...ever wonder what people think about when they're ridin'? I mean,
everybody thinks about somethin' right?
Do ya talk to yourself? Like at the starting line for instance? Now 
personally, I wear earplugs for a multitude of reasons. Not the least of 
which is so I can hear myself think, and so I'm not distracted by things 
like,. ..well like, motorcycle noises. That's not to mention the things 
that others may want me to hear that the earplugs help me to resist. 
Like the little psych-outs that happen during those critical pre-start 
moments. Like when my buddy in the over 30 expert class looks over his 
shoulder points at my ride, & says " hey Pat isn't that some coolant 
dribbling from your overflow hose?". Only to me it sounds like " aa 
Paa, ennnt mmmppph kewl eht? " Which as we all know, translates into, " 
Hey Pat, that new scooter's pretty cool eh?" So I nod, & grin, & give 
him the big thumbs up sign. " Yea, right, I'll catch your tired ass 
before you get to the checkpoint "

Or maybe you're tryin' to remember that advice ya got from the last 
Gary Bailey tape..." OK...elbows up" "...head over the front" ..."Scoot 
up on the gastank...the gastank...did I turn the gas on?" "Of course I 
did...I better check...no time, there's the 5 second sign...I gotta 
check" .."oh yea, there he goes, he's gonna try to fool us with that 
lame-assed delayed start again"... .... .... ...." Dammit! ..He always 
gets me with that stupid sh_t !!"

Do ya hear music? You know what I mean. That song that won't go away 
. That last song you heard...".. they've come to snuff the 
rooster..." or maybe it was that new Shania Twain song...well, more like 
the video ( who cares about the words ) . Or ( heaven forbid, and this 
is the worst ) "..Flintstones, meet the Flintstones they're the 
modern..."
I dunno know what the pros are thinkin', If I did, maybe I wouldn't 
be wallowing in the back of the pack so much. Come on you pro guys, 
what's it like in the custom painted Shoei? Is it like one of those 
rally car navigators? "...TWO HUNDRED YARDS! HARD RIGHT! DOWN TWO! 
TWENTY! SIX WOOPS. THIRTY! STAY LEFT! JUMP! nac-nac."

Then there's the flashbacks... like you keep hearin' Dion, from Bates 
sayin' " sure I'll put that old tube back in...it'll probably make one 
more race...probably"

Sometimes it's just plain 'ol talkin' to yourself "...they're all 
lookin' at me " "I gotta make this uphill jump, I just gotta" 
"...Mckelvy said he made it" ."..fourth gear wide open. ... ..uh 
oh...this is gonna hurt" "...ooommph..OWWW... uughh ... mmmph " 


"where am I?"