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Pic - Me and Bubba:
The Latest report received from Michael Robinson, currently in Sweden at MX School. Reads:
Yeah, yeah I know what you are thinking. How come we haven’t heard from Michael Robinson for the last two months. Well, I’m going let you all know that he has been in Heaven… Heaven you ask? Yup, in fact every moto-crosser’s dream - MX HEAVEN USA.
MX Heaven, USA is located in a town called Parris (California), around one and a half hours drive from LAX (Los Angeles Airport). MX Heaven is a place where you pay to stay. What is involved in the price is - a place to stay, a bike, petrol, transportation to venues, food cooked (5 days a week) by 'The best Chef', called 'Rocky 4'. Entry fee to the tracks, a home base super x track and miles of free riding out the back.
"From Sunday the 13th of March to Sunday the 3rd of April I was in Heaven… MX Heaven, USA where I had the biggest riding opportunity of my life to ride on the best tracks in America and maybe even the world. Such tracks as Glen Helen, Parries Raceway, Lake Elsinore, Post Road (MX Heaven Home Track), Cahuilla Creek, but also miles of free riding space, where there are loads of natural tracks, hill climbs and corner practice tracks and the MX Heaven super x track."
After two plane trips totaling 14 hours, 17 Swedish guys and myself arrived in USA (LAX). After clearing customs and collecting our bags we were met outside by two buses and a trailer with 'MX HEAVEN USA' signed on the side. "Once we met up with the MX Heaven crew we had a one and a half hour drive to MX Heaven, on the way we passed the main Pro Circuit shop and the Kawasaki test track. On arrival at the camp we picked what rooms we wanted. Each room has four beds – 2 bunks to a room, and then we got told how everything was going to work at the camp.
We were then shown around and assigned a ride each. There was a mixture of '04 and '05 bikes, but mostly '05." I managed to get a 2005 CR250.
Since the Swedish guys and myself had not really done any hard riding for the last four months due to the winter conditions in Sweden (snow and ice), we spent the first week just getting bike fit.
"During our first week everyone was really excited to be riding again, we got our bikes ready on Monday while we were recovering from the travel and then packed the trailer for riding on Tuesday.. First week we rode Tuesday at Lake Elsinore and Thursday at Glen Helen. Lake Elsinore was a real good starting track. The big track was closed, but the support track was technical enough, hard packed and some nice jumps. Glen Helen is the best track - hilly off cambers, fast, nice dirt which works up nice and rough. The big plus is all the top guys do their training there. This time we had Ivan Tedesco, Mike and Jeff Alessi, Brett Metcalf, Paul Carpenter and Daniel Blair. I watched and tried riding with Ivan, Mike and Brett and their speed and aggressiveness was amazing to watch, especially interesting to see how the bike and the rider go together as one.
On the Saturday we decided to race on the REM track at Glen Helen, it was hot as. We were all dying..... but I managed to push through the day with a reasonable finish - 6th for my first actual race day in almost a year."
The first week went well for myself and the guys. We got to do good training with motos at every chance we got. When we were not riding we would work on our bikes and if we got a chance we would shop.
"I got to buy some clothes and look at the local big and small MX shops. The prices of clothes, MX gear and accessories, was amazingly cheap.
On Tuesday the second week we rode at Cahuilla Creek. It is a real hilly track and nice dirt. I found it good for training and thoroughly enjoyed it. On Wednesday we were going to ride at Post Road, but with an unexpected closure decided to ride out the back. However the day was called short by our trainer when a confused Swedish rider lost his way resulting in a collision. On Thursday we got to ride out the back again and got split into three groups. Group 1 on the supercross track, another practicing berm corners and the third standing up around a rutted off-camber cornered track where we had to stand up for 20 laps and learn to work the bike.
On Saturday we decided to race again at the REM track at Glen Helen and luckily the big track was also open for riding, so we could just ride all day. On my third moto on the big track I was on my first lap passing someone going up a hill. Around the outside as I jumped down, a pinned flat Kawasaki passed me. I took no real notice of it as I was left coughing in its trails of dust then 9 laps later as I entered a corner there it was the number 259. As we exited the corner I saw the “scrub” up close one metre in front of me as he threw the handle bars and foot pegs sideways and basically parked on the top of the jump. I was so amazed I went around three corners slowly, stopped and watched the greatest rider doing his thing – James Bubba Stewart. He is indeed in another league of his own. How he can work the bike and his corner speed is unbelievable – he’s the best. The total Swedish team even had a break so that everyone could watch Bubba riding. Everyone stood on the bank silent totally mesmerized and just followed him around the track."
Saturday pretty much made everyone’s trip worthwhile, but it was not the last that we would see of Bubba. In our last week we rode at the super x track, once again at Cahuilla Creek where they saw Bubba, Ryan Hughes, Paul Carpenter and Brandon Jessman and then at the local track Parris Raceway.
It was real good getting another chance to see Bubba ride again and all the other top guys, but one of the best rides was the Parris Raceway track. It is a mixture of moto cross and super cross doubles, triples, table tops, everything. It was by far the best track I have ever ridden.
As the trip was coming to an end we had one last race day at the REM track. It ended up ok for me considering I had spent the last 2 weeks riding a 2 stroke 2005 YZ125 after a mechanical problem with the CRF250. Naturally I first struggled with the transition, but in the end pulled through to get a fourth and a fifth to end the weekend well. Each weekend we got more and more top Americans racing, which was real good to be racing with semi-pro riders. When the weekend had finished and Sunday came around it was time to jump back in the car and fly back to cold Sweden.
I was surprised to find Sweden’s weather had begun to warm up to 15 degrees during the day and getting warmer by the day – Spring is here at last. Now that we are back to school we are back into riding Tuesday-Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
Michael Robinson
C/ Tove & Jan Blikstad
Junigatan 5
S SH330 TIBRO
Sweden
