JASON THOMAS - 'THE HARD WAY' - PART 14.
12th Sep 2013
DirtWise Schools/KTM-Parts.com/Maxxis team racer Jason Thomas reached the top the hard way. Enjoy as he tells of the life defining moments during his inspiring journey from growing up in the mud bogs of the Dyfi forest in Wales, England to now defending the GNCC Pro XC2 Championship that he won in 2012.
Hi guys and girls, back at it with another edition of The Hard Way. It’s been a long summer break away but I feel that I have more to talk about than ever before, ha!
So lets get started with where I was the last time I checked in…….., heading to Canada on a DirtWise adventure. Even though it’s been summer break from the GNCC my schedule has been full with schools and giving back to others who wish to become safer and more accomplished riders.
This particular school in Canada was very challenging as I was faced with a group of trailriders and weekend warriors, plus a “hardcore racer” orientated father/son combo. The DirtWise school is very beneficial for both, however the father and son where very keen to get going and really push themselves in the exercises, while the other guys where just trying to take everything in and get by without mistakes.
Things really started to get tricky when the son was doing our Brake slide exercise and slid into another student, resulting in that guy going down and old matey roosting him on the way out. No real harm done as the son was just applying himself 100% to the exercise, but at the same time the other rider was also but he just wasn’t up to that skill or speed level yet. So there were some interesting moments (and flared tempers!) out there, ha!!!
The whole weekend went that way but I was able to manage the situation and made sure that everyone remained safe and got the maximum out of the school – everyone left very happy as always and now it’s just a good story.
On my return home I called a couple of young XC2 guys like Mark Heresco (who is now healed up from his broken femur) and Justin Sode, and invited them up for the week. My door is always open to the future riders of the sport and I enjoy riding and talking with them about the way things really work.
Heresco and I have been friends for some time now so he knows its not all million dollar pay checks, do nothing all week, show up on Sunday to a nice fresh bike and do the BUSSINES. Sode is a bit younger, and might be caught up in the bullsh*t a little bit, but I think that after spending some time here he has a true understanding now.
Generally speaking, the payback you get from racing offroad is very small compared to the effort that goes in, and more so the risks that are taken. We spent every day riding, mountain biking, and hitting the JYT gym to top it off. Sode couldn’t believe how much we had to cram in and asked the question, “We doing all that today?”, to which my reply was, “Yes, do you think I just show up on Sunday and flip on the ON switch?”.
Hour upon hour is spent out at the practice track, in the gym, and working on bikes. It pretty much takes up every hour of my life and I’m only paid for the end result. If I get on the box on Sunday I may just about cover my ass for the week. Gone are the days when Pro riders made proper money, and had huge bonuses and spares for spares.
There are only two real factory teams on Pro row with 3-4 of those riders making what could be classed as a decent salary – the rest of the top ten are on bonus money, posted contingency, and some are lucky to get some expense money. Figure out the hours the rider puts in and you will soon see it doesn’t even add up to minimum wage.
This is the biggest off road championship in America, maybe even the world? The series boasts about record numbers, yet things from a Pro rider’s stand point seem to only be getting smaller, especially concerning available support.
This brings me to the moment all of you who know the goss have all been waiting for, ha (I know you’re reading!)!!!
UNADILLA – it’s famous all around the world for its motocross heritage. I remember watching Rick Johnson’s video (Profile of a Champion) every night until I fell asleep, and I remember watching him kill everyone at Unadilla in the mud. I also remember wishing I could ride that track!
So I never thought I would say this, but I don’t care if I never ride it again!
Unadilla is one of the biggest races on the GNCC circuit (officially it is now the biggest, most attended race!), yet it’s by far the shortest track. This last weekend had a huge turn out, which is fantastic for our sport, however the amount of riders for the location is just too much, as far as safety and enjoyment for the riders goes.
If you book a party bus to have a kickass road trip party and it has a maximum capacity of let’s say 30. This is the safe amount of people that should be on the bus, however if you want to be stupid or greedy you can go ahead and squeeze 15-20 more people and a few kids to fill the gaps.
So what I’m getting at is when you have a track that can only take say 400 riders but you just keep letting people in and put approx 700 on it (the morning bike race), it becomes dangerous! Plus, being squished isn’t that enjoyable, and your kickass party isn’t so kickass anymore….. Pretty simple that really, but then in the afternoon race when you put out say 100 B and 100 Slower riders with the Pro guys and you then add in huge jumps (which had chicanes on them in the morning race so none of them could launch them!) that the Pro guys HAVE to jump to be competitive (but the other B riders can’t because they just aren’t at that level), well, it makes for a disaster waiting to happen.
A rider meeting on the start line saying, “Y’all look out for that huge jump out by the 9 mile marker, could be some riders laying on the landing”, DOESN’T make it safe for anyone!
Now I’m not picking on the B or slower riders, after all they are the back bone of the sport. They buy the product that in turn is able to help justify the Pro riders getting paid. No, instead what I’m saying is it can’t be fun for them guys to be riding around looking and waiting to get passed or landed on by Pros every lap, and as a Pro having this happen is dangerous. And having that many riders out there doing that many laps also means that the track is absolutely trashed, which is no fun for anyone (alright then, for most riders I’ll say, except for the real men, ha, ha!).
And I know at this point you’re saying “Well, they keep coming back!”. Yeah they do, beacuse it’s Unadilla and they have the same dream I did as a kid. But don’t put them at risk (the promoters) because you think you’re perfect and can do no wrong. When something very bad happens, it will be too late. And TRUST me you have no idea just how close I came to being that statistic (something bad!) on the weekend.
I’m a rider who loves a tough track, I’m all for it. Snowshoe used to be a tough track but like I talked about before summer, it was very poor this year and not tough at all from a Pro stand point. I’m sure the lower level guys struggled still, but as a series that has to cater to both, the track should do the same.
So back to my race this weekend. I got an okay jump off the line, in about 5th place. When we got to turn two, it was the usual XC2 pile up and it looked like half the class went down. I cruised around the outside and came out of turn 3 in 2nd, then at about two miles into the first lap I followed Shane Hufford, who went the wrong way, and about 5 guys passed us. By lap 2 we were already into the lappers and inadvertently smashing into them all over the track.
By lap 3 I was into 3rd and approached one of the huge jumps on the moto track. Now, to clear these few jumps you have to be tapped out in a high gear, and to keep pace with the other riders you have to jump them. I launched the blind jump, only to be looking down from 40 feet up in the air at a bike laying right where I was about to land. “Oh sh&t!” is all I had to time think – really now it was worse than that but we like to run a PG/kid friendly program here……..
I woke up (I don’t even know how long after) to another bike about to land on me. I dashed out of the way to avoid being crushed by the bike, and then ran back to collect my bike.
NO flagger was present on the jump – now we race woods and flaggers are not needed there, the speed you hit blind hills at in the woods is pretty slow, plus you don’t launch 40 feet high off them either. But when you (the promoters) insist on running a Pro motocross track and put Pro riders out with B riders, the Pro can and will jump everything, the B however can NOT.
If the B rider is on the down side (blind) of the jump and the Pro jumps, the risk of the B rider getting landed on is huge – you (the promoters) would never put true B MX level guys out in a Pro MX national, so why is it ok at a GNCC????
So if you (the promoters) insist on running it this way make it so the jumps can’t be jumped. Funnel the approach into one lane or a tight chicane?? Pretty easy that really, especially seeing as it was already done for the morning race………
Like I said, the jump where I landed on top of amother bike had no flagger, resulting in ruining my championship hopes and destroying my bike. But the bigger picture is I could have been very seriously hurt and could have seriously hurt someone else, and all because the correct safety precaution was not taken – it would be interesting to see how this very specific situation stood up in a court of law. I hope we never have to find out!
As some of you may have seen on Twitter, the main GNCC track official was very helpful on this matter – his reply being…”if you want to be a flagger next year, your welcome”. Blah, blah, blah, great way to recognize and appreciate the situation, bud!
Now racing is racing, and shi#t happens. But why be so very narrow minded and pay no attention to constructive feed back? Why wait until someone is left seriously hurt or dead? I’m lucky enough to walk away, and only I know just how lucky I am, so take note of this those of you that should be! If something exactly like what just happened to me happens again (and this wasn’t the first time something exactly like this has happened at a GNCC race) but with far worse consequences, and it does go to court, you can be sure that the Plantiff will be referencing this article of mine (and the ignorant Twitter responses of the GNCC officials!) and it will provide compelling evidence of continual negligence by the promoters. BTW, it was the continual negligence from McDonalds of ignoring previous complaints about their scalding hot coffee that got that old lady awarded $2.9 million bucks when it spilled on her all those years ago (go research it, as it is actaully an enlightening story about what really happened, and how GNCC should watch their back on this one)!!!
Now I have taken a lot of stick over this recent incident from a number of very small minded people, and being put down by them saying I’m just running my mouth and whining. If you still think this way after reading this then I wish you well – it seems pretty straight forward to me the simple point that I’m trying to get across, but hey what do I know? I’m just the clown that almost killed someone and then laid on the track myself waiting to be crushed.
Now that the XC2 championship is out the window I’m focused on finishing my XC2 Pro career on a high note by winning some races and rolling up on a 125.
I’m also excited to be heading to Italy in a few weeks, where I have been selected as one of the 6 riders to represent Great Britain in this years ISDE. I’m confident it’s going to be a fantastic event this year and if not, well it gets me away from all this other negative stuff for two weeks, and it also gets me to where I hope will be some sensational pizza.
Until next time,
Believe in yourself and trust everything happens for a reason.
Honesty is the best policy……..
U
K
Jason Thomas is supported by DirtWise Riding schools and Instructional DVDs, KTM-Parts.com and www.AOMC.mx, Maxxis tires, KLiM Technical Riding gear, Smith goggles, Lazydays RV, Stuk Graphics, Enduro Spec suspension tuning, Highland Temporary Scaffolding Works, DirtTricks sprockets and brake rotors, Flexx Handlebars, Leatt products, G2 handguards and throttle tubes, Rescue Pegs, BatteryStuff.com, Motorex Lubricants, IMS fuel tanks and footpegs, FMF exhausts, TCX boots, Asterisk knee braces, DP brake pads and clutch plates, TM Designworks chain guides, and KTMTalk.com