Chapter 1.1
It was a sunny Sunday afternoon at the track,where the national superbike championship final was taking place, a good change after the two grim and rainy days that made practice and qualification rounds a headache for riders and mechanics alike.Where choice of the right tires and correct suspension adjustments where key for a good track time. John Preston had made good times placing him in the 5th position at the startline for the main event. This was a huge success for someone not running for a manufacturers team and who had no sponsors backing him up apart from some of his hometown local dealerships that provided him with tires and lubricants. He had a dream to become a professional rider, since he could remember himself.Today was his chance to show the manufacturer teams that he had professional potential , he knew that all he had to do was finish in the first six and a contract would be waiting for him the moment he took off his leathers.He had had a very good year so far, finishing in the first 10 on every race in the season. The talent hunters had already discovered him long time ago and manufacturer eyes where carefully studying his progress.
He showed a stability in results that even some pros could not muster, and everyone knows that talent alone is not enough to make the pros in races. He showed commitment and determination, virtues that are valued like gold by the big names, and he had the talent needed to bring his inferior bike sometimes in front of much more experienced and better prepared teams.
Preston was thinking that this day would define his future, while he stepped out of his air conditioned trailer into the afternoon sun, all geared up and ready with helmet in hand for the race of his life. He was so engulfed in his thoughts that he found it hard to focus on the advice his life long best friend and mechanic, Julian Holmes, was giving him these last few moments before the race."Keep your head down in the straits,remember youre a big man and you don't want that wind to cut your speed,you need all you can get to keep up with those factory bikes...","Go easy on the brakes,don't burn them out before the race ends..","Mind the transmission ,that third gear is a bitch..",things that although he had heard a thousand times before, would always bring a smile to his face. Nodding absently to his mechanic his eyes scanned the crowd just outside their trailer park to see any familiar faces. He did see some of the usual mugs, but he was looking for someone in particular.As they where walking towards the pits where his bike was waiting all lubed up and gased ready as it can be, he felt a tug on his shoulder. He knew before he turned who it was, even before he saw the red flowing hair and those deep green eyes.He thrust his helmet at his mechanic's chest to free his hands so he could hug his young wife with both his arms.After a brief but passionate kiss, he heard Julian almost shout to be heard over the crowd's noise,"Hello Helena,good to see you, but allow me to say your not helping his concentration that way, today is the big day,he must focus on the deed at hand, save the pleasantries for later..".She looked at Julian playfully and in good humor dismissed his warning with a nod of her head."Do I need permission from you Julian so I can kiss my husband...","No offense Helena, you can do what you want with him the rest of the time, but when his on the track he belongs to me.."answered Julian with a smirk."Hey you two I am right here and if I'm not mistaken,I'm old enough to make my own choices..",they all laughed and continued towards the pit area.As they where getting close Preston noticed that his wife had a strange and worried look."What is the matter honey?",as he asked she looked at him and for a moment he thought he saw genuine fear in her eyes,but it was gone even before she started to answer his question,replaced by her usual warm smile."Don't mind me, I am just having one of those stupid thoughts that something bad might happen to you out there today", she answered.He knew her long enough to know that there was more worry in that gaze he noticed than usual.Out of pure impulse he didn't dismiss it like he usually does and decided to ponder on her fear a little more."I know this track like the back of my hand,and Julian has done a great job preparing the bike...nothing can go wrong today apart from maybe me pressing the bike to much and blowing an engine mid race or something like that,there is nothing to make you worry more than any other time"."I don't know,sometimes I worry about you because you are having those dreams lately, you know the ones you wake up from all sweaty and agitated and you cannot remember very well..","Sometimes I notice you are preoccupied about something,and when I ask,you just brush me off,if there is something wrong,anything at all please don't shut me out..."."There is nothing to worry about right now,when I'm at the track nothing breaks my concentration,everything will be fine".As he said these words he felt a little pang of guilt cause she was right,his sleep lately is giving him problems,and then there are those strange thoughts that pop suddenly in his head.Thoughts that seem like forgotten memories that someone else has lived and told him about them,not his own but so strangely familiar, in a way he can't place his finger on,like something in the fabric of the world has broken and he is looking through that small hole, he cannot understand where these thoughts come from and that disturbs him greatly, because he likes to think that he has perfect control over his life.He likes to believe that he doesn't leave anything to chance and his cosy little world is perfectly under his control.
He looks out at the waiting track and the humming crowd, forcing himself away from these thoughts.Today he doesn't have the luxury to be lost in himself.Today man and machine will become one to give him what he had worked so hard to achieve, but for some reason that thought gives him some mixed feelings.Its not the first time in his life that he truly realizes that he has fused with that bike so much it almost feels like an extension of his body.And for some peculiar reason that thought makes a sudden chill go up his spine."Its time to get ready.." he says in a steady voice and turns to his friend that in the meanwhile was fussing around the bike making last minute checks and adjustments.And for the first time in his life a strange thought passes his mind,"no room for error today,so please don't fuck up",not like him to think about failure,"I must be getting old.." he thinks with a smile and looks toward the sunny sky.His thoughts are broken by Julians' shout,"ten minutes to go for the starting grid, get yourself prepared soldier",with a smile he turns his thoughts back to the real world that was starting to fill his senses again with the familiar sounds and smells of motorcycle racing.... (to be continued)

Last edited by rider_xx on Tue Nov 25, 2008 5:50 pm; edited 2 times in total

Lol its guna be a work of literature Rider, nice work

Rae