Time out
By TMX Archives on 6th Jun 03
entirely sure how the next few months of my life are going to play out but I know this is the road I need to take. Racing is everything I have ever known or cared to know. I'M NOT entirely sure how the next few months of my life are going to play out but I know this is the road I need to take. Racing is everything I have ever known or cared to know. I'm not retiring but at 19 years old my body is already falling apart. It can't keep taking the abuse of riding through injuries and illness.Already with 13 operations, more than 30 broken bones and more concussions than I can remember, it is essential both physically and mentally for me to take a step back. Motocross racing is without a doubt the greatest sport on earth and I'll be back to racing when my body and mind are ready to once again go for my life-long dream of being a 250 champion. Until then, I will stay actively involved in our sport...My career to this point has been a roller coaster ride to say the least. I realised last year that it is impossible to win against the best 250cc riders in the world unless my health is 100 per cent. After missing most of last year with blown-out knees, a broken wrist, and the infamous Epstein-Barr virus, I thought it couldn't get any worse. Turning down offers to drive at both the Rally Car Race of Champions and the Baja 1000, I was focused and ready to sacrifice anything for a chance at a championship. Then, after building my body back to strength from the ground up with three months of hard-core training by one of the greatest trainers I have ever known - Todd Jacobs - I re-injured my knee and came down with the flu just a week prior to the supercross opener.Trying desperately to stay in shape without being able to ride, run, or bicycle, I was rewarded with the world's first shoulder dislocation in a lap pool. It became all too apparent that I had to take some time and get healthy. It killed me more than most could ever imagine to sit on the sidelines and watch the supercross races pass me by. I just kept telling myself that I would stay healthy if I just gave myself enough time to heal.My femur had sustained a significant divot from banging up against my tibia and the doctor told me the pain would probably last for a year, depending on how much abuse it was subjected to. Riding and training through pain was less than enjoyable but I wanted to be strong for the season so I turned a blind eye and continued. Two months of riding and four months of gruelling training went by and, finally, I felt ready to race.The knee was really starting to come around until about two weeks before the start of the outdoor nationals. I felt ready to do the last two rounds of supercross, while Roger De Coster knew it would be best to avoid any unnecessary risk. "If it can benefit you one per cent, don't race until the outdoors." Feeling a bit dejected that I couldn't race even though my conditioning and mindset was better than ever, it seemed possible that I could persuade Roger to reconsider his decision by riding really well in a test. I ended up flying over the handlebars on a high-speed sweeper and rag-dolled off the track. My knee was tweaked pretty bad but I played it off. Lee, my mechanic, was concerned by the fact that I couldn't put enough pressure on my leg to start my own bike. But he knew how much I wanted to be on the bike (and how much he wanted to be back on the circuit), so neither of us said anything to anyone.By the time race day rolled around, I had done my homework well and everyone that had put their hearts and souls into my racing (my parents, coach Gary Bailey, trainer Todd, the awesome crew at Suzuki, especially Lee) were super-excited that I was able to pull the fastest lap time on Glen Helen's Saturday practice. Everything was looking up for the first time since before the beginning of the SX season. Then, once again, it came crashing to an end. Only this time it wasn't even a crash. Landing sideways off a simple little jump somehow torqued my knee enough to blow out what was left of my cartilage and put matching dents on the femur and tibia.It's hard for me to come to grips with the fact that the past year of training was for nothing but that's reality. I gave it my best and now it's time to regroup and try other avenues. I have always played with cars as much as possible and now I have some time to see if my driving abilities are as good as I believe them to be. Other events like supermoto and freestyle will also be on my list of things to do. Why is freestyle safer than racing? Freestyle can be done in a contained environment with no ruts, bumps, or other people and, above all, you don't have to ride and train all day, every day, to be competitive.Also, I will be coming out with a crash video currently under the name of Kodak Courage. Thanks for hanging in there with me...Travis