Southern Training Facility

We are heading down to Bainbridge for the next stop at Southern Training Facility. It is one of those spots in Georgia that feels like a world of its own once you pull through the gate. You have 160 acres to play with, and the best part is they keep the dirt prepped every single day of the year. It is not just one of those weekend warrior tracks where you show up and hope for the best. It is a full scale operation built for people who actually want to get better at this sport.

The layout situation is honestly kind of overwhelming when you first see it. You are not just looking at a single pro track. They have a night track, a supercross setup, a flat track, and that sand track Brian Deegan helped design. The dirt has that classic Georgia grit, but having that dedicated sand section means you have to be ready to swap tires or at least change your mindset. You can go from hitting technical rhythm sections on the arenacross track to blowing out berms in the deep sand all in the same afternoon.

If I am rolling in there with Kyle Swanson, I already know exactly what we are doing. He is going to have me living on that sand track until my legs give out. He is big on maintaining momentum when the ground starts moving under you, so we will probably spend hours working on standing up through the rollers and keeping the front end light. He also likes to use the variety there to test how fast you can adapt. One session we might be working on short, punchy turns on the AX track, and then he will send me straight to the big track to work on high speed stability.

Anyone who is serious about putting in motos needs to make this trip at least once. It is the kind of place that rewards the guys who show up early and stay late. Make sure you pack plenty of air filters and maybe some extra clutch plates because that sand track will eat your bike if you are not careful. The crew running the place puts in a massive amount of work to keep the conditions prime, so just show up ready to grind. It is a long drive for some of us, but having that many options under one gate makes the fuel bill worth it.