Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

IyCNlh....... himed to shit.· the fUm's producers. nit necessarily warrant a feature ... In Dust To Glory. "The two things were independent of one another," McCoy says. "It actually put a lot more pressure on me to get it done because I knew there were going to be a bunch of cameras there, and I knew that if I floundered or had to quit it would be embarrassing." By race time, Brown and Dust To Glory producer Scott Waugh were able to focus on filming and day-today logistics, and McCoy was left to focus on the race. "The stars lined up, and everything worked," McCoy says. "It just as easily could have been a disaster. We could have had crews get hurt or miss shots. We could have gotten only 50 percent of the film that we got." A significant portion of the film deals with McCoy's exhausting run to the finish, including his harrowing crash just 60 miles from the finish line at Ensenada. '1\t the halfway point, I was just wasted," McCoy says. "I had been racing for 12 hours, it was getting dark, my hands were totally numb, and the worst was yet to come. Outside of Puertecitos there was this ISS-mile section of whoops with rocks, and there was a 35 mph crosswind blowing. It was a surreal experience. It was like a death march in a lot of ways. "I had a conscious separation between my brain and my body to where my brain quit feeling the pain of my body was feeling," McCoy continues. '1\fter the funny flat tire bit that you see in the movie, I got in the dust and knew that I was third overall on time. Then I was like, 'I'm going to bag that guy and get on that podium,' which was my goal. That was where I made my big mistake and where Ricky Johnson will be allover me forever. He told me, 'When you get late into the race, don't race, just ride.' But what did I do? I charged even harder, and I got bit. I hit a square edge, and my hand blew off the handlebars, and I endoed... at 70 mph." McCoy suffered broken ribs, a broken finger, a separated shoulder and a serious concussion. "I crawled to the side, because if you lay there, you're going to get run over," McCoy says. "I found my bike, got it started and made it get going again with just my Nite Riders [helmet lights], and BYeI1 finished the 1'ICe. "QUitting was never even an was like an obsession, a driVe. I about quitting or thought about getting out of the throtde. I was racing, and there was no way I wasn't going to finish. I can't even really explain it without getting too weird on you. "I just hope that's one of the messages that kids take from this movie," McCoy adds. "You should finish what you start. In today's society, it's so easy to just quit on everything [and] say, 'Screw it,' or whatever. You've got to get it done." Since the filming of Dust To Glory, McCoy has experienced the high of winning a SCORE Baja event, as he was on the winning team at the 2005 Baja SOO. He attributes a part of that victory to rule changes brought about after the infamous Team Honda beach scene in Dust To Glory. "We're all running those rally trackers now, and there's a GP5-marked version of the course," McCoy says. "You can't go more than 50 yards off the course. That really helped level the playing field in the Baja 500 this year. Some people have been pulling And that the SCORE Baja events. McCoy recently took pan in his first Supermoto race, representing the off-road contingent aboard a Troy Lee Designs Honda at the X Games II Supermoto. McCoy was running eighth in that race when motor problems caused him to crash and drop out of the race. "You're going to see more of me because 1love racing and riding," McCoy says. '1\5 long as you're haVing fun, that's what it's all about. But we're going after that Baja 1000 win this year for sure." If karma is for real, don't bet against The Mouse. eN "I loved racing the X Games," McCoy said of his recent Supermoto experience at the ESPN event. "I think that Supermoto is awesome. I think it has a great future if it's promoted right, and I want to be a port of it." CYCLE NEWS • SEPTEMBER 7, 2005 45

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