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VOLUME 14 ISSUE 12

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FREEVOL. 14 ISSUE 12

MAR. 2014

LIFESTYLE PRODUCTS

VOLUME 14 ISSUE 12

CONTENTSTRAINING CAMP 12 RACE REPORT

ATLANTA SX 14 RACE REPORT

SAN DIEGO SX 26HALFWAY’S HOPE 36FROM THE FENCE 42

BEHIND THE LENSPICS BY: ROB KOY / KOY PHOTO


TRAINING CAMP

The journey continues on my road to recovery from my injury last October and this month I want to talk about educational exercise and how it can make a tremendous difference in the healing process. I do a lot of research in my lines of work, and often times I can easily find a way to relate it to my passion for motocross. The mind body connection is something not many younger athletes realize the importance of in their quest to become a professional athlete. There are many factors that can make the injury process challenging and every athlete can either help or hinder their case by having the right or wrong mind set. Let’s dig deeper into the makings of educational exercise.

Some of you maybe asking what is educational exercise? Educational exercise is such as to train the mind and muscles to work together for greater coordination. The highest aim of this type of exercise is to train the muscles to be obedient servants of the higher powers, mainly train the muscles to serve the mind. This becomes critical when the body is injured and the mind begins to take control not allowing the muscles to work as they should or simply saying you can’t do this or let’s go get a beer! We have to be reasonable in our efforts to recover from injury but in the infamous words of Henry Ford “If you think you can your right, if you think you can’t your right.” I talked allot about the rehabilitation process in one of my previous columns, Injured Reserve, but failed to mention the psychology of the injury. Why mention it now? Once again personal experience has afforded me the opportunity to provide this psychology lesson.

In my case, if you have not been keeping up, started out as surgery for a broken collarbone, six weeks later surgery for a tore rotator cuff not found in the initial injury assessment followed 4 weeks later by some torn cartilage in my knee while doing rehab exercises. Beyond believable right? That’s what I was thinking but it’s all true. Initially my mind said no big deal, you have been hurt before, and you will be better in a few weeks and back on the bike. As the second injury surfaced my mind quickly shifted to “Am I ever going to get better, you’ve been riding 40 years and your body is beat up and will I ever ride again.” Throw in a knee injury in just a few weeks post op

after my rotator cuff surgery and my mind has checked out of the recovery process and started to drift down the wrong road swiftly. It’s a toxic place and one that will not produce a positive outcome.

How does one recover from the depths of depression when injured? Get a text message from Chad Reed’s wife Ellie! Just kidding, although some may not have understood the intent of the message it definitely takes a step in the right direction. Surround yourself with positive people, lean on your family and friends, believe you can do it. What the mind can conceive the body will achieve, not sure who originally said that but I barrow it often. Educational exercise is about teaching your mind to deal with adversity and using your body to accomplish the goal. Re-establish your goals, make a plan and make it happen. It is no secret that great riders like Ryan Villopoto, James Stewart and Chad Reed have dealt with adversity in their careers and as Charlie Sheen would say are “Winning!” Every rider has been knocked down; a champion continues to get up time after time with increased desire to win.

The psychology of motocross is one that would probably confuse even the best therapist in the business. Sit down on the couch and start talking about holeshots, block passing, stuffing your opponent, and they will probably want to scan your brain to see if you have a frontal lobe problem. However, if you are injured and feeling depressed this may be more along the lines of what they understand. Much like getting yourself ready to race, prepare your mind with positive thoughts, positive people, the best equipment and sound nutrition. It is never easy or fun to be hurt and almost every athlete if they compete long enough will endure some type of injury that will require some type of therapeutic strategy.

Refer back to injured reserve for the best ways to get the body moving and what you can expect in the injury process. When it comes to dealing with multiple injuries and depression, start by talking about it with friends or family (someone who knows motocross) whoever you feel most comfortable with at the time. Maintain your daily routine as much as possible, going to the gym, doing school work, watching motocross or supercross on TV, things that keep your mind busy and you enjoy. If you still don’t feel like your making progress that may be the time to seek professional help. In some cases it may be a good idea to stay away form social media during this time, depending on your situation.

Don’t allow your mind to become a toxic waste land when injured, it happens to everyone sooner or later. Prepare your body and mind for every aspect of the sport. That’s it for this month; please visit www.innovationtrainingsystems.com for all your fitness and nutrition needs.

EDUCATIONALEXERCISE

KIRK LAYFIELD N.D. M.S. EMT-P


ATLANTA SX:THE EAST GIVETH & TAKETH

ATLANTA SX RACE REPORT

2014 AMA MONSTER SX SERIESROUND 8 ATLANTA, GA FEBRUARY 22, 2014

THE PACKED HOUSE of ATL is something of a beauty to fans and racers alike. It may not carry all of the hype of the opening round in Anaheim, but what it lacks in

hype it usually delivers in great racing and occasional craziness. This year would be no exception to that rule, as crashes, DNQ’s, and takeouts headlined the red clay’s storylines. They actually overshadowed a lot of the racing on what may have been the most challenging track of the year thus far. It was a mixture of traction and slick spots accompanied by big, stretched out whoops, and a tricky rhythm lane that nearly claimed the leader in the 250 class on the last lap. If you thought the racing out West was great then let me be the first to introduce you to the coast where championships are solidified or dissolved…welcome to the East!

Out of the gate and around the first corner first was none other than Mike Alessi. After having such a terrible beginning to the season (aside from his heat win at A1), Alessi looked to be riding the best SX race in years for the Moto Concepts

team. He was able to lead for 6 or so laps before relinquishing it to bitter rival Villopoto. Before that took place, it looked to be a good chance that James Stewart would go for the hat trick. He started right behind Mike and only made it a half a lap before grabbing too much front brake and lawn darting in a corner. The entire pack made their way by an unusually slow to get going Stewart. Just like that his race was all but over. Also during this process, Dungey would lose a spot to Villopoto while navigating around James’s bike. He had worked hard on the first half a lap to make a move on the 3-time champ and with one wrong decision he lost it, never to regain it again. The man who sat between Villopoto and Alessi in the early stages of the race happened to be rookie Kenny Roczen.

Post crash saw the riders start to settle in and make a push for Alessi. Roczen would go for the lead by holding a tight line around the finish line corner, but he would lose traction and be unable to double the finish line. Villopoto sailed by his training partner and began going to work on Alessi immediately. He would make a pass following the first triple on the track and never look back. In all honesty he did not have to, as Roczen had stuck to his rear tire. Roczen fell back to about a 2 second gap before beginning to claw back forward, and as he approached the #1 a mistake happened. It was Ryan’s mistake before the same triple he passed Alessi on. Only being able to double it Roczen turned the tables on him and took the lead back. For the last few laps they would see who could navigate the whoops without incident. Part way through the race they had all left skimming the whoops behind in favor of jumping through them. If a big mistake would have taken place, Dungey would have been able to capitalize and possibly win, but he was simply a little too far out of the battle in this instance. And as the checkered flag fell it was all Ken Roczen, who had now narrowed Villopoto’s lead to a mere 9 points. Dungey took third in what was a quiet but good bounce back ride for Dungey, who had actually stopped his own works

RACE REPORT BY: ISAAC SCOGGIN PICS BY: ROB KOY / KOY PHOTO

450 SX


series of races ever in the 450 class at 4 podiumless races in a row.

A rider who used the big whoops to his advantage was Wil Hahn. He rode a strong but lonely race in fourth, which is a career high for the rookie. Brayton was in a battle all night long, but was able to maintain a good pace and even gap the riders who initially caught him to garner a top 5 once again. After his holeshot Alessi would find himself falling back to a 6th place finish, which is very respectable but was overshadowed by an earlier incident with Broc Tickle. Tickle would come from a poor start to nearly catch Mike. Tickle was torpedoed in his heat by Alessi in what was deemed dangerous enough to incur probation and a $4000 dollar fine for Mike. Peick, Grant, and Short would round out the top ten with Stewart finding himself on the outside just looking in in 11th.


450 SX OVERALL1) Ken Roczen2) Ryan Villopoto3) Ryan Dungey4) Wil Hahn5) Justin Brayton6) Mike Alessi7) Broc Tickle8) Weston Peick9) Josh Grant10) Andrew Short

RESULTS


After winning the LCQ Adam Cianciarulo had a gate pick that was less than desirable, but he would not let the wheels of fate decide anything. In fact, he would let his own wheels decide his fate by holeshoting. It only took a few

sections before Davalos found his way by. The third teammate (Baggett) had found himself suffering from another horrendous start. Meanwhile Vince Friese got another signature good start to ensure, if no trouble occurred, he would finish near the pointed end of the field. As the race out front began to widen between the two Kawasaki teammates the battle for third was just heating up. Jesse Wetland found himself in the action, as well as Wharton, Friese, and the ever-charging Bogle. Another rookie had held the spot for a second week in a row before incurring a SX ending injury for the year. Star Racing’s Anthony Rodriguez was riding great before succumbing to the treacherous rhythm section before the finish. What looked to be a great ride ended with a broken collarbone and an early exit out of his rookie season.

Now, the crash in the section by Rodriguez would hinder Friese, and at the same moment Wharton would have his own issues. Gliding through after a terrible start was Bogle. He put in consistent laps and showed that his fitness and focus is on point. The other green rider Baggett would also find other’s


250 SX



mistakes to his advantage, as he climbed his way up the points paying ladder. From where he started fifth was a great finish. And despite his teammates holding their positions out front and finishing 1-2, he can still hold his head high. Wharton was very fast on this night but the little crash stalled his forward momentum and he would have to settle for a fourth place ride. Friese, Decotis, Thompson, Lemoine, and Mitchell Oldenburg would round out the top ten.

It seemed as if no rider was immune to mistakes on the tacky yet slick surfaced provided for them by the red clay. Davalos nearly saw his first career win taken from him on the last lap when he found himself getting out of shape through the final rhythm lane. Adam had wrecked twice during his heat race, but had settled down for the main event in order to maintain his points lead. The worst day belonged to Jeremy Martin of the Star Racing Yamaha team who did not even qualify for the second straight race. It was more of him being off the pace than it was bad luck. He is a top tier racer, but the East has taken many points from him already. He is out of the championship and many blame it on the dirt. The East giveth and taketh.

250 SX OVERALL1) Martin Davalos2) Adam Cianciarulo3) Justin Bogle4) Blake Wharton5) Blake Baggett6) Vince Friese7) Jimmy Decotis8) Cole Thompson9) Matt Lemoine10) Mitchell Oldenburg

RESULTS

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CRUELTY: THE STORY OFSAN DIEGO

SAN DIEGO SX RACE REPORT

2014 AMA MONSTER SX SERIESROUND 6 SAN DIEGO, CA FEBRUARY 08, 2014

THE ROUND that is known for being owned by Chad Reed flipped the fortunes on him this night. It was the beginning of the end of a mostly unexpected journey in 2014 that saw

Reed win two races and challenge for the title. When the night’s opening gate dropped it was full of anxiety and excitement for the battle to follow between the 3-time champ and Reed. Chad made it all but half a lap from exiting stage right with another shot at SX glory the next week. It was a pure display of desire that was displayed as he attempted to skim past Roczen for the final podium position in the whoops. It ended with a headfirst visit into mother Earth, and the pack rode by and so with them so did his title hopes. San Diego was cruel this time. It ripped away a possibly fantastic season from Chad’s, as well as our own, hands and now we must settle for great… hopefully.

The man who actually owned the night was the number 7 of James Stewart, who actually put in a beautiful ride out front. After putting an early move on Villopoto he lead every lap with very little drama. In fact, it looked eerie if you were a

Villopoto fan because it looked smooth and repeatable week after week. The fiery red head took some slight shots in the first half of the race before realizing his front wheel wouldn’t hold for the aggressive riding he prefers. The track itself made it hard to complete each lap consistently on pace with the riders best. This was do to slick corners and a very tricky dragon’s back section that claimed many a lap times. Through all the variables James was able to slowly claw away from Villopoto as the races wore on.

Rounding out the podium was Roczen, who withstood heavy pressure from Reed and Dungey down the stretch. Dungey rode a great race that saw him pick up the pace after halfway and begin to reel in Reed and Roczen. Reed felt the pressure and applied it to his lap times as well. He moved up on Roczen and it looked to be a three-way battle for the final step before Reed faltered and slowed Dungey in the unfortunate crash. Picking up the fifth place position was Weston Peick who showed great speed in coming through many riders to reach that position. The riders Weston passed on his way to a career best included Barica and Tomac, who would finish sixth and seventh. Tickle, Brayton, and Short would

450 SX

RACE REPORT BY: ISAAC SCOGGIN PICS BY: CHRIS WEEDON

450 SX OVERALL1) James Stewart Suzuki2) Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki3) Ken Roczen KTM4) Ryan Dungey KTM5) Weston Peick Suzuki6) Justin Barcia Honda7) Eli Tomac Honda8) Broc Tickle Suzuki9) Justin Brayton Yamaha10) Andrew Short KTM

RESULTS


round out the top ten and each rider found the going tough in the main. Brayton had a few smaller crashes that kept him from finding his normal battling position up front.

The 250 class saw another green machine take center stage, but it was not Wilson. It looked

throughout practice, the heat races, and the beginning of the main that Wilson would indeed be the man among boys. It was not to be. The cruelty of San Diego struck and down went Wilson just as you thought he was about to make it a three-way battle for the championship. Slipping through was Stewart and Hill who engaged in a battle for the number 1 position. Hill stole the lead and never looked back as he rode strong and steady. Once into second Anderson closed the gap on Hill, but Hill would not be denied on this night. He slowly pulled the gap back open on Anderson and made a very happy man out of Mitch Payton. That is a very nice return on an investment that seemed misplaced a season ago. Stewart would hold on for third and was never under any real pressure from his


250 SX

250 SX OVERALL1) Justin Hill Kawasaki2) Jason Anderson KTM3) Malcolm Stewart Honda4) Cole Seely Honda5) Shane McElrath Honda6) Jessy Nelson Honda7) Michael Leib Honda8) Scott Champion Yamaha9) Jake Canada Honda10) Dean Ferris KTM

RESULTS



teammate Seely. Seely was never really on it or feeling good all night and it showed. He started near the top five and never really made much in the way of forward progress.

The Troy Lee Designs team had to be feeling pretty good after finishing third thru sixth. Shane McElrath looked comfortable and confident in his best ride so far this season. He was even gaining on Seely towards the end of the night. Nelson has been nursing a preseason injury in the form of a bruised heart and broken sternum. He is gaining speed and strength weekly. Leib, Champion, Canada, and Ferris round out the top ten and with three of the four being privateers, it had to feel great. For Champion specifically, because it was a career best and made him the highest placing Yamaha for the class.

BEHIND THE LENSPICS BY: ROB KOY / KOY PHOTO

HALFWAY through the SX championship already and it feels like we only blinked. Unlike most stick

and ball sport there is no halftime in this sport. Not a moment to really reflect and take in what changes need to be made or even what has been accomplished. That is what the off-season is for. Even the 250 riders out West are busy getting things dialed in for MX or still trying to get back up to speed on the busy SX tracks littering California. No, life is not easy for the stars of the sport. No matter if they are on top or bottom no one is afforded the time to reveal in glory or even enjoy the moment. Fortunately for us fans we can. We can use the halfway mark to look back and see who should be enjoying every minute, and which riders should be aggressively trying to improve. Essentially, we will see who has earned half way’s hope. You know, the hope at the beginning of the year of being in the championship hunt come halfway?

Well, we are halfway or at least 10 laps away from being exactly there, but who is counting? I believe the first rider that should be over the moon on his performances thus far is Ken Roczen. At the beginning of the year I know he would say he “hoped” and “expected” to be in this position, but that seemed far-fetched to most. Most people had Tomac ahead of Roczen and most would agree that although he would be steady and fast, he would not be this steady or this fast. He has two wins at this point, and the second one showed his staying power as he rode Villopoto until a mistake let him seize the win. He is like a Dungey with a little extra kick in the jock! His hopes have to be high. The only issue now is it is hard to go anywhere but down in the second half of the season. If he shows any sign of weakness or a loss of intensity throughout the second half he will unfortunately be remembered for his shortcoming instead of his impressive start. But for right now he has plenty of hope. If you look at the standings he may be the only one left to challenge Villopoto down the line. That makes him the hope for many spectators who want to see a new champion.

TEXT BY: ISAAC SCOGGIN PICS BY: CHRIS WEEDON


BROC TICKLE

KEN ROCZEN


Of course there are different levels of hope depending on a rider’s projected results and now their actual ones. The leader of this category is Justin Brayton. No one could ever have seen him battling as steadily up front as he has this first half. He has not quiet become a constant podium threat but he is very much on the cusps of doing just that. Brayton seems to be a rider who must set the tone early in the day with great practice times in order to have a great night. That is not surprising because he is still molding his mind to tell him he belongs up front every time he races. No matter what conditions I believe he should expect to be up there after the first half of the season he has had. He could not have hoped for much more attention, much more in the form of results, and not much more in terms of where he sits in the championship. He is not alone in this category. There is the up and down Peick and the suddenly rising Hahn and Tickle. Between these three we could see a heavy battle to see who can produce down the stretch.

Now it was inevitable that we would eventually find ourselves staring directly into the group of riders who severely need hope at this point. Any form of it really. This list is chalk full of riders battling week-in and out in the hopes of showing on race day what they possess at the test track weekly. This could begin with a number of riders but I believe Barcia is #1 on this list because of the hype he was producing coming into this season. The production was not a vocal one, but rather a combination of off-season wins and a powerful rookie season. He has only been able to hold it together long enough to grab a lone podium. This is probably the hardest season of Barcia’s young career, since he never found himself too far from a podium in the 250 division ever. Halfway through the season and he has only a sliver of hope to gather his strength and push for a win or two. In my opinion that is the only chance he has of making anything of this season. We will see once the season hits Daytona whether or not he can get his Honda handling correctly, and his head straight enough to live up to the everyone’s season expectations.

Another rider who needed a breakout year is Jake Weimer. I know he is injured and a lot of this has to do with circumstance, but he really lost a great chance to shine. We all know he probably flies at the practice track and is a proven winner in the little class. He has the style, the fitness, the bike, and the support group to make some serious progress towards becoming a podium threat. Honestly, he should be right there with Brayton. Instead he has been plagued by a self-doubt that seems to engulf any sense of belonging among the elite. Jake has a down to Earth demeanor that gives him a mellow attitude, which lacks any form of cockiness. Fans should love this, but it seems to polarize them as some see him as

JUSTIN BARCIA

JUSTIN BARCIA

RYAN DUNGEY

JAMES STEWART


unappreciative. Jake only needs to put together a solid season and then allow himself to build on it. I feel like his foundation has been cracked since his rookie season in the 450 class began with an injury. It is hard to rebuild confidence for any one, and for someone who lacks ego it is very hard. Jake’s hope lies in his potential to rebound with a solid season and land a good ride for next year. Hope is a meandering mirage of what we want to be our reality. Hope can be found in the smallest components of life if you are looking for them specifically. The same can be said for racing and the racers that grace the tracks we all hope to race on some day. They can all find it if they look hard enough, but only a select few can say halfway through the series that there previous hope is obtainable sooner rather than later. These few are unable to enjoy it but we can for them... half way’s hope means there are aspects of every main event left to come to route for or appreciate. At least I hope so.

CHAD REED

ANDREW SHORT

RYAN VILLOPOTO


FROM THE FENCE

Justin starling is really riding wellHey girls!

Hate to see tHe 22 on tHe sidelines AC chilling before battle

43FLMX MAGAZINE MARCH 2014

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