Olly Stone - Catching up with friends
By Olly Stone on 2nd Sep 15
Unadilla couldnt have gone any more perfectly for me. Flying out to that race only a day after I got back from the Loretta Lynns championships meant I was pretty tired but I was lucky enough to get a day off in the New York State to recharge my batteries.
With only a few rounds to go the season had been taking its toll on everyone. Joey Savatgy finally managed to get that win we had been working so hard for. He rode good that day and had good starts and it felt like a real team effort for that.
Seeing as I was testing with him a few weeks earlier in California I felt like I contributed to that success. So at least we managed to salvage something during this horrendous season.
With Shaun Simpson coming to Unadilla hot off his double moto win at Lommel the week before it was good to catch up with him.
We go way back and it was good to share some old and new stories. He rode really good for a wild card entry and only had one day's saddle time to get his bike dialled in. He seemed to enjoy the race and the atmosphere and was sure he would return in future years if his schedule allowed it.
I managed to get out on track to watch the 450 motos. In America team members are allowed to stand trackside and cheer on their riders, unlike the ruling in the FIM races where you are restricted.
So I was out there getting behind Shaun and cheering him on although it must have looked strange for a guy in a Monster Pro Circuit shirt waving on a Red Bull KTM guy.
With the outdoor season winding down here for us and my season being unexpectedly quiet I threw the idea to Mitch about giving me some time off.
So with the okay from him I took a couple of weeks off and headed home with my girlfriend Kim to the sunny old UK.
Well I say sunny - I mean it was sunny for two days. We stopped off in London for a couple of days to see the sights as she had never been to England before and then headed down to the West Country to stay with my parents and catch up with my friends and the rest of my family.
But like any holiday it seemed to go by in the blink of an eye and before I knew it we were heading back to London to catch a flight back to California.
I was feeling refreshed and motivated to get back to work and start preparing for the West Coast championship. It takes months to get ready for this series and with Tyler Bowers being off the bike for so long we are going to have to make every day at the track count.
So this next week I will be building him a new bike to start riding on as well as advising the other guys on our team how to prepare for the MXGP which we will be racing at Glen Helen.
I'm more than looking forward to that race. Catching up with a lot of old work colleagues and friends will be exciting and it will be a good chance to see the Americans and Europeans mix it up...
