In the second of triple Rockstar Energy MX Nationals Australian Motocross Champion Jay Marmont’s travel blogs, join the CDR Rockstar Yamaha rider during his every move while over in the States in the lead-up to the 2010 Motocross of Nations.

Hey y’all!

After taking delivery of a practice bike to throw a leg over, it was time to retire from the H2 Hummer and hire some wheels of my own – a nice four-door Chevy ute, or ‘Truck’ as the Yanks would say!

Having a bike and our own wheels meant that it was now time to do the rounds to get organised for some more riding on Friday, so I made a trip over to Pro-Circuit to pick up some T4 Titanium Pro Circuit pipes. It was cool to check out all of Mitch Payton’s championship winning bikes while we were there at PC, too!

I then headed to Doug Dubach’s workshop to pickup my bike, as he had held onto it for me from the Glen Helen launch day. Doug owns and develops DRD exhaust systems and is a well known test rider who helped develop the latest Yamaha YZ450F.

We all went out for a meal that night and my choice was a restaurant offering healthy options such as a steak house. I needed a good meal to load up on energy for my day of riding the next day and it had been awhile since I had any steak and greens.

Considering all of the options we had and traveling from Australia you would think we would come up with a different choice other than the Outback Steak House! However, we all enjoyed the meal and my mate managed to get the number of one of the waitresses.

The next day I went to Peris Raceway, but after driving out there we discovered that was closed due to a race they were holding there on the weekend. I then made a call to Doug to ask him where would be the next best and closest track to ride. He lead me to a place called Milestone, only 20 minutes from where we were.

It was the first day I rode in the Californian desert heat of around 38 degrees, but I felt good on the bike even though I was having trouble adjusting to the heat, which I think will take me a few days to get used to.

That night we went to a local restaurant called the Yard House, which seemed like the place to be. The food was unreal and it had an impressive bar with rows of yard glasses above it. We bumped into Davi Millsaps and Martine Davalos. I had a chat to Davi, who informed me that he had signed a deal with JGR race team. Unfortunately I missed meeting up with Dan Reardon, who was there not long before we arrived.

The next day was the last round of the AMA Nationals at Pala Raceway in California. It was only 20-30 minutes from where we are staying at Temecula, however when an event as popular as this was on you know nearly every car on the road was heading to the same place.

It was my first time as a spectator rather than a rider attending an outdoor here, plus I had never witnessed the Pala track before. It was the same deal for a few of my mates, so we set off early to make sure we’d miss nothing!

As early as 7:45am the crowds of people were unbelievable. The traffic and queues only got longer and thicker, so for the girls who decided to leave later it was a s*#t fight! They arrived four hours after leaving the house.

The track looked very well prepared with loamy soil, solid up-hills, down-hills and spectacular jumps. We were able to walk around the whole complex to view the track from many angles.

The jumps were cleverly built on top of 40-foot containers so spectators were able to walk through and get around to different sections of the race track to get up close to cheer on their favourite riders.

I walked around the pits to catch up with some old friends and the Aussie riders. I sat down to have some lunch with BillyMac and Dean Wilson when Christophe Pourcel came up to have a chat. He seemed nervous and doubtful, so we tried pumping him up with some positive reassurance and wished him good luck.

The top three or four riders in both classes were impressive to watch as the intensity was high. l was really enjoying the first 250 Class moto as Trey Canard and Pourcel were battling it out for the championship… Canard crashed while overtaking Pourcel, but then three laps later Pourcel went down hard, popping his shoulder out.

My heart went out to Pourcel, who had to watch thousands of fans cheering for Canard, who finished with the overall win.

I was also very impressed with Brett Metcalfe, whose speed and endurance stood out all day.

It’s crazy to see so many die-hard fans covering the dirt and rocky hills that surrounded the race track – 30,000 to be precise! No shade, no blankets, no chairs, but it didn’t faze them at all!

By late arvo after many hours roasting in the sun, it was time to find some sort of shade. The Rockstar corporate area was where it was at! With the marquee being the on my list of priorities, there were beverages, an underground pool, grass, a little crowd, fresh air and bikinied promo girls.

We found TC and Kev Williams kicking back in there with a Vodka Rockstar and, to nobody’s surprise, they had been there for most of the day. We also bumped into Bilko and Kade Mosig.

Stay tuned for my up and coming days filled with riding. I’m looking forward to having a practice ride with Metcalfe and a few of the other riders who are racing MXoN, so I’ll check back and let you guys know how I go.