AMERICAN RIDER LEARNS
FROM KIWI LEGEND
T
Words/photo: Andy McGechan/bikesportnz.com
o be the best, you need to learn from the
best and that’s the theory that young
American cross-country rider Cody
Barnes hopes will work for him. A rising
star on the Grand National Cross-Country
(GNCC) racing scene in the United States,
Barnes this month accepted an invitation from
Manawatu’s former Kiwi international Paul Whibley
and his partner April Mainland to attend a ‘boot
camp’ in New Zealand, a particularly welcome
offer since the opportunity for him to train at
home is limited at the moment, with sub-zero
temperatures blasting the east coast of the US.
The 18-year-old Barnes will be in New Zealand for
three weeks, the Illinois racer here to train under the
watchful gaze of two-time former GNCC champion
Whibley and fellow dirt bike racer Mainland.
“We’ve created this boot camp experience
to be in line with what I underwent when I was
preparing in New Zealand for my American
campaigns,” said Yamaha ace Whibley.
“My intention is to show Cody (Barnes), and other
US riders in the future too, what I did to train when
I was at the top of my game. It also helps to keep
me motivated for my own racing here at home.”
In addition to winning two GNCC crowns (in 2009
and 2012), 39-year-old Whibley is a record six-time
winner of the parallel Off-Road Motorcycle and ATV
(OMA) in the US and, on resettlement back home
at the end of his final season in America in 2014,
he quickly took his Yamaha YZ450F to become
2015 New Zealand cross-country champion.
The skills, drive, determination, strength and
stamina that took Whibley to the top of cross-
country racing scene internationally will be
passed on to Barnes and, when he returns
to the US next month, Barnes will be well-
prepared to turn those lessons into results.
“It has been perfect so far for me,” said Barnes.
“Training at Paul’s place [at Taikorea] was great
too because the sand there is exactly like what
I’ll face when the GNCC series hits Florida and it
was perfect training for muscle endurance too.
Visiting US rider Cody Barnes gets
advice from former Kiwi international
Paul Whibley during a ‘boot camp’
training session in New Zealand
“Coming here was the first time I’d ever been
on an aeroplane and, obviously, my first time
in New Zealand, but I’m loving it. Paul took me
up a mountain the other day and, so far, he’s
been kicking my arse. The training has been a
real effort but that’s what I need. Paul’s still a
legend in the US and it’s great to come here
and see what he did to make it to the top.”
Barnes says he will most likely be racing a Yamaha
YZ125 in the XC3 class at the 2018 GNCC series,
which kicks off in South Carolina on February 25.
KIWI RIDER 21