Last week I talked about what a guy like Chad Reed has at his disposal in Florida to train and improve his speed. This week I want to talk about our visit to another top rider’s compound about 45 minutes away from Reed’s.

Ryan Villopoto, your recently-crowned 2012 AMA Supercross Champion, invited us out to his place for the day to hang out, get some filming done and basically pester him and his guests.

Located not far from Clermont, Florida, in the center of the state, Villopoto leases his property from former AMA and world champion Grant Langston. It doesn’t have the amenities that Reed’s has, but RV’s taken the approach of renting now buying.

Whereas Reed’s place has a full bathroom, shower, big-screen TV and couches to relax, Villopoto’s got lawn chairs and a garden hose in his building. But just like the 22, Villopoto has two supercross tracks to ride and a nasty sandy outdoor track to practice his skills on.

RV has two full size SX tracks at his base in Florida. Image: Kevin Husted.

When we showed up, days after RV had clinched the title, it was already outdoor time for the crew. Coming off an outdoor title that was a battle to the end, Villopoto’s not going to get surprised at the first round like he did last year when he admits that a two-year layoff from outdoors due to injury contributed to his slow start. There’s not going to be any of that this year though.

Villopoto’s crew consists of his teammate Jake Weimer, who migrates back and forth from California to Florida as RV goes. Both riders are good friends, they share a trainer (Aldon Baker who keeps vigil over his guys) and Weimer’s got a nice thing going where he can watch what many consider the best rider in the world do his thing day to day and know where the bar is set.

Also living at the compound during the week is amateur phenom Adam Cianciarulo. AC is considered the next best thing in motocross and he too watches and learns. He’ll be very ready for when the lights are turned on for his debut in a few years.

We arrive at the gates and my crew (Swizcore and Teenwolf) immediately get busy snapping pics and filming an overview while I go over and pester the crap out of everyone.

Casey Stewart, Villopoto’s practice bike mechanic gets the number one Kawasaki KX450F ready for the warm up. Cianciarulo is already out there on his 105cc Supermini seemingly never shutting off around the outdoor track.

Adam Cianciarulo shows RV how it's done on his Supermini. Image: Kevin Husted.

Weimer and RV head out to break off some laps and at one point, Cianciarulo leads RV by a couple of seconds coming into a right hander which is then followed by a hundred yards of sand whoops with a single jump about three-quarters down.

Wide open on the Supermini, AC bounces off the berm and heads down the left side with Villopoto cutting his path off early and ducking to the right hand side of the sand whoops. Both riders just wheeling up and down the whoops, their rear tires seemingly not leaving the ground.

These whoops aren’t that big yet but come back around August and they’ll be knee deep, that’s a sure thing. With the advantage of a lot more horsepower and the fact that, yeah it’s Ryan Villopoto, the two riders are side by side when they hit the single jump wide open, the 450 jumping over the head of the Supermini and both racers backsiding a whoop further down the track.

Villopoto overdoes it just a bit (maybe because I was standing right there) and bounces up and off the track. He corrects himself and shoots back onto the track continuing past Adam around the outside. It was a remarkable little 10-second span where you could see two racers, at the top of their game in their respective classes, both determined to show the other one what they have.

Cianciarulo had no chance but don’t think for a minute that he was at all intimidated by what was going on five feet to the right of him. It’s this kind of preparation that will all help when he does go pro. This kid, at 14 years of age, is already groomed to be the next big thing. Anaheim 1 won’t be a big deal to him.

Monster Energy Kawasaki teammate Jake Weimer is another regular at RV's. Image: Kevin Husted.

After the warm-up it’s back to the air-conditioned shop, some light work on the bikes and the next moto begins. It’s not a heavy day here at the farm. With outdoors not pressing at the moment and the first weekend off since 1 January approaching, the guys are simply knocking the rust off and finding out that their bikes do indeed have a fifth gear.

The plan is for 25 minutes plus two laps and Cianciarulo heads off as his moto is done. With the advent of amateur races in America, Adam and his father Alan keep plenty busy hitting all the ones that he’s required to. The long days and nights out at the track are offset by the rewards that he’s going to receive down the line. With a five-year contract from Pro Circuit Kawasaki, Cianciarulo’s next moves are all carefully planned out.

Weimer and Villopoto moto down with RV starting in front and pulling away a bit at the end. It’s got to be tough for Weimer (as it is for Michael Byrne and Jason Thomas at the Reed facility) to go out there day after day and more times than not be the second best guy on the track that day. After all, there are thousands and thousands of tracks that a Jake Weimer can visit on any day and be the best rider, by far, right there and then.

But the bigger picture for Weimer, Thomas and Byrne is that they have a rabbit to chase, a way to see if they’re improving or not and on this day, to my eyes, Weimer does pretty well. The second time out, Weimer starts in front of RV a few seconds and by the end, they’re wheel to wheel when the Baker waves them in.

Villopoto works hard and reaps the rewards on any given race day. Image: Kevin Husted.

And 10 minutes after that, we’re back in the shop with RV giving everyone and everything the gears. There’s a sense of calmness with him, he is who he is and with the success he’s having, the curtains have come down. There’s not much head games going on or letting comments slip out to the media to have them come out a certain way like some of his competitors.

Villopoto’s not chasing after Jeremy or Ricky or anyone, he’s just setting small goals to win, then to defend and defend some more. When he’s done, he’ll let the fans and media determine where he sits in the pantheon of motocross greats. His background is modest, he wasn’t the best amateur around when he raced and it’s been a slow steady climb without much drama for Villopoto.

He is, as his teammate and friend Weimer has said, a “hillbilly with money” and that’s somewhat true. Values don’t change, friends don’t change and there’s no entourage of people around him. He keeps it simple and tight and clearly that’s working for him.

After some video stuff for us, an interview for me, he’s gone to Baker’s children’s birthday party – just another day at the office for Villopoto.