Cycle News

VOL. 53 ISSUE 13 APRIL 5, 2016 P111 Champion. To say that Dungey has these guys covered is an understatement. Ken Roczen, who at times this year has shown the speed and resolve to beat Dungey "straight-up," dogged Dungey for the first 12 laps or so, but the champ just has too much game at this point and pulled away. I know Ken rode his ass off and must feel frustrated, but after the race he seemed way too content with second place, like, "Oh well, we got beat." Maybe inside he was seeth- ing, and surely being nonchalant looks cooler on TV, but it is go- ing to take more than that to beat this athlete that Aldon Baker has fine-tuned into the ultimate win- ning machine. I compare today's Ryan Dungey with Ricky Carmi- chael, during his G.O.A.T years. (Wait, wasn't that all of them?) Ryan has evolved from an excel- lent rider, lacking in aggression and without a win-at-all-costs atti- tude, into a near perfect blend of fluidity, calculation and aggres- sion. Factor in Baker's unbeaten training regimen, Ryan's exem- plary work ethic, dedication and absolute confidence in his program, and then consider his support system: a wife that loves him, and his parents, who have been there from the beginning. It will take a rider that either has unbelievable talent (think McGrath and Stewart in their prime), or who would rather die than get second place (Reed and Carmichael during their heyday). To be honest, it may take a rider that combines both types, plus all of the ancillary stuff I mentioned, to beat him for a championship. There is also one last factoid to con- sider—Baker's record of winners. The last supercross champion not trained by Baker was Chad Reed, so if you want to win the supercross title, you need to hire Baker. Then deal with training next to Dungey, Marvin Musquin and Jason Anderson. The bottom line is that even if you replaced Jason Anderson with Jason Lawrence and had him pull every trick in his book to get inside Dungey's head, he would probably still win, or be in jail for murder. Another guy who seemed to be a little too pleased with second place is Zach Osborne. I believe he could have beaten Cooper Webb Saturday night, but he didn't, and those oppor- tunities won't happen very often. Come on, Zach, you can do it! A month or so ago, Pro Cir- cuit's Joey Savatgy was in posi- tion to bring team owner, Mitch Peyton another number-one plate to hang on the back of his rig, but Christian Craig took care of that notion in one fell swoop. Craig is a tough hombre and is not afraid to mix it up. I like that. Something else I like is AllsportDynamics.com wrist braces, which I noticed Sa- vatgy wearing on the podium. Smart man, he had them on both wrists. If you have ever had a wrist injury, you need these braces, and if you have never hurt your wrists, you need them even more. Most riders wear knee braces to prevent injury, yet leave their wrists neglected. Here is the deal: Doctors can replace your knee, hip, heart, even your face. What they cannot replace are wrists and ankles, because there are too many bones. Trust me, I know. I suffered from right wrist problems my entire racing career and it was the only nagging injury after I stopped racing. I saw all the best doctors and they all said the same thing—when the pain gets too bad, we can fuse it. The last thing any rider wants is their right wrist fused, but after 40 years of near-constant pain, Dr. Ting talked me into taking the plunge. So now I'm pain-free, but I cannot wipe my butt with my right hand and my throttle control is sketchy at best. If I had worn a wrist brace, I could still wheelie with the best of you. With this chicken wing, not so much. We've covered everything from venture capital to bad visu- als, please excuse me while I go use the bathroom—just call me Lefty! CN

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