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.