Posts
29103
Joined
11/25/2008
Location
Thru-out, CA
US
Edited Date/Time
3/11/2015 10:55am
EDIT: Added "What Happened to Andrew?" From CoachSeiji.com...19 posts down...
At ATL2 he was soooooo sick that I felt he was crazy for racing. During track walk he was so pale that it was alarming.
How he'd survived thru the entire program was beyond my understanding. His 15th in the Main appeared to me to be one of his hardest fought races...ever. He fought just to finish. This included crashing on the 1st lap...in the sand pit.
He'd gotten a really bad case of food poisoning on the previous Tuesday-night/Weds after going out to dinner with his wife. He was that kind of sick where ya don't eat, at all; because, you can't keep anything down...at all. He spent the week after ATL2 trying to recover. Not training. Not riding. Recovering.
For Daytona, he had the wonderful surprise of all his flights being canceled...one after the other. Coach Seiji got a buddy to fly them in a 4-seater and they arrived at 4 A.M. Saturday, the day of the race. Andrew was just glad to have made it...at all.
He looked a lot better & sounded pretty good. I was kinda surprised; again, he looked THAT bad at
ATL2 & I was aware of how the week between then and Ssturday was focussed on simply trying to feel decent.
So...what does he do? He goes out and has a very interesting night...including leading the 1st several laps of the main; and, let's not forget the excellent heat race.
In the main, I had no idea how he was going to keep that pace for more than a few laps...he had to be getting fatigued...quickly; but, there he was...
Staying in it.
Eventually, the previous 2 weeks of being sick and worn out came to the surface and his lap times fell off. He ended up 12th. Man, was he NOT happy about that. I understood, Seiji understood, everyone around Andrew understood HOW good it was just to be out there and getting points these 2 weeks...but, not Andrew.
He's a consummate Pro: he's out there to win. He can't accept leading for all that time & NOT Winning. It's kinda good to see him like that. It reminded me...
He's atill got the Fire.
Now, we just need for him to get healthy and get to the track "rested".
I'm stoked.
At ATL2 he was soooooo sick that I felt he was crazy for racing. During track walk he was so pale that it was alarming.
How he'd survived thru the entire program was beyond my understanding. His 15th in the Main appeared to me to be one of his hardest fought races...ever. He fought just to finish. This included crashing on the 1st lap...in the sand pit.
He'd gotten a really bad case of food poisoning on the previous Tuesday-night/Weds after going out to dinner with his wife. He was that kind of sick where ya don't eat, at all; because, you can't keep anything down...at all. He spent the week after ATL2 trying to recover. Not training. Not riding. Recovering.
For Daytona, he had the wonderful surprise of all his flights being canceled...one after the other. Coach Seiji got a buddy to fly them in a 4-seater and they arrived at 4 A.M. Saturday, the day of the race. Andrew was just glad to have made it...at all.
He looked a lot better & sounded pretty good. I was kinda surprised; again, he looked THAT bad at
ATL2 & I was aware of how the week between then and Ssturday was focussed on simply trying to feel decent.
So...what does he do? He goes out and has a very interesting night...including leading the 1st several laps of the main; and, let's not forget the excellent heat race.
In the main, I had no idea how he was going to keep that pace for more than a few laps...he had to be getting fatigued...quickly; but, there he was...
Staying in it.
Eventually, the previous 2 weeks of being sick and worn out came to the surface and his lap times fell off. He ended up 12th. Man, was he NOT happy about that. I understood, Seiji understood, everyone around Andrew understood HOW good it was just to be out there and getting points these 2 weeks...but, not Andrew.
He's a consummate Pro: he's out there to win. He can't accept leading for all that time & NOT Winning. It's kinda good to see him like that. It reminded me...
He's atill got the Fire.
Now, we just need for him to get healthy and get to the track "rested".
I'm stoked.
Has anyone else noticed that he's wearing two different colored boots this year?
The Shop
Keep it going Andrew.
sorry for tmi
The guy's got a lot to be proud of. He's never been THE guy but he was a top three fixture for a LONG time with some of the greatest to ever throw a leg over a bike. He's like Dungey, just not quite as fast.
BTW, that might not have been food poisoning. There was a NASTY case of stomach flu circulating in Atlanta the weeks before and after the ATL rounds.
"The Magic Bike" suits him well.
Steel is real boys.
I love shorty, he is an awesome rider, always there year in and year out at the front or near the front mixing it up! He has an awesome attitude that I wish I had and always a smile on his face!
Modern training, diet, and motorcycle technology really erases the whole "young mans sport" that was present in the 70s -90s and shorty, KW14, and CR have and are proving it!!!
The Dude LOVES the new bike.
It was food poisoning. His wife got it, too; but, thankfully got over it a bit quicker. They know what it was and where they ate it.
He is wearing his Two-Tone A-Stars. I think they're very cool & it's easy to keep an eye on him he he wears them, too. They're painted and the paint stays on. I pressure sprayed'em and the paint holds up pretty well.
Pit Row
"What happened to Andrew?”
I got that text, email or voice mail all day yesterday, the Monday after Daytona. Obviously, if you were watching and took the race at face value, Shorty got the hole shot in the main, led for half the race, then faded back to 12th. If that is what you saw, you are only seeing the tip of the iceberg and are missing the true meaning. This isn’t an angered retort or a list of excuses. This is my brain bubble every time I saw, read or heard that question.
Andrew executed the Atlanta 2 weekend to perfection. He calmly handled everything that was under his control at the time with 100% effort. Nothing was left, no rock was left unturned. Andrew suffered from a ridiculously angry bout of food poisoning the week before Atlanta 2. He threw up for half a day, suffered through the rest of the week, not being able to eat, and headed to the race. If he wasn’t in a practice, he was upstairs in the truck, lying down, completely dysfunctional. He couldn’t go out for the autograph session and he couldn’t eat normally. Ideally, he would transfer to the main from his heat to eliminate total laps he would have to endure. He gutted up and did exactly that, an amazing performance all by itself. He fell in the first lap of the main, picked up his bike in dead, dead last and gave it all to the race to salvage a 15th. He immediately threw up and could only sit. Nothing left, nothing at all. He could not have done one thing better in my opinion. I was proud.
The following week was total recovery. He couldn’t do much, the effects of illness and depletion from the race lingering. He stayed focused on the job at hand and remained positive. Then Daytona travel day, the craziest travel day I have ever had as a professional. Our 8:05 am flight eventually became a 7:30 pm flight. Andrew remained calm and positive throughout until it became impossible to get to Daytona by air. Then the goal was to just get to Atlanta, possibly driving from there to arrive at the race at 7 am. Luckily I connected with a private pilot friend and we boarded a single engine Piper at 8 pm and arrived at the race hotel at 3:30 am. We made the race in the morning, remiaining optimistic on the day. Andrew again executed perfectly, getting the hole shot and leading the heat, ultimately finishing 2nd, then getting the hole shot in the main and leading for half the race. Then, it all caught up and if you watched the race, that is what you saw, a fading to 12th.
That is not what I saw. I saw a guy, beaten down and dealt a bad hand take the challenges on without complaint. I saw an athlete, battle sickness, lack of sleep, and his own mind to do the best he could. The storm was raging, the body was wilting and the mind was wavering, yet he gave it his all until there was absolutely nothing left. For two weeks in a row. And I realized, that this is the way it is all the time, no matter the circumstances. Through the L & Mc debacle, through Hudson’s eye challenges, through broken elbows and promises. This isn’t a “remarkable performance,” this is character shining through when it’s all clouds but is still there when the sun is shining. THAT is what happened at Daytona and Atlanta.
As a sports trainer, I too can get caught up in results, where very little is actually in your control. As a participant in life, and now a father, I cannot overstate how well Andrew has done. When this small part of our lives is over, when sports are nothing but a fond memory and the trophies are collecting dust, its these efforts, these fights, that make us who we are and what we pass down to our kids. You can’t pass a win or championship down. What you can pass down is what makes you a champion, the qualities and character. I have been a professional trainer for 20 years and these last two weeks have been my proudest moments. In our futures, results won’t matter but character will forever affect our lives and the lives of others.
Champions are made on the bad days, and he’s the champ in my book and there are many more that you can’t see unless you look under the surface. No go out there and be a champion!
- See more at: http://www.coachseiji.com/coach-seiji-news/260-what-happened-to-andrew#…
The guy can shred a start no matter how he's Feelin'...
Post a reply to: Short really surprising me...these last 2 weeks