November, 2008

November 21, 2008

It's Time.

It's time for a big change, and my next challenges are just over the horizon to the West. I've decided to retire from the MotoGP World Championship at the end of the 2008 season and return to San Francisco, home of my friends and loved ones. I'm finally going home.

The decision has been in the making for more than a year, but it wasn't until Valencia in '07 that things really started happening. Key elements within our team structure changed, and 2008 was a year filled with a different energy and atmosphere, in my mind, a decided lack of the "squadra" that we'd built over the two previous seasons. It became more a question of survival and getting by, and less about the excitement and passion for the racing that had fueled us before. Obviously, it became more difficult for me to write about my experiences, as I felt increasingly more dissatisfied with many things, too close, too connected, too far away, too dis-connected. About mid-season, I stopped writing, bringing all my energies and focus inside. I will correct this in the coming months, as there is a lot to say and write about and I aim to finish the 2008 season here on my website. I owe it to my readers, and moreso, I feel I owe it to myself to complete what I started when I began all this.

Three years. It's not such a long time, but the relative feeling I have is that it's been a decade. So much I've missed out on back home, so many experiences robbed from me. In contrast, so many things I've seen and done around the world. So many people I've met along the way, some destined to be life long friends.

I'm excited to be headed back. I have new adventures in store for me, new goals. I'm bringing back all my experiences and power. I will explain in more detail soon, but for now I just wanted to write a little something and give everyone a small update.

I'm finally coming home.