The Off Season

The off-season is something that at some point in everyone’s season is a time to look forward to. Something to help you get through week in and week out and something that also becomes a source of motivation to finish the season. For some, it is a relief the day it finally comes after a long hard fought season. Mid season when you are tired, beat up, and everything becomes a struggle nothing can sound better then relaxation time. To be honest this year I was looking forward to some time off, and now I have had a chance to do so. Funny thing is that after a week or two I began thinking about only what I had not accomplished that I set out to.

I signed a factory contract much better then anything I expected, an awesome team, and awesome people around me but still I felt cut short. I felt cut short of what I did not do my last year in Europe. A lot of it was out of my control but in my eyes I failed. Nothing feels worse then that to me. The final race in Italy in September,  I got two 7th place finishes and finally got some confidence only to have a 5 month off season. The feeling of your work not being finished and not being able to do anything about it just digs and digs inside. Everyday I train or ride, all I can think about is that day, and that moment is going to make me that much stronger when I line up on that first GP starting line. The feeling of being able to be 100% and the feeling of knowing I deserve to be there and deserve to be in the front of the pack is something that I am waiting quietly in the corner for.

People say your only as good as your last race. This is a saying I have heard so many people say over the last few years and it is something I disagree with 100%. Example… Jeremy Mc Grath was known as “THE KING”. Towards the end of his career he had some not so good races. Even a guy like Ricky Carmichael, AKA -“the Goat” fell off at the end. My point is that you are not as good as your last race or whatever it is people say. You are as good as the work you put in, the time you sacrifice, the blood sweat and tears you suffer, and last but not least, you are as good as you believe you are. Anything you want in life you can achieve. I know what I want, and I am on a mission of my own to achieve that.