JASON THOMAS - 'THE HARD WAY' - PART 4.
30th May 2013
Hello boys and girls, I’m writing this to ya from my mate Shawn Remington’s motor home, after a full day of roosting at Croom, but I can promise you all that its been a busy few weeks to get here.
Last time I left you guys I was set up in my van outside McDonald’s, sleeping in my van at night and riding all day. You would be right in saying, “Sounds easy to me!”, and sure, there are worse things to be doing for a living. Riding a dirt bike is a dream – going out with your mates and putting some laps in is awesome, however doing it for a living is a little bit different. It’s not just a case of going out and riding around the track and then coming in and cracking a beer. Its 5 days a week of solid riding constantly trying to find just a little bit more speed. It’s a very fine line of riding the rails or hitting a tree!
You’re training your body, and your mind, to think that going through the trees pinned is a normal thing to do, but like I said you’re right on the edge of the danger zone, flirting with imminent pain if you get it wrong. Add to that fact that most guys are able to get a group of mates to shred with but most of my week is spent alone in the woods getting it done. Sure, sometimes a few of us are in the same place, but not very often – that makes for a long painful crawl back to the truck if your “margin-for-error” judgement that day is a little off……
I spent a week at Croom riding myself into shape and getting a feel for my bike. Things went really good and I was looking forward to seeing some friends. Wattsy and his family came down on the Thursday and we did a little set up for the up coming DirtWise school before we decided to head to the beach for some sun and a little rest.
I’m a firm believer that rest is just as important as riding. It’s not possible for me to just ride everyday as hard as I can. I would get hurt, so like I said it was time for this British white boy to catch some rays……. and MAN I did just that! I found a great hotel with a pool, bar, and beach access, no gate or restrictions. I just parked up and trotted over to the pool, and that’s where I sat for ummmmm…. about 7 hours, jumping in the pool every so often for a cool off. After a 7 hour spell there I headed down the beach for a little salt water dip. I was starting to notice my skin getting a little red after that so I called ibelieve. On my way back I started to notice a little discomfort, my feet and chest were getting a little sore. No worries though, I put a little “after sun” on and went to bed ready for the DirtWise school the next day…….
The next day I woke up and Hooooooooly burn, I was blistering from head to toe. Understand though, this was not my first body fry. When I was 18, I and my mate “O’show” decided on a hot summer’s day we were going to the beach in search of hot chicks and a tan. With $40 between us, by the time we reached the beach we had spent all our cash on gas. No problem though. Sun screen was the last thing on our minds! Care free, we sat on the beach soaking up the rays and talking to anything with blonde hair and a bikini. O’show and I found ourselves a pair of young ladies to have a good night with and we left the beach for a nice seaside club. Many drinks later it was bed time and the girls asked where our hotel was? We told the girls right over there next to the coin meter…… A little confused the girls said “In that car”? Yes we replied!!!
Anyway, turns out the girls wanted a couple of cuddle buddy’s so they suggested we go home with them, only issue was they lived at home with their parents so we would need to enter and leave via the bedroom window. No problem for a couple of young lads. Anyway after a little cuddling I started to feel a little discomfort, and pretty soon a lot, to the point where my body was burning and starting to blister. One of the girls had been in a similar situation and then proceeeded to spray me with a fine mist of water to ease the pain – this went on for the rest of the night, ha! At about 6:00am we had to leave (via the window again, ha!), except O’show forgot this and walked straight out the door, right into the girls old man.
Daddy was NOT happy and O’show was shown to the door, by the scruff of his neck. I jumped out the window! I spent the next week on meds for the roasting my body took from the sun that day, but what a great time. This last trip to the beach will be the last time I attempt a tan. I have faced the fact it’s not worth the loss of skin and sleep.
Following two fantastic days of schooling I then headed north again. On my way back my mate Rem was heading to Shootin’ Will Wootin’s track in South Carolina and suggested to stop by. I gave Grant Baylor a buzz and the next day it was ON.
What a fantastic place the Wooten’s have. I and Grant ripped a few laps and before long we went in search of a new challenge. Way over the back there was a huge wall of sand we ripped around on a bit, and soon a few guys started jumpin the sand wall and trying to do a step up jump onto the flat. This went on for a few hours until Grant and I were launching about 20 feet straight up into the air. It was tons of fun and I can’t wait to go back one day – thanks Will.
Back on the road again, hooking gears in the sprinter and slip streaming semis to save on fuel, I received a text……….
One of the main reasons for this blog of mine is that I want to give you all an insight into my life, and to try and help you understand what makes me tick. When I was a kid, the first house I lived in was in one of the roughest housing projects in England. Most of you reading this would refer to it as the ghetto. My parents soon realized they needed to move. We relocated to a small seaside town in Barmouth, Wales. A new house, new town, but more than that, a NEW SCHOOL. I was 9 when I started at my new school and it soon became obvious no one likes the new kid. I was instantly bullied. There was a gang of kids who all continually did something to me, but one kid stood out as the leader. He would tell the other kids what to do, and they did it. The bullying went on everyday – some days I was held by two other kids and the gang leader would ask who the master was? I would answer, “No one!” and would thus get punched over and over. I refused to answer to someone who didn’t fight fair and just used weaker kids to make himself look better. Some nights I wouldn’t sleep, and even started wearing my football shin pads and chest protector under my uniform. The teachers did nothing to help and even made me look stupid by making me take my pads off in front of everyone.
Anyway, the day came where it was time for high school. All the bullies went one way and I went to a different high school, excited about getting away from the bullies. I couldn’t wait to start my new school, but high school was not what I expected though. I was not a “book smart” kid. I didn’t have money, and due to being bullied and not going to a high school with kids who should have been my friends I was once again left out and bullied. But one thing about high school would change my life. In high school I soon realized sports were important and that I had a drive to want to win everything and anything I played, or was a part of. Pretty soon I started to get awards for my achievements and the other kids started taking notice. They stopped bullying me and started to be proud of my achievements. I represented my high school across Wales in every sport I ever took part in, but football (soccer) was my biggest strength. I played in a number of International tournaments on the national team, and became captain of my hometown team and school team.
The day soon came where my high school played the high school were the bullies went. Their team was the best team in the league but I made it a point to knock them down a notch or two. I out played every one of them and made them look stupid. It was pay back for all the hurt they had done to me – I scored 3 goals that day and my team beat the best in the league. At the end of high school I was awarded a few things. One was for completing a course on the use of the words THERE, THEIR, and THEY’RE, and the other was a course on learning the words TOO, TO, and TWO. The third award was SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR!!! No one said much about the courses but the whole school applauded when I received my sport award.
So what I’m saying is when I received the text from KR4 threatening me to keep my mouth shut about the truth, and insulting my family, and threatening me with the good old “I’ll have you deported” line, I simply said back to them, “Thanks for the content, I’ll put it in my next blog and use your ignorant text as motivation to push myself to be better than you.”. Thanks guys, I appreciate that!
A few people have made comments about what goes into my blog. Please understand that this is the real life stuff that I have to deal with. Everything I write about is the truth, and if it was anything else but the truth I simply wouldn’t write this blog. After that text I stopped off at Wattsy’s house to build my race bike, and then we set off for another DirtWise school, which was awesome. I feel like I have really been learning a lot myself, and I have already met some fantastic people.
That brings me to this week, the final count down….. I’m getting my last minute seat time in at some scag tracks in the Orlando area, and I’ll be lining up on Saturday for my first JDay race (gotta try to make money to pay the mortgage and feed myself!). Then I’ll meet up with my mates from StukMX Graphics for a bit of Daytona supercross action, and finally the big show on Tuesday the 12th……. GNCC RACING!
Until next time folks, don’t follow the beaten in path, instead blaze your own trail.
I’m Jason Thomas and I approve this message.
Boom, boom, POW!
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