Photo by Brian J. Nelson

There were some long days and weekends, but they were nothing compared to the seemingly endless nights. From the moment that “Road to Daytona” got the green light, this was our plight. The Team Cycle World Attack Performance Kawasaki crew assembled one bike after another. They kept up this rhythm for eight straight weeks.

Our original ZX-10R racebike was delivered within the first week. There we were, late on a Friday evening in Southern California, loading my van. Several hours later, the bright night skies of Las Vegas were reflecting off my tired eyes as I drove solo across the desert. Just three hours later, I was on the racetrack with nearly 200 horsepower under me. Better than coffee? No doubt! Conducive to best results? Doubtful.

(more…)

Eric Bostrom qualified fifth for the Daytona 200 on his Team Cycle World Attack Performance Kawasaki ZX-6R, one spot behind his teammate, JD Beach. Photos by Brian J. Nelson

Daytona has a way of expressing itself in extremes. This was the case in 1994 during my inaugural trip to Bike Week as a pro dirt-tracker. The first night at Municipal Stadium, I had an extraordinary qualifying result for the main event. That stellar effort was backed up the following evening by disappointment: I failed to make the night program. After loading up the van early, I had a 3000-mile drive home to stew over it.

A few years later, I was overjoyed with my first AMA Supersport podium at the Speedway when I finished second to my childhood hero, Doug Chandler. The following year, I flew out of saddle exiting the International Horseshoe and landed directly on Dr. Ting’s cold operating table. A few years after that, I took pole for the 200 on a Ducati 998 and, with victory just six laps away, the oil cooler failed.

(more…)

Spurs in, ye ha!

The rare alignment of ideas and ideals is always worth noting. Formation of Team Cycle World Attack Performance is just that: an extra element to the already-exciting two-wheel racing environment that we love so dearly. We’ve taken responsibility to push the sport to a new level by bringing in new eyes, non-endemic sponsors, important new technology, such as the radically advanced Kawasaki ZX-10R, and, of course, the talent of tomorrow. Call it growth without cannibalization.

This program has not come together easily, and there have been bumps in the road. Thanks to the aforementioned organizations and tireless efforts of many individuals, on March 11th, Team Cycle World Attack Performance will launch a three-pronged attack on the AMA Pro Road Racing Series with Daytona Sportbike rookie JD Beach and me competing on the twice-best-in-class Kawasaki ZX-6R in the Daytona 200. We have big shoes to fill to repeat Attack Performance’s one-two punch delivered in 2007 and ’08 with Steve Rapp and Chaz Davies. Additionally, we will debut the impressive new ZX-10R in the American SuperBike class.

(more…)

Recovery from injury is a battle. It beats you down both mentally and physically. In my case, there was little I could do to take the edge off the stress while I was lying around trying to keep my rump above my heart in an attempt to defuse the swelling on my inner thigh. Even finding a comfortable position to read a book was a challenge, so I ended up wastefully witnessing one Hollywood failure after another on television.

After spending a week entrenched in this dilemma, I felt it was time to stimulate my mind with the aid of a laptop computer. Eight hours later, I looked up to take inventory of my wound. All was well with the skin flap and sutures, but I was mortified to feel something roughly the size of a grapefruit hanging off the back side of my leg.

(more…)

Team Cycle World Attack Performance Yoshimura Suzuki’s season finale at Barber Motorsports Park didn’t end as well as it began. But, as with life, nothing comes without hurdles, and bridging the distance between ourselves and America’s fastest men on two wheels was never going to be easy.

To back up a bit, what better way to start off the weekend than with a mini-adventure? I set off Tuesday from the Atlanta airport on my trusty Specialized 29’er bound for Georgia’s Silver Comet Trail, an old-rail-line-turned-cycling-trail that runs all the way to the Alabama border. A late start limited me to just 75 miles on the now-paved line. That left a big day in the saddle for Day 2. Just how big I didn’t know. In the Bostrom handbook, planning an adventure defeats the purpose.

(more…)

Many times, I feel the three Bostrom brothers—Benjamin, Torsten and I—were born decades too late. Captured by the adventures of yesterday, we all share the same enthusiasm for eras past.

Be it a rusty, old piece of mining equipment that we happen upon while riding in the desert or a heap of scrap sitting in a wrecking yard, the craftsmanship and use of real steel has a timeless style that draws us in. Possibly, it’s the fairytale idea of a simpler time that offered more freedom, like my father’s account of riding dirtbikes across the Bay Bridge near San Francisco to go cow trailing in the hills of the East Bay or powersliding down fireroads that led to beaches on which he’d spin ovals. Or maybe it’s just the images and wonderful emotions of On Any Sunday solidified into our minds, and the reality that the era is past and no one will ever be able to actually return there.

(more…)

Photo by Tim White/www.tswphoto.smugmug.com

Connecting the final pieces of the puzzle can be precarious. It’s the big commitment part that brings together the final scene, and that is where we are right now with Team Cycle World Attack Performance Yoshimura Suzuki. Our steady forward progress has been hindered by relatively few mishaps, but closing the gap to the front in the short time frame we have with this project will be difficult. 

Coming into the doubleheader race weekend at Virginia International Raceway, we were indeed hoping to race at the front, but we also knew that we would have to step up the commitment/risk factor to do so. The problem for us is, at this point in the season, the competition is riding on a confidence high while we are still in the building phase. Now that I am riding with the speed to follow the front-runners, it’s clear they are able to “will” their motorcycles into unbelievable situations and make time doing so. It’s time for me to step up to a risk zone into which I have not yet ventured due to my short time on this GSX-R1000. 

(more…)

Wow, I never would have guessed that the toughest part of a Laguna Seca race weekend would be the drive home. That and working hard to qualify sixth in a very competitive field only to cross the line in 16th after the opening lap.

Aside from blowing the first corner, I had a pretty stellar weekend. Team Cycle World Attack Performance Yoshimura Suzuki is still playing catch up, but our distance to the front continues to diminish. There’s still lots of room for improvement in my riding, as well as getting what I need out of the bike.

(more…)

It never fails to amaze me how much effort it takes to make a competitive race team. Just the hours and experience alone to assemble the bike are daunting, let alone the set up, logistics and cost of the endeavor. Working so closely with Cycle World, Attack Performance, Yoshimura, Suzuki and Team Sho-Air/Specialized has already been an experience; it definitely gives me extra pressure to perform on the bike knowing just how much everyone has bled to make this project move forward.

Rolling out for Friday morning practice at Mid-Ohio in this competitive field on a bike that I saw just two weeks before as a streetbike with mirrors should have been a disaster for me. Couple that with an engine-management system that had never been on the bike and is responsible for engine decel, auto blip and traction control, as well as fuel injection. All this and we had 50 minutes to sort it out before qualifying.

I rolled out on our “home” bike that we had previously tested. After a few laps to feel things out, I switched to the new bike fitted with various toggle switches for different engine-decel maps and the turnsignal button rigged up for traction control with plus or minus adjustments. So with roughly 400 variables to control within reach of my left thumb, I took to the track with 40 minutes remaining on the clock. 

(more…)

Hi all, and welcome to my contribution to the CW blog. While the CW staff will be working hard to make updates on the SuperBike race team and other technical things going on behind the scenes, I wanted to share a bit from my perspective.

Ben and I enjoying Utah's finest.

Returning to racing feels to be a fountain of youth in many ways. I attribute much of it to all the positive energy that influences me every day. It might be a call from the Attack Performance boys telling me what they have achieved or reading positive comments and questions on my @bozbros Twitter account or EricBostrom Facebook, the shared energy and emotion into this project is invigoration and contagious. Everything comes easier, whether it’s putting in a harder effort on the bicycle or throwing down more sit ups, there is a higher limit to the output you are capable of.

(more…)