Cycle News

VOL. 55 ISSUE 9 MACH 6, 2018 P131 Ricky Dietrich is another prodigal son making a return to the Southern California off-road scene this season. The former EnduroCross and WORCS Champion is no stranger to win- ning titles, but hasn't done it in a very long time. Following his winning years, Dietrich faced some sordid times that seemed to ultimately derail his racing. But after slipping out of the spotlight for about five years, the estranged champion is back at it in the WORCS and Big 6 WCGP series. I, for one, am thrilled to see him make a return to rac- ing because there is simply no denying his talent. Dietrich has done it all from ISDE, X Games and EnduroCross all the way to Supercross as a fill-in rider for the factory Kawasaki team. Few riders can boast that breadth of talent, and it is pure poetry to watch him ride when he's "on." We'll see if he can flip the switch. Speaking of EnduroCross and X Games, another rider is return- ing to the fray. Taddy Blasuziak had a taste of retirement for a season but apparently decided it didn't suit him. Blazusiak is now battling back from retirement, and doing a pretty decent job of it in the FIM SuperEnduro World Championship. Perhaps a break was just what the doctor ordered for the former EnduroCross and SuperEnduro World Champion. Perhaps a body battered by hard enduros simply needs a year off sometimes. But no matter how much time they take off, cham- pions still know what it takes to win. Blazusiak did exactly that at the opening round of the championship, taking the top spot in front of his home crowd at the GP of Poland in Krakow. Whether or not he will take on extreme enduros and another season of the AMA EnduroCross Series remains to be seen, but the hero of hard enduro can only add to his impressive collection at this point. There's definitely not a whole lot left on the table for someone who has amassed five AMA national champion- ships, six world championships, four X Games gold medals and five Erzberg titles. Another great comeback story belongs to one of my personal favorites, Maria Forsberg. The KTM factory racer won every- thing in sight throughout her lengthy career, being recognized as the winningest off-road female racer. She had nine national championships from WORCS to GNCC and EnduroCross, and even traveled the world a bit collecting gold medals both in X Games and ISDE. Forsberg retired in 2013 to settle down and start a family, but did that while maintaining a seemingly insatia- ble fitness regimen. At the end of 2017, the FMF/RPM KTM team announced that she was back on the roster. With a baby on her hip and a toddler running her pit crew, Forsberg (now Hahn) is a very inspiring story for female athletes who feel pressured to choose between motherhood and a career. Maria's season is off to a rocky start with a thumb injury at the opening round of the GNCC series, but this proud mama will still be hungry for wins in 2018, and I have no doubt she will get them. All of it is inspiring, and it's a challenge to break the norms and define your own rules. Years ago I took some time off from school after tooling around in community college for a while, and was told that I was statisti- cally very unlikely to ever come back and complete my associ- ates degree, let alone transfer to a four-year university. Well, it turns out a break was exactly what I needed to get my priori- ties straight and understand why I was doing all this. It made it much easier to put my head down and put in the work—once the time was right—to meet my goals. (Which I did. With honors, a-thank you.) Of course, statistics exist for a reason, and we can't all be an exception. But I would rather see the hope of possibilities rather than the yoke of statistics on the minds of aspiring racers. I'm excited to see so many excep- tions and comebacks this year, and I hope these guys (and gals) keep the surprises coming this season. CN

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