The Two Utes

Greetings from Utah. My family is up here this week enjoying some winter weather. We don't get too much snow on the face of the sun in Phoenix, so here we are in Park City introducing my son and daughter to old man winter. It is bitter cold up here, but now that I live in Phoenix 50 degrees is freezing to me. I am spoiled.

Last night I stayed with my friend and life-long Team Solitaire supporter Rich Eggett and his family. He owns Kingdom Crown, the clothing company that sponsors our team. You can check out their product offerings at www.kingdomcrown.com. He also has a watch company called Rockwell and a shoe company called DUS, both of which will be coming to market very soon. DUS is in the process of making a Team Solitaire signature shoe, as is Rockwell with a watch. We should have some very unique co-branded products available very soon. I will keep you posted on the progress.

San Francisco went much better for me than the previous week. I struggled in my heat but picked up a holeshot and win in the LCQ. Then I rode pretty horrible in the main event, but it was nice to be out there and I have set a mark to improve upon every weekend.

The track was fun, despite the rain. I couldn't believe how much precipitation fell over the weekend, and how good the track held up despite the standing water. I am looking forward to the East coast rounds that are in domes so that there are less variables to contend with.

I am off to make snow bunnies. Talk to you soon. RC

Rainy daze

Greetings from San Francisco.  I caught the early flight this morning and was in Oakland early enough to grab a few scrambled eggs and a cup of joe.  

They say "when it rains, it pours".  Sounds a little redundant to me.  Well it isn't pouring here, but it is certainly raining. All day long it has been raining.  All night it will be raining.  I am wondering what tomorrow will turn out like, because the mud-wrestling pit that used to be a Supercross track in the stadium will not do much to keep a crowd with rain-soaked clothing entertained tomorrow evening.  When the gate does drop tomorrow evening, I can honestly say that everyone on the gate will have a chance of winning the race.

I had a good week of riding coming off another disappointing event at Anaheim last weekend.  Bob Kiniry did hold it up strong for the team with a sixth place finish in the lites main event.  Check out this Steve Cox photo of Mr. Kiniry in action.

 Thanks for your continued support.  See you at the races!  RC

STEVE COX PHOTO

Happy Birthday

...to my brother-in-law Ryan.  You are 21 now, old enough to make all kinds of bad decisions legally.  You can even rent a car for an inflated price through about 1/3 of the rental car companies.  You think you are old and wise, but really you are still young and green.  I hope you have a great birthday and get all you are wishing for.

Ride Day

We did some riding this afternoon at our private track.  A lot of friends of the team came out to ride the pieced together motocross track.  I didn't actually ride, but JR, Jesse, Phil Nicolletti and others took to the track for some perfect conditions.  My trainer was here this weekend along with Gary Bailey, who are both working with Phil.  He looked good on my supercross track and I think he will be a top ten rider on the East region Supercross Series this year.  He is working with some good people. 

Check out my trainer, Seiji Ishii's website at www.coachseiji.com to read up on the do's and don't of training for moto.  He has a very informative blog there as well.

Night falls on Phoenix

That was going to be the name of my old mechanic Craig's band, but it never came to be.  It just so happens to make a catchy title for a blog post as well.

I just got home after another completely frustrating day at the races.  It was all my fault again, just like last week, but that doesn't make it any easier to take.  In fact, I am looking for someone else to blame at the moment.  No one takes responsibility for themselves anymore, so why should I?  I think it was the lyrics to the song I was listening to prior to the race that made me suck.  Wait, maybe it was all the violence on TV or the political name calling of late.  Come to think of it, it had to be the fact that my parents divorced when I was 22.  Whatever the case, I am not going to man up and say that I had anything to do with the fact that I rode like it was my first race ever or that I am amazingly prone to first turn pileups.  

Or maybe it was just me.

Press Day

It's 11:30 Pm on Thursday prior to Phoenix Supercross.  This week is usually pretty crazy, as everyone I have ever met in my life seems to be looking to score tickets or pit passes to this event.  This time things have been good and I have kept on my training regiment and in my normal routine.  The only thing that threw me off a bit is that I did press day at the stadium this morning at 4:00 AM.  It was worth it for some track time and getting good publicity in the local media.  

Last weekend went, well, shitty for me.  Since this is a blog I am not going to sugar coat things like I had to in the magazine.  It was pretty frustrating to have a poor result due to some very rookie mistakes on my part.  It kind of sucks that after as long as I have been doing this I still have issues that hold me back from performing at my highest level.  I felt that my speed, bike and conditioning were all good, so I am heading to Phoenix hopeful and looking to redeem myself a bit.

I have never done well at Phoenix since I moved here.  When I lived in ABQ I always did well at this race.  I think I can turn it around but I just need to approach it a bit differently.  At this point I am just concentrating on having fun and letting the results fall where they may.  If you are prepared and you try your best, that is kind of all you can do.  Otherwise you just go insane (like I did last year).

Anyway, I need to get  some sleep to catch up from last night.  I hope to see a lot of you over the course of the year, and if I do please let me know what you think of this blog.  As long as you enjoy reading, I enjoy writing.

Goodnight.

RC