Cycle News

VOL. 54 ISSUE 20 MAY 23, 2017 P147 conferences to a world champion who controlled the same room with quick wit and intelligence. From the time he was 16 and finally old enough to get an AMA license that allowed him to com- pete in road race nationals, Nicky was a big presence. His talents were unmatched and he was filled with a burning desire to be the best. He didn't have a goal of being an AMA Superbike Champion. He had a goal of being World Cham- pion at the highest level—a MotoGP World Cham- pion. And he wasn't settling for anything less. He went about checking those other steps off his list as quickly as he could (a supersport title in 1999, the youngest-ever superbike champion in 2002) until realizing his life-long dream by winning the MotoGP World Championship in 2006. I recall in an interview with Earl Hayden from a few years ago when he told me about the bed- time stories he'd make up for young Nicky. The stories would be about dirt track racing…and would feature Nicky vs. the all-time greats, the Kenny Roberts', the Scotty Parkers, the Bubba Shoberts. And the stories always had to end the same way—with Nicky winning. Or the kid would refuse to go to sleep. That's what you call a life- long dream. And Nicky did things in style. When he won his first MotoGP in 2005, he did it at home, at Lagu- na Seca, and less than a week after the country celebrated Independence Day, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Then he did it again the following year at Laguna, this time en route to taking the championship. I remember watching timing and scoring on my computer from that final race in Valencia in 2006, with my son at my side at our home, the outcome always in doubt, and the late Henny Ray Abrams giving us live reports as the laps ticked away. At the end of the race, a grown man and his 15-year-old son danced around the family room like buffoons. Thanks for that, Nicky. Nicky was eternally optimistic. He wasn't al- ways on the best equipment, but you didn't know it. He didn't complain, didn't speak badly about anything or anybody. He just kept his chin up and kept working. And no one worked harder. Wheth- er on his bicycle, in the gym, or during long, hot days of testing in places like Malaysia. He did the most laps, he did the most work. Always trying to improve. But even in trying times, he never spoke badly of his sport, his situation or his rivals. In turn, I never heard anyone ever utter a bad word about him—even in paddocks where gossip and chit- chat can at times be overbearing. Nicky was happy because he never lost sight of the big picture: That he had the greatest job in the world. He was getting paid to race motorcy- cles and he loved it. In fact, I don't know anyone who loved riding and racing motorcycles more than Nicky did. But he also loved the winning so there was some frustration at times. Again, we didn't know it. A person is a byproduct of their family, of their upbringing. And Nicky Hayden comes from a family that's as closely knit as any I've ever seen. He was a man who came from humble begin- nings, from a family filled with love and respect, from a home where family really does come first. From parents Earl and Rose, two people who live and breathe family and motorcycle racing, to his fiancée Jackie, who I only recently met, to his talented brothers and sisters, Tommy, Roger, Jenny and Kathleen, nieces and nephews Vera, Klaudia, Olivia, Kyla Jo, Kate and Colt…my heart is heavy for all of them. They've lost so much more than the rest of us. They've lost a beloved son, a fiancée, a brother and an uncle. The outpouring of emotion since Nicky's acci- dent a week ago has been overwhelming. He was loved. And deservedly so. If you didn't love Nicky Hayden, you didn't know Nicky Hayden. CN

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