Exclusive: Adam Cianciarulo Interview

Transmoto’s Jason Macalpine has a down-to-earth conversation with the kid who’s long been touted as the next big thing on the AMA MX/SX scene. And, somehow, it turned into an interview … the last interview AC reckons he’s giving before the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship starts at Hangtown! 

I’ll be honest, I’m an AC fan. He’s a really nice kid and he’s able to hold a conversation away from the track which is rare in young kids that are hyper-focused on their young careers. Don’t get me wrong, he takes it arguably more serious that anyone, but he really is a well rounded individual. Filming with AC is always fun and he’s the first guy to invite you ’round for dinner when the day’s done. After an almost unbelievable run in his rookie SX season, a shoulder injury struck that killed his shot at the title and a repeat injury cost him a shot at redemption. AC has been quietly working away in the shadows preparing for his return at Hangtown and was quick to agree to an interview. An interview that might be his last before the gate drops in May!

Jason: Adam, by that Instagram you posted this morning, I’m guessing you’re driving home from The Bakery, right?

Adam: That’s right, man.

In your Audi R8, right?

Nah, bro. I got the Nissan Frontier, dude, the Nissan is killin’ it.

Ed Note: Adam does not own an Audi. 

Let’s get into this interview. I haven’t really written anything down, but I feel like we’ll make it work.

Fine by me.

So let’s get back to that ‘artsy’ Instagram post. You’re a photographer now?

Yeah I am, haven’t you heard! I know you’ve seen my post.

I sure have, and maybe that’s why our relationship has gone down hill a bit? You know that’s my profession and I’m just feeling a little insecure.

(Laughs) Yeah I guess I have that effect on people, kind of being a bit intimidating. Even at the beach it’s kind of a weird deal when the shirt comes off. But at the end of the day I’m just a human and all I really want is for people to treat me like I’m ‘normal’.

Now, this is a big call, but maybe you’re the reason Ken Roczen has moved on from the Bakery? You get back on the scene and your shirt’s off more times than it’s on inside the gym?

(Laughs) Dude, come on. Nah, maybe that was the reason, I don’t know. But yeah, if we’re being honest, muscular definition is really one of my most natural physical attributes.

Ed Note: Just for the keyboard ninjas out there, Adam always makes jokes about how physically ungifted he is in comparison to his German buddy.

On a serious note, you were riding today.

Yeah, I’ve actually been riding this whole week. Pretty much as a part of the rehab process I’m supposed to spend some time just cruising around a turn track to get that shoulder strength back before I get into anything more serious. So yeah I’ve been at The Bakery on the turn track while the other guys are obviously on the SX track finishing out their seasons. I’m just stoked to be back riding. I’m not just an amateur cyclist any more!

So what you’re saying is you’re in the Kiddy Pool right now. 

Yep, in the Kiddy Pool. It’s really all just about getting back into the flow of riding now and just trying to get back into riding shape. Whenever you come back from an injury it’s so hard on your hands so I’m keeping the superglue close by and going through a lot of that. But yeah, just getting reacquainted with everything, but I feel like I’m at a good starting point.

For people that haven’t really been to The Bakery, there really is a full-on team vibe and you guys are all really tight, but was it a relief to finally get back on the bike after going to the track and kinda cheering everyone on this whole time? I mean, everyone from The Bakery is having success and you were really having success before you got hurt, too.

Yeah honestly, it’s hard. Everyone is riding really well and even though I’m not out on the track and having success, I’m still really trying to contribute to the program as much as I can take. Obviously they are having fun riding and it’s hard to be there and see that sometimes because I feel like that should be me out there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to packing some gates through the week and helping out, but yeah, it gets hard to watch. As far as the general vibe goes around The Bakery, as you know, we are all really supportive of each other and although essentially we are competition, we doing a good job of keeping that friendship there. Honestly, too, it’s just motivating to not want to be the slowest guy there on any given day and I think that’s why Aldon has so much success with his guys. I know that I couldn’t do it alone.

I noticed a difference in the vibe there now that Dungey is the main 450 guy there, opposed to Ken. But you’ve been with Aldon the longest, so you’re the OG…

(Laughs) Yeah, I’m the OG now. I’ve been working with Aldon since I was 14, so that’s going on five years now. But Ryan and El Hombre (Jason Anderson) are the big guys being on the big bikes. Realistically, we are all doing the same stuff, so I mean we all get the same attention at the end of the day. In regards to the shift in the vibe, it is quite a bit different… They are similar in regards to their talent and that they are both really dominant when they are on song, but they have completely different personalities. Ryan is more serious – he still jokes around, don’t get me wrong – but yeah, he is for sure, a serious guy. As you know, Ken will joke all day like me, so I’m kind of the Ken Roczen of the group now trying to make jokes and keep things light. You know, generally say stupid stuff and be an idiot like I like to be.

El Hombre is killing it. I was pretty stoked to see him doing well. On that note, let’s touch on this. Motocross is not really a team sport where the riders are super tight. You obviously have your Pro Circuit teammates, and of course your friends and what not, but you’re really not out there pulling for the guy through the week like guys at The Bakery because at the end of the day, you guys are in the trenches together down there in Florida and maybe people don’t really get to see that?

Yeah, it’s interesting… Each off-season we do a thing called Bootcamp with Aldon and the length differs for each guy but it’s generally about two months of really intense training and it’s not something you get through if you’re physically or mentally weak. So when you have a group of guys that you go through that kind of deal with, you can’t not respect them and form a bond with them. Like Marvin, I’m going to race that guy 24 times this summer as hard as I can but I really respect him. I’ve seen him put in the work and he’s suffered with me so you just can’t get that kind of bond with a guy that you don’t go through that with.

And honestly, that vibe isn’t really anywhere else that I have seen. I am biased too, though, I’m a huge Aldon Baker fan… The guy is such a genuine dude and has always been really accommodating to me so I am a bit of a fan-boy I guess, but at the end of the day it’s just clear to me why guys on his program are successful. Honestly, I see most of it as just the mental state that he helps you guys get to.

Yeah, it is. We all basically do the same road rides and the same gym stuff but where Aldon really does a great job is just getting to know you personally and knowing your struggles and helping you through them mentally or physically. And unless you are there first hand, how big a role that plays isn’t as obvious to people on the outside.

Should we even get into outdoors or are you sick of it? It’s probably the most over-asked question you get.

I really haven’t done any interviews yet, so it hasn’t been overstated at all… As far as outdoors goes, I’ve been Pro for two years and I’ve done 12 races. I read that somewhere? So for me it’s just about getting in all the races and getting that experience because at the end of the day I haven’t even raced all the outdoor tracks. A lot of the guys that Im going against have that experience and while I believe that I have the talent to do it but I haven’t raced in a year and a bit so I’m just going to go in there and build up to where I think I can be. I still have plenty of time! I went pro at 16 so I have three more years in the Lites class if I want it but of course I want to do well and try win some races.

Is it weird to think that a guy like Matt Bisceglia, who has done way more races as a pro than you, will be going into Hangtown with basically no attention on him; and you with only a few nationals under your belt will be totally under the microscope? Does that bug you or are you used to it now?

I mean we have spoken about this before and it’s just something that is a result of winning at a young age. There has always been this expectation to win and it feels unjustified. Going into Hangtown there will be more spotlight on me than a guy like Webb or Martin who have actually produced great results over the past few years. I really am not asking for that attention it’s just something that happened and you have to just try put it out of your mind and deal with it as best you can. For me, my challenge is to just block out the things that I don’t want to see and focus on myself and really just be patient and not try want too much too soon.

It’s crazy how perception can affect different people. Talking to Bowers before the season he wasn’t claiming he was this gnarly ArenaCross dude that was going to clean everyone out but he got all this attention and he made one aggressive move and he just got painted with that brush – the media and fans ate it up – and slowly he’s kind of turned into that guy that people wanted him to be, almost? Is there a risk of you kind of going out there and killing yourself trying to live up to the hype and public perception?

Man, I remember some article came out in a magazine when I was maybe ten and the headline read, “Jeremy McGrath, Ricky Carmichael, Ryan Villopoto … Adam Cianciarulo … Question Mark” and at that point I’d won some Amateur nationals on a 65! At the end of the day, I want to just be AC. Of course, those guys did absolutely amazing things in the sport and I want to do great things too, but I’m me at the end of the day and my story is going to be what I make it. Perception is not reality and you need to be mentally strong enough to block it out when it needs to be and even used as motivation when it needs to be used as that.

Tell us about your career in photography… You have got some inspiration while you’ve been hurt?

So if you look at my Instagram page, you will see that it has a certain look… I look at it all the time myself actually. I like to make sure that it’s laid out well and the colours are right… Here’s the deal, if there are a pair of shoes at the front door that are crooked, I’ll have to get out of bed and straighten them up because I’ll lose sleep. I’m just that guy. So it’s just the same when it comes to my Instagram. So that just kind of carried over into my photography, but hey, I’ll be honest, I just use the Auto setting on my Canon and I really don’t even know the model camera it is and that’s pretty much breaking the first rule right there.

Yeah that ruins my next question, I was hoping we could kinda geek out a bit.

Yeah, I’m sorry man I know, I’m supposed to know a bunch of letter and numbers but I don’t. I need you to teach me, though… You know what is funny, I get these comments on my photos where people say, ‘Are you a photographer, now?’, like I can’t be a rider and take photos of stuff, I just have to be one thing.

I post one photo playing golf, which is like three times a year, and I get all these comments like, ‘Working hard or hardly working?’…

Dude, trust me I know. You get like poster’s guilt or something?

So last time I was there, you commented that you’re enjoying life as the world’s highest paid Amateur cyclist…

(Laughs) Dude, come on… I actually haven’t been having the best year at that either! A lot of people don’t know but I broke my leg right after I came back from my shoulder in a freak weird crash so that really hurt my cycling! Honestly, I was on point up until that point and then obviously the shoulder happened again so it really killed my progress there. But I’m back on it and I can suffer with the best of them. Don’t get me wrong, but I don’t have the leg strength of the other boys. I need to get a solid outdoor season under my belt and in that month off when everyone else is on the couch, I’m going to be cycling away so when 2016 comes around I smoke all of them on the road bike.

Did you ever find out exactly how you crashed in Geneva? I remember talking to you a couple of days after and you asked if I saw it… To me, it looked like you looped out on the step-off in that section.

Yeah, so I ended up seeing some video and you could see it just in the corner of the frame. I pretty much over shot the first jump into the rhythm section which sent me into some ruts and I launched off there into the concrete wall next to the track. Pretty sketchy and luck to make it out of that one because it was bad!

It was a sketchy deal being in the back of the pack at that race, between the tight track and guys that were going fairly slow, it just really wasn’t somewhere you wanted to be.

Honestly, I enjoyed it up until the racing. The hardest thing was the gates there were straight up and down so I really struggled with that and I honestly thought we just had that one Main so I was really trying to make a race of it. I’m sure I would have approached that race different if I knew we had two races that night, but whatever, I just try and put that whole trip out of my memory!

Well, I feel like that covers it but I just want to make sure we’ve got everything because your really hard to get a text response from these days…

Dude, don’t even go there…

Let’s be honest, this is the interview that could bring you back. Resurrect your career, maybe?

No, this has been good. I’d say this is the last time anyone will really hear from me because I really don’t want to do any interviews or videos before outdoors, so this is it.

Wow, exclusive.

This is exclusive…