Fond Farewell!
Published: 09th November 2006
Author: Words by Billy MacKenzie Photo by Sutty
Billy's sad to say goodbye to the south but he's got plenty of good stuff coming up to keep his mind occupied...
Hello fellow DBR readers. I have just sat myself down behind big bossman Stevie D's desk after Ben fetched me from the airport following my recent visit to the Bilbao Supercross. It was a pretty last-minute decision to go - the promoter literally gave me two days to make up my mind and get a bike sorted! I wasn't doing anything anyway so I packed my bags and went for a little supercross adventure...
I've had two supercross adventures now, the first being Sheffield last week which went pretty well as it's the first SX I've done in a while. I don't consider myself as such a supercross rider but I guess that's only because we never do them in Britain! So it was nice to get out and blow some cobwebs off! I really enjoy the close racing too - it's a proper buzz!
So anyways, a fourth and a fifth at Sheffield and a seventh in Spain. Sure they ain't the best results but it has been a total blast. I had some little crashes in every race so I'm sure I coulda been in the top three if I had prepared myself and the bike a bit better.
It's been pretty emotional too this month. I moved all my stuff out the house I've been staying in with the other lads and said my goodbyes to the team and everyone down south - time to move home and start preparing for next season. I'm really looking forward to getting home too. I have some really good months training when I'm home, out in the rain with the really sharp cold air when you cycle - it's proper! Good cycle routes up in the countryside and running down the beach plus there is always someone around to go play footy or squash with, then when the snow comes its always a good laugh hammering your car around in the big car parks after dark!
Winter in Edinburgh is gorgeous too. The whole city is lit up with all the funfairs and the ice rink in the gardens - so many people flock to Edinburgh no matter what the season and the Hogmanay celebrations are some of the best in the world!
The only riding I have done apart from the supercrosses has been at a secret beach in the north of Scotland. I call it my happy place! Miles and miles of grassy dunes and flat wet sand to get wicked on! So we went up there for a couple of days and rode our little hearts out, trying whip after whip to see who could get it most inverted! And supermoto style big oval drifts in fourth gear on a 450 on the beach! Ahhhhh, sends shivers down my spine! We made a little video too and put it on youtube so go check it out if you can - my user name is billymac211 so just search for that and you should find it!
Apart from the riding side I've managed to get out a few times, the best being when I went down to see Jonesy for a night out! Man the Welsh are wild, especially Mark's cousin John! I've met him a few times when I've been with Mark and he always pushes the boat out if you know what I mean! What started as a pretty s****y Wednesday night out in Bridgend he made into a complete comedy show! The more we drank the wilder it got - there was just story after story, prank after prank. My sides were hurting from laughing so much!
Mark went to the toilet only to return with a toilet cube in his hand and put it in John's pint! John didn't care though and was happily swigging away so Jonesy had a sip too - in the end they both downed it and at the bottom of the pint was the used toilet cube! The thing that I will remember the most from that night is Mark coughing up a little bit of sick into a pint glass and John grabbing it off him and [censored - SL] I have the video - I might put that on youtube too! I'll okay it with him first though! Might be too graphic for some of you readers!
So then, not long now until I'll be stepping on the green machine - one more race for Bike-It Dixon Yamaha and I'll be setting sail for new horizons and things are going to be greener on the other side! Oh ha ha ha, I'm so funny aren't I! Get it? Green, blue! Okay, whatever...
Thanks to everyone again for this year, I can't really say it enough where these boys are concerned. Steve Dixon, Ben my mechanic for the past two years, before that Mikey. The whole team have been brilliant and I'm sad to leave it all behind.
See you at Belfast...