It's been a couple of days since the event and I still don't know where to start. I am still beside myself over what I witnessed. The European fans would have to be the most passionate in MX; there were times when you couldn't hear the sound of the bikes over the roar and cheers from the French crowd.
102,000 motocross fans gathered in the small town of Ernée in the north of France to watch the 76th running of the Motocross of Nations and see which nation would be taking home the Chamberlain Trophy. With them they brought the flags of their countries, smoke flares in the colours of their nations, chainsaws with no bar, and air horns hooked up to compressed air tanks. These fans don't mess around. The track was pretty amazing; if you came to this field when no track existed, you seriously wouldn't be able to imagine a track being built there. The terrain is very steep, and whoever designed it sure has a wild imagination.
Let's take it back a few weeks. When I decided to go to France, I had just completed my tax return, and after my USA motocross road trip adventure, I managed to claim a lot of expenses and suddenly had the funds to go. But I wasn't sure if I had the annual leave from my day job as a flexo printer. I was a tad short on hours, but my boss is pretty cool and he knows this is a passion. I was set. I organised my media credentials, booked my flights and I was off.
