d
Chad Reed o~t
Windham again
\s Kevin
~~ San Diego
By STEVE Cox
PHOTOS BY STEVE BRUHN
eam Yamaha's Chad Reed has
raw supercross speed . In
stringing together six straight
w ins to finish the 2003 AMA
Supercross season. winning
both nights at the U.S. Open in October
of last year, and then winning round one of
this year 's series by nearly 20 seconds,
that unbridled speed has been put to great
use . However, starting last weekend at
Anaheim II, and then again inside Qualcomm Stadium , it isn't his speed that has
won him the last two races . Chad Reed is
riding smarter than anyone else on the
T
12
FEBRUARY 4 ,2004 •
track right now, going to
school on Kevin Windham's lines and using
them aga inst the talented rider to win
both times out.
"Y
eah, I definitely think that he's a smart
rider," Windham said. "Y u've got to be
o
smart to be up here [on the podium] . It's
not just a matter of speed on this level, it's
a lot of things. I've been working hard w ith
all of my team and my tra iner Greg - just
everybody - and I've also been here with
open eyes . I can sit here and watch Chad's
trainer over there writ ing stuff down, so
CYCLE NEWS
it's quite obvious that
it's becoming a bit of a mental game, and
yes that 's a huge portion of what we do .
What I say is not going unheard, and what
he says is not going unheard. It's com ing to
a point now that it's not only about physical strength. You've got to work hard during the week and think of mental preparation as well."
It seems as if race-long battles between
the two are inevitable.
40th Anniversary
"Yeah, definitely.
Each [round] we get more and more laps,
and by the end of the year we'll have a 20lap race, " Reed said of his battles with
Windham . "It' ll be a lot of fun. I'm looking
forward to it."
Reed actually grabbed the holeshot this
time out , though, followed by teammate
David Vuillemin, Windham and Damon
