Often in life there are times when things don’t go our way. We lose our job, someone in the family dies or it was just one of those days. But how we respond to these shortcomings is what separates us as human beings. Last year was one of those times in Jessica Patterson’s life. She had just come off losing her WMA title to highly touted rookie Ashley Fiolek and a crash at the X-Games that left her searching for X-Games gold. But instead of sulking in the moment Jessica used these defeats as motivation. She began training with Ryan Hughes and completely turned her training regimen around. We tracked down Jessica as she was training for this year’s Women’s Moto-X to see how everything was going. CHECK IT OUT………..

Jessica after five rounds you sit 2nd in points, 29 pts behind Ashley Fiolek. How would you say the season has played out for you thus far? And what do you think it is going to take to catch Fiolek?
She's so consistent (Ashley Fiolek) because she gets awesome starts and it’s pretty hard to beat somebody who gets the holeshot every time. I know I can beat her but the season has kind of been good and bad for me. I have had a lot of good races but I have thrown them all away with crashes and stuff, but it could be worse I guess. I'm going to have to have some really good races; it might happen but who knows it’s pretty much out of the question, but I’m still going to go there and try to win.

You have often been referred to as the “GOAT” of women motocross. What does it mean to have such a prestigious title beside your name?
That’s pretty crazy because of what Ricky has done and I guess people think that of me too. It’s a great compliment, but it would also be nice if I could win as many times as he did.

A couple of weeks ago Vicki Golden became the second Women’s Motocross rider to earn a factory ride (the other being Ashley Fiolek) do you feel that with those two signing factory deals we will see more and more WMA riders sitting under the factory tent in the near future or this is just a blimp on the radar?
No I actually think that these people are starting to realize that we are getting a lot of publicity now. We have our own 1-hour show on Versus and we're pretty much a set program that Field and MX Sports set together and put up for us. Now we are pretty much a legit deal and they see that we're getting a ton more exposure than if they sponsor a kid that gets 16th place, I’m not taking anything away from those guys, I would love to get 16th place, but were going to get way more exposure than that kid. So they are starting to see that, and you know they are all about the TV time so I think it is definitely a good thing and I think it will come more and more later next year.

I want to back track a little bit to last year. You were five-time WMA champ and last year you lost that title to Fiolek. How did that make you feel and how much did it motivate you to come out stronger than ever this year?
I was super motivated. Of course I was bummed but in a way it helped me out a lot because it gave me a new motivation to train harder, work harder and ride harder. I started training with Ryan Hughes and he helped me get me pushed along and going. I definitely think we did our part; it’s just me keeping the race together. As long as I stay up I’ll be fine but I don’t know why but I just keep crashing.

I know that this off-season you began working with Ryan Hughes how much has he helped you this year?
It’s been a total turn around for me. Everything in my life, the way a ride, the way I train, the way I eat, everything that I have done has been turned around with fortune on the end. I just told Eddy the other day when we started riding SX again that I feel so much better than I did last year. A lot of it is the stuff I eat now is so much different. I started to realize all the stuff I thought wasn’t that bad for me was really bad for me. I can move so much better on the bike now, I feel like I have so much better riding technique and the way I feel now has been an amazing turnaround; I just think he has helped me out so much.

The X-Games are just around the corner are you going to compete in Women’s Moto X or are you going to spend that time training for outdoors?
Yeah, it’s my second year doing it. Last year leading the whole thing and then on the last lap I crashed.

You said earlier that Ryan has helped you out tremendously, especially with your SX training. How do you feel going into Moto X this year? Do you feel this puts that much more media focus on Women’s Racing?
Yeah it is definitely a big help especially with sponsors and stuff. X-Games seem like a pretty big deal and it is. It’s super fun, it’s something we have never really done before. When you are there it’s more of a TV thing then it is than people coming to watch. It’s pretty cool, I had a lot of fun doing it. It didn’t end up great last year, but with Ryan’s help and Factory Connection giving me some Team Kit stuff it has been such a big difference in my confidence. Honestly last year I didn’t practice whoops until the week before we left and this year I have been hitting them every single lap, I feel so much better using the Factory Connection stuff. I definitely think for Women’s Motocross being invited into it is great and I think last year we were pretty legit and put on a good show and that they are going to put us on later in the night this year.

Do you see Women’s Supercross in the future of the WMA?
I don’t know. There’s a possibility but I’m not sure because with guys you have more than a handful of riders that can go to Supercross and try to qualify. But with the girls; there is only a couple that can go out there and do everything and it be safe for them. But I think we might do a short Areancross Series for next year, I’m not positive but I think that might happen. This generation of women riders has grown up on motocross and that’s pretty much all we know. I mean last year was the first time I have ever rode a Supercross track to get ready for something. I have always messed around on them but never done lap after lap. Maybe later down the road it will happen because these girls will know it might be possible for them to do Supercross and they will start to train for Supercross earlier. I hope later down the road that is how it will be.

Jessica, thank you for taking the time to talk with Vurb. Good luck the rest of the season. Would you like to thank anyone before I let you go?
Yeah, I want to thank Honda of Houston, Fox, Dunlop, Factory Connection, Oakley, Ryno Organics, and Vortex