Fresh start
By TMX Archives on 12th Jan 04
IT'S THAT time of year again, the time of year when everyone gets a fresh start and a renewed hope for victory. IT'S THAT time of year again, the time of year when everyone gets a fresh start and a renewed hope for victory. Every factory team makes so many improvements to the engine and suspension that the riders on every team feel that there's no possible way for any other team to have duplicated anything.Even on Christmas day, you'll find the factory supercross tracks (all within sight of one another) packed full of determined riders dedicated to not missing a single workout session or any opportunity to prepare for the season.Wild rumours in the pits circulate about how Kevin Windham is five-seconds-a-lap faster than anyone else on his team, that some new kid from the amateur ranks is destroying the veterans and that everyone seems to be on the ground more than upright.With Ricky Carmichael out and Chad Reed unable to properly prepare for the opener due to his shoulder injury it seems that this might just be the season where the 250 class is actually as interesting as the usual chaos of the 125s.Well at least the 125cc West region should remain a knock-down, drag-out series. With James not moving to the 250s and headed to the 125cc East region he'll most likely give everyone a riding lesson. All the true fans will stay and watch him in amazement with an ear-to-ear grin as he laps just about everyone. But those who just came to see a good race will probably head up to the popcorn stand and get ready for what we all hope will be an epic 250cc battle between Windham, Reed, Ezra Lusk and anyone else out of the field of riders who are more than capable of getting into the mix with just a little luck.But even with James in the east I won't be surprised if Davi Milsaps gets in the mix. Rumours from the Suzuki track say that he rides with a natural ability that few have ever seen on a supercross track. Unfortunately, he's apparently already smashed all my old records there for the most big crashes in a single day (when Davi was 12 years old and still on an 85 he jumped a 130-foot lake through the trees before X Games Big Air champion Kenny Bartram did it - as a matter of fact, Kenny still claimed his 125 wouldn't make the distance, even after witnessing Milsaps heel-click over it with ease)!Speaking of Cowboy Kenny, he finally decided not to be scared of back-flips and went for a 90-footer off an insane dirt kicker that was about 15 feet farther than the one Metz flipped last year. As a result, Kenny is now recovering from a blown-out hip and is once again scared to death of the flip. He's looking into trying rally car racing where he recently witnessed me crash, flip end-over-end, land on the wheels without a scratch and finish the race. Gotta love roll cages and five-point harnesses!Not being able to find a single place to drive my car in the state of Maryland due to pesky neighbours who consider dirt trails to be eyesores, I've been forced to stay with friends in Oklahoma. Everywhere you go, people seem to have a huge field and plenty of farm equipment out back, just in case I need to tear anything up to make a track. As a matter of fact, just yesterday Kenny built a jump across a 20ft stream so the car can get to the other side of his 150 acres. I keep telling him my car isn't a dirt bike but every time he builds a double - or any other obstacle for that matter - the car handles it effortlessly.With more than 20 awesome motocross tracks in the state of Oklahoma I can't wait to get back to riding again and I look forward to hitting a few rounds this year. Without the car to keep me occupied I definitely wouldn't have been able to stay off the bike as long as my doctor requested. But for the first time in my life I'm not sick, injured, or even sore! I am having the time of my life driving shifter carts and rally cars and I just finished editing a video with Gregg Godfrey called The Nitro Circus.I didn't pick the name but it fits the video all too well. It isn't a true motocross video as it has a lot of BMX, car jumping and some shots of my cousin attempting to ride a bull. There are, however, a lot of fantasy tricks that were landed in the foam pit. You'll have to see them a few times - in slow motion - to have any idea what's going on. If you like crashes, this is a video for you. All my friends and relatives are as crazy as - and maybe even crazier than - me!Travis Pastrana