Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

close, I could definitely pick the pace up, for sure." I went out there and won it, and that race was the easiest race for me. Definitely 1 had a good bike after that one week of testing. Basically, in my eyes, the way Millville went is the way the whole series should have went, if I would have taken the time and prepared right for the national. whole time. I had to go to the bathroom, I had to throw up - I was bad off, and there were a lot of times when I thought for sure I wasn't going to race the second moto. Johnny [O'Mara] and them guys said, "Just go out there and try to ride." People would crash, and I would luck out and win the National. It feels weird, but that's what I have, and I still have it. I mean, it's going to stay with me - forever. YOU also had some troubles with your stomach during the season. How big of a problem was that? lt was a really big issue. At Troy, I didn't think I was going to race the second moto. There were times I had to walk to the line, and the bike was ready to go, and [I was) barely making the start. I have an infection called Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and I'm messed up when I race and I don't eat the right foods. It took me a while to detect what it was, and it's kind of like a trial-and-error thing, with what you're eating and drinking. Luckily, I got on the right medicine at Washougal; since Washougal, 1 haven't had a problem. It's kind of funny - it's mostly found in women. I picked it up along the way. They say you get it from losing a lot of weight. 1 never really lost a ton of weight, but I definitely thinned out. Whatever it is, I don't know. how I got it, but I got it. It's a bad thing. There were times in between motos [when] I couldn't recover. I was in the bathroom the Q Will you always have to take medicine for it? A Just for the outdoors, I think. Q A At point race a 125 at Q thewhat round did you decide toMark Barnett's last and try to beat record for most 125cc wins? Actuall Y, at the first national - or even last year. I always played around, hinted about the battle with each other, and always said it would be awesome to do it. In the beginning of the year, I didn't want to say anything ridiculous, but I thought, "If I win this title early, I'd like to ride a 125." Things weren't going too good, and I said I probably wouldn't do good this year, but I finished and wound up wrapping the title up at Binghamton. I rode a 125 two days before Steel City and went out there and raced that thing. It was always in the back of my head for a couple of years. A Ricky Carmichael winning the Supercross and 250cc National MX titles was big news, but what was perhaps even bigger news throughout the 200] season was R.c. 's rumored defection to Team Honda. The Carmichael-to-Honda talk surfaced during. the supercross season, but didn't really take hold until the National Series got under way in May. What started out as hearsay eventually developed into a "done deal." All the while, Carmichael was still working hard to win the 250cc National Championship for his soon-to-be ex-team, an uneasy situation to be in, for sure. High-profile riders changing t'eams isn't anything new, really, but for Carmichael, the move was indeed big, even bigger than McGrath's Honda-to-Suzuki switch. Frustrated by an age in which money has seemingly become more important than loyalty, especially in the sports industry, many Carmichael fans where disappointed to see him leave Kawasaki, a company which Carmichael has been associated with since day one. All this talk about R. C. going to Honda would seem to be a distraction for Carmichael, but according to him, it was not. Did all this talk about you going to Honda effect you on the track during the course of the year? Well, it didn't affect me, really, because I knew [what was going on). It took me a while to make my decision, probably sometime in the Q Despite the magnitude of his on-track achievements this year, Carmichael got perhaps more attention for hIs switch from Chevy Trucks/Kawasaki to Honda. He'll have another big change in his life when he marries his fiancee, Ursula. A was ironic because if you Q would help Mike Brown,peoplehewondered wound and actually It up helping you. Yeah, he did - he definitely helped me out. It was kind of a bummer, but it was a fun weekend for me. I fell down in the first moto, or he probably wouldn't [have] had to help me out, but that's the way it goes. I wasn't there to help him out; I was going there to race, and it just happened that with him and Langston, it was coming down to the final race, and everyone thought I was there to help. But I wasn't because I wouldn't want someone getting in the way of my series [if I were) battling it out with somebody. I went there to race, and I would like to race another 125 race... I would do it all over again. A were you disappointed not to get the opportunity to back up your outdoor title at the MX des Nations? That would have really topped off your outstanding season. I was bummed because I kind of put a lot of effort into it. I was going to ride the Honda; I had to get everything in gear on that - riding outdoors and doing a lot of testing for it. But my life is worth way more than my pride. With what happened that terrible day in September, I wouldn't want to go over there. I think that's chancing it too much. Q A outdoor season. The bike was working good in supercross; I was comfortable with what I was riding at the time, but not in the outdoors. When I got to the races, I was worried about winning, but the people that were around me really didn't say anything about it [Carmichael leaving Kawasaki], so it was pretty easy. ~ When did you first start talking to Honda? They [Honda] talked to Johnny [O'Mara) before the supercross series even started, actually. "They just said they were interested in you," [O'Mara said.) "We [Honda] want you to know that before the series gets started, before anything happens." If 1 was out there winning, and they would come to me, it wouldn't just seem like they wanted me because I was winning. Johnny said, "Well, that's great." Halfway down the road, they [Honda] did approach me. It got close to the time were I needed to make a decision, because I was getting pressure from the other factories; Kawasaki, they wanted to go on with the deal. I basically told them that it's depending on how the bike works. I want to be on the best bike, I want to ride each one, and whichever one is better, that's the one I'm going to ride. I had the opportunity. to ride the Honda, and I felt - and my parents felt - I was the best on that bike. That's really why I made the change. I've been at Kawasaki for so long, it was a really tough decision for me. If the bike [Kawasaki] was a lot better, there was no reason for me to quit. After you made your decision to go to Honda, did this affect your relationship with Kawasaki? A little bit, for sure. They definitely didn't want to see me go; it was hard on a couple of the guys for sure, and it was hard on me, as well. I was there for 12 or 13 years, so it was a really tough Q A cue. e n e _ S • JANUARY 2,2002 13

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