It’s a good thing too, considering, at 6-foot-4, he rides a motorcycle so specialized it doesn’t even have a seat. But the ten-time national champion also knows that standing up tall on the pegs of his bike — while negotiating seemingly impossible obstacles — is what trials riding is all about.
In simple terms, trials is “technical riding on difficult terrain,” says Aaron. But over the years, he has expanded on that definition to include zooming up sheer 12-foot faces, riding treacherous waterfalls (with the current or against it), and a myriad of other gravity-bending maneuvers. Seeing Aaron in his element often leaves fans questioning the laws of physics.
Aaron is frequently on the road touring these days, sharing his insane gift with more people than ever before in exhibition performances. Still, Aaron maintains a razor-sharp competitive edge — he captured an unprecedented 10th U.S. Trials Championship in August of 2006. By comparison, no other rider has ever won the title more than six times.
“So far so good,” says Aaron, chuckling, “until the next kid comes along and waxes me up.”
TRIALS OF YOUTH
When Aaron was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, in 1972, he seemed normal enough. Then he became interested in motorcycles. He was 13 years old.
“My dad used to trail ride with his buddies on weekends in Vermont. And when I started to get curious about the sport, dad said a trials bike would be great to learn on. So that’s how I got started,” Aaron says.
In competition, trials involves riding a stripped-down motorcycle (Aaron’s weighs just 150 pounds and features super-sticky Dunlap tires) through an obstacle course. “You’re scored on each trap, or section, of the course. If you get through it perfectly, keeping your feet on the pegs and standing up over all the rocks and waterfalls and logs or whatever they throw at you, then you get a zero. But every time your foot touches the ground, you get points,” Aaron explains. “So you’re always trying to ‘zero’ the sections.”
Fans note that trials combines the power of freestyle motocross with the precision of mountain biking and the trickery of BMX-style jibbing, and that top-level performances require a certain creative genius in addition to technical mastery. As a kid, Aaron couldn’t get enough of trials. “I liked the idea of riding over gnarly terrain,” he says, “and I was hooked.”
Aaron won the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) National High School Championship in 1988, then moved up to the top class of U.S. trials competition. By the end of that rookie season, Aaron was standing strong in eighth place overall. Since then, titles and decorations began streaming in for Aaron, with highlights including: 73 career National wins; six New England Trials Championships; ten AMA U.S. Trials Championships; and six El Trial de España wins. A 15-time member of the U.S. Trials Des Nations Team, Aaron was named AMA amateur athlete of the year in 2000. He won the North American Motorcycle Union Observed Trials Championship in 2000 and 2004 and in 2003 he claimed the AMA Indoor National Championship. Over the years, his style has been described as “flamboyant,” “superior” and “truly inspired.”
ONWARD AND UPWARD
After more than 15 years of competing at the elite level, Aaron shows no sign of letting up on himself — or the competition. However, his focus has shifted.
“I used to focus primarily on the competitions — the national championship, competing for that title. But now I’ve kind of achieved my goals on the competition side, so I’m focusing on other things to showcase the sport,” he says.
Upon graduating from Ithaca College with a Bachelor of Arts in the mid-1990s, Aaron founded a company called ERE — Extreme Riding Entertainment. “I created it mainly because we were getting lots of interest to perform and do riding demonstrations. So I built a mobile demo rig and formed ERE. Now, ERE also produces its own videos and DVDs, has a website at ereonline.com, and sponsors a six-rider national competition team called Team ERE,” he says.
To that end, Aaron is always on the move nowadays — if not astride his Montesa 280F Pro model bike, then behind the wheel of a Freightliner Toterhome, hauling a Red Bull trailer that transforms into a trials playground wherever the Geoff Aaron X Show stops. Aaron is frequently joined on the road by his fiancé, Kerry, and their dog, Helmut.
“We’re the three amigos on the road, cranking down the highway in a 70-foot behemoth to a town near you,” jokes Aaron. “But seriously, I’m keeping myself as busy as I can — exhibitions, competitions, producing videos, doing anything and everything to help promote the sport while we’re still in this.”
After living in Ramona, California, for eight years, Aaron recently relocated to Bailey, Colorado, in part to be within better striking distance of more regions of the country. Besides, given Aaron’s new status as a 20-year trials veteran, he likes the freedom that exhibition performances afford. “That’s where the fun part comes in,” he says, “because you’re mixing trials obstacle skills with trick riding, like one-handed, feet-up donuts, huge nose-wheelies and 180-degree flip-turns — things you can’t do on any other type of bike,” he says, beaming.
Always pushing the limits, Aaron has been known to bunny-hop over his announcer during exhibitions. It’s a risky move, to be sure, not that Aaron takes it lightly. After all, he is a stand-up kind of guy.
