Fast Freddie Is Fast…
Admittedly I’m fairly brain dead at the moment, so chances are this post will be anything but in English, however we just got back to LA after spending the last few days “kicking tires and telling lies” with the Freddie Spencer School folks at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah. It was a remarkable deal - for starters Miller is just an amazing track - this was my first time there and I was completely struck by how clean, modern, and brilliantly laid out it is. Yet what made it truly special was the reason we were there, to spending time interviewing former Grand Prix World Champion Freddie Spencer, the only man to win both the 250cc and 500cc Championships in the same year, and one of my personal favs, long time Cycle World scribe Nick Ienatsch. If I were more awake, this is the point where I’d go on and on about what great individuals both men are - however in my current mental state that’s a touch hard to do… 12 hours drives will do that to you 
However since leaving the track I’ve been struck by two overarching thoughts… First, while sportbikes are unequivocally cool machines - and there’s little need to argue about that - more often then not it’s the folks behind the bikes, the brands and the faceshields that truly stand out. Both Freddie and Nick are no exception and to be able to pick both of their brains is an out of this world experience. The knowledge they’re able to share and the insight they offer is utterly amazing and the stories they tell make you wish you could have lived their lives…. Secondly, to be able watch them work with students and ‘teach’ is awesome. Even though I wasn’t riding I felt like I learned a ton. But more to the point, I’d always wondered if the premium price tag associated with the Freddie Spencer School was worth it, yet after seeing the attention to detail, the level of one-on-one instruction (which took place at an altogether different level they any other riding school I’ve ever seen) and the improvements being made by the riders who were there, I can’t help but want to pony up the cash to do it the right way and go back to ride with them myself. What they do and how they do it is a completely different animal then anything I’ve ever seen in person…
