It doesn’t appear that was the case as James looked rusty and if anything, was actually overweight for the first time in his career. At the Red Bull event, it didn’t seem to matter. With the event’s short nature, it’s understandable why he looked like the same old James.

At the rival Monster Energy Cup event the following weekend, his rough edges were more apparent. Watching him in practice, he just didn’t look like the same James Stewart I have watched for fifteen years. He was casing jumps, making mistakes and generally just looked “off.” His weight was a telltale sign that he hadn’t been training to the level that most people expected. He looked like a shell of his former self. In the first race he would go down early with injury and disappear for the night.

Leaving Vegas, I assumed there was a plan in place. He would have ten weeks before Anaheim 1 to turn this ship around and come out swinging when we arrived in Orange County. He could shed that weight in a “boot camp” that most of the racing elite undergoes in November and December. He could find his razor sharp form in those weeks and months. He had time to do it and I really didn’t put much thought into any other option. I thought his poor showing at the MEC could actually be the catalyst for a big pre-season effort and subsequent high level at the season opener. The key words in all of this were “I thought,” because none of it came true.

A month after the Monster Energy Cup, James flew to France for the (formerly Bercy) Lille Supercross. James is a worldwide superstar and draws a big crowd at an event like this. He also commands a hefty price tag so the promoters are depending on him to show up ready for a show. He had a few weeks of work by then so I was curious to see if James knocked any weight off yet and how his skills were coming along. Talking to people at the event, he still seemed to be fighting the rust and lack of James-like confidence we typically see. He wasn’t the fastest rider in practice—a specialty of his. He wasn’t jumping this quad that others were—another specialty of his. Strange things to be saying about James but it simply showed he wasn’t prepared like he normally was.

He would end up crashing in the first race of the night, the exact same scenario as Vegas just weeks earlier. This time he would injure his lower leg and miss the rest of the weekend. The injury also forced him out of a race in Australia he was previously billed for. It was a big blow for promoters and fans alike but maybe even more so for James. He needed these races and the seat time that would come along with them. He needed to race himself back into that superb level and keep working all the way until Anaheim. He couldn’t afford to take any more time off, couldn’t afford any more down time, couldn’t afford any more setbacks.

Were we now at the point where James could be entering the long awaited 2016 season behind? Tough to swallow if you’re a fan or on team Stew. That’s exactly what happened, though. At Anaheim, he wasn’t the Stew that many hoped would arrive. He wasn’t able to get in the needed work because of the injury sustained in France. It was another hurdle in a never-ending barrage of hurdles.

Now, as we sit over halfway through the supercross season, we have seen James suffer another concussion at the first round, pull off in Oakland with post concussion symptoms, embroil himself in the Atlanta lapper-gate discussion, and fall victim to another big crash at Daytona.

Where does he go from here?

Sadly, I don’t think there is an easy route to take. My honest diagnosis would be to stay home and ride, ride, ride. He doesn’t look like himself out there and that’s simply a result of not riding enough. Even when he turns it up and tries to do James-like things, it is very close to disaster. His rust is evident all the way around the track. He still knows how to go faster than maybe anyone, but his reactions aren’t on par with what his mind wants his body to do.