Living on the Edge!
Published: 17th February 2007
Author: Words by Gordon Crockard Photo by Alex Hodgkinson
Gordy's letting it all hang out in training but after a storming show in Dortmund it seems to be paying off...
Yo! Yo! Yo! Crock talk time again! Nothing major happening lately really bar the usual training and practice duties. Loads of cross-country mountain biking mainly which has been pretty cool this year as I've discovered new routes and trails and hooked up with some different people to join the training.
Ben Reid is a full-time downhill mountain bike pro and I've joined up with him on a regular basis. He's helped me rediscover my youth and the jumps, berms, ramps and drop-offs etc that we've been finding on some of the trails are certainly a quick way of getting the blood and adrenaline pumping. I did a lot of dirt jumping on a BMX when I was a teenager and here I am now finding myself getting just as excited doing doubles and combos on my MTB. The downhill runs are so fast - certainly not for the lazy brain brigade - and it's quite similar to MX with the skills used. No big crashes yet but I can't help but feel there are some not too far away. On the edge...but not over it. Yet!
The trip I made to the Dortmund SX in Germany was cool and I made some money and had a lot of fun on the bike. The track was tough and three nights was very physical - I wore a heart rate monitor in one of the races and my average reading was 175 BPM and my maximum reading 186. Anyone who knows anything about heart rates will know that's pretty intense exertion. I rode for a German team who supplied me with a CRF450. It ran great and the guys and I really enjoyed working together so hopefully I'll ride for them again next winter.
The overall winner at the end of three nights won a Toyota car and after two nights I was sitting in second place in the standings, just seven points off the leader. I could see myself driving back to Belfast after the last race but Sunday morning quickly dissolved that vision as I landed in a braking bump I didn't know was there and crashed out of the practice session. From then on I continued to have problems with a crash in my semi and then I stalled in my LCQ so I failed to make it to the Main Event and lost my chance to win the car. Would have been a long drive anyway! Josh Demuth won it and was pretty good as his two US arenacross championship titles prove - he can obviously ride a bike on tight indoor circuits.
I don't know if any of you have ever seen a photo of Josh but he reminds me of someone who's fallen asleep at a house party and for a laugh has been drawn all over with permanent markers during his drunken sleep. He's tattooed to death - ink from head to toe. Nice bloke though it seems so don't judge him on what I've just said - wouldn't want him to draw all over me next year by way of retaliation.
By the time you read this the Italian warm-up race at Mantova will have been run and the results will show who's hot and who's not. Obviously, Josh Coppins is the favourite to win the MX1 title in 2007. I'm not racing Mantova so I can't be included in any pre-season gossip, nor am I racing Valance in France at the end of February. Instead, I'll start my season at Hawkstone Park in the welcoming sand and I'm sure glorious sunshine of March. Well, you can count on the sand but I'm not so sure of the sunshine! I'm looking forward to getting stuck into some hot-shot, big-wig names anyway - even if it's snowing like two years ago. There's no British championship round at Hawkstone in 2007 so this is my only chance to race there this year. I like the track and it's perfect training and practice for my championship races that start the following weekend at Canada Heights.
So far this month the weather's been super and riding at home has been successful. As I get closer to the racing I'll ride more and more to sharpen my timing and bike stamina. My training methods alter too as my body progresses to an advanced level of fitness but I'm not going to go into any more detail as it's classified information and if I told you, well, I'm afraid I'd have to kill you!
I've spent enough time on my PAR Homes Honda CRF450 now to learn that I like the overall package of all the after-market and modified equipment fitted to the machine so going riding is pleasing me and I don't need too much encouragement to get out there and put the laps in.
Sorry for being a bit dull and *yaaawn zzzzzzz* boring but I've been a robotic training machine this month so not much craic to report! Catch ya all at Hawkstone!