Scott goggles hosted a big media event in Park City, Utah, last week, which included demos of their 2017 bicycle line and the launch of the new Prospect motocross goggle. We planned on interviewing Justin Barcia while he was there, but then he took off on an epic road bike ride with his mechanic, Ben Schiermeyer, and some other buddies from North Carolina, including GNCCer Layne Michael. Then we heard they were out for hours, they were totally smoked, and not feeling very well at all!
So we gave Justin a few days to recover and then gave him a call. The Autotrader.com/Monster Energy/JGR Yamaha rider hasn’t had the season he has hoped for, but we can at least say it’s not from a lack of effort.
Racer X: The last time I saw you, you were embarking on a stage of the Tour de Utah. And then I heard it got really gnarly….
Justin Barcia: Yeah, since we were in town the week before the race, my mechanic Ben [Schiermeyer] looked up the Tour of Utah and we saw a gnarly stage that was close by. We decided to go out and do it. It was…a hell of a ride!
I think some of the Scott people were a little worried when you were taking the demo bikes out. What was it, 5,000 feet of climbing or something altogether?
Yeah, it was 5,000 feet of climbing and it was almost 60 miles. I think the one climb alone was 3,000 feet, and it was over 100 degrees out down at the lower elevations. But no one really knows how much Ben and I cycle. The whole week everyone was like, “This is undoable.” And every time someone would say “undoable” we’d just go out and do it! That worked out for a couple rides but this last one was really gnarly. We should have definitely had a chase car or someone with a lot of water bottles and some food to meet us. We got dehydrated pretty quick. Luckily we made it back but we were dead afterwards! It was so gnarly!
Yeah so after all that, you take the red eye back home that night. How did you feel yesterday when you got home?
I was smoked so I just slept. It was amazing!
You just did nothing basically?
Yeah, pretty much. I was, like, dead so I took the day off after the red eye and slept.
You and Ben are huge cycling enthusiasts now, not just doing it for training but you actually watch the races and know the riders. I know you’re super into it. Did you ever think you’d become a fan like this?
Yeah, I was never into it. Mountain biking I was into a lot but road biking I was never into. Being with Scott now it’s cool because they make sick bikes, which makes it even more fun. They have pro teams and stuff and I can follow their guys. But yeah, we’re super into it. Training-wise we’re into it and watching the races now, we’re definitely addicted. We’re like super fans. The people are into dirt bikes, we’re into bicycles.
At this event it was cool to see the moto guys mixed in with the bicycle crowd. Were you a super fan just like any other guy who works at a bike shop?
Yeah, we tried to ride with some of the pro guys but you don’t want to bother them the week before the Tour de Utah. They’re getting prepped and ready to go. We saw them there and there was actually a lot of teams on the road riding and stuff and it was cool. They all wave and they’re super friendly. Pro cyclists are probably one of the coolest groups. They’re pretty mellow and they just love riding bikes. It’s funny. You get those regular guys that think they’re awesome and they won’t wave to you or nothing on the road, and that makes me mad because then you see the pros and they’re all really nice.
From your experience, did they have a respect for motocross? I would think if you’re a pro cyclist you know enough about sports to know that moto is hard, and they probably have respect for what you guys do and training-wise too. Or do they just think you have a motor and it’s easy?
They’re super into it. I see a ton of cyclists, retired pros that are super into it. And I’m sure pros that are still racing to this day. But I’ve got to know George Hincapie very well and Christian Vande Velde a whole bunch and Tom Danielson and a whole bunch of other guys. They’re super into moto. They like to ride. Obviously they probably don’t get to do it as much as they’d like, but they’re super into it and they see how hard moto is and it transfers over to cycling, so it’s pretty cool.
I’m sure you wanted to win some races this year and it hasn’t worked out, but the fact that you’re training this hard, totally debunks the myth that if someone who is expected to win isn’t winning, it must be that they’re being lazy. You’re clearly working your balls off.
Yeah, you’ve got to have a good balance for sure between moto and training off the bike and stuff. I have a really good training program right now. My fitness is super good. That hasn’t been an issue for the last year. Obviously we want to win races. We had a decent outdoor season last year and a few things kind of changed and this year we just haven’t been able to find that little extra. We’re been working really hard. Everyone’s been trying super hard but we’re just missing something. I wish I knew what that was because I would do it instantly!
I know how competitive you and probably anyone at your level is. How hard is it to walk around? Is it on your mind every day like, “I can’t believe I haven’t won a race yet?” How do you not let it bother you 24 hours a day? I know it probably could if you let it.
Honestly, it bothers me always. It’s super frustrating. You kind of got to not let it bother you but for me it’s on my mind. It’s, “What do I got to do? How can I do it?” We’ve done everything—testing and anything we can do. There obviously is maybe something else we can do, but I don’t know what it is! We’re trying everything. But it’s definitely frustrating. We’re trying and that’s all you can do is keep trying. I’m definitely not giving up.
But you can’t go to the movies or get on a plane or eat breakfast in the morning all pissed off and throwing things and mean mugging everyone, can you? You have to try to control it somehow.
Yeah, I’ve tried that before. I’ve been that mad. It doesn’t work out. It’s not worth it.
"I don’t know. It sounds good. It also sounds kind of stupid a little bit. One mud race and all of a sudden everything changed."
Have you taken the losses that hard in the past where it just ruins you for days or a season?
Definitely. You can say it’s miserable—not winning or not being on the podium or being fourth, fifth place, it sucks. There’s a lot of great racers and stuff but it’s definitely super frustrating.
Well, the first question everyone would ask is, why don’t they just run the exact same stuff they did a year ago? It worked. So why doesn’t that work year to year? It’s not just you—any time someone struggles that’s the first question that gets asked.
I was thinking the same thing. Let’s just do whatever we did last year! But things change so much. We’re actually not really far off of what we were last year, so I don’t really know why. Obviously the bike’s a little different than last year, it changes every year somewhat and from supercross to motocross and stuff like that. But I’ve tested a lot and tried a lot of different things and I just haven’t found that perfect spot. I’m just really uncomfortable and I can’t push it to where those first and second place guys [Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac] are. I can’t push it to that pace and that speed. It’s definitely frustrating. I know I have the fitness to do it but I just don’t feel comfortable allowing myself to do it.
So last year at Washougal, for example, you didn’t feel that way? You were good. You almost won it.
Last year at this time I was in a super good spot. In the beginning of the season I did struggle a lot. I was struggling this year a lot too in the beginning and I was like, “Oh, we’ll turn it around again.” It just hasn’t clicked like last year. I don’t know really why it hasn’t clicked. Last year I was going through the same kind of issues, trying to get the bike as good as I can where I can be comfortable enough to hammer down but I just haven’t found that comfort zone.
Do we just need another mud race like last year? Are we oversimplifying it when we say that?
No, I’ll take a mud race. That’ll be fun. Bike setup, you don’t need a perfect bike to race in the mud, that’s for sure.
But everyone thinks after the one mud race last year then it’s suddenly like your whole season turned around. Results-wise it did, but are you personally convinced that’s all it took? Is that really what changed? Do you even know?
I don’t know. It sounds good. It also sounds kind of stupid a little bit. One mud race and all of a sudden everything changed. We made bike changes right before Budds Creek I believe and the bike got a lot better. So I think all in all the bike got better and I felt more comfortable, and then to put a win on top of that too, confidence went up. The bike was feeling good. Everything was just clicking.
I know this is nine months ago, but you got hurt right before Anaheim. That’s a long time ago but is there a chance that just threw things off for the year?
It’s hard coming back from injuries. I hurt my hip last year and then I came back from that and I did my thumb this year and then I come back from that… It’s hard for sure to work through that stuff but I’m good now.
You got hurt on a mountain bike. You’re on hiatus from mountain bikes after that one? You’re a road guy now?
Yeah. I’ve been a road guy since that. I’ve been on a mountain bike maybe one time since that. I’m not scared to ride my mountain bike or anything but the road’s been easier for me right now. I’ll get back on a mountain bike one of these days when I have some time, but right now I’m just going to stick to the road. Less chances of that happening!
Let’s talk about this goggle event. It was basically their 2017 demo for the bike dealers but they put the moto goggle thing in there with it, which was really cool.
For me, it was unbelievable because I’m a sicko cyclist. I love bicycles. So it was really cool to be able to see all the new bicycles and see the bicycle people and meet everyone. And then on top of that have a new goggle launching at the same time, which to me it went really well. We had a lot of good media there. The goggle looks great. Everyone seemed to have a really good time because they got to ride bicycles. It’s the best of both worlds.
So you’ve ridden with the goggle a little bit, I guess not in the races, but you’ve ridden with it for some photo shoots and stuff. Tell us what you know.
It’s awesome, actually. Obviously I’m sponsored by Scott and everyone’s going to think I’m just paid to say that, but it’s actually really good. Scott’s a racing brand. They’re not all about looks and the cool things, but this new goggle brings all that in. They look really cool. The kids are going to like it. And I’m really stoked on it because the vision is huge. The lens is way bigger now. It’s awesome. Just looking at it compared to the old one you can see how much more vision you have looking through it. It’s pretty cool. And the new roll-off is pretty amazing. I feel like it’s almost double the size. It’s huge. It is pretty awesome. I did get to test it actually at the JGR track when it was a little muddy, John Knowles [from Scott] was throwing some dirt at me. It was pretty cool. They spent years developing this goggle and the cool thing about it, it’s developed and made in the USA, which is unheard of these days.
You’ve got three races left. It’s easy for people to throw in the towel at this point, but I would assume since you haven’t got what you wanted you’re not throwing in the towel? These next six motos you want to turn it bad?
Yeah, for sure. It’ll be good. These last few tracks I like a lot. I’ve had good luck at them. Unadilla’s awesome. Budds Creek is cool. Indiana was good last year. I think just keep trying. I think the second moto at Washougal I ran a new set of suspension and it was a little bit better for the second moto so I was happy with that. I think all I can do is keep trying. That’s really it. And then after the season we have the two GPs that we have to go do. So that’ll be interesting to race those guys and see how that goes.
Oh, that’s right! You actually have five races to go!
Yeah, three sounded really good and then I was like, oh, wait, it’s five.
Well, you’ve had your time off.
Yeah, I had my time off when I hurt my thumb, unfortunately. You only get time off when you get hurt. It’s all good. It’s been a long season. It’s been a lot of hard work and not a lot of great results, but like I said you just keep trying and stay positive. That’s all you can do.
