Good to go!
By TMX Archives on 16th Mar 06
For those of you who I didn't get chance to speak to at Hawkstone I'd just like to say welcome to the 2006 motocross season.Everyone seems to be in the start-of-year-over-enthusiastic mode. It's the same every season I find. For those of you who I didn't get chance to speak to at Hawkstone I'd just like to say welcome to the 2006 motocross season.Everyone seems to be in the start-of-year-over-enthusiastic mode. It's the same every season I find. Guys have new bikes, new gear, have been training all winter and have new muscles and therefore are more than happy to be out in the crappy cold winter elements putting the laps in.You know everyone seems to have the attitude that it's going to be their year and become so motivated that they're willing to dedicate themselves to a creditable standard. What you'll find is that after the first few races reality kicks in and you're still finishing where you did in the previous year - motivation stops, training slows, practice becomes unimportant and all of a sudden you're left thinking maybe it's not going to be my year. My advice is to not get too excited too soon and simply focus on leading your targeted championship on the last lap of the last race at the last round.So now that I've gone off on one with advice for the too-excited-too-soon brigade you may be thinking what this teabagging Irish idiot is on about, especially after he's just been in California for a month's pre-season prepping. The difference between you and I is that this is my job/career/income/life/dream so I have to go at it with a very different approach to the average hobby rider. I don't do this just for fun - yes I enjoy it but that's just an added extra!If you're a regular reader of this column you'll maybe remember that last month I didn't write about much other than my trip to California. Well I've still got plenty to add about the USA trip but I'll try not to write too much about it as it gets very boring harping on about me, myself and I all of the time. But I can't resist mentioning one more thing though as it's something worth doing yourself if you get the chance.My friend Burnsy was also in the States helping Justin Reid who was there doing the ATV Nationals at Glen Helen. Burnsy phoned me on the Thursday and said 'we're at Lake Elsinore, do you fancy doing a sky dive?' Iain and I casually said 'yeah, sure' so Burnsy booked us in.So the next morning Justin, Iain, Burnsy and myself all jumped out of a perfectly good plane at around 12,500 feet - I'm talking 120mph instant free-fall for about 55 seconds and then pull the cord and you parachute down for about another six minutes at around 30mph. Now that was 'some craic' as they say in Northern Ireland. Like I said earlier - if you get the chance do it!Once back home I had to get myself up to Belfast for the International Motorcycle Festival they held in the Odyssey. Iain had presented two superb looking show bikes that were on display on our stand.Team boss Roger has been working hard and we all looked the part in our new team uniforms and with freshly stickered up bikes. As well as setting up a website for the team - www.teamwulfsport.com - Roger has also pulled in some welcome sponsors locally including discoverireland.com and the Northern Ireland Events Company who I'm proud to be associated with as part of the team.Wiseco will also be supplying us with their quality range of pistons while Works Connection have agreed to support the team which is something I'm pretty chuffed about as their latest clutch lever perch is sweet as. Motorex lubricants and DID chains are both world championship winners and with them on board our jobs will be made a lot easier.During my 'mentioned far too often' trip to America I met with a friend of a friend. I'm particularly glad I did seeing as he's come through with an awesome sponsorship package for us. TREMX.com is his company and his help is of great value to me.The team in its full attendance had a photoshoot with the now slimline version of Steve Dagger who took some handy shots of us for the website with his camera phone. For anyone who's suffering a bit of brain fade the bit about the camera phone is a joke - Dagger is one of the best flashers around. He's proper pro I tell thee!Okay, seeing as I'm starting to talk a total pile of shoite I'm gonna leave it at that and get on with my day job. Be sure to have fun on that bike now when you're riding it.Good luck at the races!Words by Gordon Crockard Photo by Shagger Dagger