p: 412-758-1916 
e: etrow@stayinsafe.com 

Meet Our Instructors

Lawrence Grodsky, "Mr. Safety", a leader in motorcycle safety, had trained some 5000 riders since 1980. His incisive column, "Stayin’ Safe", was a mainstay in Rider Magazine since 1988. In 2006, he celebrated his 13th year running Stayin’ Safe Motorcycle Training, the pioneer program in the U.S. teaching advanced "road reading" techniques and offering real world, on-road training.

While "Mr. Safety" (aka Grodsky) led all of our scheduled tours, we are fortunate to have the services of some passionate motorcyclists who are also expert teachers. We’d like you to meet them.

Leon is like the mailman who goes for walks on his day off. His day job is training and developing instructors to teach rider education. When he is not training instructors, Leon teaches local MSF courses, and explores the back roads near his Wisconsin home or saddles up his motorcycle for a track day.

This is Leon’s sixth season assisting on our tours, and his knowledge and exploration have helped make the new Wisconsin tour a reality.
http://www.privatetracktime.com/riders/

As a youngster, Pete honed his estimable riding skills while offroading in the Tennessee hills. So when asphalt was later invented, it was only natural that he apply his craft to the pavement. In the years since, he’s done just about everything on a motorcycle--from flat tracking to dualsporting to long distance touring. He’s also worked extensively as a motorcycle tour guide, leading tours of Mexico for Pancho Villa Moto Tours and showcasing his beloved southern highlands to travelers from Norway to New Zealand.

With Pete’s guidance, we set up our first “Safe in the Smokies” ride back in 1995, and he still delights in leading our guests to hidden nuggets that few visiting motorcyclists ever get to see. Pete’s far more than a tour guide, however. He’s a highly skilled rider with six years of experience delivering on-road radio commentary.

Pete is also a stained glass artist and a former Peace Corps volunteer in Africa. At any given time, he may own as many as twenty motorcycles!

Randy began riding in the mid 1970’s, when his father, a Washington DC police officer, brought used bikes home from police auctions. After years of commuting in bumper to footpeg Beltway traffic, Randy decided, in 1992, to take the MSF "Riding and Street Skills" course. Two years later he became an MSF-certified instructor.

After six years "in the trenches" Randy sought to bridge the gap between real world riding and standardized parking lot courses, so, along with teaching buddies Mike Wisniewski and Ray Sundman, he took Larry’s instructor course. The three then put in place an 80-mile long on-street course geared for the novice rider but modular enough that experienced riders also gain valuable information.

You'll find Randy teaching aboard either his Honda GL1800 Gold Wing or the rare Yamaha GTS (note the trick "RADD" front end!) pictured here ...though he professes a soft spot for lighter, sportier mounts!

Eric Trow has been a continually active motorcyclist since his first solo jaunt on a Honda Z50 behind his grandfather's motorcycle shop in Southwestern Pennsylvania. He spent many years riding off road (in the summer months Eric and his brother Rob would ride dirt bikes all day long and then tape flashlights onto the handlebars when the sun went down so they could ride for a couple more hours). When he graduated high school, he also graduated to street bikes.

Through the years, Eric continued to concentrate on his riding skills - not specifically to become a safer rider, but to become a better rider. He began studying techniques and taking courses and was soon recruited into the Motorcycle Safety Foundation program to. After several years of MSF, Eric began working with Larry Grodsky's on-street Stayin' Safe program, working with riders who have the desire to take what they've learned through MSF or by reading and applying it to the street with real-time instruction.

When he is not teaching, Eric enjoys riding and wrenching on his vintage Indian motorcycles or heading for the back roads with his wife Amy. He is also a marketing professional by trade. Among his accomplishments are multiple award-winning driver safety programs he developed for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.