This past weekend James Stewart topped the podium in the Supercross class and Jake Weimer in the Lites class, but one champion that you didn't see was freestyle motocross ripper and X Games gold medalist Nate Adams. If you can remember, Nate attempted to qualify for his first Supercross at Anaheim 1 in 2009, but an unfortunate crash left him on the sidelines. But last weekend, Nate showed the world that he's been working hard and his speed is up to par, but unfortunately he missed qualifying for the night show ... by 1/100th of a second! I talked to Nate to get the lowdown on his second Anaheim 1 experience.
Unfortunately I didn't make it out to A1 to catch the race, but I heard that you had a bit of a bittersweet weekend. How do you think it went?
It was alright. You know, obviously I was disappointed to be the first one to not qualify and by a fraction of a second kind of gives me the knowledge that I can do it. Maybe some things happened throughout the day that I can smooth out to make it better. I don't know the schedule at freestyle events I'm relaxed because I know all the people, when and where to be places and when to be ready to ride, and the course. At A1 I was just kind of lost all day and things didn't really come together, but the riding was good and I felt like I had a blast and the best part was that a lot of people told me that I looked like I was going to make it and that I looked really good. And for me obviously I'm not looking as good as Stewart I feel like I've improved a lot and so that made me feel good. But nothing will make me feel as good as qualifying. So, yeah, that's still the goal.
So the qualifier that you barely missed out on was for the night show, right?
Yeah, I missed the night show by 1/100th of a second or something like that. I got 41st by 1/100th of a second.
Obviously I'm not looking as good as Stewart, but I feel like I've improved a lot and that makes me feel good. But nothing will make me feel as good as qualifying.
-- Nate Adams
Holy crap man. Well qualifying for the night show is an accomplishment in itself. I remember that a lot of insanely fast dudes had a hard time making the night show at times. Guys like Nate Tierney.
No offense to Nate Tierney and I'm still pretty bummed about not qualifying but Tierney finished 41st also. I know him through all the NVHC! guys and I know that he rips and no offense to Tierney, but he was kind of my guage of success and so it made me not feel as bad when I found out he didn't qualify either. [laughs]
It's crazy man. The track was just unfinished and muddy and practice is definitely gnarlier than it looks from the stands there's really a lot going on out there. But yeah, I'll just pick it back up and try another Supercross again.
Was it hard to focus out there? Because you spent so much time training and preparing and it all came down to that moment. It seems like it would be hard to stay focused with everything going on.
No, actually I was able to focus really good. I felt like for being alone all day and not having any help, just me and my mechanic and I also had some friends there, but they were busy getting DEFT gloves to all the right riders but once I got out there I just tapped into my training. Most of it's mental out there man like being able to stay loose and try new lines. But, all in all, I was having fun and I did my best, but it just didn't happen. Next time I'm going to move my transponder like an inch forward on my frame and get that 1/100th of a second. [laughs]
So did you go into this Supercross season with a selection of certain rounds you were going to hit or are you just playing it by ear?
Well, since I'm on the Nuclear Cowboyz Tour, I had to miss the first three rounds, but that allowed me to ride the first two rounds of SX. But yeah, I had just planned on doing A1 and Phoenix, so that's it.
Oh man, I totally forgot about that. Is it hard to go back and forth from riding FMX to training for SX? Have you been riding FMX during the week or only on the weekends when you do shows?
While I was training for Supercross I was riding FMX maybe once a week or once every two weeks just to stay sharp, but since December I've been dealing with bike issues on my 250F, so I haven't ridden FMX for over a month. Well, actually I rode the Nuclear Cowboyz rehearsals in LA in December, but that was it.
If I could get some 450's, I could sell about $30,000 worth of two strokes and get some money in my pocket!
-- Nate Adams
Ok, so I just seem to be fascinated with this subject, but it seems like a lot of top pro FMX riders are making the switch to the big 450 four-stroke. Is this something that may be in your near future?
Yeah man, I'd love to. If I could get some 450's I could sell about $30,000 worth of two strokes and get some money in my pocket! [laughs] No, I'd love to get a 450, but it's just so hard to get any kind of deal on a bike, you know? Not even free bikes. So you go buy three 450's what you need for a year and you've already spent $30,000. Right now, I'll stick to my two-strokes they're fun, they're light and I'll just wait until I get a bike sponsor to make the switch.
I heard Twitch was spotted on a Kawasaki KX450F recently. Do you know anything about that?
Yeah Jeremy went out and actually traded his pretty tricked out '08 or '09 Yamaha YZ450F straight across for a Kawi and he said that he loves it. I know that Jeremy's been pushing hard to make the move to the four-strokes because he loves them. Plus he's Twitch ... he's got to have a new project or else he gets bored. [laughs] No, I mean the guy just loves riding and if gets burnt out on something, he'll switch things up so that he can keep things fun.
Ha, that's awesome man. I can't wait to see him on that baby. So, one last question how's DEFT Family been going?
DEFT's going really good. We're actually just going over trademark stuff today. There's always something to do for DEFT and sometimes it can get a bit overwhelming, but that's what we've been praying for and wanting over the last year of building this thing up, so it's a good thing we're busy. Gloves are moving, shirts are moving so we're pumped.