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/217065
INTERVIEW P64 PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREA WILSON COLIN EDWARDS The good-natured Texan is a fan favorite and looked up to by many young road racers. TO COME OVER HERE " THEY'RE GOING TO HAVEI THINK COMING FROM AND PROVE THEMSELVES. THE U.S. IS JUST NOT WORKING LIKE IT USED TO. " fast.' You have to be able to make these steps and climb the mountain per se. You've got to be able to make these steps. If not, then it's not going to work. But, yeah, that would be cool. You know to mentor some young kids and get them through it." After being in the paddock for over a decade now, Edwards has seen a lot of changes technology wise. Did the technology change the way your riding style needed to be? And did that mean that maybe coming up through Superbike wasn't going to work anymore? "I don't know, I would say… I think that we talk about riding styles and what's the best way to come in and what's the right this and the right that and the best av- enue…," Edwards started. "The two fastest guys out there this year: Lorenzo and [Marc] Marquez have polar opposite styles. They're not even remotely close. So to say one way is the best way… you have to be mentally just ready. You can ride the bike, it doesn't really matter the style. "Sure all the electronic aids that we have nowadays have made it easier. Especially, like, hell, I'm 39… So they've made careers longer cause you're not spending so much time broke up and rehabilitating broken bones. Yeah it's probably changed the way you ride a bike a little bit, for sure. Now you know you have that safety net. You know you've got that traction control, that safety net you can play with whereas before it was all in the right wrist and your ass." Edwards has long praised his former teammate Valentino Rossi as being the GOAT – greatest of all time. Now with the new kid on the block – the young phenom, Marc Marquez – what was Edward's perspective of Marquez on the track? "It's phenomenal," Edwards said. "I mean it's just such a pleasure to see. Just to see the fight that he has is awesome. It makes you remember back when I first started and the fight that I had when I was 20 also. It's just nice to see that… Let's say he doesn't expect everything handed to him on a silver platter. He's going out there busting his balls and working for it. That's awesome." And as it is in human nature, the MotoGP world has spent a lot of time comparing the two icons of the sport – Rossi and the young Marquez. Could Edwards compare them? "I don't think you can compare 'em," he responded. "I mean Rossi's Rossi. And Kenny Roberts is Kenny Roberts. Barry Sheene is Barry Sheene. You can't compare them. They just are who they are. And I think Marquez is Marquez and he's going to leave his stamp on history, too." CN