Stuart Edmonds (Apico Husqvarna) is gearing up for the 2021 season and the 32-year-old Dubliner is planning a fresh approach that he hopes will pay off when racing finally gets under way.
“I’ve kinda given myself a big goal – or at least changed it up a bit compared to what I’d usually do,” he said. “Usually I’d go into the season with only a couple of weekends on the bike due to the weather and work commitments but next year I’m going to try to go to Spain for the month of January.
“I’ll be concentrating on the MX Nationals and the British championship next year and, hopefully, if I can get some money raised up I can do two or three GPs. That’s my ultimate goal.”
Stuart is staying with the Burnley-based Apico Husqvarna team for next season and appreciates the stability that comes with this.
“Usually this time of year is very nerve-racking for me because I’m trying to organise a lot of stuff so it’s good to have that peace of mind. They’re really good to me and it’s nice to be able to build on this year.”
Because he’s based in the Republic of Ireland, Stuart had to negotiate additional lockdown rules brought in because of COVID-19 so he relocated to England during the season.
“I was forced to move to the UK due to the isolation rules because if I was to go across and then back home every time I was supposed to isolate for 10 or 14 days so Dylan and Anna [from Apico] let me stay with them for the rest of the season which worked out really well and I managed to get out on my bike quite a bit then.”
Currently back home, Stuart’s treading water during the latest lockdown.
“I’m not up to much at the moment really, just trying to get a bit of work going and doing some trials riding and lots of mountain biking and road cycling. Everything’s on lockdown over here and it’s a lot stricter – there are no gyms, restaurants or pubs open. I like a pint or two of Guinness when I’m not training and my favourite pub is closed!”
