CANTON’S FRANK WATSON WORKING TOWARD RENAISSANCE IN MOTORBIKE INTEREST (13 PHOTOS) (2021-02-01)
By LANCE LARCOMValley Sports ReportCANTON - Engines revving. Exhaust smoke rolling. Snow and ice flying up and off the three manicured tracks. Powerful motorbikes seemingly defying the laws of physics as they round icy corners, their handlebars barely clearing the surface.
And ... giggling? Coming somewhere from within a heavily bundled up, tiny pink snowsuit?
The scene may not seem to lend itself to one where kids would be the focus of the day, but that's exactly what Frank Watson and a large group of friends and co-ice racing enthusiasts are intent on accomplishing.
Watson, a Canton resident and owner of Watson Diesel, has a long history in motor sports before he was the doting father at his two sons' many sporting events.
Prior to being the driving force, and a huge contributor, behind Canton High Schools' track project;
before he accompanied his son on a run across Pennsylvania, then across the United States, and then himself bicycled across Pa; and way before he was standing on this frozen lake, in 20° weather, teaching children both the basics and the finer points of riding a dirt bike on ice - he was "Fast Frank."
Watson isn't real big on talking about his own accomplishments in motorcycle racing on dirt, or ice. In the very few moments he isn't running around on this day making sure everything is running smoothly, he's introducing his MANY old racing buddies and describing *their* racing pedigrees.
There's Norm Robinson. "The legend", Frank calls him. "Stormin' Norman, my mentor".
Watson points out another rider, "That's Merle Craven. He spent eight years in Europe working on racing teams," Frank exclaims. "It's a big deal over there"!
Talk to anyone other than Frank himself, and they'll tell you that he, too, is a big deal. Track championships, season championships, and races won all across the country.
But today, he's just Frank. Currently helping some of the younger adult riders fine-tune their laps.
Checking in with every person who shows up, new face or old friend. Tending to the wood stove in the cabin to make sure everyone has a way out of the bitter cold for a few minutes. Somehow, he even manages to find time to get one of his own bikes out on the ice, at the urging of other riders.
Spectator and longtime friend of Watson's, Mooch Holmes, explains it well. "They all want to see him ride, even though they can't catch him!"
This is Frank's element, and when his group of seven or eight mini-riders finally get corralled onto the kids track, eager for instruction, Watson really shines. He has a gift, in that he can talk to these five to 12-year-olds like the kids that they are, while also using racing and mechanical terms that they all somehow understand.
The group of students is smaller and younger today than usual. A large group of teen-age riders from the Williamsport area that Frank and his friends help coach had a racing banquet to attend.
The kids that are here, are here to ride. Not one of the kids voluntarily took a break during the course of the instruction, even when Frank's wife, Glenda, got the grill fired up to feed this large group, the kids rode.
It's a welcomed obsession for the parents, like Ty and Ashley Holmes, whose 7-year-old son Wesson is a frequent rider.
"We ride all summer," Ty explains. "It just made sense to not put the bike away in the winter and keep him going all year round."
Thanks to Frank and Glenda, they don't have to travel far to do so.
The Watson's had seen this property, on Route. 6 near Mainesburg in Tioga County, up for sale for quite some time. They finally "pulled the trigger", Frank says, and it's been full throttle for the couple ever since. They built the small cabin, and there are plans for a dock. The 10-acre lake provides some good fishing for Frank and his friends in the warmer months.
But for now, it's all about what's on top of the ice. Giving people from all over the area a place to practice their passion.
For Frank, and parents like Ty Holmes, seeing that passion for ice racing that these kids are having passed onto them is very rewarding.
"Motorcycles are something we both love," Holmes says of himself and his son, "And now, even in the winter, it keeps us outside and off the couch."
There's also something to be said for how Frank, a mechanic at heart and by trade, manages to teach his students things without them maybe even realizing they're learning!
"Even at 7 years old," Holmes explains, "My boy is learning the basics of how machines work, and how to maintain them".
Back on the ice, Frank has concluded the group talk. Time for some riding.
As the kids start around the track, they obviously don't quite yet reach the speed the older riders do. But they are fast, nonetheless. And when they take corners, they are sliding. It's controlled, like "˜drifting,' observers are told.
And here is Frank, standing mere feet away from where he is instructing the young riders to turn into the corner, showing them their "line."
He obviously trusts his students and what he has taught them.
Soon, some Dads join their kids and older brothers join younger brothers and sisters on the smaller oval.
All around the lake, there is activity.
Older riders are taking laps on the larger track.
A pair of four-wheelers whip around the ice farther down the lake.
For the first time all day, "Fast Frank" is somewhat still, taking it all in.
"Oh this is just awesome," Frank says of the day.
And that it is! Not just the day, but Frank's vision. His goal to increase the interest in motorcycles by our area youth. "Just awesome."
If you or someone you know would like to get involved, or you would like more information, contact
Frank Watson though Facebook.
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PHOTOS BY LANCE LARCOM.
