Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128214
Red Bull ICIJI/I's lIyan Hughes By STEVE COX PHOTOS BY KIT PALMER, STEVE BRUHN AND DAVEY COOMBS S ome people may think that Ryan Hughes' nickname "Ryno" is just a play on his first name, but it's not. He got the nickname because of his personality. Throughout his career he's been the most aggressive - sometimes too aggressive - and the most determined rider never to win a championship. He came up just short of a championship in 1995, losing the 125cc National Championship to Steve Lamson, but it wasn't because he didn't try. The pictures of him pushing his bike across the finish line of the final moto of the year with a broken chain, even though he knew the finish wouldn't be enough to get him the championship he was after, could be placed in the dictionary next to any number of words: pride, determination, guts, heart, will, grit, resolve ... Ryan Hughes is all of these things, and maybe more importantly, he's still very fast. Those words could end up being nails in many of his competitors' coffins by summer's end. RyMI Hughes I. a family man now, and he'. attacking the circuit thI. ,... In his bread and butter • the 125cc NatI-'.. Cycle News: You're making your comeback this year. What prompted the return, and what do you expect of yourself outdoors against all of these youngsters? Ryan Hughes: I guess what prompted it was taking a year off and letting some stuff heal up and kind of getting away from it a little bit. The last couple years took the fun out of it a little bit. I'm just getting back into it and figuring out why I did it before, which was because it's fun and I loved it. I just found out that I still had a lot of speed - probably more speed than I did when I retired. That kind of prompted the comeback, and I never really wanted to end my career on the year that I had before I retired. CN: The first year of the CRF. RH: Yeah, you know it was just one of those years, and I had a very bad year, and I never wanted to go out that way. I always thought of myself better than that, and I don't think anybody should end their career on such a bad note. CN: You've been known in the past as a 125cc specialist. Do you think that's still true? RH: Yeah, I think so. I didn't ride a 125 for a long time, and then this year was almost the first time I rode a good one again, and I got on it, and I was like, "Wow!" You know, I think there's a bike for everybody, and I think the 125 suits my style very well. I charge real hard, I'm a little aggressive, and you can get away with that on a 125. So every time I ride it, I feel that I've made the right decision on riding the 125cc class. CN: How would you rate the KTM against some of the factory bikes you've ridden in the past? 42 MAY 14, 2003' II: U II: I e n eVIl'S RH: It's the fastest 125 I've ever ridden. That thing has so much power, and it's real easy to ride because it has so much power. Plus, we've made a lot of improvements and a lot of headway with the chassis and suspension to suit my style. I think it's one of the best bikes I've ever ridden, and I'm hoping to prove that in the Nationals. CN: What do you think the key differences are between you as a rider in, say, 1995 and you today?