Tom Church interview
For someone who rides their bike for a living there are many up-sides; the best kit, a job you love, the chance to earn a good living, and dare I say 'fame'? There are clearly some downsides and some areas that are often not fully appreciated by the rest of us...
Travel conjures up visions of airports and ski trips for some, or M25 rush hour for others. For some reason there is also an illusion of it being pampered fun. Unless there are chauffeurs or private jets involved, on the most part getting from race to race it involves a lot of time sat stationary in a small box of some description without a whole lot to do. Not only does it drain you mentally, but it is also physically difficult. Flying for any extended period can cause dehydration and upset dietary intake of food. It may affect sleep patterns and these factors combined leave an athlete on the back foot the minute they step off the plane. Travelling hinders physical performance and measures need to be taken to insure you suffer minimal knock on.
I knew that there were going to be some back to back stops on the motocross tour - that is a given, but when I wanted to highlight the extent and the challenge of travelling that a GP rider does, one period jumped out at me - The Japanese GP, followed the next weekend by the British Championship round at Langrish, Hants. Just thinking about the logistics behind this trip halfway round the world and back again it would be impressive to just make the start line in either one of these events, bearing in mind time changes, transporting bikes and kit and finding somewhere to stay and eat in between. Let alone arriving in any fit state to participate to your full.
Tom Church of the Molson Kawasaki team was racing in these two events and offered to give us an insight into what he went through for this short period of very long travelling...
To give is an idea of how the travelling to Japan affects a normal routine, can you give us a brief description of a typical week during the season for you?
A typical week for me during the season is...recovery and rest on Monday from the weekends racing, then I either ride or train on Tuesday depending on how I feel. I always ride Wednesday, a light session on Thursday and then on Friday rest or travel to the next race. This can change depending on how I feel for example - tiredness, injuries, illness etc
This kind of routine is quite typical for a professional athlete - the emphasis being on rest and recovery after an event - repairing and replenishing, and then working on specific fitness and skills training in the build up to the next event.
As we know the Japan GP was an exception to the normal routine, can you just describe your travel arrangements for the Japan GP and then having to get back for Langrish?
We left on the Monday and arrived in Japan on Tuesday to give us time to adapt to the new time change etc. This mean't the week was geared up for traveling and adapting as opposed to riding as such. The bikes and equipment are all flown out too at the same time. After the weekend's race we left Japan on the Monday and arrived in England on the Monday with the time changes so I had a bit of time to recover before Langrish.
This kind of travel immediately leaves physical preparation as a secondary but in order to be ready for the event, rest and dietary intake play a big part in trying to get back to feeling 'normal'.
What was the biggest problem you associate with the travel you have to do? Tiredness? Lack of training time? Poor Diet? Boredom? Do you watch dvd's listen to music, read magazines etc?
The hardest thing about traveling for me is tiredness and interruption of regular sleep. I plan ahead so that my diet is good and hydration is good. Travelling just literally tires you out even though you're not actually doing anything, i find it hard. I pass the time either reading books or watching films.
Did you have to make any special arrangements for the bike, kit, accommodation and food over in Japan or is all of that looked after for you? If so who looks after that side of things? Do they ever get it wrong?!
Luckily the team took care of everything so i just arrived with a hotel address and everything was taken care of. Riding for the Molson team is good like that - everything is organized - there's never a stress. I can only imagine the added stress of trying to organize the transport as well - yet more time distracting from the focus of the racing and training.
How did you feel whilst in Japan - was there jet-lag? Did you feel fresh and train or did you need to rest?
The first day didn't seem too bad and I went for a light jog to try and kick start my body into the time zone but on the Thursday I really started to feel it so i just rested. I managed to sleep but still felt tired in the afternoons. By Saturday morning I felt good for the race.
What did you do for training?
One light jog, nothing strenuous.
I think this shows the stark contrast to a normal week and how preparation before the event and traveling is vital as it is impossible to make up ground whilst out on the road.
How did the GP go for you in Japan - was it harder or easier than a European GP (or very much the same when you are on the track?)
It's harder on the travel side of things than a European race. There is a relaxed atmosphere because everyone is like a community and there's not as much pressure to qualify. on race day when the gate drops it's the same as any GP as the top 15 are all there. I had a 9th in the first race and DNF in the second after a crash on the start.
After the race was there a rush to get flights, pack bike up etc or did you fly and leave the team to it?
We flew on the Monday and the team took care of the bikes so we headed to Tokyo for our return flight the next day.
What did you do between the Japan GP and Langrish?
After coming home i felt ok in the first two days but then the jet lag really caught up with me! I felt really run down and had no energy and really struggled for Langrish as it was close. I just rested as much aspossible and drove to the race Sunday morning and actually felt ok once I was there. It was a tough week! I felt like I had the flu all week.
It would be very hard to continue to compete with numerous back to back races at this extreme - and illness could well be a factor - with air conditioning on flights, many people packed in to planes and the added problems of difficulty in maintaining a good diet illness such as Upper Respiratory Tract infections are common place and will hinder any rider greatly.
Did you feel the knock on effect from all the travelling at Langrish? Were you tired or did you feel fresh?
I definitely wasn't 100% but managed to cope...
The Japanese GP adds a fantastic flavour to the GP series and is great for the factories to see the top flight racers on their kit first hand. However it is not all sightseeing and autographs for the riders alas with the tight schedule. The added pressure of traveling places much more emphasis on preparation in the off season and pre season and a makes awareness of diet and nutrition that much more important so as not to succumb to ilnness or lethargy when it comes to actually performing. Le us not forget how bad we feel after a few days of traveling - let alone having to perform to our physical peak! Tom came back strongly at Langrish after the extra travel that not all of the British Championship riders experiences and had a fantastic 2nd Moto 3rd place for 5th Overall. Then it was time for a well earned rest in his own bed!
