WHAT ARE THE STRANGE RITUALS OF THE FAST?

On Dec 13, 2005

(From The March ’05 issue)

JAMES STEWART: “I always put on my right knee brace before my left. I always buckle my left boot before my right boot. I like listening to the same music every time before I race. But even if I lose, I listen to the same music again.”

HEATH VOSS: “It’s just life. Things get thrown at you and you have to deal with them. It’s crazy to sit and wonder about what could happen. You just need to deal with it.”

MATT WALKER: “I normally wear red goggles. That’s really the only thing that I do.”

RICKY CARMICHAEL: “Every once in a while I get superstitious, but I try not to be. I used to only wear orange gear, but you shouldn’t be superstitious, because you make your own luck. I don’t think the color of your gear determines whether you’re going to win or not.”

SCOTT METZ: “I put everything on my right side firstlike my right glove, my right boot; I put my right leg in my right boot first.”

DAVI MILLSAPS: “It used to be that if I crashed in the gear, I would take it off and never wear it again. I’d just put on a new pair of gear and wear the other gear a week later after I washed it. But still to this day, there are three things you shouldn’t say to me: ?never say never,’ ?one more time,’ and ?don’t do this.’ Like my friend said, ?You never crash super hard on a 125.’ I told him to not say that to me, and the very same day I had a super bad get off. When people say ?don’t get hurt,’ that’s the worst.”

BRIAN GRAY: “I can’t help it. I usually put on my left knee brace first. I also put on my left boot first, because I feel that I ride better then.”

JOSH HANSEN: “No, I just believe in God. That’s it.”

PAUL CARPENTER: “I won’t sign casts. In 1999 I signed a cast for a kid at a local race in Mexico, New York. The very next moto I broke my arm, and the kid whose cast I signed had a broken arm. I’ll sign anything but a cast.”

BROC HEPLER: “If I get hurt in a certain set of gear, I’ll wear the stuff just to prove to myself that it’s not superstitious.”

BRUCE STRATTON: “I am to a certain point. I don’t go as far as having to wear the same clothes or same colors, but I do more of a mental preparation and stick with the ritual of that.”

BOBBY KINIRY: “The man upstairs has control of all that stuff. Clapping your hands together three times isn’t going to help you do

better.”

RYAN HUGHES: “Superstition is just something that’s been passed down from generation to generation. It amazes me that people think that knocking on wood is going to do something to change your life. Come on, give me a break here. That’s ridiculous.”

KYLE LEWIS: “If I crash in a pair of pants, then I won’t wear them again. I’ll get rid of stuff that I crash in. I don’t think I’m superstitious, but I don’t press my luck.”