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/495160
VOL. 51 ISSUE 15 APRIL 14, 2015 P141 failure; at Qatar his arm pumped up like Popeye's after too much spinach. Sixth place, out of the fight again. Now he has withdrawn for an indefinite number of weeks for a fresh operation, described by the doctor as both "aggressive" and "complicated." Racers' wrist covers a few related ailments. Arm-pump (muscle too big for its sheath) is one of them; tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and others. It is far from new, and nothing to do with Pedrosa's physique. Racer's wrist has been a prob- lem to riders both puny and burly, ever since the arrival of slick tires. Maybe it's naïve to pin it down to only the rubber. Motorcycle racing is a complex sport, de- pendent on the combination. Slicks had been preceded by in- creasingly powerful disc brakes. Then in the late 1980s, a change to those most punishing of all stoppers: carbon-brakes. The combination was complete. Electronics now take care of the task, but bear in mind that even in the early days of four- strokes, riders had to blip the throttle while braking hard. No wonder the right wrists started going all origami. Braking power and tire grip have of course continued to improve over the years, growing the physical stress at the same time. Brembo are the dominant MotoGP supplier, and to them we turn for some revealing figures, about the CoTA (Circuit of The Americas) track used for last weekend's Grand Prix of the Americas. There are 20 braking zones, of which no less than four impose a strain of well over one g-force on the rider's throttle wrist. One hairpin is just 1.2G, held for five seconds as speed drops from 175 mph to 37—for the hairpin before the long back straight. The other three zones take him to a maximum of 1.8G, the most fearsome for a daunting six seconds at the other end of that same straight. Speed goes from 212 mph to 47—say Brembo; maximum force on the lever is 20 pounds. So, strap an 80 percent extra weight to your back, and do eight or ten clap press-ups while squeezing a nine kilogram spring in your hand, and doing some- thing delicate (you decide) with your fingers. Do that four times a lap for 21 laps for nigh on 45 minutes, and you'll get an idea of why Pedro- sa's wrist—and so many others— have felt the strain. And are still feeling it. Nicky Hayden last year had four bones removed from his right wrist, rather radically, and his recovery is still somewhat a work in progress. Hardly anyone has been im- mune, and the syndrome has all too often been career-ending. It played a big part in Kenny Roberts's retirement, after his final defeat by Freddie Spencer. In turn, tendonitis was a major factor in Freddie's rather pre- mature melt-down barely three years later. The list goes on, taking in at some point almost every rider of note, and several others as well. Surgery is the usual remedy. Sometimes it even works. Riders describe it, sometimes, as like a fraying throttle cable, but with intense added pain. There are many ways in which riders suffer for their art. This is one of the most exquisite. There are few who escape. Rossi is one, at least so far. Of course. The luck of the devil. And a very carefully monitored physical training regime. Many others, Lorenzo included, bear the scars on their forearms. Where does this leave poor little Dani and his Popeye right arm? The sailor-man metaphor is unfortunate, given Pedrosa's 2012 arrest and public apol- ogy after getting caught trying to cheat in an exam to obtain a yachtmaster certificate. (Yo-ho- ho.) It remains appropriate—for Dani Pedrosa is all at sea. CN