JASON THOMAS - 'THE HARD WAY' - PART 8.
4th Jun 2013
Hi everyone, back again with another blog. It doesn’t seem like much time has passed since I last checked in, but a lot has happened.
Last time I told you a little about going riding with KR557, but I’m sure everyone would really like to know more about that (bad luck if you don’t because I’m about to write about it!) so here’s a little insight. I arrived at KR’s house around noon not really knowing what to expect as far as the track. It had rained a little but nothing crazy. KR lives in a pretty small house but is surrounded by his wife’s family who have some land. First off we checked out an Endurocross track they have been working on down there. It’s not yet complete but looks like it should be sick when it is. Endurocross doesn’t really strike me as KR’s thing but he seemed pretty excited about getting it finished which is good. I personally think he would do good at Endurocross and no doubt it will round his game off even more.
Next up we hit the woods loop behind his house. Now I know in the past people have questioned what Kailub does during the week….. I can confirm he has been out pounding lap after lap around his loop. Well, at least that’s what it looked like. This wasn’t some wide open easy woods/moto loop either. It was tight in spots, like wiggle the bars tight! The ruts are foot peg deep, the roots are exposed everywhere, it’s a chopped out, beat up, no-fun-what-so-ever loop!!!
It’s no surprise at all to me that KR has upped his game. He’s doing what he needs to I’m sure of that, and a XC1 championship will follow soon. I got a flat front tire on our 2nd moto, and to be honest I didn’t feel safe out there anyway even before the flat, ha! It’s always hard initially to hit someone else’s loop – you want to go as fast as them, but they know every inch of the track and pushing to keep up in that situation will get you hurt I have learned.
Anyway enough about that, other things I have been up to include my first DirtWise school (without the boss, ha!). At this point in the year I can’t tell everyone how happy I am with the way my year is working out.
Actually I have been involved with instructing off road schools with many different people over the years, and this is really how I first got into off road. I was doing a moto-duro race one weekend (2 x one hour woods motos, a lot like the JDay races in the US now) as there was a break in my motocross schedule. Jezz and I showed up at the track with the shiny hand built TM machine I was riding at the time and lined up ready to rip. Unfortunately the bike locked up on the line….. ha, you gotta love it!!! Anyway as they say when one door closes, another one opens. Some random guy shouts over to us, “Ay mate, you can ride my Husaberg if ya want!”. I’m not really a person who cares what I ride, as long as I can ride, so I said, “Fire it up mate….”. The ‘berg was not a KTM with blue plastics back then, they were their own bike and were only big four bangers. This one was a 520 or something like that!
What a beast of a bike! I loved the thing!!! Most people look at me and think I’m a little bike kind of guy, but I can promise you I can’t wait to get on a 450 in the future. I love them and I’m a much smoother rider on one. Anyway, I battled all moto with a rider on a KTM. This other guy had awesome style and really smooth lines. I came out to find after the race that the rider was a guy called Ady Smith. Ady was a multi-time British Enduro champion and ran the offroad schools for KTM in the UK.
We got talking and I started working for him a week later. Working with Ady and doing schools really elevated me to a top level in off road very fast. Ady knew his stuff with bike setup, and doing the schools was a very good way for me to practice the same drills over and over, ultimately becoming very good at them and quickly piecing them together on the trail and getting fast.
Over the years I have just gotten into the habit of doing laps and found myself at times struggling at the races. Now that I’m instructing for DirtWise I’m able to help and instruct others while at the same time reinforce the skills in my own head.
My first DirtWise school went fantastic and the group of students were a pleasure to instruct! I can’t wait for my next one, which will be pretty much every weekend there isn’t a GNCC race.
Like I said I couldn’t be happier with my overall year so far. I mean, sure I have had a few bad races but that’s racing. I know the reasons for those poor results and I fixed them fast. Being happy is very important, because when I’m happy I’m confident, and confidence is hard to beat. That showed this past race. I spent every day out on the most demanding loop I could put together, but every day I also finished off riding the funnest one I could ride. I got to the race itching to get going!
The fact it was a mudder really didn’t matter to me, it only helped because pretty much everyone else was complaining about the conditions! The conditions were the same for everyone, unlike the bikes we ride, ha! Hearing some of the crap people were saying only made me more confident I was going to have a great day. Not long after the start I went straight to the Overall race lead, but then a crash completely took out my front brakes on lap two (broke the front brake line!). Ultimately it didn’t matter though as I had more fun on Sunday than I have since…. I don’t even remember.
While I’m talking about this latest race I want to say well done to the GNCC crew on an excellent job. People bitching and saying the race shouldn’t have ran and that “my bike got ruined” should have checked the Weather channel. I knew it was going to be a mudder on Wednesday, and already had my bike waterproofed before I left home. If you didn’t want to get muddy you should have stayed home and watched basketball. The races should run rain or shine. That’s what makes it the best off road series in the world. The champions will be the best all round riders, and I don’t agree with the races being cut to 2 hours either. The track was not unrideable and I felt it was actually getting better the longer the race went on. I hope the next 6 races are the same!!! However though, how about we cut the races that are held in 90 degree and above weather (with the excessively higher humidity here on the east coast)??? They pose an overall bigger threat to each rider’s health than any mud ever will.
One final thing, my former team mate, good friend, and fellow XC2 racer Mark Heresco busted his femur on the same tree that busted my brake. Unfortunately he was left stranded at the hospital following his surgery, with limited funds or means to get home, and ways to support himself in the immediate future with income. Therefore I’m going to raffling off one of my signed Fly Racing commemorative 2012 Championship winning #1 jerseys to help raise some much needed funds for my mate.
To have the opportunity to win this piece of sporting history use the following link below to either buy one ticket for $5 or 3 tickets for $10.
http://www.shanewatts.com/catalog/20/all
The raffle will conclude at 1pm on Monday, May 13, and be drawn immediately. All of the money raised will be forwarded to Heresco, and the jersey will be mailed to the lucky winner.
Heresco is a hard working privateer currently living paycheck to paycheck while trying to fulfill his aspirations of being a Pro Offroad racer. Beings laid up with a broke femur and not being able to work means the next few weeks will be very financially difficult for this likable young racer as he heals.
Until next time,
Believe in yourself and trust everything happens for a
reason.
Boom, boom, POW