In the 2013 hit song Happy by Pharrell Williams the word Happy is repeated 56 times. By the end of this torturous 4 minute pop tune the notion of being "Happy" takes to you like a virus.
This is not Neil Price, but it might as well be.
And that, if you believe Song Meanings and Facts, is the point. In fact, in the second verse, Pharrell actually dares bad news to show itself!!! Careful what you wish for Pharrell!
The 'take home' from all of this is that, even if something does bring you down (like a hillside of dumped granite waste rock), then you've just got to dust yourself off, stitch up your wounds and look forward to 'getting back on your bike', literally.
And this is exactly the philosophy of Gas Gas Australia rider Neil Price. Even despite the disaster that was WHES Round 4, Neil was very much "Can't nothing, bring me down, I said".
On Sunday, the day after MounTurner Madness, I stood in the doorway of the Moto Dynamics trailer chatting with the man himself. He poured himself a tea using the same hand that carried a 2 inch long gash, that needed quite a few stitches to keep all his 'bits' in.
That SAME hand had, only hours earlier, skillfully manipulated a double gasket layer fill-out to create more room for a heavy duty flywheel on our Gasser TXT125; Neil worked feverishly early Sunday morning to help get us riding Round 4 of the Prestige Winter Trial Series; despite the blood and puss that I could see seeping under the dressing.
I wanted to know what went wrong for him at MounTurner?
But, as well as being about the same height AND same weight, Neil is a bit like Pharrell Williams. For him, it is not about "what went wrong?"; it is about what did not go right. There is never negativity with this two stroke wielding warrior.
When you play in a sand pit that is 3 meters above a concrete floor, there is no room for a 'negative perspective'.
Here is what didn't go right.
Neil was not going to ride Round 4. Due to the 'covid curse' that sucks the fun out of everything we do, the family business (Moto Dynamics), was severely short staffed for its biggest day of trading. But in a last minute bail out, he was able to register.
Busy at Trials training in Jarrahdale all of Friday afternoon, Neil set about prepping his bike early Friday night, and was still going at midnight.
And then, at 'Oh My God' o'clock the next morning (4:30 am) he was in the car and on the road to Roelands.
It took some serious leverage, but I got out of him what I expected to hear: fatigue got the better of him. He was riding sloppy and constantly losing focus. He said that picking his riding lines was about as hard as picking a broken nose.
Was he upset and frustrated? No. And this is what is astounding about this racer!
There is no "Red Mist" with Neil. His rides like "an aggressive gentleman". His skill on the bike is honed from decades of practice and hundreds (if not thousands) of competition hours. Every move is well considered, every skill is well rehearsed. In a race event, no chances are taken; only opportunities.
Out on the Hard Enduro circuit, if you leave a modicum of tractionable track open to him, he will take it! And leave you sitting on sidelines wondering where you went wrong.
And when things don't go his way, like they didn't at MounTurner, he reflects with the type of positive affirmation that leaves you wanting to go home, stand in front of the mirror and take a good long look at yourself and your attitude to riding.
Neil....we can't wait to see you back on the bike!