Why Did I Stop ?

Ex Pro Out Having Fun

Stacey Oldeman is back on a bike.

It’s the first time for a good two and a half years and he’s absolutely loving it.

Unfortunately he’s only here for a couple of weeks and at this point the bike is a borrowed one but Auntie Julie of Coastline Honda fame is on the case so next trip back he’ll probably be spotted on a brand new Honda.

“Next trip back” is because Stacey and his mate Zane Erickson are two of the thousands of Kiwis that now earn their living in Australia.

“We’re in Western Aussie” says Stacey, “and it’s a bit of a Kiwi world. There are heaps of us. It usually starts with debt. You go there because that’s where the money is, then you get used to getting that kind of money and it’s kind of hard to get out of it.”

“Working solid for several weeks in a row takes a little getting used to as well.” adds Zane, “The downside is there’s no time to ride but there’s the bonus of having a solid week or two weeks off at the end”. Zane is the more newbie in Oz, he’s only been there about 18 months whereas Stacey’s been working there since he stopped racing and he helped Zane get his job.

Stacey’s last pro riding was about 9 years ago.  He was in the Castrol Honda Red Team  along with Paul Whibley, Broxy, Richard Adamson and a young Cody Cooper and lined up on the start gates with the likes of Mike Cotter & Darryll King. He rode MX, supercross, cross country & enduro in NZ and in Australia  He teamed up with Cody for a Hawkes Bay Six-Hour cross-country  in a potentially winning combination . Unfortunately, they had a bit of bad luck. They were winning it on a 125 before being black-flagged in error.

 Life got in the way for a few years but now Stacey is back on track. He’s lost weight, given up fags and is totally re-motivated. “I didn’t realize how much I missed it”, he laughs. "Why did I stop ?"

Zane (in red) may not have the same MX creds to his name but, like Stacey, he’s loving the riding in New Zealand.  “The MX tracks are heaps better here”, they both agree. “Over there they are mainly flat with table tops and bits bulldozered in. There’s no natural terrain.”

“And we are coming back to NZ”, they both add. “We love home and home is here!”