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/128314
T he GP circus hasn't even started yet, and I am already experiencing an acute form of time deprivation. Dashing from one sport or PR function to the next obviously hasn't made it any easier. With the new feeling of becoming a dad and the responsibilities that go with it, the hours seem to pass like minutes, and weeks seem to be mere days. We raced the opening Internationa l Motocross of the year in Mantova. Igot a win and really felt good on the bike. Of course the injury to joel Smets put a damper on the weekend; I guess that is racing, although having spent time off myself, I never like to see a fellow compet itor get hurt . I have lost a lot of the nerves that usually appear before a Grand Prix season. This year I am going for World title number eight, but I won't let the pressure get to me: I've got my seven World titles, and that is all I have ever wanted. Even when I was a little boy, I wanted to beat the record of joel Robert . With that now done , the pressure from my shoulders has been lifted , and I can look forward to 2004 for some fun, just racing for pleasure . It's been a long time since I rode just for fun, at least at Grand Prix level. My girlfriend, Kelly, has been suffering from nausea the past few days, which is apparently normal dur ing pregnancy. I don't even have any troubles at night when Kelly has to get out of bed - I'm so tired from the busy work schedu le that I just keep sleeping. Kelly's tummy has started to grow, and that is such a nice sign to see . The whole new baby world that is blooming o pen for us is truly a magnificent experience. Suddenly we stop to notice things that before we re of no part icular interest to us. Now we loo k at the parents who play with their kids in the park, and we study their behavior. Kelly and I had an ap pointment on Monday, the second of February, in the Monoco hospital to have an echo done . It was the only time to see eac h other, as the following day I was ex pected in France w ith jean-M ichel Bayle for a lV special on AutoMoteur. We were both loo king forwa rd to seeing the little being in Kelly's womb . However, we were most disappointed when we were told that the appointme nt could not go through and that we had to come back the next day. That was impossible for me, as I couldn't just cancel the television shoo t. We abso lute lywa nte d to go together, and thus we had to move heaven and earth in o rder to keep our wishes. I was scheduled to leave the eve ning of Wednesday, the fourth of February, for a media trip to Namibia, which left only one alternative - a few hours before the trip we raced to the hospital. The doctor took a 40 recordi ng and photos. As I loo ked at t he images, I became speechless. No words can describe what goes through your body and mind. Yo u see a new life before you, and your biological clock does a few spins whe n you see and hear the little heart beating. The heart was pumping IS7 times a minute in that minute body. Little arms, legs, spine and head were already visible. The doctor informed us that we would see much more on the next echo I've never been so curious in all my life! Problems arose even before we left the airport in Frankfurt . I wanted to upgrade my economy seat to business class, but apparently there was no availability. It was as if the devil had intervened , as the economy seat they had given me was the worst one on the plane. The seat was located in front of a partition, which meant that it was impossible to recline the back rest. Not on ly do the airlines pack the passengers in like animals, they go and put a seat in the most illogical place. I reckon the transport of real animals is organized much better why nobody protests is a mystery to me . You'll understand that my humor at the start of the IO-hour flight to johannesburg was nonexistent. On arr ival we had another connecting flight of two hours to Windhoek , the capital city of Namibia. My new teammate , Ce dric Melotte, and I, along with the media, were greeted by Safari Holtz o n arr ival. They are the biggest safari chain in Namibia, and they measured us up in order to kit us out for the MAXI M photo shoot that wo uld take place the following day. After a well-deserved lunch we were brought to a small airport where we wou ld further ou r trip in small Cessna airplanes. We had to fly to our hotel (at least that's what I tho ught), which was situate d 600km from the capital city, so we were to ld by our team's PR manager, Stefan Geuke ns. The flight was a great ex per ience in its own, but what we saw on landing topped it all off. We we re met on the landing strip by Paul Van de Vijver, owner of Epacha Game Lodge and Spa. We had spotted a gem of a resort on the edge of the Etosha National Park. We were transported in open safari jeeps to the lodge, which was only four kilometers from the landing strip . The mild climate and magnificent crimson sky as the African sun set was an instant cure for my tiredness . We could hear a large group of people singingin the distance . As we drove up the entrance to the domain , we could see from where the harmonious chants were coming. We were welcomed by the singing staff, which gave us an unbelievable homey feeling. Cedric and I dared to dance with them , the photos of which will soon be available and will describe the situation a thousa nd times better than I can explain on pape r! Everyone in the group was allocated a typical Namibian-style house - a bedroom that you could get lost in, bath, inside and outside shower, and much more. After dinner, I Wisely excused myself from the group and hit the sack quite early, as we had an important phot o session the next day. The models and make- up artist had already climbed under the sheets in order to get thei r beauty sleep - I, too, wanted to look my best! The magazines tha t we were shooting for we re not quite the smallest either. MAXIM and MENZO are two of the biggest magazines in Belgium. which meant Icouldn't afford to make any mistakes. The theme of the shoot was safari clothing, as we ll as bikinis for t he models. I was lucky enough to sleep until 8 o'clock, w hile the models Ricarda and Andrea, Traci the make- up artist, and Stefan Geukens were up at the crack of dawn in preparation. Ha ha, they should have chosen anothe r profession . If you think that a photo session is just posing, then you are greatly mistaken. It is an exhausting job that leaves your batt er ies empty by the end of the day. The great thing about intense work is that you form www.cyclenews.com a better friends hip with your colleagues. After a hard day's work, there is always time over for a litt le fun. The bush dinner aro und an open fi re was a beautiful moment, not to mention the fun of throwing one another in the swimming poo l. The busy agenda caused a bit of war in as much as I had to fight with myself to get out of bed as the birds were chirping their early morning songs. I triumphed over a warm bed and was in time to de part on safari. Etosha National Park, the biggest of its kind with elep hants, giraffes, spr ingbuck, ze bras, lions, rhinos and so much more game was a mere 40 minutes dr ive from our accommodations. It is fascinating to see t hese wild animals in the flesh in the ir natural habitat. I regularly watch the National Geographic Channe l, and seeing animals seems normal, but when you have to go in search of these magnificent beasts , the reward is indescribable when you finally do find them . It was a relaxing day for me and the rest of the group. After a light lunch we said goodbye to the peop le at Epacha Lodge to fly further to Swakopmund. The flying time was estimated at I hour and SO minutes , but it seemed like on ly minutes. As we reached the coast, we dropped altitude to literally skim over the Atlantic Ocean, in real Hollywood sty le! The red dunes of Swakopmund were on the work schedule, which was the high point of the trip for me. It was an ideal motocross paradise to be conquered. The film and camera crew, Cedric and I were on our way to the dunes before the break of dawn . A thick mist had hidden the beauty of the dunes, and if I could have blown hard enough, I wou ld have made the mist disappear. The photographers were not fazed by the mist, and by the time they had set up all thei r equipment, the white blanket had disappeared, which left more than eno ugh time to get the needed photos . I would also like to mention that we had enormous support from the Yamaha Zenner Racing Team in putting up the tent camp . The Yamaha re presentative who also went wit h the early gro up was nervously walking up and dow n because the sun was not doing what he wanted it to do. Once the heavens cleared , it was like heaven's gate was op e ning for me . Unfortunately, one day is not enough in suc h a pristine location, but we had a program to follow. If you let me do my own thing, I wou ld spend an entire week in the dunes . The last day of the program wou ld see us enduring a 400km dr iving ro ute. We arrived around midday at the Gallina MX Park near by Windhoek. After a barbecue, which was orga nized by the club, we still had a photo session to do on the circuit. Eventually I was able to ride on a real circuit. A few ho urs later I co uld feel myself getting sick - luckily I was able to keep it eN under control. CYCLE N EWS . MARCH 10, 2004 99