Christmas fun

Well its been a great week and christmas has been awesome. I've had loads of great food and received some great presents. Funny enough I didn't receive anything to do with motocross. I'm not sure if thats a good or bad thing.

I haven't been to the gym in over a week but I have been out on the bike twice and had two awesome sessions. The last session was with OC and we had a great time. We put in a few fast motos and then just messed around for the second half of the day. We found this little course that went through the woods and trees. It was great for bike handling skills. You had to have really good balance, brake and clutch control. It also gave your body a good work out. After a few laps you wouldn't be out of breath but you could definitely feel your arms starting to ache.
I also got in a little session on the mini bike down at bolehills BMX track. Couldn't really ride the main track as the surface was really soft due to the rain and I didn't want to rip it up, but I did manage to sneak in a run on the first straight.



Tomorrow I'm off to South Africa for 3 weeks with Hannah but not before I squeeze in a session at the gym early tomorrow morning. While I'm out there I should hopefully get some riding in and get to do some jet skiing which is always a good workout on the arms. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in an update while I'm there. Until then, Adiós!

Unproductive weekend

The weekend was an unproductive one. There was so much I wanted to do and ended up doing none of it.

I didn't get to ride, I didn't get to train and I didn't get to fly.

That said, there's more to life then riding, training and flying, so the weekend wasn't crap. I went to my company's Christmas party accompanied by the incredible Hannah Oliver who was wearing a dress that left my jaw on the floor.

Sunday I sang in the church's christmas carol choir, bam!

Wobbly legs in the name of the GOAT

Well today I had another awesome session with DC. We both stepped it up again. My legs do feel very wobbly walking up and down the steps at work. It feels good though because it means I have trained hard.
When training I always think of the Ricky Carmichael video clip. He talks about doing extra sets and extra reps "Just to do it", so he can meet his goal. I do the same, just when I feel like stopping I go one more for Ricky, haha.

Progression!

So this morning I was doing my usual Thursday morning leg session with buddy D and I felt like things really went up a level.

I went bigger on squats, leg presses and dead lifts. Its really encouraging when you're able to step things up a notch, its definitely a sure sign of progression.

I'm away this weekend so unfortunately no riding will be taking place but I will use the time to recover and come back stronger next week!

I'll do a 6 lapper this time

The last two Sundays have been spent at Worksop. A nice little turn track has formed on one of the fields and it drains really well which means that even if it has been raining the whole week we can still go down and ride. Last week it was the AT vs DC show down which proved to be a fantastic day. You can read all about it on DC's Blog. Yesterday it was just myself and my little brother. It was a little more wet then the week before but I felt really fast this week. I've been doing 6 lap sprints to focus purely on speed and technique. Unfortunately the session got cut short due to my brother getting a puncture but we were still grateful for the short ride we did have. In the afternoon I decided to hit gym and get a head start on the weeks training regime.



I am proud to say that so far I have kept up with the training program. I'm still concentrating on strength training and conditioning. I think once I come back from South Africa in January then I will start with cardio work although I am doing a little bit of rowing at the moment.

Committed

Well the winter training is truly under way. DC and I have been meeting at the gym early in the morning before work. I think its crucial to have someone to keep motivation high. When you're doing it by yourself its too easy to skip it especially on a freezing, wet winter morning.

At the moment I am concentrating on strength so I am alternating between an upper body and lower body free-weight workout. I think its safe to say that motocross requires a good balance of both upper and lower body strength.

We planned to go riding on Sunday and have the infamous DC vs AT race. These are two of our mates who are into bmx and have both had the chance to learn and ride a motocross bike for one day. We came up with idea during the summer of making them race each other, one on my bike and the other on Cooper's bike.
Unfortunately the weather was terrible so it was cancelled. Fingers crossed that things will be better this weekend.

Punked!

Its been a great couple of weeks. I've signed up to the S10 Gym with DC and training has begun. We went for a nice swim the other night. It felt really good to be back in the water again. Swimming is such a fantastic form of exercise and I plan to do it regularly as I think it will help with my motocross and it will also help me when I go back to South Africa in December/January and get my surf on!

Here's a video of Travis Pastrana getting punked. It has no great significance to the motocross journey except for the fact that Travis is a legend in the eyes of most motocross riders. Enjoy!

All done!

Its been a great weekend. I went to the Sheffield Supercross on Saturday afternoon and watched practice and qualifying. It was very entertaining and I think in some ways better than the night event. Ryan Mason hooked me up with a pass so I was stoked. We saw some pretty horrific crashes but luckily no one was hurt. I then went to Hannah's 80's ice skate disco which turned out to be really fun! I just wish I had dressed up as everyone else looked awesome! After the skating I nipped back over to the Supercross and watched the main event before heading home to get some sleep before the race.

Sunday was a fantastic day. The weather was perfect riding weather, nice and sunny but still chilled so you never got too hot. I was a bit worried going into the race as I hadn't ridden for a while and I had done absolutely no fitness training for over 2 weeks. I went to sign up and there was pretty much a full gate, almost 40 riders. I knew it was going to be tough. Everyone had turned up due to it being the last race of the year and some fast school boys had also moved up to my class.

In my first two races I managed to get decent starts and ended up finishing 9th and 10th which I was happy with. The last race I got a bad start and had to work my way up from the back. I managed to get back up to 13th which gave me 11th overall for the day. I felt pretty good the whole day and didn't make any stupid mistakes. I also felt like my jumping had improved as I was nosing it in really nicely on some of the jumps. I still feel my strength and fitness is my biggest let down which is exactly why I will be working hard in the gym this winter.

I'll be starting gym this week so that gives me about 4 months until the first race of next season.

Winter is here... almost!

It happened this weekend, the clocks rolled back which means that any outdoor activity after work is a no go. I'll be driving home in the dark.

I thought that with the racing season winding down that I would have loads of time especially with not being able to go practicing mid week anymore but I feel like I'm busier than ever with various things.
I did get to go and look at the S10 health club which is the Sheffield university Gym just down the road from my house. Its a well kitted out gym and has everything that I need to get nice and strong over the winter. I've acquired some literature on building a winter training plan for the winter. I will post it up here once I am done and then keep posting my progress over the winter.
There is one more race left this season and its next weekend. As soon as that's done the training plan will begin.

I spoke to Ryan yesterday and he is keen to start training as soon as possible. The only problem is that he's got a broken leg at the moment from casing a big double at turbo Taylor's outdoor supercross track. He's adamant that he is able to start upper body training with his leg in a cast. The boy is determined this winter and is looking to come back strong next season!

Unfortunately I never got to ride properly this weekend. We rode the mini bike down at the bmx track for a bit on Sunday afternoon and that was it.

Good times!

Okay so its been a while again since my last post. Sorry about that!

What a great weekend... Friday it was my little brother's birthday and for that he received a new mini bike which he was over the moon with. I came home early on Friday so we could take it for a ride at Bolehills. Mini bikes are really great fun. I think there are techniques that you can pickup on them that will definitely help you out on the big bikes! Daniel Clifford (world BMX contender) turned up to give it a go. I think he really wants one now.



Saturday was good. I finally managed to fly my radio controlled helicopter successfully, what an awesome hobby. It has been like a life coach over the last few weeks, teaching me valuable lessons in persistence, patience and staying positive. If there ever was a hobby to test your "positive mental attitude", this has got to be it.

Late Saturday afternoon we headed down to Bolehills bmx track once again for a quick squirt on the mini-bike. The tyres that came with it are terrible so we can't lay it down like it should be just yet. I did have a fun session though managing to clear all the jumps on the first straight at Bolehills.




Sunday was race time! Cooper and myself headed for Pilsworth track. It was really slippery to begin with but it got nice and tacky towards the end of the day. It must have been our day for starts as we both got top 3 starts in all 3 motos. Both of us were happy with that.

It was good to run with the leaders for a bit and get a feel for the sort of pace that they were running. In my last moto I was running fourth until I made a really stupid mistake halfway through the last lap. I was gutted! Unfortunately small mistakes and overall fitness would come into play and would end in me getting 7th overall for the day. Although I feel I could maybe have done better I was still stoked.

Sunday night I had an awesome time at church followed by watching the semi-final of the Rugby world cup between South Africa and Argentina. It was a great match and the South African boys did me proud.



Good times!

Up and Down

Its been a while since my last post. Things have just been really crazy lately.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Peakdale with Cooper and had an awesome session. It was one of those sessions where something seemed to just click and I instantly felt like I had got better. Cooper gave me some tips and let me follow him to learn some better lines, it definitely helped!

On Wednesday I went to the desert for a session and was feeling good until I went down in a corner. Unfortunately There was a big rock just under the sand where I went down and my knee got squashed between the bike and the rock. I was instantly in a lot of pain and needed help kicking the bike up. My gut feeling was that this was pretty serious and that I was going to be out for a long while.
That night Hannah (my girlfriend) came round to see how I was and she prayed for quick healing. Two days later and the improvement has been incredible, I think I might be back on the bike very soon but probably not in time for the race on Sunday. The way things have gone I'm not going to give up hope just yet though!



Today I also completed the order with VW for my new van. Its going to take about 8-10 weeks to be built and arrive. This will be my first brand new vehicle. It's my favourite van by far and I've always said that if I had to win the lottery, this would be the van that I purchased to transport the bike so I'm super stoked. It will definitely make the racing experience that much more factory.



More regular updates to follow... Peace!

This sport will cut you down...

Motocross is the hardest most physically demanding sport I have ever done and the more I get into it the more I realise this.
In the first moto on Sunday I got an average mid pack start. I quickly started passing people and on the second lap I found myself in 7th coming up to make the pass for 6th. In the last corner before the finish line double I took the outside line and caught up with the guy in front of me going up the face of the jump. Unfortunately he drifted wide in the air and in what seemed like slow motion, I saw his bike take out my front wheel in mid air. I then plummeted to the ground and landed in a big heap. For the first time in all my crashes it actually took me a while to get up. I was winded and seeing stars, and my knee, hip and arm had taken quite a knock. I crawled to the side of the track and a marshal picked up my bike for me. After a few deep breathes I climbed back on the bike and decided to finish. A last place finish was better than a DNF.

Once the race was over I went back to the van and felt terrible. My knee and hip were already going stiff and again for the first time ever I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back out. I realised at this point how this sport will cut you down to size very quickly especially when you start to get a little bit cocky.

After having some food and water I started to clear my head. I prepped the bike and straightened everything up. I decided I was going to go back out and see how I felt. For the next two motos I got a much better start and managed to keep it on two wheels. I wasn't sure of my positions but I was confident that I had finished in the top 10. At the end of the day I checked the overall positions and I had come 10th. I couldn't believe it, even with my last place finish in the first moto and my injuries I had managed to get a top 10.

Parts of my body are still in quite a bit of pain so I will be taking a break for a while to heal up. The next race is the 30th of September so I have a few weeks to recover.

Just one of those days... or weeks perhaps

Its been a strange week... I went practicing with Ryan on Wednesday and I felt really inconsistent. One lap I felt really quick and the next I was blowing berms and riding like an idiot. I found it hard to motivate myself to try hard and I hate it when I feel like that.
I think it just might be one of those weeks though because I have felt demotivated with a lot of things.
Nothing bad has happened so I'm not quite sure what it is. However, I do believe that life generally occurs in waves. Everything we do goes through seasons and stages of rising and falling. I'm putting this week down to being a general slump which means that things are now officially on the up!

This Sunday is Caistor which is a pretty awesome track, really fast with some massive jumps. Last time I rode there was when I had just got back from Hong Kong and so I didn't feel good at all. Things are different now though. I'm feeling fitter than ever, I'm on the kx250f and my suspension is working better than it has done all year.

Ryan and I will be stopping at Jamie Smith's house on Saturday to ride his private track. Should be a good warm up for Sunday.

Twin shocker

Ryan called me up last Friday asking me if I want to go racing with him at one of the Twinshock championship rounds. They were running a modern bike class. I asked him if they had a B class and he said they run up to C class, so I agreed to go.

We got there on Sunday morning and I went to register. I said to the lady, "B class modern please" and she replied politely saying they only run an A Expert class. I looked over to Ryan and he had a fat smile on his face. It turns out he knew all along!

I wasn't too bothered and I was still up for racing. The track was hard packed and very slippery. It had some real steep sections with some tight corners which made for some interesting riding. It was definitely a different experience as I never felt scared or intimidated and I never got tired during the motos I just found it incredibly difficult to go fast.



Ryan and I had no idea what the program was and we thought there was only one modern bike class. We were parked near the start and we saw some people lining up on modern bikes. We hadn't seen any of our friends pass by though so we thought we were okay for time. After a while we decided to head down in case we had missed our passing friends and whilst we were starting our bikes we saw all these modern bikes flying down the start straight. We got going as soon as we could and followed with great urgency. We did a full lap and as we came past the finish line we got waved off. I initially thought they were restarting for us but it turns out there was an over 40's modern class and that's who were racing on the track at the moment. We went and spoke to some friends afterwards who were all standing together and had seen us flying up the hill in pursuit of the main bunch, haha, they thought it was pretty funny!

Everyone was very quick and I was near the back somewhere. I'm not sure of my overall position but I wasn't last. In fact I reckon I was about 25th out of about 35 which wasn't bad considering the level of the riders. By the end of the 1st moto I had crashed twice and smashed my back mud guard up. The 2nd moto I managed to stay on two wheels. About two races before our last moto the heavens opened and the track turned into an ice-rink. A lot of riders decided not to go out but Ryan and I decided we had to get our money's worth and go out. The last moto ended up being one of the most enjoyable races I have ever done although the cleaning up after wasn't so fun. Still a good day though!

A weekend of MX

This weekend was the British MX GP and we all went down to camp there for the weekend. Even Hannah my girlfriend came along for the weekend which was cool. She said she really enjoyed it but I don't think she was quite as impressed as I was by Cairoli scrubbing the rhythm section. The track was pretty spectacular. Its great to watch the pros ride and appreciate first hand how awesome they really are. I find it quite inspirational and encouraging because it shows you what is possible on a bike. Tommy Searle got his first GP win and Tony Cairoli (the man) won MX1.

Monday was a public/bank holiday so I went to the desert. I put in two full motos and felt really good. There was a very tight corner that Cooper and I were practicing last week which took me a while to get nice and smooth. This week I did it straight away and proceeded to do it every lap of my two motos. Its a great feeling when you've practiced something and then when you come back to it, its stuck with you. I also took my mate Alec Townley along. He had never ridden a motorcycle before so the plan was to give him a go. He did really well and managed to pull off first go, so there were smiles all round.

So it turned out to be an awesome weekend with awesome weather and lots of awesome motocross!

Race Tech inside!

Last week Ryan Mason from Shocktech hooked me up with some Racetech suspension products which included the Gold valves front and back. We went out to the desert on Thursday to test it out.
I was completely blown away. I knew that suspension made a difference but I was always sceptical about what could be done with the stock suspension and how much of a difference it would make for someone at my level. The difference was amazing! I've never felt so confident over the whoops, the bike was so stable! Coming into the corners was also so much easier because the bike seemed to have way more traction and the back wheel wasn't bouncing all over the place over the braking bumps. Going round the corners was also a treat as the bike seemed to sit nicely in the pocket and traction was a lot better.

I would definitely say that this is the best upgrade you could ever do to your stock bike, hands down. Forget about after market pipes and alloy fuel caps, this will make you go faster.

Thanks Ryan for hooking me up and dialling in my suspension.

Commited!

Man the GOAT is awesome. If you don't know who the GOAT is, its Ricky Carmichael and his nick name stands for "the greatest of all time".

This winter is going to be like no other. I'm going to start constructing a program now which I will follow during the winter. It will entail weight training for core strength as well as cardio for fitness. Everytime I watch that video of Ricky it gets me excited about training. It will definitely be hard especially when there is no racing going on and the weather is cold and misrable but I'm going to stay focused on the end result and the benefits it will bring.

Dalton WYMX

Dalton turned out to be an awesome day. There is so much to say but I'll keep it short.

The track looked quite intimidating to begin with. It had two massive step downs with some doubles and step ups. Quite a few of the jumps had some very deep middle sections to them so it meant if you didn't jump them you had to roll them very slowly. I went out in practice and for the first lap I took it slow and rolled a few of the jumps. The second lap of practice I approached the first big step down and decided to pin it. I sailed over the jump and cleared it. After that confidence was high and I proceeded to clear all the jumps. It felt really good and I could have just gone home at that point and I would have felt satisfied.

Moto 1 - There were about 38 riders on the gate. I managed to get an average mid pack start. I had a nice consistent moto doing all the jumps every lap and working my way up to 6th.

Moto 2 - I got my first ever holeshot! One of the best feelings in the world of motocross, to come flying round the first corner with a clear track in front of you and not having to pull a tear-off. I stayed in the top 3 for a few laps until I went down in a corner. I managed to get up very quickly without stalling and only losing one place. One lap later my left foot came off the foot peg and the back of my boot got caught on the peg folding my foot underneath it. At first I thought I had broken my ankle as it went completely numb. Half a lap later it came back to life and I was able to hang on for 4th place. After the race I could feel my ankle wasn't in good shape, so just left my boot on so I could finish the day.

Moto 3 - Another great start! I managed to get round the first corner in second place. After a few laps I had settled into 3rd place but then came off. Once again I was able to keep the bike running and only lost one place. A few corners later, the rider who passed me went down too so I was able to get 3rd back. By this time the track had become very tiring. The straights had become very bumpy and a lot of the jump faces had big divets in them. Very exhausted I held on for 3rd place.

I ended up finishing 4th overall, my best result so far. Unfortunately there were only trophies for top 3 (they were big trophies), so nothing to show for my best result ever, haha. I took the camera but forgot to take the memory card so no photos as of yet but hopefully I'll be able to get some from the other people that were taking photos.

Unfortunately my friend Lee Smith, riding in the expert class, had a nasty fall in the whoops and destroyed his shoulder. He has dislocated it and broken it. He already had pins in it from a previous injury and they were all ripped out. I sincerely hope he makes a speedy recovery and comes back stronger than before. Get well soon buddy!

As for my ankle, I got home and took my sock off and it looked like I had a golf ball attached to the side of it, so I might be out for a little while myself.

Do your motos... or not!

I haven't raced in 3 weeks. Feels like ages but things have been going well. Over the last few weeks I have been concentrating on doing motos. Every time I practice I do at least two full race length motos. If I fall off I get up and keep going as if I were in a race. It has been good for developing my "racing mind" too because I find its easy to go and do a couple of fast laps but to do it consistently for the length of a race and keep concetration high, is a whole different story.

On Wednesday at the desert I felt really good and I got the feeling that these motos are starting to pay off. I feel more consistent and more in control.

I've still got a way to go before I can keep up with Ryan but he's a good person to be riding with and to be chasing week in and week out. Unfortunately he came off quite hard on Wednesday and suffered some minor memory loss from banging his head. It was quite funny listening to him repeat himself over and over and try to convince us he was okay to carry on riding. He wanted to finish his motos but we wouldn't let him. I spoke to him yesterday and he said he feels much better and will be racing on Sunday, so that's a good sign.

This was Ryan on Wednesday, the man I'll be chasing for a few years to come.

Motivation

Its funny, I was talking to Ryan on the way to the desert yesterday before our practice session saying that its easy to stay motivated when you can feel your self getting better each time but its those times when you feel stagnant in your progression where you really have to hang in there and see it through. Something I'm learning in life is that perseverence and persistence is vital in being successful at anything. It sounds really obvious but how many of us deep down actually believe it and practice it?

Yesterday's session wasn't bad, I had loads of fun, but I didn't really feel like I learned anything new. I realise though that the further I get into the journey that progression will naturally slow down.

I still have a niggling injury, my two clutch pulling fingers are sprained, they start to feel better until I go riding again. My mate Matt has organised a ticket for me to go see The Arctic Monkeys this saturday at Old Trafford in Manchester. I think I'm going to take a break this weekend and give the fingers a rest.

Sag!

Well Ryan from Shocktech set my sag up properly yesterday just before we went to the desert. Adjusting the sag is basically adjusting the tension of the spring on the rear shock to suit your weight.

Well it made a world of difference. The bike cornered a lot better. I felt a lot more in control and a lot smoother. Ryan is going to continue to help me get my suspension right and there are talks of possibly doing a revalve.

I did two 15 minute motos which felt good. I wore my heart rate monitor and my average heart rate was 180bpm. This is fairly high and just proves how strenuous it is to ride a motocross bike.

I think my next step is to change the front tyre. I have done a bit of research and apparently the standard tyre that comes on the KX250F isn't very good and contributes to the bad handling with in corners.

Preston Docks

Awesome track!
Awesome race!
Awesome weather!
Awesome crash!

Preston docks is one of the best tracks I've raced at so far. Its deep sand and its purpose built. When you walk the track it feels like an AMA track not just a track in a farmer's field.

This was one of my best and worse races to date. My speed again had improved and my starts were mega. In the second moto I was tied for second place going into the second corner.
However I went down a total of 6 times during the course of the day. Five of those were in corners and the other was a horrific crash in the whoops. I can only thank Jesus and his angels for protecting me and letting me come away unscathed. My throttle hand came off in the middle of the whoops and I lunged forward which made the front wheel dig in and cause me and the bike to cart wheel forwards. The guy who was behind me came and found me after the race. He couldn't believe that I had got up and carried on riding.

The good thing was that none of the crashes shook me up in the slightest. I never used to be like this. They say that as you get older you become more cautious but it seems like its the other way round for me.

Today Ryan from ShockTech and I are going to the desert to do some testing. We're gonna try and setup my suspension so the bike will corner a bit better. I'm also going to practice cornering as much as possible.

Attack at Peakdale

I went to Peakdale last night. I was looking forward to it as I hadn't been in a while and I was curious to see what it would be like with the new bike. My only goal for the session was to do 15 minute motos.

My first session was dreadful. I felt like a real novice, stalling the bike a couple of times and toppling over in a corner. I think a part of it was getting use to the new bike on a hard packed track. A 4 stroke has a lot of engine braking and so you can't just freewheel like you would on the 2 stroke, you have to be accelerating right the way through the corner. You should be doing this on the 2 stroke but the 4 stroke doesn't let you get away with not doing it. I also think that I was preoccupied with trying to last the 15 minutes and was trying to be too chilled out. I went back in and knew I needed to change something for the next session.

The next session I decided not to look at the stop watch at all but just to ride hard and attack the corners and then just come in when I felt tired. This I found out was a much better approach and I rode much much better this time. After a number of decent laps I looked down at the stop watch and I had done just under 15 minutes so I was happy.

For the last session I decided to take the same approach again but try and turn up the aggression and attack the corners even more. Well what followed was by far my fastest moto at Peakdale to date. I was leaning the bike over more than I ever had and it was actually easier than ever. It felt awesome putting the power on that much earlier and the bike going in the direction you wanted it to go in. I looked down at the stop watch and I had done just over 13 minutes so I put another lap in and called it a day.

I came away from the session feeling really good. I felt like a learned something new and I got to know my bike better. On Sunday I'm racing at Preston docks which I hear is quite a deep sand track. Its supposed to be good so I'm looking forward to it.

I [heart] Motocross

I raced at Sherwood this weekend on the new bike. I was looking forward to the race as it was the track that I did my first race at. I was also feeling confident after the ride I had on Thursday with Mason. Sherwood is a sand track that tends to get very bumpy, like a mini Southwick.

There were about 36 riders in my class which is one of the biggest turnouts this year and certainly the most I have raced against so far. I felt good in practice and again I was blown away by the new bike.

In the first race I got a good jump out the gate and then someone plowed into the side of me going down the start straight. I only just managed to not go down but it left me in second to last place. I rode as hard as I could and managed to pass quite a few people. By the end of the moto I was so tired and could barely hold on but I managed to get back up to 11th.

In the second moto I got a good start and was lying in the top 5 or 6. Unfortunately I blew the 3rd berm and lost a few places. I managed to get them back over the next couple of laps and I'm sure I was inside the top 5. I then began to catch the guy in front of me and after a lap I was right on his tail. We came into a tight hair pin turn and I went straight into the back of him and fell off. I got up quickly but the bike had stalled (this is not good on a 4 stroke). What felt like a life time later, I managed to get the bike going. I caught one guy and then cruised the last lap to finish 19th.

The last moto came round and I was feeling quite tired. I had also done something to my ankle in the last moto so that was throbbing. I got a pretty decent start and rode a good race. I battled with a few people and just tried to relax and keep it smooth. I finished 9th in the end.

The track was extremely bumpy and most people agreed it was worse than it normally was so it was very exhausting. On top of this I had chosen to run the standard grips that came with the new bike and they had ripped my hands to shreds.

My overall position was 12th. I was pretty happy with this considering all that went on.
My bike is amazing and I feel like I can definitely go fast on it. Its just up to me now to get fitter and stronger so I can hold onto it for longer.

Team Green

Well the KX250F arrived and it was emotional, haha! Before I picked it up I went to meet Ben (Trumen) and he hooked me up with a full set of Molson Kawasaki plastics, thanks Ben!



Once I got home with the Bike I took a few photos and began prepping it straight away so that I could ride it the next day. When a bike comes from the factory they very rarely put enough grease on all the bearings, pivots and linkage so its crucial that you get this done straight away. I worked into the early hours of the morning but I managed to get it done and ready for the next day. All I had to do was put in some engine oil.






I arrived at Ryan Mason's the next day and gave him a hand with cutting down his seat and putting a step into it. He's riding the Maxxis British Championship on Sunday and he had to run his brand new YZ250F in. After finishing the seat Ryan hooked me up with some oil and then we loaded the bikes up and headed off to Worksop.



I could probably write 10 pages of what went down at Worksop but I'll keep it short and sweet. THE BIKE IS AWESOME! I was completely blown away. The engine felt and behaved exactly like I thought it would. It has loads of torque and suits my riding style so much better. I tend to short shift (change gear before the engine hits full revs) and I hardly touch my clutch and this is exactly how a 250F should be ridden. Besides the engine the bike just feels so much more comfortable. I think the geometry and suspension must just suit me better because the bike felt like an extension of my body. I could hit the whoop section so much faster and not get tired. It all just felt so effortless. Ryan thought my riding had improved for sure.




Needless to say, I'm psyched for the race on Sunday, its going to be an interesting one.

Relaxing

I just had a very relaxing weekend. I didn't ride any motocross or BMX. I went out for a short road ride on Saturday afternoon and that was it.

It feels good to be back out on the road bike again. Over the last few months my training program has slipped and I paid for it at the last race. I was thinking through my goals and what I want to accomplish by the end of the season and it really got me motivated to train again. I have now worked out a good training program for the rest of the season which I am going to stick to for sure.

The deal is done and paid for, I'm getting a Kawasaki KX250F. I should get it anytime between tomorrow and Friday. I will be racing it at Sherwood on Sunday so I really do hope it comes as soon as possible so that I have time to prepare and run it in.

The van is still out of action which is very frustrating. Its been in the garage for over a week now.

What would make tomorrow perfect would be getting the van back and my new bike arriving. I can only hope and pray.

Let the good times roll...

"Let the good times roll..." Kawasaki's tag line, I love it! I've always had a love affair with Kawasaki and it was way before the Bubba Stewart era. I think it must be the lime green, I'm not sure. When I was looking to buy my 125 I had a serious look at the KX125 but unfortunately the Kawasaki 2 strokes just aren't very good.

They do how ever make an awesome 250 four stroke and at this point I am 95% sure that I will be getting one. Ryan Mason has once again hooked me up.
I was planning on completing the season on my YZ125 but from a financial point of view and the deal that Mason has organised for me, I would be stupid not to switch now.

I've had some feedback from Coach Cooper and Mason and they both reckon my style would suit a four stroke much better. We'll just have to wait and see. Obviously I will post the results up here and let you know my thoughts.

Caistor Race

I got back from Hong Kong safe and sound on Thursday. I was feeling a bit tired but I think you never quite feel it fully when you just get back as you're excited to be back. The van broke down on Thursday which wasn't good. I couldn't fix the problem myself as it looks to be an electrical fault so I've had to take the van in to be looked at.

Ryan Mason agreed to take me to the race on Sunday which was awesome as I had been looking forward to Caistor and I'm still on track with my goal of doing all the remaining YMSA rounds.

Caistor didn't start very well. In my first moto I got arm pump after the second lap and I felt really tired. So tired that I felt like pulling off but I hung in there and completed the moto. I forgot to mention that I went out with Coops and Mason on Friday night and we only got in at 5am. I was really regretting doing that at this point. I always said I would never go out on a race weekend and this will definitely be the last time I do.

The second moto came and I felt a bit better. I didn't get arm pump too bad and I didn't feel quite as tired but it was still tough. My third moto was better still.

Looking at the positives of the day, I felt my starts had improved since the last race and I felt my speed was good for the first few laps until the fatigue set in. I think the fatigue was also due to me getting back from Hong Kong a few days earlier but like I said earlier, there's no ways I will be going out late on a race weekend again.

Hong Kong Milk

Well so far Hong Kong has been pretty awesome. Its definitely a must-visit kind of place.

I arrived Friday morning and straight away I had people to meet. I was quite busy until about the late afternoon where I was able to chill out in my hotel for a bit. We then went to meet some more people for drinks. I was invited to come out later that night to Lang Kwai Fong which is like the trendy night life part of Hong Kong. After going to one more meeting and having some dinner I headed out to Lang kwai Fong and was out until around 2:30am. I took this photo on the way home, at this point I had been up for around 37 hours but I'd had a really good time.



Two things I need to get off my chest though and two big reasons I would struggle to live here. Number one is there is no motocross. I haven't seen any sign of it what so ever. No magazines, no shops, no clothing or branding. I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist over here. There is an extreme lack of space which would probably explain it.
The second thing is the milk is junk. The other night I went out in search of a big bottle of milk. After finding one of the supermarkets (called The Park 'n Shop) which are located underground (you have to look for a small alley way with some steps leading down) I found what looked like the milk section. I picked up a plastic bottle with a blue top which looked like milk. I paid for it and went all the way back to my hotel feeling very thirsty. I opened the bottle to take a nice big sip and it was this horrible sweet tasting liquid. One of the first things that came to my mind was that episode of the Simpson's where the mob are pumping rat milk into the school. I have no idea what rat milk tastes like but I could only imagine it would probably taste like this stuff did.

Hong Kong

Well on Thursday I'm off to Hong Kong for 6 days doing a film shoot for work. Its been on the cards for a little while but I only got confirmation today. I've got two main days of shooting, one of them involves filming the Dragon Boat race and the other involves the Renault F1 team.

This does mean that I will miss the race on Sunday and that I won't be able to place in the championship at the end of the year but I think its worth it. Expect an update while I'm over there.

Wymeswold

I had been looking forward to racing for ages and I was glad the day had finally come. I picked Cooper up in the morning and we were off. Not without a bit of drama I must add. My helmet inner pads and socks hadn't dried from the night before and so I had them all laying over the van heater vents with the heater on full blast. Cooper's dad had taken the Satnav and so we had to print out some directions and do it the old school way. We got there in the end with no problems and dry socks.

The track was a bit strange and definitely different. There were some nice jumps and some horrible ones, some hard packed areas and some soft sections. The start was crazy, it was very bumpy and it was very grassy. It was very slippery and everyone was struggling to get away smoothly. After two or three laps practice, Coops and I both felt like we were happy with the track.

Moto 1 - I had a really terrible start. After the first corner I had a quick glance back and confirmed my suspicions, I was dead last. I rode as hard as I could the whole race and managed to get up to ninth. I chased eighth place for about two laps and managed to pass him on the very last corner. Coops rode really well in his first moto, he had good start and chose some really good lines round the first few corners. He managed to get into third (in the A class) and maintain his position.

Moto 2 - This time my start was much better and I was mid pack going into the first corners. It was a really good but really bad moto for me. The good part was when I went for the 55-60 foot tabletop and cleared it. It felt so awesome and I surprised myself. I was also in seventh place and had two riders pressuring me the whole time which I was managing to hold off. Then things took a turn for the worst. For some reason I thought we were on the last lap so I started to slow down a bit. I was feeling very tired at this point. I came round to the finish and we weren't on the last lap. Immediately I felt deflated and ready to give up. We went round again and one of the riders passed me. I came close the finish thinking that it had to be over and only then was it the last lap. The second rider managed to pass me and I dropped to ninth. I felt really exausted at the end. I had made the mistake of assuming it was the end of the race and when that didn't happen I gave up in my mind and my body just followed. I knew the mistake I had made and didn't let it get to me. I also focused on the positives that occurred at the beginning of the moto.

Moto 3 - Sitting on the start line I did feel tired and I was starting to wonder if I was going to be able to ride properly for the entire race with out blowing. I said a prayer and made up my mind that I was going to ride hard. The gate dropped and I got a reasonable start again. I knew I was up there and straight away there was a four way battle going on. The battle went on for the entire race and I managed to get by two of the riders. I placed 6th, my best result so far. I also managed to clear the table top almost every lap and do a few other things that I hadn't managed to do before.

So the day ended well. I finished 8th overall and get a trophy, haha. I was really happy with the way I rode and happy to have accomplished my first goal of getting a top ten finish at a championship round. OC had a good day and finished 7th in the A class. Hannah was awesome, she marshaled in the afternoon and unfortunately got the worst position on the entire track. She came back and was absolutely covered in dust and dirt. I took her out for a nice meal later that night to thank her for all her effort.

A great day indeed!

Urban Air

Let me start by saying that I'm really psyched for the race on Sunday. I know I've said it before but I really haven't felt this way about any type of race or competition before. I'm really hoping to accomplish my first goal of getting a top 10 finish at a championship round.

I spoke to Rich Camm today from Urban Air. Urban Air is a BMX and MTB racing team that DC happens to be on. I got to know Rich through DC and through the BMX racing scene and we've helped each other out a bit. Today he offered me a place on the team as their first MX rider. So from now on I will be getting a bunch of stuff at trade prices, free race shirt printing and anything else he happens to get his hand on (you never know with Rich). He's already hooking me up with some tyres. Its always great to get a little help on journey, thanks Rich.

Sit down stand up! The return of OC

Yesterday we went back to 'the desert'. It was the return of OC (coach Cooper). He has finally finished uni and is back ready to race and ready to coach (I hope). Ryan Mason also came along for the ride.

As soon as I started riding I realised that I had forgotten how tough it was. I think riding Caistor on Sunday which is really fast and smooth made it seem worse. But that's why we go to the desert, so we can get tough, riding tough conditions.

My biggest revelation of the night was when I was riding behind Mason. I noticed how late he was sitting down when going into the corners and I decided to do the same thing. What a massive difference this made! Some of the corners at the desert have become ruts rather than berms and so you really have to pick your line well going into them. There's also big braking bumps going into every corner. By standing up until I was a third or half way into the berm it just made things so much easier. I immediately felt a lot smoother, faster and was able to conserve more energy.

We finished off the night by making a little 2 corner track where we were really able to lay the bikes down. Coops and Mason were getting their handle bars pretty close to the ground. Great session!

Caistor MX track

Also known as the Thoresway Honda Motoparc.

On Sunday I was invited by Lee from MXtrax to go to Caistor MX track for some practice. What a fantastic day it turned out to be. The weather was amazing and the track was phenomenal. I think I could easily say its now my favourite track.

The track is based in a valley and it is incredibly fast. The jumps were also very well made and certainly built for speed. The two high lights of the day for me was clearing a 60 foot up hill step up. It just felt incredible hitting a jump in 4th absolutely flat out. This is the first time I've really got a feel for the kind of airtime that's possible on a motocross bike. The second highlight was clearing the 50 foot table which was just after a corner. It took a few attempts but I nailed it in the end.

The whole day just felt really good. I felt like it was the best I have ever ridden so far. Lee gave me some tips and Tim who took us in his big van was fun to hang with.

The only downside to the day was realising that my fork seals have gone. I gave my mate Ryan Mason from Shock Tech a ring this morning and he's going to hook me up so it all good.

Talent?

I'm not a big believer in talent or at least not the way its perceived by the majority of people. I think its a cop-out for a lot of people. They subconsciously give up long before they've even given themselves a chance because they think they're not talented.

If you look at someone like Travis Pastrana who has managed to win a Supercross championship, multiple X-Games medals in freestyle and now the American Rally Car championship. I find it hard to believe that when he was born, God said, "I think I will give little Travis awesome skills in Supercross, Rally car driving and freestyle".
I think Travis could do well in anything he put his hand to, providing he had the passion and desire to do it. He probably isn't very passionate about tennis. The reason I believe people like Travis manage to be successful over and over again is because they have an over-whelming amount of self belief and desire.

Desire is the one thing I don't think you can manufacture. I've done a lot of different sports and hobbies up to now and although I have enjoyed them I don't think I've ever had an intense desire to do them. I like to think its different with motocross. Things certainly feel different compared to anything else I've done especially in the way of competition. I've never been this excited about competing before.

Do I have talent or natural ability, who knows? What I do know is that I have an intense desire to this and get good at it and maybe that's all I need to become 'talented'.

"We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents."
Eric Hoffer
1902-1983, Author of The True Believer

Its a no go

I did about 7 hours of driving this weekend and didn't get to ride my bike once. The race was cancelled due to the track being in a terrible state after all the rain we had. I'm hoping to go to Peakdale tomorrow night but the weather forecast isn't looking good.

The good thing is that after this weekend there is racing for three weeks on the trot. June is going to be awesome.

The Desert

Yesterday I finally got to go to 'The Desert'. I had been hearing about this legendary place for a while now. A lot of top British riders frequent this spot and apparently Jeremy Mcgrath rode it when he came over for the Sheffield supercross.

I picked up Ryan Mason from his house at about 5pm and we headed off. The place is in Mansfield some where and its basically an old quarry surrounded by forests. It was quite an adventurous drive getting there but the Citroen van did us proud.

There are two tracks, the main track and a smaller track. I say track, Its a series of turns which can change from day to day. We rode the main track first which is very deep sand. The straights are very bumpy and most of them could probably pass off as whoop sections. With it being deep, you've got to be on the power and lent back all the time so that your front wheel doesn't dig in.
I was quite impressed with myself at how well I coped. I did a few motos on the big circuit and didn't go down once.
We then moved to the smaller track which isn't quite as deep. I started off quite well and started going quicker each lap until I got to about the 5th lap and went down 3 times. The good thing about sand is that you don't really get hurt when you go down, its just very tiring having to pick the bike up each time.



We stayed on the small track for the rest of the time. Mason had go on the 2 stroke and after a few laps of warm-up was looking very quick. I did a few more motos and lost count of the times I came off. It was good though because I was trying different techniques in the corners and just getting more comfortable (and cocky) on the bike.

We rode until sundown and then headed home. Its definitely one of my most enjoyable sessions to date and I shall definitely be going back.

Roadie thinking

I went out last night on the road bike with a few friends. I much prefer it to running and now that the weather has improved and its not getting dark until after 9pm, I hope to do a lot more of it. Sheffield is amazing for cycling but its almost impossible to do an easy ride, its just too hilly.

I was thinking last night that road riding is such a good exercise, not just physically but mentally. In so many other sports, motocross included, its so easy to pull off when things get tough but when you're 30 miles from home and you have no other choice but to cycle back, you can't give up. What I have found through road riding is that the mind often gives up long before the body ever does. As soon as you start to think you can't do something or things are getting too tough then your body automatically follows.

When I'm out on the road and things start getting tough I don't let it get to my head or else the rest of the ride will be so much harder. Our bodies are an amazing piece of kit and we forget too easily what they're really capable of doing until we make the conscious decision not to give up but to press on and push through.

I'm going to start thinking more like this when I'm on the motocross bike.

Starting out

Yesterday I went to Worksop. I hadn't been there in a while and I thought It would be good to practice some starts. I also thought it would be a perfect place to take my friend Dan and teach him how to ride a motorcycle.

Worksop is a really big piece of land so we were able to find a nice quiet piece of flat ground where I could practice some starts and where Dan could learn to ride.

First off I tried a few starts with both feet on the ground and then a few with one foot up. My starts were definitely a lot better with both feet on the ground. I made a few improvements and Dan took some videos of me that I have now reviewed at home which will help the next time I practice them.

Dan did really well. He learnt to pull off and change gear in no time. I think he had a lot of fun. Anyone who has ridden a motocross bike will know that once you've done it once, its in your blood for life and its a feeling that you will never forget.

We finished off the day with some corner practice. Picture courtesy of DC.

SL74

Have you ever met or spoken to someone who's life completely inspires you? Its not their words but their actions that speak so loudly its almost deafening. The sheer determination and the fantastic ability to overcome the impossible to live a meaningful life that inspires the people they come into contact with to press on and overcome the hurdles in their lives which will ultimately make them stronger.

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of speaking to one of these people. Simon Lawson, number 74, motocross rider. He has lived for motocross since the age of three and he's pretty damn quick. He's also quick to help anyone out he can.
In 2001 Simon broke his back and was paralyzed from the chest down. He hasn't let this stop him from living an awesome life. He grows more and more passionate about life and riding everyday.

Simon is a big inspiration to me and has left a mark on my motocross journey. I look forward to the day when I have the priviledge of riding with him.

New bars

Before I left work yesterday it started raining quite hard and by the time I got home it was still raining hard so I decided to give Peakdale a miss and fit my new bars.

The model I got was the RC HIGH. Most bars are around 90mm high but these are 119mm , so really good if you're tall. I looked for this model in the UK and no one seemed to stock it which is why I had to order it from America.
I really like them and I can already feel a big difference just sitting on the bike. I also got to fit my new Renthal Kevlar grips that DC got me which I had been saving. I think it looks factory.

Oh yeah, Alec Townley, one of my mates has started a blog, check it out here.

How tall are you?

Yesterday was exciting. I got home and there in the bike room was a nice big box from America.
I had ordered a few things which I couldn't get hold of here in England. The two main items were a set of high Renthal twinwall bars and a Factory Effex tall seat.
When I got my bike I said I wasn't going to 'bling' it out with lots of after market parts or do any engine mods as I believe the bike in its standard form is more than enough for most riders.

However after some discussion with coach Cooper a while back, we came to the conclusion that I would definitely benefit from some higher bars and a tall seat. So we classed these as essentials.

I'm going practicing again this evening. It hasn't really stopped raining so I presume it will be the same as last Sunday. I'm up for it though, one last ride with my standard seat and bars.

Come rain or shine

Well the weather hasn't been great the last week, it rained everyday. Sunday came round and guess what... it was raining. All my gear and bike was prepped and I had a hard time making the decision whether or not to go out and practice at Peakdale.

Then an image came into my head of Ricky Carmichael at one of the outdoor nationals last year. He made history when the weather took a turn for the worst and he ended up lapping the entire field. While everyone was struggling in the mud he was cruising round.

Its so easy to only go out when the conditions are perfect but I know there will come a time when the weather takes a turn for the worst at a race and I want to be prepared. Needless to say Peakdale was in a pretty bad state. Some of the sections were very deep and some of the ruts were so deep my footpegs were catching. I really enjoyed it though and I think at the end of the session I was definitely a better rider. So from now on I will never let the weather put me off. I dont care if its raining or shining, its all practice at the end of the day.

On friday and saturday I went on a little road trip down to London with DC. It was a really enjoyable trip and we had some great conversations. Its funny how you can travel with some people for hours on end and you will always have something to talk about. I guess its just a by product of great friendship. Its a really good feeling to know I have friends I can count on come rain or shine.

Secret Goals

I got my results for the Pilsworth race today and I actually finished 12th in my last race and 12th overall. I was really happy.

I think setting goals is definitely important when you really want to make a success out of something no matter what level you're on. One of my first goals is to finish top 10 in a YMSA meeting. I really believe that will happen very soon.

I do have some much higher goals though, however I think its wise not too share them just yet. Mostly out of self preservation as I think people might think I'm crazy if I had to share them at this point. Its important that I have them though as they will be a great driving force with in my journey. I think if you place to much focus on the smaller short term goals, it actually takes longer to overcome them because they become the end point or conclusion to your journey.

I worked with a guy called Marc for just over a year and he was someone I had a lot of respect for. He was a really good business man and visionary. He once shared one of his business goals which was absolutely huge. I had never heard of a goal that was that ambitious from anyone I knew personally. By the time he finished I was pretty convinced that he could possibly reach it and then he said, "at the end of the day, even if I don't fully accomplish it in my lifetime, if I get any where close, that would be awesome". Aim High!

There is a lot more behind this and I will definitely go into it more in future posts but for now I have some short term goals which my friends and family (and readers of this blog) know about and then I have my secret goals.

Here is a poster I got given years ago. It still hangs in my room to this day.

Pilsworth

I went to Pilsworth not knowing what to expect. No one seemed to know what the track was like and there was no coach Cooper present but I was keen to get another race under my belt.

I found the place easily (thanks to satnav). I pulled up next to a big white van and it happened to be Ben Trumen's van who I had been speaking to on the MXUK forums the week before. His dad walked up to me with a big smile and said in a thick Yorkshire accent, "You that tall New Zealander our Ben's been talking to on t'interweb". I just nodded and smiled. Ben and his family were really sound and his dad later apologised for calling me a New Zealander. It was really good to have some friendly people to talk to during the day.

I walked the track and it looked really fun. The track was quite tight and there were some really steep off camber turns. There was a really nice step down jump which I was able to clear in practice and then there was a massive step down which went into a big bomb hole. I had to slow down a bit for this in order to do a small jump off the take off onto the platform below and then another jump into the bomb hole. The good guys were just clearing the platform and jumping straight into the bomb hole.

My first heat went really well. With it being a championship round there were a lot more riders then there were at my first race, about 20 plus. I felt good the whole race and was really surprised how much my fitness had improved. I ended up battling with a guy on a crf250 and on the last lap I pulled an awesome block pass on him on the second last corner. I finished 14th.

In my second heat my start was terrible and I was right at the back. I felt good again and and just tried to ride as smooth as possible. After two laps I caught and passed two riders and then went down in the next corner. I got up as quickly as I could without stalling the bike. I managed to catch them again and pass them. This time I never went down and managed to catch another two riders before the end of the race. Again I was really impressed with my fitness.

I have to thank my girlfriend Hannah for coming to watch me and marshaling. Marshaling isn't the greatest job in the world especially when its cold. I went to go stand with her before my last race. Her spot was just opposite the big bomb hole step down I had mentioned earlier. While I was standing with her I knew deep down that I needed to have a crack at it and if I went home without trying it I would be annoyed with myself.

My last heat came and I was still feeling good. I felt a bit nervous knowing that I had to try the big step down. The gate dropped and I got my best start of the day. I settled down chasing someone. After two laps of chasing I was right behind him and my opportunity came in the corner just before the big step down. I came up next to him and pinned it. I hit the take off as fast as I could and passed the rider in the air whilst clearing the step down. It was such a good feeling. I must have easily gained a second or two every lap by doing that. I managed to catch and pass another rider by the end and finished in 13th place.

The day was a complete success and my confidence has gone up no end. I felt so much better compared to my first race at Sherwood. I still can't believe how much fun it is. I can't wait for the next race. Ben won all his heats so he was super stoked. I'm not sure what my overall position was as the results page had either been nicked or blown away. I'll be able to check on the net soon.

Bolehills prep

I spent this morning making sure everything was prepped for tomorrow's race. I went and bought a small tool chest so that I could take some tools to the race. Up to now, coops has always had his tool box to take along.

After I had finished getting everything ready I rolled down to Bolehills BMX track to take in some sunshine and see how my injured hand was feeling. My hand still isn't 100%, I'm still struggling to hold on with my small right finger but its a lot better then it was. Hopefully the adrenaline should get me through tomorrow. I felt good on the BMX today and even jumped the first 4 on my brother's mini racing BMX.

I'm pretty excited about the race. Its another chance to improve. A quote from Mr Soichiro Honda, “Racing improves the breed.”

Lets go racing

Well yesterday after speaking to Coops it looked as though I might not be riding this weekend. He is still too busy with work and his bike isn't running either. Mason has gone to Vegas to catch the last round of the Supercross (bastard) and Jack still has a broken collar bone. My two closest practice tracks are closed.
So last night the thought came to me, I might as well go racing. There is a YMSA (the club that I am apart of) race this weekend at a track called Pilsworth. No one I know has ever ridden there so I have no idea what the track is like. We'll just have to wait and see. Lets go racing!

A Lack of Motivation

This week has been the first week since I got my motocross bike that I have found it really hard to do fitness training.

Its really strange and I wonder why it happens sometimes. My main motivation to get fit is so that I can become a better rider. My passion for riding is still going strong, I can't wait to ride this weekend, yet for some reason I'm finding it hard to get out and train.

Well this evening I managed to get myself out the door and go for a nice hard run. I have a route that I normally run and time myself. Its quite hilly and really gets my heart rate up. A third of the way into the run I felt quite tired and slow and my first thought was that I had lost some fitness. Half way through the run I checked my stop watch and it didn't look too bad, much better than I thought it would be. By this time I managed to find a nice rhythm and set a good pace right until the end. I checked my finishing time and I had beaten my best time for that course by 13 seconds. I did some skipping sessions after the run and finished it off with some light powerballing to loosen up my hand.

I now feel motivated to keep training again.

High sided

Practice was interesting yesterday. Coops couldn't make it and Simon who was supposed to be going never turned up.

My first few sessions went really well. My corner speed had improved once again and this time out I seemed to be in the right gear most of the time which made my exit speed much higher.
I felt even more comfortable jumping and I've started moving my body weight around whilst in the air which has allowed me to nose the bike in better when landing on the down side of jumps. I also learned to change gears in the air now which saves a bit of time especially when there is a corner straight after a jump.

My fourth session out again felt really good. There is a hard packed down hill off-camber corner which I was taking faster and faster. On about the 3rd lap I came through and the bike high sided and flicked me off. The bike did a flip and landed on top of me. I managed to crawl out from underneath the bike and pick the bike up. My levers were all out of position and my throttle was sticking so I headed back to the pits. My right hand was in a bit of pain and when I pulled my glove off I realised that one of my nails had been ripped off which wasn't nice.

After straightening up my levers and fixing the throttle I taped up my finger and headed out for one last session just to make sure the crash hadn't knocked my confidence. I put in 2 good laps which I was happy with and then decided to head home.

All in all I was stoked with the session. I felt like I had improved yet again and I was happy that my first proper crash didn't seem to phase me. As far as the Leatt brace goes, there's not much to report. I put it on at the start of practice and pretty much forgot it was there.

The Leatt arrived

Well my Leatt brace arrived on Friday. I am generally quite impressed with it so far. It seems to be a well made quality product.
It comes with a few accessories which allow you to adjust the size of it so I spent some time today making adjustments and trying to get the best fit with my body armour. I have had to modify the back of my armour a bit but nothing major.

Tomorrow I'm off to Peakdale again so I will post a full rundown of the practice session as well as my thoughts on the Leatt brace.

3 seconds

Practice went really well last night. Unfortunately Cooper had some trouble with the chain on his bike so he decided to leave it behind and just come and do some coaching.

Just a quick side note... I mentioned in a previous post that we had changed the jetting and my bike was running much, much better. When I shared my settings on an Internet forum some goon was adamant that my bike was way to lean. Well last night at practice whilst Coops was warming my bike up, some guy came over and complimented on how good the bike sounded. His son raced and he seemed like he knew a thing or two so it felt really good to hear him say that.

Coops brought the stop watch along for the very first time so we could start gauging speed and improvement over the session and in the future.

My first session out felt really good. I felt faster and smoother than I had ever been at Peakdale. After a few timed laps I came in and was averaging about 1:37 a lap. We talked over a few things and I went back out, trying to concentrate on the 3 things I had said in my previous post.

The next session didn't feel as fast as it could have been mostly due to me not being in the right gear coming out of corners. I think this happened because I was entering the corners with more speed and in a higher gear. I came in and the stopwatch said 1:36 average.

Coops said that if I could get 1:34 average then that would be a massive improvement. I knew that this was definitely possible if I made sure I was in the right gear coming out of the corners. I went out and did exactly that. I noticed the front wheel coming up a lot more whilst exiting the corners. This was a sure sign that I was accelerating harder than I ever had before. After a good session I came back in and got a big thumbs up from coach cooper. I managed to get the 1:34 average.

The last session was cancelled due to another rider having a big crash on the hill but I was stoked with my 3 second improvement and was happy to go home.

Peakdale tonight!

For the first time this season, Peakdale practice track will be opening from 6pm-9pm this evening and I'm going. This is great because after racing on Saturday I just can't wait to get back on the bike.

I have 3 objectives for practice tonight:

1. No Coasting. I either want to be braking or accelerating at all times and not free wheeling at any point.

2. Smooth acceleration. When coming out the corners I want to roll the throttle on as smooth as possible to maximise traction.

3. Accelerate earlier. I want to commit more to leaning the bike over and accelerating earlier out of the corners.

All of these of course are easier said then done and will take many years to master but I think having a focus like this for each practice will definitely help.

The Leatt Brace

While I was out in America, Mike from Motodrive told me about a video that ex-pro rider David Bailey had released. For those of you that don't know, David's spinal cord was damaged in a crash which would leave him paralyzed from the waist down. He released this video in which he appeals to the top riders to start wearing a newly designed form of neck protection called the Leatt Brace.

After watching the video and thinking long and hard about it, I have decided to purchase one. They are expensive but its still half the price of a good set of knee braces. I was saving for a set of knee braces but I have decided that my neck and spinal cord are more important than my knees. It should hopefully arrive this week so I will obviously post and tell you what I think of it.
I don't know anyone personally that has purchased one yet, so I hope that by me buying one, I can give my friends the chance to try it out and hopefully encourage them to do the same.

Race one

My first race was a real success. I felt good in practice and I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be. There wasn't the usual amount of people racing with it being a non-championship round so they decided to run the A and B class together. I think there were about 26 of us on the line and about half in each class.

Moto 1: My first proper race. The start was crazy, out of pure habit I selected first gear to start instead of second. I'm sure any experienced racer reading this will know that this was a big mistake. Needless to say I nearly flipped the bike on the start. So not the greatest of starts but people got stuck on the first corner and I managed to get a nice clear line round the outside which took me from last to mid pack. My first few laps felt a little stiff and as expected the arm pump kicked in fairly quick. I managed to loosen up a bit by the end but it was definitely the toughest ride I had done so far.

Moto 2: This time I made sure I was in second gear for the start. I was much faster out the gate and was mid pack going into the first corner. There was some pretty big pile ups in the first two corners and I managed to avoid both of them. I felt a lot more confident in this race right from the start and I could tell already that I was smoother and faster. Towards the end of the race another rider on a Kawasaki slowly caught up to me and managed to pass me but then I stuck on his tail and applied some pressure. After half a lap he went down on one of the corners so I passed him and gained a comfortable gap which allowed me to relax a bit. On my last lap I made a mistake and went down on a tight corner. I picked up my bike as quickly as I could. All I could think of was the Kawasaki rider passing me again. Luckily the bike never stalled so I was able to get going quickly and finish without the Kawasaki passing me.

Moto 3: My start was similar to moto 2 and I felt good for the first lap. Then the arm pump set in bad and I began to feel really tired. After a few laps I really felt like pulling in but I was going to stick it out no matter what. One of my goals was to finish all the races. The whole time during the 3rd moto, I thought I was in last place which I think made it even harder. When I finished and came in absolutely shattered, I was relieved to find out that I was actually ahead of a few people.

So the day was a complete success. The track was the toughest I have ridden to date. It got so bumpy going in and out of every single corner. By the last few laps of each race I was so tired I wanted to sit down on the straights but you couldn't because the bumps were so big. It was fantastic to have my family and Hannah come out and support me. Townley also came down in his new Golf GTI which was awesome. Having them there cheering on the side helped me so much, especially on the last few laps of each race where I was barely hanging on, seeing them would give me that extra burst of energy.

I never looked at my results the whole day. Just before prize giving, Coops checked out the board and came back with some good news. I finished 7th overall in the B class and guess what... top 10 get a trophy. So at prize giving I got to walk up and collect my first ever motocross trophy. After collecting it, a distant memory came back to me. I remember at the age of 7 or 8 watching my older cousin collect a trophy after one of his motocross races and I remember thinking to myself, "man... one day I want a trophy with a little dirt biker on top, a motocross trophy!"