American Dream
By TMX Archives on 10th Jan 06
Happy New Year to you all! I don't know about you guys but I've had enough turkey, drink and all the other Christmas treats to last me until next Christmas! I try to eat healthily over the festive period but you can't help yourself when Happy New Year to you all! I don't know about you guys but I've had enough turkey, drink and all the other Christmas treats to last me until next Christmas! I try to eat healthily over the festive period but you can't help yourself when someone offers you a nice cup of hot mulled wine and a mince pie.I had a really good time - I spent Christmas with my girlfriend's family which was great, then headed up to my home in Scotland for New Year or, should I say, Hogmanay.On my way up to Scotland I stopped off to watch Manchester United play West Brom at Old Trafford. I was offered the ticket by my next door neighbour and my girlfriend was kind enough to give her ticket to my brother so he was pretty pleased about that. The game was awesome, United scored three goals and the atmosphere was electric - with 67,000 people in one place at the same time you can imagine the noise around the stadium.After the game I headed on up the M6 to Scotland where I didn't really get up to much - just relaxed and had a quiet one which was good. I drove home to England on New Year's Day - the traffic was almost non-existent so I managed to do the journey in four hours.The next day it was time to start the training again which isn't always that much fun in the British winter weather - lucky for me then that by the time you read this I'll be getting stuck into three weeks training in America. I've been to the US three times before in January but didn't go last year. A lot of the guys now go away in January - either to the US or the south of Spain, mainly to get the good weather. I certainly feel it works for me to get in three solid weeks of riding - not just for fitness, also for speed.The tracks over there are normally a lot faster but you also get a lot of jumps at the same time. The way the tracks are now being built in Europe - with whoops and rhythm sections - I reckon time in the States will prepare me well for GPs.Kawasaki have hooked me up with a bike, spares and all the other stuff I will need to go riding and I'm looking forward to meeting up with some of the US guys so I can see their set-up and maybe learn some stuff from them while I'm there.I'll also probably get a chance to watch the first supercross which will be great. I'll be rooting for Bubba mainly from a Kawasaki point of view because I know how much effort the Japanese have put into the 450F and how much they're relying on Bubba doing the business this year. But I still think RC is the man and my money's on him.At the moment I'm packing for my US trip and it's a big job as I'm taking a lot with me - stuff like my own suspension and some parts for the bike so it's similar to my bike at home. I've also got two big kitbags full of riding gear and I'm taking my cycle as well - I'm certainly not looking forward to the excess baggage bill!Okay, I better sign off for another month - Lawless has got out of his cage and my rabbit's just been on the phone wondering where my column is (hmmm, may have got that bit the wrong way round)!So, once again, Happy New Year and all the best in '06 - I look forward to seeing you at the races...Words by Stephen Sword Photo by Sutty