• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Gibson emphasizes skills like holeshots, where riders jockey for position early in a race. Precision braking is another key strategy, and cornering safely and successfully can make or break a rider. Physical conditioning may be more important here than in any other motorized sport, because riders are handling 200-pound (91kg) bikes moving at top speeds between 50 and 70 mph (81–113kmph), and the motocross camps give riders plenty of opportunities for weight training, running, and gymnastics.

Gibson, a former factory rider for Yamaha and Honda (big names in motocross), was a member of the gold medal-winning team at the 1982 Motocross des Nations event in Wohlen, Switzerland. He went on to win several more medals and awards in U.S. and international motocross. He’s available for training sessions not only at his motocross camps, but also for group lessons and private one-on-one sessions. —ML

Getting dirty at Jim Gibson’s Motocross Training Camp.

Jim Gibson’s Motocross Training Camp ( 951/698-9272;www.jgmxt.com).

When to Go: Year-round.

304

Richard Petty Driving Experience

NASCAR Nation

Locations across the U.S.A.

You’re roaring down the track at 140 mph (225kmph), and up ahead is your first turn, a steep bank of asphalt that looms before you like a smooth, paved mountainside. Underneath the hood are 600 horses of pure, NASCAR-inspired power. The car soars into the curve and as you clutch the wheel with your sweaty grip, the wide, treadless tire stick to the course like black glue. Suddenly you realize this may be the most fun you’ve ever had.

The Richard Petty Driving Experience has been giving thrills like this to speed junkies for over 15 years. Starting at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, the company capitalized on its success there and has now expanded to 27 speedways from New England to Southern California. After arriving at your chosen track, you’ll be issued a driving suit, attend a mechanical and safety orientation, get strapped into your car, and then hear the four words that set any racetrack renegade’s heart aflutter: “Drivers, Start Your Engines!”

There are a range of driving programs offered by the RPDE, from the Rookie Experience (eight laps over one session lasting about 3 hr.) through the Talladega Super 16 (16 laps over the super-speedway’s wicked 33-degree banked curves) up to premiums like the Brickyard Experience (24 heart-pounding laps on the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway).

The RPDE also offers a ride-along program for folks who’d like to get a taste of what 165 mph (266kmph) feels like by riding shotgun in a car driven for three laps by one of the instructors. The ride-along option is also offered to folks who aren’t able to drive a four-speed manual transmission (required of all solo drivers).

After you and your fellow drivers clamber out of your stock cars, you’ll be feted in a closing ceremony, and all attendees receive a graduation pack with a lap-time sheet and graduation certificate. The RPDE is also open to group events and corporate outings, and can custom-tailor a program to meet anyone’s need for speed. —ML

Richard Petty Driving Experience ( 800/BE-PETTY [23-73889]; www.1800bepetty.com).

When to Go: Open year-round; check website for dates and locations.

305

Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp

So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star?

Locations worldwide

The crowd is roaring, the spotlights are blazing in your eyes, your ears are ringing from the towering speakers, and next to you onstage is Roger Daltrey from The Who. Behind you on drums is Alan White from Yes. And on vocals, you’ve got Steven Tyler from Aerosmith and Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and . . . wait a minute, what is this, some kind of rock ’n’ roll fantasy?

Roger Daltrey works with campers at Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp.

Yes, actually, it is—the kind of fantasy you can only get from Rock ’n’ Roll Fantasy Camp. There are a number of other rock music camps out there, but this is the original