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The Writer's Book Of Excuses
Everyone has an excuse
When I was younger and less sensible, I used to race motorcycles.
Before that, I raced karts. I actually wasn’t very good at either, but I loved it. The highlight of my motorcycle racing career was beating Casey Stoner, who went on to become world champion.
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What I don’t usually mention is that, at the time I beat him, he was 14, and his bike broke down. (How very “marketer” of me!)
One thing you learn as a racer is that there is always a reason why you don’t win…And it’s never that you were slower than anyone else.
I actually once blamed my underwear being too tight after one particularly disastrous day.
Other classics are the Sun was too low, I missed my breaking point, and I think there is something wrong with the fuel.
Racing bikes opened a lot of doors for me, and I was lucky enough to spend time relaxing (i.e. getting “bladdered”) with a lot of famous racers.
At the time 1980’s to early 2000s the sport was very accessible. Hence, when I wasn’t working, I was travelling to Grands Prix, Formula 1 (yes, bikes used to have an F1 class), World Superbike, and British Motorcycle events, helping out and generally…
