants to climb it is then able to! We’ve had 65s to Old Guys climb our hill. It doesn’t quite compare to the Big Buck hill, but it’s not far off!

Now when you say, “Old Guys,” you’re referring to some of the more mature campers, right?
Yes! This camp is unique because you don’t have to be a school age kid to come out. We have a huddle made up of dads who wanted to join in! They sent their kid to get skills and thought, “Why not?” So, we have all age ranges. From 5 year olds on 50s to guys like Bob Lassiter who’s in his 60s. And they all get something out of it!

There are several GNCC Pro riders on hand, one of them is AmPro Yamaha’s Jordan Ashburn (XC1). “Jordan, how long have you been coming to this camp and helping out?”
Jordan: I think it was 3 years ago you asked me to come help out! I thought it was cool to teach kids how to ride and focus on God at the same time. So I’ve made sure to clear my schedule and help out every year since.

Who’s your counterpart and what instruction are you guys offering?
I’ve got Ryan Belue with me. Randy Hawkins sent him here in the AmPro Sprinter van and we’ve been taking some of the older kids out on the big loop. It’s rained a lot here lately, so we are learning ruts, crossing over, carrying momentum.

Ryan, you picking anybody up out of the mud?
Ryan: Oh yeah! Crashing is part of it. But, I’ll get right down there with them and dig them out. Last year, we had one kid come down the hillclimb wrong and had to cart him off, but this year we’re hoping to avoid those kinds of crashes and limit them to tip overs!

Excellent! It looks like AmPro sent some additional help in the form of GNCC WXC Competitior, Cassie Brown. “Cassie, what have your duties been today?”
Cassie: I’ve been teamed up with the little guys! We have the 50s and 65s in our group and we’ve been working on fundamentals…stand up when your supposed to, sit down, shifting, elbows up, all that stuff! These little kids are so much fun. They are eager to learn! And, I’m on my dirt bike – so  it’s a good day!

Looks like we have Lucas Statom (GNCC XC2) right here as well. “Lucas, what are you working on today?”
Lucas: I’m with huddle 3 and we’ve hit the turn track and big loop today. We keep reinforcing the fundamentals and then offering one-on-one help as we see kids who could use a little reinforcement. I’ve been doing this several years and we switched things up. The instructors used to work a single station all day and the huddles would rotate through. Now, we stick with a huddle and take them to the stations. I like this better and think the kids are getting more out of it!