About this time last year Adam Cianciarulo was booking a transatlantic flight to Switzerland to compete in the Geneva Supercross. Having been absent from the entire 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider was determined to get in a few gate drops in preparation for the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross season.
However, fate stepped in when AC got out of shape and crashed in a rhythm section inside the Geneva Palexpo, landing hard on the stadium floor. Taken away on a stretcher, it didn’t take but a few hours for word to get back to his boss Mitch Payton in Corona, California, that his prized recruit had injured his right shoulder and was done for the ’15 supercross season. Undaunted, Cianciarulo immediately looked forward to the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. And while that series started off well at Hangtown for the young Floridian, and he continued to build positive centrifugal force during the next five rounds of the circuit, that run, too, ended when he tore the labrum in his right shoulder while testing before RedBud.
Now he’s back. For nearly a month Cianciarulo has been working out at his home in Florida, putting down laps on the supercross track, miles upon miles on his bicycle, hour after hour in the gym. Racer X Online tracked Adam down to check in with the now 19-year-old.
Racer X: Adam, what are you up to today?
Adam Cianciarulo: I just left the track and I’m headed home. I just did a little supercross.
How long have you been riding for now?
I’ve been riding since about October 22, so over three weeks now.
How did you feel when you first got back on the motorcycle?
I feel good every time I get back on the bike, really. When I was little, in my younger days, it kind of took me a while to get going if I was off the bike for any period of time, but I’ve noticed that the comfort now is always there for me. That’s been nice—to get back on the bike and not have it feel super-foreign to me. Of course, with getting back on the bike, you have to regulate yourself and you have to be smart for the first little while. You can’t push yourself too much. I think that’s harder than anything, you know, just being mentally disciplined enough to ride within yourself, especially when I’m training with Jason Anderson, Ryan Dungey and Marvin Musquin [at Aldon Baker’s]. Riding with those guys, and obviously their speed—it’s pretty fast. I’ve just kind of been riding within myself and it’s been good. I feel more and more comfortable every day and I think it has been everything that I’ve wanted it to be so far. I’ve worked a lot on my technique and I feel really good in that aspect. I have my dad helping me out and I actually have Ronnie Tichenor at the track helping me out too, which has been really good.
I’m taking it one day at a time and having a lot of fun. Any time I’m off the bike for a period of time, I’m still a little kid inside, you know? I still love riding my dirt bike and it’s till the same refreshing feeling every time I get back on it.
About this same time last year, you were getting ready to go over to Switzerland… No Switzerland this year?
No, no Switzerland this year. There are going to be people that say that I shouldn’t have done that off-season race and all that and looking back on it, yeah, I had an unfortunate crash that kind of put an end to my supercross season. At the same time, that could have happened at the Dallas Supercross or Anaheim 1 or anything like that. At that time I hadn’t raced for almost a year and I just wanted to get a little warm up in and just get off the gate again. Obviously it didn’t work out for me, but I don’t dwell on that too much. I think things just happen. Nobody likes to go to a different country and get hurt and all that stuff. But, yeah, we’re going to keep it in the United States this year.
The sport has become so professional now that when you guys practice and test, you basically have to do it at 100 percent to replicate race speed, don’t you?
For sure. The speed is being pushed so much right now. You do have to practice like you race, in a sense, so you don’t get to the race and you’re surprised by the intensity. At the same time, I think there’s a difference between your race speed and going 100 percent, but with no risk at the practice track. If you screw something up, or maybe come up a little short on an on-off or something like that, in practice you might want to shut it down. It’s not really worth it to have that really good lap time. If it’s a race and you’re fighting for a championship and points, or even a race win or just a podium, you’re more likely to send it. In practice, you definitely have to ride with all your intensity, but you have to be smart at the same time and realize the goal is to make it to the race at 100 percent.
Until I do, until I win more races, until I do win championships and all that, anything I say, it’s just talk.
The supercross season is really not that far away at all. Are you where you want to be with your riding and fitness come the beginning of 2016?
Oh, definitely. I’ll have had a good amount of time on the bike. Going into outdoors last year, I didn’t have much time on the bike. I want to say I had six to eight weeks on the bike. I’ll have quite a bit more than that going into supercross, which allows me to take my training instead of it being such a steep curve like it was earlier this year, so it allows me to mellow that out a little bit. It allows me to gradually increase my intensity on the motorcycle and in the gym and all that stuff. Physically, I feel really good. Yeah, I’m right on track to where I want to be. Like I said, the hardest thing is trying not to get ahead of myself because I feel really good on the bike, but at the same time I can’t necessarily go that fast right away. I just have to be smart. Everything is on track.
Do you have a preference between racing either the West or East Region? We all know Mitch doesn’t like to commit anyone until the last minute.
I just want to race, man. You know, I’m a racer at heart and I always have been and there’s nothing better than going out there and battling with guys. We saw that with outdoors this summer. I wasn’t always battling for the top position, but battling is still my favorite thing to do and I believe that I will be fighting for those top spots this year and I can’t wait to line up on the gate and feel the jitters and all that stuff. I love supercross probably more than anything—it just comes naturally to me. I’m looking forward to it and I don’t really have a preference between coasts, I just want to get off the gate again. I love racing.
I spoke with you a fair amount during the opening months of the outdoor season and I really felt you were putting together a very methodical series in which you appeared to be getting faster and stronger with each moto. Then you got hurt the week leading up to RedBud. Was that devastating to you? I mean, it seemed like it was all going to plan for you…
Definitely. You can get discouraged by that stuff happening, and it seems like everything has happened at the worst time over the last two years, but it’s encouraging for me because I can come back with a lot of time on the bike. I’m confident in my ability and every time I get on the bike I can get back to my speed pretty fast. Obviously, the goal for me is to string together multiple seasons in a row and just continue to improve. I believe I have a really high ceiling. I believe my potential is a lot more than a lot of people think. I think it’s just about going out there and giving the best I can and not worrying about anything. I’m not stressing about it too much and I’m just being myself and doing what I know how to do. I know it’s been rough for the past couple years for my sponsors, for myself, for my family, my fans, all that stuff. It’s tough to deal with and sometimes you want to ask yourself why, but I believe everything happens for a reason and I know, for sure, I’m a better person than I was before all the injuries and I think I’m a better rider, too. I have a better mindset. I still have the same desire I did two years ago, so I’m just stoked to get back behind the gate.
You just recently turned 19. There’s still plenty of time to win championships, right?
Yes, absolutely. I think I have plenty of time. If you look at a lot of the guys in the Lites Class, age isn’t really a thing most people pay attention to. I have plenty of time. I did go pro when I was really young. I’ve learned a lot since then, even though I haven’t been on the bike as much as I’ve wanted to. But I’m still young and I believe I’m capable of winning championships and races and all that stuff. For me, it’s just about getting better and kind of going with the flow and just being myself. I have really good people around and I’m just going to just let the rest fall into place.
Who do you see fighting for the East and West Championships in 2016?
Obviously, [Jeremy] Martin and [Cooper] Webb. Martin won the outdoor championship last year and he showed flashes of speed in supercross. Webb dominated the West Coast last year and he’ll be really good. Joey Savatgy, my teammate, and Tyler Bowers and all those guys on my team are all proven and they are very fast riders too. There are too many to name off! If I tried to name them off, I’d leave somebody out. When you get behind the gate at the first race, nobody really knows. It’s kind of that electric atmosphere at the first round because nobody really knows what’s going to happen. The guys that worked hard in the off-season to get better, they want to show what they’ve got and the champions, they want to defend what’s theirs. Either way, it’s going to be a battle and I’m looking forward to it.
And I’m confident in myself. I think that’s one thing that I have that’s been able to get me through these hard times, you know? I never stopped believing in myself. I know what I’m capable of. It’s just about me executing it. Until I do, until I win more races, until I do win championships and all that, anything I say, it’s just talk. I need to back it up with my actions and I can assure you I’m going to do everything in my power to make all this a reality.
