Coolbeth Takes to Ice in Off-Season

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

Unlike street motorcycles, flat track bikes don’t have rear-view mirrors. If they did, though, pro racer Kenny Coolbeth Jr. of Morris would certainly say that he’s extremely glad to see last year disappearing in the distance behind the torquey bikes that he rides in AMA Grand National Championship events.

The low point of 2012 for Coolbeth came on June 30 when his left leg was snapped in a freak accident during the first lap of a race in Lima, Ohio. A track marker that had been set on the racing surface at the Allen County Fairgrounds to keep riders away from a wet area accidentally got kicked up by a competitor ahead of him.

For Coolbeth, it wasn’t like a street rider feeling the sting of catching a hard-shelled bug on the cheek while riding. Flat track racers compete at speeds of up to 130 miles per hour on straight-aways and 90 miles per hour in corners. The plastic stake smashed into Coolbeth’s leg and instantly broke both the tibia and fibula.

“I never even crashed,” said Coolbeth, recalling that he immediately exited the oval and rode to the track’s ambulance for transport to the hospital. His missed the next four events and didn’t return to racing until mid-August. “It was up and down every week when I came back,” he said. He won in Knoxville, Iowa in September, but finished 11^th in Tucson is early October.

(Photo courtesy of Harley-Davidson)

The season ended Oct. 13 in Pomona, Calif. and Coolbeth finished first again in the twins class aboard his orange and black, V-twin Harley-Davidson XR750. He led from the start and his margin of victory in the 25-lap race was by more than eight seconds. Pause for a second, envision his speed, count slowly to eight and you’ll have an idea of the gap that Coolbeth created between himself and the distant runner-up.

Over the New Year’s holiday weekend, the NBC Sports Network replayed the Pomona event at least twice. RIDE-CT happened to tune in, noted Coolbeth’s victory and, knowing he’s a local guy, set out to track him down. On Thursday afternoon, RIDE-CT tagged along as Coolbeth worked out his single-cylinder Kawasaki KX 450F motocross bike on a frozen pond in Warren.

For 35-year-old Coolbeth, there is no off-season. Training in winter, working out in the gym and riding on ice with studded tires, is the routine. “This is my life. This is what I do,” he said before rolling the Kawasaki from the bed of his pickup. Chaplin Kawasaki in Chaplin is his sponsor in the singles class, while Harley backs him in twins. He’s already looking ahead to the coming race season, which runs from mid-March to mid-October. “The last race (at Pomona) was good for us. It gave us confidence going into next year. We’re going to be a contender for the championship,” he vowed.

Coolbeth knows something about winning championships. He started racing as a pro in 1994 while still in high school and was named AMA Flat Track Rookie of the Year. For three consecutive years, 2006 through 2008, he won the AMA Grand National Twins Championship title. He might have won again in 2009 had not a training accident resulted in a broken shoulder. He ranks as one of the greatest flat track racers in history. In the past 59 years, only five others have won the title three years in a row.

“I’ve got a lot of metal in me,” he said, referring to the many injuries he’s sustained over the years. Broken bones is the price that’s paid for the thrill of racing. What does strike him as risky is riding motorcycles on the street. He doesn’t own a street bike and doesn’t have an “M” endorsement on his driver’s license.

“It’s too dangerous,” he said of street riding. “On the race track, you know what people are going to do.” His advice to those of us who do ride the highways? “Always pay attention. Be safe. Pay attention,” he said.

Coolbeth, who grew up in Warren and graduated from Wamogo Regional High School in 1996, began racing motorcycles at the age of five. His parents, Kenny and Betty, who now live in Florida, encouraged him. His dad was a racer, too. “The big reason I’m so successful is because they were supportive,” he said.

With his 36^th birthday approaching in March, Coolbeth is on the downslope of his racing career. “I’m actually the oldest guy on the circuit,” he said. Experience helps keep him competitive.

To the unenlightened or new spectators, flat track racing is not entirely what it seems. “If they don’t know anything about dirt tracks, they say it looks easy. We don’t just go in circles. It’s way harder than it looks,” Coolbeth said.

No doubt the same is true of riding on ice. After getting his Kawasaki off the truck and riding it to the edge of the ice, Coolbeth removed the sheaths that covered the tires, put on his riding gear, and proceeded to carve up the ice in a riding sessions that mixed practice and exercise with fun.

Another aspect of winter isn’t as enjoyable. Unlike other higher-profile, better-funded sports, which are essentially underwritten by huge TV contracts, flat track racing isn’t. “I’m constantly on the phone trying to get sponsorships,” he said.

Coolbeth admitted frustration over flat track’s TV profile and its largely regional appeal in the Midwest and West. “We need new venues, new people exposed to our sport,” he said.

One upside to flat track’s relative obscurity in New England is that enables Coolbeth to live in anonymity in the area where he grew up. “I’m just a quiet guy anyway. I just kind of keep a low profile,” he said.

Don’t bother to ask where that pond that he rides is located.

(Originally published in “The Republican-American” on Jan. 5, 2013)