The Inside Scoop with Moto X icon Sarah Whitmore

Don’t get me wrong I have had my fair share of injuries and set backs, life as a female motocrosser is not at all glamorous. I have always worked hard but it has always seemed to pay off, and I know how fortunate I am to have spent my whole career near or at the top. But whether its just plan bad luck catching up with me or one of life’s tests, it hit me this year and it hit me hard.

It all started in December, after contract season was over, everyone had already set their budgets for the new season, Suzuki made cut backs and I lost my ride. With no bikes or support I borrowed bikes so I could still continue to train throughout the off season. On top of riding and training every day I now had to become manager and find myself a ride, I had a couple of offers that paled in comparison to what I was used to and I refused to believe its all I was worth. I at least had to try to find something better or else I would always wonder what if?

My hard work finally paid off and just a few weeks before the season started I signed with KTM. As it turned out they offered me more support than I had ever had before. I went from not having anything to being under the factory semi. But now I had a new problem on my hands. Switching to a different brand of bike is never an easy task. You don’t just get on and go. Every bike has its own feeling and it takes a lot of seat time to get it set up the way you like it. This is possibly even more difficult for women, because we don’t all weigh enough to make the suspension work as well as it would for a man. On top of that we aren’t as strong to correct the bike if we start to lose control.

Most of the time you have all fall and winter to get your bike set up the way you like it. I had a couple of weeks. On top of that I received an offer to go race in Europe. I was torn about the decision to go, but decided if it was meant to be then it would all work out. So now I found myself flying back and forth between Europe and the US. Not only trying to set up one bike, but two, because Europeans have different ideas on how to set up a bike than we do in the states. So even though I was still riding a KTM in both places, it felt as foreign as when they don’t refrigerate their milk!

While most of my testing should have been done during the week, I was often flying back and forth so it only left race days to try different shocks, forks, bars ect. To say I struggled would be an understatement. I swear there was some sort of magnetic force between the ground and my head; I always seemed to be laying on it. I would come in after my motos with tears in my eyes. When I got sick of crashing all the time I started riding tight and slow, too afraid to push it and end up on the ground. I was smart enough to know I was better than my results, but after awhile it starts to weigh on your confidence.

Finally half way through the season I started to get the hang of it. I still wasn’t where I believed I should be (on the podium), but as long as I was improving every time I rode I was happy. And then came the last race of the year at one of my favorite tracks, Steel City in Pennsylvania. Practice and my first moto went pretty good, I really enjoyed riding that track and was having fun. Then before the second moto something just clicked. The fire that I couldn’t find all year ignited. My fears vanished. I sat on the starting line ready, finally believing in myself again. I had one last chance this year to prove not to any one else but to myself that I still had it. I had an incredible battle with Tarah Geiger making a pass with two corners to go and finishing third. I had won this race plenty of times in the past, but after a season like I just had this third felt just as good as all of those wins.

It wasn’t the season I expected or wanted. It was a lot of work and dealt me too much heart ache. But I learned so much about myself as a person and a racer. It showed me that even through hard times when I feel like giving up, my love of this sport will always pull me through. Even when circumstances tried draining me, I was still able to find the fight in the end. Would I have chosen an easier more successful ’09 season if I had a choice? Without a doubt, but I played the cards I was dealt and am a stronger person because of it. For that I am grateful.