I found out that I could go over to the US right after the Monster Energy MX Nationals series launch, so I got that out of the way and I think it was just a couple of days after that when I flew out. It was pretty much the same as the last time I went – all last minute.

But it was good, I went over and waited a couple days to get my bike and after that I just rode a lot. I had my buddy’s van over there and I stayed with the same family that I stayed with last time over there, so that was pretty cool.

I didn’t think that there would be too many pro riders out there at that time of the year, because everyone is riding Supercross, but there were more this time than there was in my last trip.

All of the West Coast Lites guys were out there testing for the outdoors, so I rode with a lot of them.

I rode with the Troy Lee Honda guys, Rockstar Suzuki guys, Ken Roczen, and I saw heaps of people so it was good for riding. I just rode all of the Southern Californian tracks, I rode maybe eight to 10 tracks and they were all prepped and waters, plus there are always quick guys at each track.

Lawson Bopping took his maiden MX1 Motocross round win on return from the US in 2012. Image: Jeff Crow/Sport the Library.

This time in the US was really good, I actually met a lot more people, so that was cool. I just really enjoyed it, the riding over there is really good compared to what we’re used to back here.

It was refreshing because you can just go do your motos, it’s easier than doing motos over here. I was over there for nearly a month and as I said, I met a couple of people.

We’ll get this year out of the way and see where I’m at, because I definitely enjoy it over there and I definitely want to go there again. I’d like to get Motocross and Supercross out of the way and then see where we’re at for 2014.

I’ve been back in Australia for about a week and a half, and I actually had to test straight away. I got home, had a day off and then the boys from CDR Yamaha came up and we did two days testing at my house.

I thought I was going to struggle with the time difference, but it actually wasn’t too bad. I had a decent flight home and slept most of the way, so that was good.

I’ve just been riding a lot and I keep getting asked if I’ve gotten any faster, but I always reply with “maybe?”. My reason is that all I have ridden here is slipper, dusty tracks, so it’s hard to push and hard to tell. I’ve just been riding and getting into it.

Bopping feels more relaxed than ever heading into the season opener this weekend. Image: Jeff Crow/Sport the Library.

I’m more comfortable this year, I’ve had a year on the bike so I know it pretty well. Testing went well this year, we didn’t have to do as much as last year because the bike hasn’t changed too much. We’ve just been working on a couple little things and I feel pretty relaxed actually!

It’s weird, I usually get pretty nervous at this time of the year, but right now I feel alright. We’ll see I guess, but I’m ready to race. It feels like forever since we’ve had a major race over here, so it’s going to be exciting and it’ll be good fun for sure.

Another reason I went to the US is so I don’t get sick of my track, we ride my track so much throughout the year. So I go over there, ride all these fresh tracks and then I come back to mine that hasn’t been ridden for a while. So I went around, ripped it all up and my track feels fresh now as well.

So I’m back at home this week before I head up to Newcastle a bit early, as we have to run in our race bikes, and then it’s time to get ready for the weekend.

I feel pretty fresh, I’ve done a lot of riding, but I still feel good on the bike and I’m not burnt out at all even after such a long break. Hopefully it’s all good, but I guess we’ll see after this weekend and I’m looking forward to it.