Superman
Goes to Aspen
“WITH SNOWCROSS IN THE WINTER AND MOTOCROSS IN THE SUMMER, I WAS REALLY NEVER AT HOME, IT WAS JUST GO GO GO ALL OF THE TIME.
everyday, I wouldn’t change the last ten years with my kids for anything. MXP: So what made you decide to get out of the house and attend a few snowcross events in recent years? BM: Good question! A few years ago Ski-Doo approached me about going to a few events and helping out their younger riders a bit. At first I was a little hesitant as it had been awhile since I was at the track. But I made the decision to go and it ended up being really awesome. I got such a warm welcome by everyone, it was great and it felt like I had never left. For the past few winters I’ve been doing that, and then just last summer while I was at a snowcross get-together, I was approached about whether or not I migth want to ride a snowbike at the X-Games. MXP: Was your answer an immediately yes, or did you need some time to think about it? BM: I took a little while to decide, but then I thought why not! MXP: Once you committed to it and the project began, were you surprised at just how excited everyone got? 7 0
BM: That part was amazing. Steve Simms, all of the guys at OTSSF Yamaha, Jay Burke, my old trainer, Todd Schumlick; once the ball got rolling, it really started to build momentum. MXP: That had to make you feel good? BM: For sure, to see and hear that so many people were excited to see me go racing again was really cool. On my end, I did a little training and preparation so I wasn’t completely cold going in, but it was still pretty tough. MXP: I was actually lucky enough to try out a snowbike recently at a FXR media event, and learned they’re really hard to ride. What are your thoughts on them? BM: They are really hard to ride, I don’t think people realize that. Under the right conditions where the snow is deep and the track is smooth, they’re not too bad. But when it’s hard packed and the track is rutted, it’s definitely not easy. MXP: Yes, I found them really difficult and I can’t ever picture racing them. So you show up in Aspen to race for the first time in almost ten years. What was going through your mind?
BM: It was definitely a cool experience and one that I will never forget. It was funny because although it was just a fun event, once it was time to go racing, all of that old nervous energy came back. I hadn’t had those feelings for a long time, even in 2008 I kind of stopped feeling nervous before a race as I’d been doing it for so long. To feel these emotions was really cool. MXP: I know the actual race didn’t go the way you’d planned it to go, but overall, did you enjoy the experience? BM: Yes, it was very cool. The only bad part was that I crashed pretty hard in practice and really hit my head hard. Sometimes when you do these fun things, you forget that there’s still a possibility that you could get hurt. The crash definitely made me slow down a little and think about things, but I still managed to have fun. I really want to thank everyone who made this project possible. MXP: Would this be something you may try again in 2019? BM: I’m not sure, really. If I do it then I will certainly be more prepared. I would like to maybe ride a bike this summer in the dirt and just build a little more
// MOTOCROSS PERFORMANCE · MXPMAG.COM
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2018-04-03 10:26 AM