INTERVIEW
FOUR-TIME NATIONAL ENDURO CHAMPION RUSSELL BOBBITT
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to team procedures and logistics.
Everything, not just the bikes,
were new and everyone, from
the racers, to the mechanics, to
the team manager, were learning
things for the first time.
"I felt great coming into the [the
first] race; I was as prepared as I
could be," says Bobbitt. "And the
team did as good a job as they
could for as fast as things came
together. They were a little down
on manpower and just getting
everything together was tough.
We were behind the eight ball
for sure at the beginning of the
year. We came into the first race
and we actually had some issues
with how the bike was running.
The first time I got to ride my race
bike was the day before the race
and we were having to scramble
and get things sorted out. We
still didn't have it quite right for
the day of the race, but that had
nothing to do with my crash."
Bobbitt was referring to the
crash in which he broke his knee-
cap. Bobbitt went over the bars
and landed on the knee.
"That was the longest period
I'd ever been out of racing with
an injury, so it was tough," says
Bobbitt. "Most of my other in-
juries seemed to happen at an
opportune time where I could
still come back and make some-
thing happen. It was hard to deal
with that. In the past when I was
