Hi everyone. Catitanfan, Dubels, thanks for stopping by.
It's been three busy weeks for me, first with the Valencia business, then with the last two weeks spent in rural Albacete. I arrived back to BCN a little earlier than expected, tired from the long drive (I also drive the "rig" to and fro), and physically and emotionally drained. Usually when I get back home from a race it takes me about a day or two to get back on my feet. During this time I don't even bother doing anything. No laundry, no nothing! To tell you the truth, I always get super depressed when a race weekend is over. I hate seeing the boxes being broken down, I hate seeing the teams pack up and leave. The World Supersport teams are packed up and driving away as the second World Superbike race is going on! I've seen a few races in the last couple months, and it hasn't gotten any easier. People in the know tell me when you've been doing it for ten years, it's just another race, it's just another weekend, but honestly, I hope it never gets to that point for me.
I have some cool photos to post, but first I'm going to talk a little bit about the what it's like to live abroad. This is something I've been meaning to talk about for some time now, because the more I read people's views and opinions concerning American racers in international race series' (MotoGP and such), the more I realize people just don't understand. At least, they don't understand things from my viewpoint. I'm not speaking on the rider's behalfs, and I don't purport to know them all that well, but I've spent some time talking with every American rider in MotoGP (with the exception of Colin Edwards - the guy is always in the box working, or with his small family!), and I think I have some insights that might be cool to share. Particularly because many of the sentiments discussed apply to my life as well. Of course, you think, how hard can it be when you're young, rich and famous?!? That's three things I don't have right now, haha.
It's always hard, even the little things are difficult. I've stressed this before on other forums, and brought it up on MotoGPod, but people don't realize how hard it is to fly everywhere, live out of bags, and still be presentable at all times. In a way, it's like being a moviestar who always has to look good, and has mandatory events they have to do. The [big] sponsors really take a bunch of time from the riders, and sometimes they have to do promo work for Dorna and the series. Now that we see a little bit of the marketing work they have to do (photoshoots, dinners, tv commercials, meeting factory workers/executives), we also need to realize that on Friday, wherever they are, they need to get on a 250+ horsepower machine and just go. Flat. Out. Go.
I know many riders and teams try to get to their destinations at least a day or two early, to acclimate to the time zone, but just imagine for a second. You are in a plane, breathing airline air, kricked neck, crappy bathroom, and then you have to go to the hotel to try and get some additional rest. Life out of the bag. Whenever I go someplace, I usually don't have the luxury of resting up for a day, but believe me, there isn't time for much rest for these guys. I've always had some sleep related problems, so generally I can sleep anywhere, anytime. Sometimes when I'm excited, I just go without sleep, but week in and week out, it adds up and it affects all the little things you would'nt normally think about. As a mechanic, I know of an affliction called 'the drops'. As a rider, I would hope never to have 'the drops' when braking for a corner. I think sleep and conditioning are two of the most underrated aspects in professional motosports. Plain and simple, if you can't get used to living out of a bag, working out of a box, being at the track almost all day (10 hours, easy) on race weekends, dodging fans and media, and then doing additional work for your team and sponsors during the week, you won't like it. And that's the easy part.
The most difficult part of being an American out here is the fact that we're so alone. We're isolated from our culture and our friends. We don't have a weekly tv show we tune in to. There's no solid hamburger joint we can turn to. And for that matter, it's always eating out! Most of the Euro riders have a place to go to, and these days most of the Americans have bought euro-houses, but it'll never be the same. How often does Mat Mladin go home after work? How often does Nicky Hayden go back to Owensboro, or California? There's a distinct loneliness when you're living in a land of foreign tongues that has to be experienced to be understood. These are a few of the things that can affect a person and can contribute to their performance on the track. I have so many examples. I know a guy in World Supersport, from Australia. We spent a bunch of time together, and I asked him a ton of questions because I was considering moving to Italy later this year. He was in his early twenties, and had won a WSS race in '04 as a wild card in Australia. In '06 he moved to Misano to ride a Ducati 749R and left his girlfriend behind. She promptly started a new relationship with his best friend. Living by himself in a strange land (and English is hardly spoken in Italy), he was frustrated by everything and couldn't get anything done. Just buying bicycle equipment to train with was a nightmare. I think his folks got divorced or one died (not sure - it was something serious) but I remember thinking that, "Man, his whole world falls apart and because he's trying to advance his motorcycling career, he's so far from home he can't take care of those he cares about". His personal life was stressful enough, now imagine trying to deal with the cultural differences of working with an Italian team who don't speak english very well! There are so many factors that to just look at the race results doesn't do anyone justice. However, results are what counts. Food for thought.
I stopped at a greasy spoon on the way to Albacete, and they had this for sale. This is not, I repeat, not a cure for depression.
