Well firstly I would like to say a big G’day to everyone in Australia!  I miss you all!!  It has now been 11 months since I left Australia to pursue my racing and modeling in the USA.  It has definitely been a life changing and very enjoyable experience.

I packed up my stuff and headed for the USA on the 1^st of June 05.  I had been training pretty hard and was actually heading over to race my first American amateur national at Mammoth Mountain in early June.  I have to admit I was definitely a little bit overwhelmed and extremely nervous about racing in the USA.  The women’s’ racing in the states is definitely in a whole new league.   I arrived at the track on Thursday for open practice and let me tell you as soon as I saw the track I was very excited to get out there and practice. The track was amazing, set in the mountains in northern California; the scenery around the track was spectacular and the track itself was probably one of the most challenging I have ever competed on. Anyway it   comes time for me to practice. I head on my brand new bike not really knowing what to expect, then all of a sudden I’m out there with so many guys flying around on 450s 250s 125s 80s when they say open practice they really do mean open practice.  I mean a couple of corners into the track and I’m being passed by Jeremy McGrath, I was nearly too excited to ride!  I guess for everyone over there, they’re used to practicing and riding with the pro guys as they deal with it all the time.  For me to be riding along side Jeremy McGrath who is my idol was an amazing feeling.

Race day came and I was definitely feeling great in practice, I had one of the faster times out there in the amateur girls and was super excited for my race.  I must admit lining up on the gate for the first time was pretty nerve racking, just because the competition over there is so fierce and the girls are super competitive.  There was a full gate of 40 girls, raring and ready to charge up that big uphill start at Mammoth Mountain.  The thirty second board turned sideways the gate dropped and I was off, to my surprise I holeshoted and was in the lead until ………… lap two I was being passed for the lead and came together with another girl and crashed really heavily. Unfortunately I dislocated my knee, which ended my weekend at Mammoth and my first race in the USA right there.   

The ambulance ride back to the pits sucked sooo bad, knowing that I had blown my knee out, which meant that I was going to be out of action for at least 4 months, I was pretty emotional and upset because I had been working so hard to get ready for racing in the States, I had come along way to compete and I was leading my race.  But as any racer will tell you, injury is all part and parcel of the sport.  So I spent the rest of my weekend hobbling around on crutches, with a torn patella tendon and a very sore knee. Although after all I did get to watch some pretty fast guys battling it out in the pro class that I’d only ever watched on TV!! Not to bad at all. 

As it turns out my knee was injured pretty bad requiring surgery, and no motocross for 4-6 months.  However putting that aside, I had some pretty exciting opportunities to be involved in the all new Bookoo Arenacross series as Miss Arenacross, which involved traveling around the country with the series as spokesmodel, promoting the event announcing at each round and being involved with the production of the TV series, which was a great opportunity for me.  Not only did I get to travel across the USA and see the country.  I got to be involved with a great series, meet a lot of great people and watch a lot of awesome racing. 

For those of you that don’t know much about Arenacross basically it is a scaled down version of Supercross.  American Supercross is in large NFL football stadiums and Arenacross is in hockey and basketball stadiums.  So American Arenacross is actually quite similar to Australian Supercross.  The racing is extremely tight and super intense.  

If you have never experienced Arenacross first-hand, picture sitting front row of a Championship Boxing match…..  blood, sweat and tears are exactly what you will experience in the tight confines of Arenacross.  Your more likely to get roosted with dirt or rocks than beer or popcorn spilled on you, you are more likely to catch a tear-off as it floats through the air than you are to leave the stadium lonely and disappointed!   You are so close to the action that the feeling you get is intense and real, close to that of being on the bike.  What impressed me the most is the professionalism of everyone involved and especially the riders.  Each rider takes the time to sign autographs down to every last person and concession worker that waits in line to meet the future’s to be and the star’s of today.   

I had a fabulous time working on the series. I had a very good group of people to work and travel with and I definitely made a lot of great friends.  I was much to my dismay sad when the season ended.  As it was 3 months of constant weekend-to-weekend racing and when it all suddenly came to a halt and was over with, it was a little strange and difficult to deal with. 

Traveling around the USA with the American Bookoo Arenacross Series, made me feel just like I was at home in Australia traveling around with the Supercross.  A lot of time I would almost expected to see Aussie boys pushing their bikes to the line getting ready to race, which at times made me a little homesick.  However, I really don’t think there is any other sport out there that can offer such a strong family atmosphere like motocross. Motocross racers are really just like one big family and it’s like that wherever you travel, no matter how far away from home you are.     

I also was lucky enough to race the last three rounds of the AMA Supermoto Series. This was a great experience for me being a part of an AMA Professional race and racing against a lot of the top supermoto riders in the world. It was a very special time for me as in the final round at Reno Nevada I became the first woman ever to qualify for an AMA Supermoto event.  Lining up in the main event was very nerve racking, yet I had a great race and at the checkers I finished 22^nd out of a field of 28 in the Supermoto Lights division. 

Living along way from home, family, and friends, it can sometimes be difficult because there are a lot of differences between the two countries.  All I can say is American food sucks!!!  We really don’t realize how great our food is in Australia until you travel or live in another country.  Apart from having to change the pronunciation in a few words when I speak just so people can understand what the hell I’m saying, everything else is pretty good!!  But don’t worry I haven’t lost my Aussie accent yet!! And I’m definitely still very proud to call Australia home! 

Being a motocross racer in the USA does however have its benefits. There is almost always a track open to ride whether it is motocross, supercross or supermoto every day and some of them are even open to ten o’clock at night.    The shopping malls and shops are open to ten o’clock every night, which rocks because I love shopping!!  You very seldom find yourself with nothing to do. 

Another thing that is amazing is going to practice at your local motocross track and being able to watch or practice with a lot of the guys I have only ever seen ride on television before, Ricky Carmichael, James Stewart, Kevin Windham, and of course Chad Reed.  That is an amazing feeling in itself! 

If you had asked be six years ago what I would be doing for a living , I would never have imagined that I would be racing motocross and modeling professionally for a living.  I am very fortunate and am very proud to say that I am involved in the best sport in the world and right now I wouldn’t change thing… 

Until next time,  

Erin Normoyle  xoxo