Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 17, 2013 bring up a lot of cool memories that I sort of just let slip away. When I'm around it, I think about it a lot. When I'm not around it, I don't think about it as much. What were some of your favorite moments? Vegas. You brought up Vegas. That was a big one. We worked hard. We worked really, really hard for that. That was a pretty cool industry changing moment. Winning the 125cc titles in 1993 and 1994 was great. Winning the title in 1998. The X Games Supermoto stuff. I mean racing through the streets of Reno? That was awesome! Blowing by the churches, the police station and all the buildings was just really awesome. You had to overcome and come back from very serious injuries suffered during your career. The 1995 Budds Creek National drop-off crash you had, for good or for bad, is now a part of motocross folklore. Do you think back on those injuries as well as all the work you had to put in to overcome them? It was just my style, you know? I saw Doug Dubach this morning and seeing him racing after all these years is amazing to me. It's like… there is that edge that us racers ride. Some of us ride a little bit too much on one side and some of us ride a little bit too much on the other side. To be a champion, you're going to have to be a little bit on that risky side. It's what I wanted to be. I was just the type of rider that took a little bit more chances than some of the other guys and I just ended up with a lot of injuries. But I'm doing okay. I just had a shoulder injury eight weeks ago and I was saying to myself when I was in the hospital, "Why am I doing this? I have to give this up. I need to stop this. What am I thinking here?" Then you get better and you get healthy and you start feeling better about things. You just want to get back on that bike again. It's too much fun. At this point it's just too much fun. P155 It's enjoyable, but it's not quite as fulfilling. Not a lot of guys do it. It's kind of my own thing. I don't have a lot of friends who ride snowmobiles so we get ready for the X Games and maybe a few other events and then we're done. It's fun. One thing about it is that it is very accessible. You don't have to worry about falling over. You can ride forward and you can stop. With this motorcycle everything has got to be planned out. Where I'm going to stop and things like that. Do you fall with the bike "WHEN I'M GOING THROUGH A CORNER AND WHEN I'M PUSHING MYSELF IT'S NO DIFFERENT THAN 1993. I'M STILL RIDING THAT EDGE AND IT'S ALL GOOD. " Looking at the bike you are racing here today. Does it provide you with that feeling you had when you were running for National Championships? Oh, absolutely. It's fun because it's very challenging for me. It's really relying on tires and the front end so it's really, really fun. And my competition is everywhere. There are guys I can compete against everywhere. When I ride with my buddies we really battle. We have a really, really good time riding and it's good to be faster than some of them, I tell you. How about the snowmobiles? Do you enjoy the snowmobile as much as the motorcycle? once in a while? Oh yeah! Whenever I'm racing I have someone who is riding right behind me. He picks me up if I fall. If I fall I know help is on the way. Let me ask you this question. It's not an easy question, but does it ever bum you out that maybe the sport got taken from you? What do you mean by taken? (Pause) Wow. You just answered my question. When I'm going through a corner and when I'm pushing myself it's no different than 1993. I'm still riding that edge and it's all good. CN

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