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FORT McPHERSON, GA.
(May 10, 2006) – Racing at speeds more than 190 miles
per hour while balancing on two wheels, inches from the ground, makes
perfect sense if you are a professional motorcycle drag racer.
But it does not make a
lot of sense if you are a Soldier speeding more than 100 miles per hour
on a public road with a motorcycle.
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Antron Brown races during
the first day at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern
Nationals in Atlanta May 4-7. Photo by Spec
Zachary Unsell, 10th Public Affairs Detachment |
These are the
sentiments of Antron Brown, who is the Army sponsored National Hot Rod
Association Pro Stock Motorcycle Drag racer.
“I race a high-powered
motorcycle in a controlled environment. I don’t have to worry about a
deer coming out in front of me. Safety is involved with everything we
do,” said Brown, who took the time to address this issue during the
Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta May 4-7.
Motorcycle accidents
claimed the lives of 11 Soldiers during the month of April alone,
according to the Combat Readiness Center’s website.
The rate at which
Soldiers are dying in accidents has dramatically increased within the
last couple of years. Eight months into this fiscal year 24 Soldiers
have died in motorcycle accidents. During that same time span in 2004
there were only eight fatalities. The number of total accidents during
the same span is almost the same, but the fatality rate in 2006 is three
times higher.
“The first thing for a
Soldier to do who has recently purchased a high-performance motorcycle
is to go to a test and tune night at a local drag strip,” states George
Bryce, who is the owner of Star Racing. Test and tune events are
commonly held a couple times a week throughout the country at local drag
strips. That provides a forum for people to both get their speed fix and
to do trick riding in a safe and controlled environment. Local drag
strips participating in test and tunes can be found by a simple internet
search and by talking to the dealerships where high performance bikes
are purchased.
Bryce is considered by
many to be one of the most respected sources on motorcycles, racing, and
speed. He has been racing and building bikes for more than 30 years and
is a six-time NHRA Champion team owner. Bryce has trained 80 percent of
the current NHRA pro stock motorcycle racers including both of the Army
sponsored racers.
His pupil, Brown, won
the Southern National and racing a bike that can move out from 0 to 100
mph in just 2 seconds, weighs over 550 pounds and can travel a quarter
mile in just 7 seconds.
But on the street,
Brown rides in a totally different way. “I’m the type who rides to live
another day” Brown said. Each time he rides he wears all of the
necessary protective clothing and equipment while following the rules of
the road.
Brown believes that
Soldiers should take the time to mentally and physically prepare
themselves when they ride their bikes. “If you want to stay alive, it’s
like a Soldier on a battlefield, you wouldn’t go to war without your
helmet or Kevlar; the same applies to the proper protective equipment
you wear for your bike. You also need to aggressively watch what is
going on around you on the road, so you can drive defensively. ”
This fiscal year four
fatalities have been directly related to excessive speed with many other
cases citing speed a contributing factor to the accident, according to
the Combat Readiness Center’s website.
“I respect the guts
that it takes to be a Soldier today,” George Bryce said. “They go
through life-threatening and dangerous experiences that I cannot relate
to. They ride because it provides a way to channel or release some of
those stresses and feelings.”
The Army NHRA Pro Stock
Motorcycle team has dominated the season so far by winning the first
three events of the year. Brown is in first place in the standings
overall just ahead Angelle Sampey, the other Army sponsored dragster.
During the past off
season they volunteered to sharpen and refresh their basics skills by
training with George Bryce and also the Frank Hawley Drag Racing
School. They are already well-accomplished, well-trained professionals,
but they understand the risks of riding motorcycles. “What makes us
pros is not how well we can ride, but how well we can use our minds.
You can’t do anything without being safe and having respect for your
motorcycle,” Brown said. |
