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/128245
A Q Th ere have been a lot of things that have kept m e goi ng. I' ve j ust been able to stay motivated to rid e. I do lo ts of different th ings, an d I basic all y You ' ve helped bring a lot of young riders into the sport. What do y o u t h in k of the current crop? j ug g le diff er ent types of ridi ng to kee p myself m otiva te d. Getting a good deal w ith Gas Gas extended m y life as far as the N at io nal series goes. Mo ney is a big part o f conti n ui ng on; priorities ch ange as yo u get older. I have been abl e to find a way to make a li vin g and co ntinue to do what I love to do . I thi nk that's p robably th e bigges t thi ng. You know , I also pu t in th e tim e. Mayb e th ere are some other gu ys o ut th ere that are really good ri de rs , bu t I don' t think th ey put in the same amount of ti m e th at I do on th e bike, and obvious ly you' ve got to practice t o wi n . I think that there are a lot of talente d yo ung rid ers out there right no w. and I'm rea lly hopin g that in th e future we can ge t m ore riders out there on the wo rld ci rcuit. On e of ou r guys in particu lar is m y tea m m at e Cod y We b b . He 's been following in m y fo ots te ps, but he's also been beating m e alo ng the way , because he's now bec ome th e you nge st rid er to eve r ride in th e Cha m pions hip cla ss. He's won th e High Sch ool cla ss and the Expert cl ass, and he just looks like he is on a fast track rig ht now. I th in k that he's one of the guys out th ere to wat ch fo r in th e future, and who kno ws , maybe he will be ab le to br eak my record . Q A t the start of th e year, there was a bit of specu lation becau se of the schedule, whic h in cluded sev era l r oun d s in th e north, th at th is might favor the Canad ians and there might be an upset this year. How do you respond to that? A l defin it ely prefer ri ding in the dry , gri p py con d itio ns. Even when I li ved on the East Coast , I alway s had reall y good res ults on the West Co ast . whe re the conditions were dr y and g rippy. with big rocks . So I guess I enjoy rid ing that stuff a little bi t m o re, and so I end up bei ng favored at that type of eve nt. B ut I grew up in New En g land - I' m from Co n nectic ut - and I thi nk t ha t t errain is pro ba bl y some of th e m ost di ffic ult in the who le co untry . So I ex peri en c e rid in g bot h sl ip pery and no ns li p pe ry co nd iti o ns . I also spe nt tw o su m mers in Eng l an d and rod e sli ppe ry stuff every sing le day, and I know how t o do it. Th e way it's been thi s year, whateve r I put m y mi nd to, I could do it, and it di dn 't ma tter if it w as d ry , slippery, hard or easy - it was more a m ental thing. A have m y own perso n al drive. Bu t I thi nk it woul d have helped me a lo t if I had had some k ind of a coach to maybe pu sh furth er than I have. So, ho pefull y , in the near future. we will still have some g reat riders. Q A A t what point in your ca ree r di d yo u decid e that you wanted t o g o for a cham pion sh ip? A t one poi nt I came to a cros sro ads, and I rea l ized afte r ri ding up th rou gh the rank s that I ha d eno ug h potential to w in th e U.S. title, so I k new that was like a reali st ic goa l for m e. Unfo rt unat el y , I never reall y pursued the World Ch am p io nships as much as I would hav e liked to. but I di d other things that are hel ping m e out now - I went to college. and now I run m y own business . So I'm not di sappointed wi th the Q T here are several different vie ws on just how to get t o that next level ; some of t he kids are going to Europe , and some are concen trating on the (J.S. series. A I do th ink it' s po ssible to become o n e of th e best by rid in g ov er here, but I th in k it helps a lot if yo u can go to wh ere th e best riders in the world are and pra ctice and train wi th all the best guys. I thin k that if you have the opportunity to go to Euro pe and train with the best. I th in k your chances to be a contender are going to be h igher. But I think a lot of it has to do with how serious you are and how hard yo u tra in and how good your coach is . T hese days I th in k it is more and m o re important how yo u are directed . I th ink it is im po rt ant t o hav e so m eo ne who rea ll y knows what' s goi ng on w ith the mot orcycl e, wh at' s going o n w ith th e c o mpetiti o n end of it and reall y ca n see and be yo ur sec ond set of eyes and help give you that ex tra push . I didn't really have that as much whe n I was co m ing up, and I pretty m uch did it all on m y ow n. and I path I chose , and I decided to c on c entrat e on t he U .S. Championships . But I think it is important that we do get m ore good ri ders. an d I think right no w , Europe is really where it is at . Q You 've alway s bee n at t he f orefront of promot in g t he spo rt . What is your t ake on the Indoor Cha m pio ns hips tha t were held last Ja nua ry, an d do you think it will boo st the sport? I'm definitely all for the prom ot ion of the sport. I th in k th at trials is rea lly a sleeping gia nt, and it has a lot of potential tha t ha sn 't bee n tap ped into, bu t th e In door series is a great first ste p. It's a good way fo r peop le to co m e in. sit down and rea lly watch a g reat show in a relat ivel y small area , whe re norma ll y you hav e to tra vel o ut to a rem ot e area, and it is a little bit more d ifficult to spectate. So I think the indoor seri es , if it keeps expanding the way it is, is going t o be the future of tria ls. CN eye I e n e _ s • J A NUA RY 7 .2004