Yes, they’ve got to find something to blame, instead of just realising that it’s an incredibly tough game and there are a lot of other amazing riders out there. One thing that I really learned about myself last year was that I’d never cared what people think, but towards the middle of the year I started to care a little bit too much. When every person comes up to you and is asking you “What’s wrong?” and “Why aren’t you winning?” it starts to get frustrating. You think that people would respect your work and stuff more than they do. I started to get a little frustrated towards the middle of the season. I was starting to want to win badly because I just wanted to shut everybody up. I wanted to stop all the crap about the bike and show that everything really was fine, and it seemed like the only way they’d believe it was if I won a race. That’s really bad on my part because I never race for anybody but myself. It didn’t line up with my beliefs, but it made me realise that maybe I cared a little bit more than I thought I did. Like I said though, it’s taught me a lot and I can move on looking at things in the right light. And, as many haters as there were I had more fans giving me support, so it’s all good in the end.

Yes, definitely. Like I said, I was feeling good last year but you always learn, even when you’re winning. Learning is key to me because no matter how good you think you are, there is always somewhere you can get better. I’ve found a few of those spots this year, definitely. I’ve got a new coach and we’re always working on new stuff, and I now feel better and more prepared than I’ve ever been. Now we just need to see what happens…

Yeah, they do look good. I’m excited to go to a couple of new venues this year. Australia will be cool. I’ve only been there once and the crowd was pretty awesome, so I’m sure that’ll be a wild race and it looks like a cool track too. Then, we have old tracks on the schedule that are really good, but I was bummed they took Val di Sole off. I like the schedule change now; racing on Saturdays instead of Sunday. I always thought that day of practice between qualifying and the race was a bit of a waste. So, for me, I’m digging the schedule a lot more.

Yes, it always is, but for me as a racer winning another World Cup title would still be more special than winning World Champs, just because you have to consistently be the fastest guy over a year. Sponsor wise though, you can’t call yourself a world champ unless you win a World Champs, so yes, it would be amazing to win that race. In general though I don’t really set many results goals for myself, and I might sound like a broken record, and people give me grief for it, but I want to have fun and keep learning, and already this year I’ve enjoyed racing more than I ever have.

Yes, I would say that, you still never know. I don’t say that in a way like I don’t care about it at all and I could just leave it tomorrow, but at the same time, I don’t care about it at all and I could just leave it tomorrow. Does that make sense? I love it though and because of my contract I know I’ll be in it for another two years at least, and I imagine I’ll sign another contract after that. I’d like to race for at least another five years or so, but you never know.

I’ll admit I used to not really enjoy the racing part, I’ve always loved riding my bike and training, the racing is what allowed me to do that full time throughout the year. So it was like, “Right, if I’ve got to put in five minutes of work, eight times a year at World Cups and get through the racing part, it’s cool”. I wouldn’t wake up on Sunday morning thinking I can’t wait to race today. I was more excited to get it over with, then I could go back to relaxing and enjoying my love of riding. Now though I think, why would there ever be a stress there unless you have this weird fear of a perceived failure in your mind? Why wouldn’t you be excited to race? That’s what you’re working for, that’s why you’re putting in all the hours, just to show up, test yourself and see how fast you can go, see what you can get out of yourself. My mind’s definitely changed a lot regarding racing. I’m letting go of the need for results, what I’ve always known in the past is really my belief now, it’s actually part of my belief now, it’s clicked. So for the first time in my life I’m excited to go to the races every weekend. I’m just going to see how hard I can push myself and what all the training and hard work brings. Then, just however it happens, it happens…