Valentine Valley MX

5.5 acres and a lap of just over 800 metres - the smallest course in this area is also the best documented. Rick Lehman, a former BMX and mountain bike racer from Arizona, moved to western Kentucky with the stated goal of building his own motocross track. A specialist track builder did the work: 10,000 cubic yards of dirt moved, 220 feet of drainage culvert laid, the job done in about a week. It was meant to be private, but interest from other riders turned it into a club that opens to the public two or three times a month. The layout holds a step-up to a step-down, several doubles, tabletops, a tricky roller section and technical S-turns; riding costs 30 dollars, there are restrooms and camping, and cards are accepted. Over 800 metres you get no recovery straight, and that is exactly the reason to come: you ride the same S-turn twenty times in one session and genuinely see what a change does. On a two-kilometre course you have forgotten how the last lap felt by the time the next one starts. In tight technical sections nearly everyone gets caught the same way: the engine stalls at low rpm. Top of our cause list is the clutch and flywheel - a dragging clutch or a flywheel that is too light will stall you. A flywheel weight or a clean clutch setup fixes it.