Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127933
Paul Edmondson By Mark Kariya u ro p e a n s thought he was crazy . Americans were n' t sure. Bu t no ma tter who yo u talked to, tlff-road enthus iasts couldn't wait to see wha t Grea t Britain 's Paul Edmond son could d o over a full season of AMA Nationa l Hare Scrambles and G ra n d Nation a l Cross Cou ntry Series racin g . Would the 1996 World Enduro Champion make min cem eat of hillbilly fields? Or would the tables be turned , wi th hi m qu ickl y scu rrying back to th e familiar comfort of the Euro circu it, ego bruised an d battered? Actua lly, "Eddy" d id a stellar job in a typ e of racing that was as foreign to him as r acin g a H arle y XR750 o n a m il e w ould be to Rand y Haw kins. In a ' 97 season cu t sh ort by a knee inju ry a nd su bse qu en t su rgery, Ed mo ndso n finish ed 10th in the GNCCs, wi nning two even ts. A n ea rl y lea d er in th e H areScra m bles Series, he end ed u p fou rth, also wi th two victo ries . Clea rly, Ed mondson adap ted . Wit h just over a mon th to the GNCC kickoff in Florid a, Ed mond so n took a brief timeou t during testing in Sou thern Califo rnia to sha re so me of his tho ug hts on the past yea r, w ha t he learned and how it wi ll affect his pl an s for the '98 season. OVERALL OBSERVATIONS "I really enjoyed it, and I think I' m really happy that I came over to do this type of racing, beca use, wi th it being so d ifferent to what I'd been used to, last yea r was just basically a year of excitement , getting to kn ow the courses, and basica lly li ke starti ng to learn to rid e aga in. It put so mu ch fun back in to it. I mea n, it was fun for me in Europ e, but I ha d been racin g so lon g over th er e, it basically was a routine. Now , I'm find in g in Am erica th at nothing' s reall y a routine. The people just go out and have fun . The three-hour races, now, I fina lly think I've got the hang of it, 'so I know w ha t to do and wh at no t to do. "But ove rall, I'm really plea sed tha t I did m ake th e decision to com e o ver her e. Obviously, with the help of Suzuki, I think things will be a lot different this year than last. " ON ACHIEVING LAST YEAR'S GOALS Asked if he accomplished what he'd set out to d o la st yea r, Edmond son replies: "Las t year, definitely not. In all fairness to myself, I was hoping I wo u ld w in a t lea st o ne o f the tw o champ ions hips I was riding for . Tha t was my goa l. "I was very restricted by my inju ry. It's just a shame that it wrecked my season. "Thi ngs took a hard time at t h e beginning, but I finall y overcame that and go t confidence with the type of racing that I was doing . I go t used to the bike and everything around me. Everything started to pick up until I hurt my knee; unfort unatel y , that w a s a lo t worse than what I thought initially, so tha t' s really why it kept me ou t all the rest of th e year. I figu red if I tried to co m e b ack too e a r ly with it , th a t it woul d affect me thi s year, and th a t' s basica lly why I knocked it on the head at the end of last yea r." HOW THE INJURY OCCURRED Edmo ndson hurt his knee at Starvatio n Point in Wes t Virgi nia . "The race Not content to s imply win races or grab big air - both of which he does regularly - Paul Edmondson en joys doing different tricks when play.riding, like variations on nose wheelies , such as this nac-nae/nosewheelie combo.