Anaheim is here! The long wait has ended, and we are ready to rock and roll for another season of the SuperMotocross World Championship. For most of the world, this is like Christmas morning with unlimited upside and not a lot to worry about. For riders, it’s a stressful, nauseating experience. The points given out are the same as every other Monster Energy AMA Supercross round, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way. It feels like the weight of the world is sitting on every contender’s shoulders. It’s mostly because of the long layoff that seems to build anticipation to the sky. The amount of work and effort exerted by everyone involved in a program looks to Anaheim as a payoff when realistically, it’s just another Saturday.
The incredibly hard yet still ideal approach to this round is similar to how an NFL quarterback would want to approach a big game. Throw a touchdown on the first throw? Don’t get too cocky because you’re going to be back out there in no time. Throw a pick six on the first drive and feel like you lost the game already? Don’t get too down because the team is depending on you to bounce back. Anaheim takes this same dynamic. It’s one round but if riders let it dictate their entire psyche and pretend it’s the ultimate predictor of the season, they’re likely wrong in their assumption. Take it for what it is. If things go well, just smile and look to San Diego for continuation. If things go completely awry, spend the evening and possibly Sunday assessing the why, but make the next week a pathway to righting the ship. Allowing negative thoughts to permeate can drag into multiple weekends and simply cannot be allowed to take root. Have a short memory and keep it moving.
In talking to a few Anaheim legends, namely Jeremy McGrath, an interesting approach was revealed. MC said that instead of letting his mind dwell on all of the pressure-filled aspects, he tried to lean into the “Showtime” parts of his persona. He would make sure his gear, helmet, and even hairstyle were a huge storyline. That would capture the questions and attention span of he and others. Instead of asking if he could win another title, pundits would ask about the snazzy lights on his helmet and the bleach blonde hairdo he arrived with. Was it deflecting? Sure, but it was strategic deflecting. Anything he could do to allow the race to take care of itself without finding yourself in a never-ending thought loop was considered a win. The race always has and always will happen whether or not you endlessly dwell on an outcome that no one can predict.
The most ideal yet highly unlikely result is to soak in the experience and enjoy a fleeting time in a rider’s life. One day, they are going to wake up and be in their 40’s, and this racing life will be a memory. The competitive side of their life will wane. They’ll realize that they lived their dream. Everything they longed for as a child came to fruition and they traveled the world chasing this incredible sport. They’ll wish they slowed down, enjoyed the moment, and realized that a bad result isn’t a death knell. They’ll wish they could feel the adrenaline and endorphin rush when that 30 second board goes up. They’ll miss the things they hate and realize the magic was in the hardest of moments. One day, they’ll look back on mornings they dreaded and wish they could do it all again. Ask me how I know.