Finally an update!!

I know its been long but there hasn't been a great deal to report. My main focus at the moment is building strength through weight training. My program with DC is going extremely well, infact I've never had such good progress in strength training before.

I've been riding the XC bike when I can and avoiding the mammoth 6 hours rides as I don't think they help towards any of my goals and probably hinder them. So I've been keeping the rides nice and short (under 2 hours). DC and I had a fantastic ride on Sunday morning where we both felt faster in different parts than ever before!



A few weeks ago I had an awesome weekend at Finningly motocross track where Steve Peat, World downhill champ, organised an event called the Battle Royal. It was probably one of the best riding weekends I've had with amazing weather, good friends and an awesome track. It reminded me why I love the sport so much.



I'll try and keep the updates a bit more regular and report back on my training progress! Adios!

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki

I got some new plastics and graphics for the KX250F a while back and finally got round to taking some pictures. In my opinion the Pro Circuit Kawasakis are the best 250F's in the world when it comes to performance and looks for that matter. I'll probably never ride or own a genuine Pro Circuit bike but I can put the stickers on and pretend :)

Mountain Bike Action

Well I said I would be back with an update on the mountainbiking. I'm sorry its taken so long but I wanted to do a post with some pictures. Unfortunately I kept forgetting to take my camera and then when I did finally take my camera I forgot to take photos... oh well.

The mountain biking has been really good fun. so far I've ridden the peaks, cannock and wharncliffe forest. Some aspects of it I feel I've done fairly well and others I've found quite hard. Wharncliffe I found particularly frustrating in places. The ride that cooper took us on had loads of tree roots and it had been raining quite a bit which made it very sketchy in places.

I've found the riding in the peaks to be the most fun so far. There are some really technical sections with some tough hills and them some fast downhill single track. We've been doing one particular loop which Cooper showed me on my first ride and I have found it really fun everytime.

Something I have found is everytime we go out someone seems to have a fairly nasty wipeout. Cooper and Dan have both been over the bars and when we were at Wharncliffe Cooper had a horrific crash on the downhill section. Luckily everyone has been okay.

I kept wondering when my turn was coming. Well my turn came on Tuesday evening. I was following Dan and came to a root section with a step. We had a good pace on and Dan seemed to get over alright. I followed and next thing I knew I was over the handle bars. Unfortunately I landed on a sharp rock directly on my right thigh. It felt like someone had wacked me really hard with a baseball bat.
I carried on riding in the hope that it would subside but it seemed to just get worse. Whats followed is 2 days of pain and stiffness in my left leg and a massive bruise.

I'm feeling a bit better today. I just hope its okay for the mx race on Sunday.

New member of the family

Last night I went to pickup ANOTHER bike! Haha I'm still quite far off John the german's bike count so no need to get worried yet.

Now I've always had something against mountain biking and a lot of my riding friends are going to give me quite a bit of jip now that I've finally aquired one. Deep down I think they'll be happy though.

I think what started to change my mind was when Cooper purchased what you would class as an 'all mountain' bike. They are perfect for around here with the peaks and various forests we have. I honestly thought he would find it boring after flying through the air on his motocross bike and his bmx bike but one year on and he's still going on about how great it is.

So one year on I have finally taken the plunge and purchased an 'all mountain' bike. I figured if Cooper thinks its rad then it can't be half bad and it will be great fitness training for motocross. I'm going on a ride tonight so I will report back and let you know it goes.

Kitchen nightmare

Argggggh! I planned to go practice today but whilst doing the washing up, I cut a chunk out of my finger on the food processor blade. Its taken ages to stop bleeding and I think if any pressure is exerted at the moment it will just burst open. So no riding today, oh well, I think some times things like this happen for a reason.

Finningly Race

It was my first race back in about 10 months and DAMN was it hard! The weather was great and the track seemed to be running great too. There was an A, B and C class and every class was stacked with a full gate of 40 plus riders. Being my first race back in about 10 months I would have gone for the C class but Mason registered me in the B class before I even got there. I'm glad he did this as there is no better time than the present to step up. Its easy to stay down and make it easy on yourself but you're never going to improve unless you move up.


Moto 1 came round and I was psyched. I managed to get round the first corner in 3rd place which felt amazing. I stayed top 3 for a couple of laps but then I tired and dropped off very quickly. I was stoked as I had the speed to run up front, I just needed to work on fitness.

By the end of the first moto I was asking myself why I put myself through it all. I felt absolutely exhausted. Luckily there was a decent break between motos which gave me some time to recover.


My last 2 motos were similar to the first. I had a good start but then dropped off quickly due to overall lack of fitness and strength. I did however learn how to seat bounce properly. It was the first time I had really needed to do it. Another rider noticed that I was struggling to clear a jump and told me what to do. I started to do it in the last moto and by the end of it I was just about clearing the jump. Its a great feeling when you learn something new. I ended up getting 13th overall for the day which I thought was excellent considering the amount of riders and the class I was racing in. I'm also confident that will improve drastically when I get fit again.


2 Days on and I'm still feeling the pain. My left hand has four blisters on it and one of them feels like a 2nd degree burn as it has gone through a couple layers of skin. My thighs ache, my arms ache and my cheeks ache from a big ol' motocross smile.

First practice back

Last night was awesome. To finally sling my leg over the bike again and crack that throttle to hear the roar of the KX250F felt amazing. I'm feeling a bit stiff today but I'm still buzzing.

I did a total of 3 motos all of varying length, my first being the shortest. Although I felt really good it didn't take long for the dreaded arm pump to set in. I think this is by far the hardest thing when you've had some time off the bike. I'm definitely not up to scratch fitness wise as I haven't been doing much physical activity at all but it didn't seem to affect me much. My lungs and and the rest of my body felt okay but my forearms felt like they were going explode.

Theres nothing I can do about this except ride which is a good thing because thats all I want to do at the moment.

Apart from the arm pump my speed and technique felt good. Bring on racing this Sunday!

Lets go ride

After a week of hard work we've managed to get most of our stuff in the new house, more importantly the garage is sorted which means all my bike stuff has been moved across and is ready to go.

Mason has just taken delivery of a new KXF fo-fiddy and so he is amped to go ride. The timing has been great as we're both ready to get down to some racing. Speaking of which it looks like we'll be racing on Sunday. I haven't ridden in a quite a while and not raced since last year but I figure the best way to get back into it is to just go and do a race.

Luckily tonight I'll get some practice in at Peakdale, I can't WAIT!

Moving House

No riding taking place at the moment as we're moving into our new house. I'm really looking forward to having a nice big garage to store and work on the bikes, it will be a refreshing change from 'the bike room'.

So hopefully all things going well we should be in by the end of July. As soon as I get the chance I'll be hitting a practice track, its been way to long. I also plan to do some racing before the year is out too. Regular updates to follow!

Top of the podium

On the 5th of July 2008 I got my biggest win yet. Its been a long time coming and I couldn't have done it without the support of some great people around me. My main man Daniel Clifford was on true form through out the event and the lead up to it. With all his hard work I was able to relax and focus on the task ahead.

The day couldn't have gone any better as the team and I went 1-1. What followed was an awesome after party and then a week long holiday to relax and recover. My greatest win of all time never to be bettered.

Arrrghhh busy busy times!

I'm so busy at the moment with trying to organise stuff for the wedding and doing work stuff that unfortunately riding has taken a bit of a back seat. I did expect this to happen though but after the 5th of July (and honeymoon) I should hopefully be back on it. Mason had his pins out yesterday and the op was a success so he should be riding soooooon!

Dan Clifford of Urban Air is currently in China for the world champs, good luck bro, bring home the W plate!

In the meantime, I saw this video this morning and it literally had me in tears! I think my work colleagues thought I was on something.

BMX is back!

Well yesterday I drove home from work and the weather was amazing, zero wind and the warm afternoon sun. I hadn't planned to do anything because the weather forecast said it was going to be pissing it down but it would have been wrong to stay indoors.

So I dusted off the old Fit S3 BMX and rolled down to Bolehills. Its been months since I rode my BMX properly and I actually felt a little nervous. That soon changed as I cruised down crookes road and pulled off one of my longest manuals to date. Once at the track I felt smoother than ever. Its great when you take a break from something and then actually feel like you have improved on your return.

Needless to say, this summer BMX is back... for me anyway.

A game of patience

As you might have seen from my previous posts I have been extremely lucky to have been given the use of a trials bike which I am really enjoying and think it will help with my overall bike handling ability.

Now when this all started I had no plan to start competing but James has been really enthusiastic and he was keen for us both to do a competition. Now the racer in me can never say no to a bit of head to head so naturally I agreed.

The course consisted of 10 different sections of which we had to do four laps, so we had to do each section 4 times. Some of them were quite easy and others were near on impossible. There was one particular hill climb which proved to be very difficult as it seemed impossible to get enough traction. Impossible until a more experienced rider sailed up it of course. After attacking it a good few times I was stuck for ideas. I tried it slow, I tried it fast, in a high gear, in a low gear and I still couldn't make it up.

The competition between James and I was very close and by the end of it we didn't know for sure who had won between us but we knew it was close. I was leading for the most part until I started to get a little cocky and made some stupid mistakes. One thing I realised is that trials is about patience and consistency and about giving each section the respect it deserves.

As you can see from the photos, it was also an opportunity to try out my new race gear provided by Urban Air. Trials folk aren't down with Fox and Tech 10 boots so as you can imagine I got some funny looks. However I was proud to be a motocross racer and for people to know it.

We got the results back on Monday and James and I were tied for 5th. How crazy is that. After doing 40 sections we had exactly the same score. A great day overall, thanks to Cooper for coming along and taking some photos.

A change up

So hopefully you will have noticed the change up on the old blog. I was inspired by DC to explore some of the customisation features here on blogspot.

The blog is now entitled 'To the stop...'. I love this phrase, it seems to get me going in some way. Ultimately thats what this whole thing is about, the reason we train and practice is so that we can ride a dirt bike faster. How do we go faster? Simple, twist the right hand grip until it won't go any more... if only it was that easy.

The next step

After having some beautiful weather in the week it all went to pot on Saturday. I decided to take the trials bike out again. We managed to get about five hours of riding in on Sunday and I think we definitely took things to another level. There were a few sections which actually got my heart pounding. Its such a good feeling when you feel all nervous just before you do something and then you attack it and conquer it. You get a similar feeling in BMX or Motocross when you go for a big jump that you have never done before.

Another thing that made me smile this weekend was South African rider Tyla Rattray going 1-1 at the first GP. I was checking out his site just last week where he was saying that he likes to get out on the trials bike for some cross training. Well done Tyla, lets see you get that championship this year!


More great news is that Rich at Urban-Air has hooked me up with some awesome Fox kit this year but I will be doing a dedicated post on this when I get some good pictures of the kit. Thanks Rich!

Birthday weekend

Last weekend was my birthday and it turned out to be a pretty awesome one. Friday night we went out for a meal and it reminded me once again how awesome my friends are.

I was hoping to ride Peakdale on the Sunday but the weather forecast kept saying it was going to turn pretty nasty on Sunday afternoon so I decided to go and meet James for a bit of trials riding instead. The weather turned out to be really good so I could have gone to Peakdale but I had a really good time riding the trials bike. We started riding at around 11am and finished after 4. I couldn't believe how much we had improved over the course of the day.
There were obstacles that we were struggling to do in the morning but when we came back to them later in the afternoon they were really easy. There were also a few obstacles that I thought I wouldn't be doing for a while yet but then found myself having a go and completing them. Although James rode trials as a kid he is still getting back into it after a long time off the bike so he is a good man for me to chase. He's super enthusiastic and even has some competitions for us planned. I'm always up for a compo or race so we'll see what happens.
I think I'll definitely be investing in a open face helmet as I found my full face a bit restrictive.
After we were done James sent the trials bike home with me to maintain and look after, so the bike room has yet another addition to it. Thanks James!

I'm still a motocross racer through and through but there's no denying that trials riding can be really fun not to mention the various bike skills it teaches you. I also read that Ryan Villopoto has a trials bike that he plays with at his house so even the pros are lovin' it!

Trials and Tribulations

I had a good Easter weekend even though the weather wasn't very good for most of it. Unfortunately the race was cancelled due to the severe weather which was a bit disappointing but at this time of year its what you have to expect.

Monday we had some awesome weather so my brother and I were able to go practice for about four hours. I also met up with James who brought his trials bike along which I was able to have a go on. It was different to what I expected but definitely quite fun. James has a spare trials bike which he says I can use when I want to go trials riding with him. I'll definitely be taking him up on his offer as I think this type of riding will benefit my MX skills in some way. Don't think I'll be rocking a one piece though :)

Feeling Strong

My first race is on Sunday and I'm feeling nice and strong. I went for a run yesterday and beat my PB for that course by 3 minutes which I think was quite a lot.

I have decided to ride NYMX instead of YMSA this year for a number of reasons. First of all the adult classes are a lot fuller so 40 rider motos are pretty common. The other big reason is that you don't need to provide a marshal. I might still ride the odd YMSA race as they do go to some good tracks this year and obviously I have some friends there but for this year I'll be focusing on NYMX.

Today I plan on resting and then tomorrow Ryan and I have been invited to ride a private track which should be awesome. It will give Ryan a chance to get back into riding again after his injury and it will be a nice warm up for me before the race on Sunday.

Nigel Smith Appeal

Wow its been ages since I did my last post. Things have been super busy. Lots of things have been happening within the world of motocross and outside. Instead of doing one massive long catchup post I'm going to do a few this week so we can get on top of things.



First and most importantly my good friend Lee Smith is raising money for his bro who was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. This is an awesome family who have been involved with motocross for probably well over 25 years. They are super friendly and Lee has always helped me out where can.

Lee has decided to organise a few fund raising events and do some events himself in order to raise money. Lee is still recovering with a bad shoulder injury that he picked up last year whilst racing and is still due to under go surgery. In spite of this he has decided to take on the 2008 White Peak Marathon, which is held on the 17th of May. This isn't just a regular marathon this is 27 miles of running hell. It is purely off road and as the name suggests it goes through the peak district.

Lee has setup a page here where you can donate and see how the Smith's are doing. I'm confident Lee will complete the marathon and they will reach their fund raising target. Good luck mate!

Lean forward

I went to Finningly Moto Park on saturday with Mason in the Shocktech race truck. He had some people to see and I had some motos to do... it was a perfect symphony... or something.

My first moto out I felt pretty quick for 3 laps and then the arm pump set in really bad. I think it was a combination of not warming up properly and riding way too tense.
My second moto was much better and I managed to ride consistently for 20 minutes. I felt really comfortable on the jumps which was one of my main reasons for going to the practice track. I feel I really need to work on my arms and upper body strength/fitness as I feel they are my biggest downfall at the moment. My legs, lungs, heart and breathing all feel strong.



Mason gave me a few tips. He said I need to loosen up loads. He also told me to lean forward whilst accellerating in order to save my arms. Now that I think about it, it is something that all the pro's seem to do when they are under hard accelleration. This definitely helped me in my last moto of the day especially when the track was at its worst. I'm going to continue working on this technique.



So my goal now is to work on my upper body fitness and to obviously work on technique in order to conserve energy and not tire my upper body too quickly.

Mental toughness

I'm at the beginning of my third week of interval training. Now I've already said that its by far the hardest type of training I've ever done but I'm starting to believe that it doesn't just make you physically stronger and fitter but it actually makes you mentally tougher.
In reality the intervals will never get easier because when you're training with a heart rate monitor you're aiming for a specific heart rate. Therefore the fitter you get the harder you pedal in order to reach your target heart rate but for some reason it still feels easier. I think this is the result of the mind getting stronger and more resistant to the pain.

I had a good day of riding on Sunday and this Saturday I'm hoping to get to a proper track. I'm really looking forward to getting some air time again.

Going to California...

The Led Zeppelin song wondered in and out of mind the entire weekend. I have a lot of time for English weather but this weekend was one of those weekends when you start thinking of ways to escape it all and just move out to the home of motocross where world class tracks are as common as the warm summer days.

As you might have guessed, no riding took place this weekend which is frustrating with the start of the season getting closer. I guess it did allow me some time of rest after last week's training and this week I have been pushing extra hard during each training session to make up for the weekend.

The weather is looking good for this weekend so fingers crossed we'll be out tearing up the track and going faster than ever before!

Man I love this sport!

I've been watching the Supercross series religiously every week and I find it gets me so amped for the up coming season. I'm busy looking into getting some new graphics for the bike and some new boots. Muhammad Ali Once said...
"To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are."
I love that quote because I think its so true. Its amazing what a new piece of kit can do to your confidence.

Tonight, Mason is bringing round the new Great Outdoors dvd called "The Formula". I've been wanting to watch it for ages so I can't wait. Just watching the trailer makes me all warm inside and makes me realise how much I love this sport.

Train train train... just balls to the wall

The last week has been pretty intense but the training has gone well. The training plan which I have a aquired was written especially for Motocross as a pre-season plan.

The plan consists of quite a bit of running and then interval sessions on a stationary bike. Instead of getting a stationery bike I went and bought a turbo trainer so I could use my road bike. Its a Tacx Satori and its nice and solid, it also comes with a carry bag incase you want to take it to the races to use it to warm up.



The goal of this phase of the training plan is to get the body used to pain through lactate tolerance and removal sessions... and man is it painful. I think the interval training is the hardest training I've ever done to the point it actually makes me sick to the stomach. The thing is, I'm certain that this part of the training will make the biggest difference to my riding performance, so its gotta be done.

Other than that I've just been running every other day. Running is something I've never particularly enjoyed but lately I have been enjoying it. Haha maybe its because the interval training is so horrible, running feels like heaven.

South Africa

This is a week overdue but things have been hectic since I got back.

South Africa was a fantastic trip. I took Hannah with me which was awesome. I could write a few pages on the trip but I'll keep it sweet and short.

Our first week was spent in Jeffrey's Bay which is home to one of the most famous surf spots in the world. I managed to get some epic surfing in and as the sun was setting on the 31st of December I asked Hannah to marry me. She said yes, BAM!



It was great seeing all my family again and spending time with them. I also got to see some old friends. Ryan van Zyl and Daniel were truly on form and we ended up having some rad times together.



The training regime definitely took a massive hit although I did manage to get quite a lot of surfing in which I'm sure helped or at least maintained my fitness levels. I also didn't get to ride as much as I wanted to but I'm sure I'll be doing a lot of that in the months to come.

So its on with the next part of my training program which incorporates cardio and interval training. This is what separates the men from the boys, so they say but more on that later.