I’m in a good frame of mind following the final flyaway races of the season. 45 points from two races is a good haul, although it’s a pity they don’t throw in an extra few points for each lap led! I was in 1st position for all but two laps in the last two rounds, unfortunately one of those laps was the most important of all but I’ll talk about that later. Right now I’m headed to Faro to meet with my team for a general discussion at the mid point of the season. I was looking forward to a few weeks off but it’s not looking like I’ll get much time kicking back. Everyone seems to want a piece of me right now which can only be a good thing I guess. I flew straight from the US to Dublin for a Red Bull PR event, I’ll spend the weekend in Portugal before attending another PR day in England next Tuesday and from there I will fly to Austria for, yes, more PR. Next weekend will be my first at home since March so I’m hitting the North Coast with my buddies to watch Stew (my web designer) in a wake boarding comp. I sure am looking forward to it!
America was fun, my stay in California and Utah was very relaxed. I didn’t suffer any jet lag whatsoever on the trip out and immediately tucked into a hefty slice of cycling and motocross (not to mention cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory!). I spent the weekend with Chaz Davies at Josh Hayes place while the landlord himself was in another state with his wife Melissa. On Saturday Chaz and I went to Glen Helen to watch the opening round of the AMA motocross and it was incredible. We got so pumped after watching the action that we took the crossers out on Sunday and Tuesday to try and emulate what we’d seen! Succeed we did not. I was scheduled to fly to Salt Lake City on Monday morning but Josh arrived home on Sunday night and persuaded me to stay til Wednesday. It was a good move as the three of us had some fun. We enjoyed a long cycle on Monday, even if my arms didn’t agree! They got roasted as you can see from the pic.
Right by Josh’s house in Oceanside there’s a little coffee shop called The Cup and they sell small and large portions of heaven. They call it coffee but it’s much more than that. Further down the road we’d nip into Red Cup for frozen yoghurt and this place allows you to serve yourself a portion of heaven. It’s a healthy alternative to ice cream but Chaz and I would defeat the object by loading it up with brownie chunks and M&M’s.
I travelled to the Miller circuit on Wednesday prior to the event and I like what I seen. I ran at the front all weekend and slotted into 2nd on the grid. In warm up I made a silly error and lost my preferred bike to the gravel trap. I had to ride my spare for the race but it felt identical to be honest. I led the entire race but I couldn’t shake the three guys off my tail; we’d altered the chassis setting by just half a millimetre for the race and it was enough to cost me a few tenths per lap. It just goes to show how well we’ve got this bike working when half a millimetre proves costly.
If you’ve been following me on ‘twitter’ you’ll have read that once I watched the race back I wasn’t best impressed with Kenan’s move. At the time I thought it wasn’t a terrible move but when I seen how far back he came from and how tight he entered I realised that he was out of control and wouldn’t have made the turn. He was able to use me as a berm which kept him from running off the track but he was damn lucky not to take us both down. Cal and I have been racing head to head all year yet neither of us have made a move like that so I think it’s nigh time we taught Kenan a lesson. It’s simply a case of respect which Cal and I have for each other having battled together all season back in 2006. Kenan on the other hand doesn’t seem to share that feeling. He may come to before the season’s out though.
Before I go I should let you all in on a little secret; I’ve almost been around for a quarter of a century now. I’ve just celebrated my 23rd birthday which was really nice back home with my twin brother, family and friends. It was the first time Eamonn and I have been together on our birthday for six or seven years, so long ago I can’t remember! That’s all for now folks, I’ll stop by again before Misano. Enjoy the sunshine!
Eugene
