Cindy Hart: More than just Doug's Girlfriend (Page 3)
By: Ryan Webb

R450: So, how do you like racing with Doug?
Cindy: It's fun, but with him being so competitive and being so good, it can be hard because he pushes me. He kind of yelled at me in a nice way that I could have gotten a third or a second if I would have been riding the stationary bike since I got hurt. So it's always, You can do a little bit better. I wouldn't be where I'm at now if it wasn't for him pushing me along.

R450: Is there a down side to being Doug's girlfriend here at the racetrack? Do a lot of people bug you about Doug or treat you different because you are his girlfriend?
Cindy: Yeah, I'm not a person, I'm Doug's girlfriend. Also, people think that I'm only good out on the track because Doug is my boyfriend. I get that all of the time. I do have an advantage, but if I can't do it out on the track then him telling me what I need to do isn't going to do me any good. So, I'm always in his shadow.

R450: Do you and the other girls get along?
Cindy: Yeah, actually we do. We stand at the line and wish each other good luck. Ask how the other girls are doing. Everyone watches out for everyone else. Like today when they would come up behind me, I had told them that if they come up behind me just to give me a chance to move over, and I'd give them a clean line around me because I didn't want to get hurt again. So when Heather came up behind me she let me get over so she could get around me. We have a lot of respect for each other. There is a lot of competition on the track, but off of the track we get along great.

R450: I notice that everyone at the races: racers, staff, judges, and even fans are really nice. It is something that seems to carry over everywhere.
Cindy: Right, we are family oriented out here. Everybody helps everybody.

R450: How long have you been riding atv's? I know that you have been racing for a little over a year.
Cindy: October will be 2 years.

R450: That's not very long to be doing this good racing. You must be a quick study.
Cindy: Thanks. (Laughs) a lot of riding and a lot of hard work.

R450: So what do you do in the off season?
Cindy: Ride snowmobiles. Doug has a race snowmobile. He built a wood chip track for when there is no snow so we can ride on that. Sometimes that is harder on you than a quad. It actually feels better and absorbs jumps better, but it is so much heavier that it takes a lot out of you. When it is muddy we ride the snowmobiles still. Actually last week he was riding the snowmobile.

R450: What do you do during the season to train?
Cindy: I ride. Sometimes I ride the stationary bike for endurance, but other than that I just ride. R450: Do you have another job other than racing? Cindy: I work for Doug, laughs. I do the paperwork for the excavating and sometimes I go with him and help do the sewer and water stuff. Sometimes I even run the bulldozer for him. That's fun!

R450: Do you help him build the track back home?
Cindy: No, I help him redesign it to make it easier for me. Laughs. As everyone calls it now his track is Cindy safe. For years, before I came into the picture, it was really hard and technical. Then he met me and I started riding and he rounded all of the jumps off and made some of the doubles into triples so I could double them where everyone else is tripling them. His track is very Cindy safe now.

R450: So are we going to see you doing all of the jumps that the pro guys are doing out there?
Cindy: I would do the first few, but I wouldn't do the canyon jump on the double-double. Doug says I would. He says, if I hadn't gotten hurt that I would be doing all of the jumps out there, but I don't think I would. I know that I would have done the other two. I was one of the better jumpers in my class before I got hurt, but now I don't know if I'll be able to do them all. I don't want to get hurt again. I wanted to but I'd come up on the jumps and be like don't go for it, lock up the brakes and roll over.

Well, it was good talking to you and I hope that you get back to 100% soon. Good luck with the season. I hope that you can get to where you want to be despite the crash. Cindy thanked me and went out to get ready for Doug's pro race. So remember when you see Cindy in her team Suzuki shirt, she's more than just Doug Gust's girlfriend, She's a true racer on her own.

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