RacerX: Geoff, why Endurocross?
Geoff Aaron: Well, we’ve been in most of these events since they started a couple of years ago. I’ve ridden trials for many years, and it’s just been a breath of fresh air – a little spinoff from my primary sport. When the speeds get higher, I don’t feel quite as comfortable, but when it’s technical with rocks, logs, water, and that kind of thing, it’s a little more like what I’m good at – that’s why this sport attracted me to it.
Besides racing Endurocross, you do a lot of extreme exhibitions, right?
Yeah, we’ve had a lot of really cool things that have happened to us over the years because of my trials riding. One of the primary things that I do is trials exhibitions for Red Bull. We have a mobile semi-truck that basically unfolds into a trials playground, and we go around and do promotions. We get to go to all these different type of racing events such as NASCAR, and all the motorcycle sports, like Supercross, Supermoto, and Freestyle – then we still get to come out and ride Enduro bikes on the weekend.
Red Bull is your primary sponsor, but what about the bikes that you ride?
For 2009, I’m going to be riding the GasGas trials bike, and for my EnduroCross racing I’m riding a Christini KTM. The Christini was developed by a guy named Steve Christini. He basically first engineered all-wheel drive on bicycle systems, and then he took it into Enduro and motocross type bikes. Now he’s building this system on the KTM platform.
You’re a 10-time national champion, and obviously extremely competitive, so how serious are you taking EnduroCross? Are you out to win a championship?
You know, this all started more for fun to be honest with you. It seemed like once the trials season was starting to wind down in the fall, I would get out there and ride the motocross bike just for fun. Now that I’m retired from active trials competition, I can go out there and ride the Enduro bike more frequently and be a little bit more competitive at it – try a little harder at it and not just play ride with it. The guys at Christini have given me the opportunity to go and ride some of these events in Europe, like Erzberg and Romaniacs, and now EnduroCross. The more times I get on the bike, the more competitive I seem to be. I haven’t really taken it to the level of 100% yet; I’m just kind of out there trying to have fun. I’ve been so serious for a long time riding trials, so it’s nice to just go out there and keep a smile on and do the best I can. I am competitive and I do like to do well; hopefully, I’m a podium contender.
What do you have planned for 2009?
Mainly the same thing that I’ve been working on the last couple years. I’ve got a pretty full plate with my exhibitions. We start off in January doing freestyle motocross shows throughout the winter – all stadium shows. Then, as the spring and summer start to kick in, we’ll pick up the pace with our new Red Bull trailer, and hopefully have a full plate as far as miscellaneous promotions for them. Like I said before, it could range from a wakeboarding competition to a NASCAR event. It’s interesting for me to be at all these different types of events.
If somebody wants to see you at an exhibition or race, what’s the best way to find out where you’re going to be?
Well, we do seem to be incognito quite a bit; but I do have a website: It’s www.ereonline.com. What I try to do is just kind of post our basics on there, and people can always contact me if they’re interested in finding out where we’re going to be.
Not many dirt bike athletes have anything on ten- time National AMA Trials Champion Geoff Aaron – with the obvious exception of “The Goat” Ricky Carmichael. In addition to all of his national championships, 35-year-old Geoff Aaron is also an accomplished EnduroCross and Extreme Exhibition rider. My first glimpse the transplanted Coloradoan came in a Freestyle Show a couple years ago, and I finally had the opportunity to chat with the 6’4” tall balance king at the recent Ohio Endurocross. Later that night, Aaron would take his Christini KTM to a solid second-place finish, all the while thinking about his very pregnant wife back at home.
