Page 42 - Issue45

JAMES DECOTIS
250 SX / 5TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / MATTINGLY DESIGN / WILSON
>> Thousands upon thousands flock to Salt Lake City to shred the utopian texture of snow that fills the mountain ranges each winter. The powder is like no other, a place where both snowboards and skis can carve their name on a white canvas, plowing through the terrain with absurd amounts of speed all the way to the bottom; many just oozing at the thought of this immaculate piece of land- scape. Jimmy Decotis had that same type of toe-tapping, jittery enthusiasm as he was found gazing at the track from the seats early Saturday morning. The head- phones on, his head bobbing up and down, he was getting in tune with every fast-twitch neuron in his body, preparing to attack the track with cat like reflexes once his number was called. And that he did, blistering out of the hole once the referee signaled it was time, and pushing quickly to the front of field, in order to assert himself as one to be reckon with. He didn’t want to follow anyone, separat- ing himself at times, and after throwing a few of his best down, he would duck beneath the mechanic’s tuff blocks and discuss things over with his wrench. After making a few clicker adjustments and rehydrating, it was now time for the night show, as dusk had fallen and those potent beams of light cast themselves on the stadium floor. Following a sixth place finish in heat one, the Mass. Native was a long ways away from the sands of the Atlantic Seaboard, but he was forced to adapt and overcome like he always has, in true warrior spirit. A great start had him battling inside the top five throughout the opening moments, his short frame still hitting the whoops in fourth gear, tapping the rev limiter, despite being limited on space through his amount of leg room. He would hold the fort down for the Geico Honda squad for the majority of the moto, executing timing sections with extreme precision, but it seemed as though the endurance bug bit him again. Fighting tooth and nail with riders such as Reardon, Forkner, and Mellross, his Boston roots had the elbows wide and bar banging with everyone around him. You had to give it to him, he was fighting for every inch of track on the surface, but in the end, the result would place him in the latter portion of the top 5; solid, but knowing he had more in the tank for the latter rounds.
42 GRITMOTO • APRIL 23, 2017