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/128332
done better at, I was climbing the week before. I was enjoying myself. "There's something to having a really free mind. I know there's a lot of people that think racing is the best athlete, but it's not . It's all in your head . Some guy could sit on the couch and just kick your ass, basically. So with this approach it's different. I'm not used to going out there and riding a bicycle for two hours. And trying to eat more food than I ever have. You have to on a bike. You get so hungry. And hydrate and keep certain body levels really high. It's just a different, different approach than I've had ." Discipline isn't something Bostrom's ever had much use for. He learned a lot from Roger Reiman, whom he stayed with his first summer back East. But they butted heads, and Reiman didn't want him there the next summer. What he took from that experience is how to treat people . The discipline part didn't take . He wants more out of life than he should, and racing hasn't been his main focus; it's something he's done between other diversions. ''A smart athlete just takes what he has, and that's all he knows," Bostrom said, "and I used to always think, 'God I feel bad for these people. They have no life. By the time they're 3S years old, they 've just missed out on so much of their youth.' Because when you turn 35, you're in a different mental state. You don't stay and party and enjoy whatever it is." There was a time he didn't care if he slept on the beach . "Those are the best moments in anyone's life. You can't take those back ." But now he understands dedication, he understands what drives premier athletes, "because they have to be number one at their sport." Like Lance Armstrong, Bostrom says it's not about the bike. The Merlyn Plumlee-led crew has crafted a motorcycle that 's "awesome - we don't need to change anything." He adds ; "You can always fine-tune it, but in the end, the best rider can ride the worst bike and win." Watchingan epic battle in the Italian GP at Mugellothree weeks before Brainerd, it hit him: "I want to be there." 36 JULY lA, 200A • CYCLE NEWS He watched that race, and the more he thought about it, the more he wished he was in that race . And he hadn't thought that for the last two years . For the first time, he confided in a friend, he was really willing to change his work habits, "so when I retire, I don't have to retire with a I wish that I would have done this. Because you can't take that back either. That's the worst." Eric Bostrom says that he really doesn't understand Ben's problem right now. "I'm having trouble understanding my situation ," he admits . Eric saw Ben go fast in testing and be a second slower in the race . "Is he putting too much pressure on himself when he comes to the track?" Eric asks . "It' s a good possibility. I know he wants to do well. And there's no more stubborn person in the paddock than him." Eric sees Ben taking a more disciplined approach and worries. "I think there's a big lesson to be learned from when he was in World Superbike in 2000. He took it very seriously and started having some bad results. And then he got booted off the [factory Ducati] team. Started playing around and having a more open attitude and his results came back up . But then the next year he took it pretty serious, and his results stayed up. I'm not sure where it all balances out. I mean, everyone knows he's got the talent, and he 's got the bike right now. He should be there. But then maybe the same thing could be said for me right now, and I'm not quite there myself." The Bostrom brothers are inseparable, and some see that as a problem. Not Eric. "You spend too much time together, and you get in arguments," Eric said. "We don 't tend to argue , so I don 't think we spend too much together, and we have a pretty good time. When we're away from each other, we're always missing each other. I think that we're good for each other in that sense, but maybe again, who knows?" It's a question Ben has thought about. "I noticed when Eric and I split apart [when Eric was with Kawasaki and Ben with Ducati], we end up both being great on our own confidence. I was in Europe and he was here, and we just rose to the occasion . I remember coming home for the first time and really realizing that Eric's rid- 40th Anniversary ing fast when I came to Laguna in 200 I." Ben had just won Misano, and Eric had just won Loudon and they were both fast in the race. Ben won both, and Eric was the first AMA rider. "That's the way it's supposed to be . And we were great together. We hadn't seen each other. There was a lot of energy, excitement." But there were times, like Sugo 2002 in japan, where they didn't feed off each other. Ben was on the front row and Eric the second. "He'd beat a lot of the japanese and a lot of the World Superbike guys. That was pretty impressive . But the results weren't there in the end," Ben says. His were a pair of sevenths, Eric 13th and 14th. They 'd played hard in Australia the week before, climbing for three days straight. ''And the next three days we surfed every morning and skateboarded every afternoon in the skate parks and flew to japan exhausted. Showed up there just shells." Everyone has a different way of doing things, Eric says. Mat Mladin is very businesslike, his whole week preparing for the weekend. "That works really great for him, but it might not work so good for myself or my brother," Eric says. "By the time I get to the track with that attitude, I might feel almost worn out, like I don't want to be here. For me it's almost better to play all week and then get to the track kind of refreshed and be like, 'Cool, I'm at the road race track where I want to be.''' The brothers have always been hypercompetitive in a friendly way. This year they've called a truce. "Since I came home, that's all we did was beat each other up last year," Ben said. "Fortunately, we've grown out of that ." As much as he enjoys being home, the re's a piece of him that wants another shot at the world level. Ever since watching the Italian Gp, he's been rethinking his future . "That' s why I've got new motivation . Really looking to find myself, and I realize there's something you've got to grow into at this age. I also believe all channpions are in their 305. Somehow that 's how the throttle hand and the mind come together and work." Bostrom points to Mick Doohan and Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz and Carl Fogarty, all riders who were champions in their late 20s and early 30s. Bostrom was never annong the riders who were curious about GP or World Superbike results . Run into Mladin or Doug Chandler in the paddock, and they either already know what happened that day somewhere across the globe or want to know. "The racing thing, I never watched because I didn't care; I wasn't in it," Bostrom said. "Fun to watch if I caught it, but no big deal. This year I'm more of a fan than I've been in the past, too." When he gets time, he'll watch Gp, World Supers port, and the AMA Supers port and Superstock races . It's a longshot that he 'll ever get back to World Superbike and even less likely that he'll get a GP ride . Neither is his motivation. The motivation is simply to improve. From where the carefree lifestyle of where's he's been to the dedication needed where he wants to be Is a big step. It will take time before he finds the limit. "Y mind's going to put you there. It's not flicking the our thing into the corner a little bit over your head . My motivation is to find Ben Bostrom again. And a stronger one, a stronger Ben. The strongest I've ever been. That's what I'm looking for. When I find him, we 'll win." eN