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/128306
Supercross Champion Ricky Carmichael "I kind of knew I was going to have to come down this road. I've been babying the problem for a while, and I was just kind of going to try to go as long as I could." itives o ut o f th e negatives, you know? I mean, or course I'm bummed, but I haven't missed too many races in my pro fession- al career, so I don't want to ge t too stingy. w e ll' t hat's the other t h ing. A lot of people ne ve r ex pe cted yo u to go out hu rt. You're considered by many as Superman or something. You had t he pegt hrough-t he -t high thing a nd m issed a couple of rac es, but you've seem ingly been he alt hy foreve r. (laU ghS) That was it. Other than that , I've been good the whole time. It sucks, but I'lltry to en joy my time off, I'llalso work hard on re hab to ge t bac k to 100 percent. I mea n, at leas t it didn't happe n six races into the supe rcross season, w hen it Q A cou ld've ruined my entire year. I'll just mi ss supercross. Q A Wha t exactly ha ppened! w ell, I blew my ACL out actually in September, I didn't eve n crash; I was riding the 250 just testing unleaded fuel, this and that. and came around a turn and the d irt caught my toe and rippe d it outwards and to re my ACL. I rode the whole re st of the week with no pro blems. but I knew I'd to rn so me thing just because the pain was excr uciating for a co uple minutes; the n it went away. I just kind of igno red it the w hole rest of t he w ee k, and whe n I got home, I had an MRJ , and they said my ACL was blow n. So that was September, and I had the Motocross des Natio ns coming up. and I d idn't wa nt to turn that down , and I knew I could get by. I just kind of tr ied to put it in the back of my mind, and I went over there and had a couple episodes of my knee poppi ng o ut, and it just gradually was ge tting worse and worse. It pop ped o ut on me at the U.S. O pen in practice , and after that I had no pro blem w ith it until a cou ple of weeks ago ~ I was just riding, and I squeezed the gas tan k in the middle of the air, and my knee popped o ut in midair, and I just figured it was time to get her fixed . But a lot of people had heard that I crashed and this and that , and the y thoug ht Idid it on the 450, which Ididn't . Ididn't do anyth ing on the 450, you know? I'd blown it on my 250, but I just happe ned to be riding the 450 whe n it popped out in the middle of the air, I just said to myse lf, "We ll, it's t ime to get it fixed . T his way, I can come out and try to be I 10 percent fo r o utdoo rs. It w e heard th at you were riding th e 450 at t he Castillo Ranch , Y eah, I was up there te sting, just to try to ride it at a different track. I had ridden it in Co ro na, and w ith Ho nda, we all went up there, and I w as riding in the morni ng, ge tting used to th e track and , like I said, squeezing the gas tank in the midd le of the air, and it just po pped o ut . Usually, it w ould po p ou t and hurt for a coupl e minutes and then just go away, like it did at the des Natio ns, but when the pain we nt awa y this time , I we nt to step on it, and I cou ld n't put any weight on it at all. So, I just figured I had to get he r ta ken care of. It wasn't the 450 that did me in - a lot of people said that, but it's not true . It said I cras hed on the press re lease [from Hond a], and I did n't crash. I just wanted peo ple to kno w that. I've neve r crashed from this - every time it's popped o ut, I've never cras hed or anything. It's we ird. Q A 30 JANUARY 14, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS DO you consider yourse lf to be pretty fortunate to said, I'm try ing to find all the positives here and not try to bea t have been t his healthy for t his long - especially considering your early record of falls and such? myself up, but if I hadn't accomplished the things that I did, sure I'd be a lot more bum med t han I am . Q A YU I've accom plished so muc h in my career, and I don't P. have anyth ing to prove. I mean , I'm just rad ng because I love what I do . I just love to w in, I love to go, and I love to be around the races. I love to be around the fans and watchi ng the Te n National Championships, 96 w ins - yo u'r e not do ing too bad so far. N o , I've been fortuna te , and if I was n't in t hat pos ition, I'm su re it' d be a lot ha rder to deal wi th , So the main Q little kids exce l, and I'm just do ing it because I love it. I have noth - A ing to pro ve to anyone, and that makes this a little easier. Like I t hing now is, it's like a challe nge. I haven't bee n hurt like t his 40 t h An niversa r y