This weekend BOPMCC put an another awesome Summer Cross event at Awakaponga, near Whakatane. We went out and did early sign on on Thursday afternoon and walked the track and checked things out before taking on my first attempt at a championship event in Pro65. I was feeling really good about the track, my bike and my ability and slept really well. I was nervous before the practice and qualifying and for the most part of the ride I was picking good lines and keeping up with the older, more experienced pack. This was until I came off and ate sand. Then I couldn’t find my rhythm or speed again and struggled in the sandy uphills and sawdust section. Instead of bouncing back after a bad race like I usually do I started to overthink things and took a massive drop in confidence. Race 1 was ok, I rode technically quite well but without trusting myself I didn’t have enough speed to carry me through a lot of the track. I came off and I stalled and so many people came up to Mum and Dad asking if I was ok as they had never seen me ride like this. Race 2 was even worse. I was so deep in my funk that it was the longest 15 minutes I have ever not enjoyed riding. Before Race 3 I was asked if I wanted to quit and go home but I don’t do that. I came to ride SummerX and experience something new. I rode Race 3 and was happy that I at least finished the day. My overall placing was 13th out of 17 or 18 that started the event. My mood improved heaps once I got my gear off and while it was a terrible day there were lots of positives and it has given me heaps to work on. This is now it for 2017. In the last 12 months I have gone from a Nipper to Div 2, moved from Aussie to NZ, gone from Mini MX 50cc to Mini MX 65cc to Junior MX Pro65. I have a collection of cool trophies and despite the ups and downs and harsh lessons I still have the passion to give 2018 all I have got.
Soren Staudinger 