The mental side of things in dirt biking | Teen Ink

The mental side of things in dirt biking

June 1, 2022
By KOBYT32 BRONZE, Cannon Falls, Minnesota
KOBYT32 BRONZE, Cannon Falls, Minnesota
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

So when I was three years old i got my first dirtbike. We lived in Rosemount so I didn't really get the chance to ride it all that often. But there was this baseball field down the street, but I got the bike during christmas so there was snow everywhere. I couldnt really ride it. I waited everyday until the snow was gone. It was mid-May, and my dad and I went to the baseball field. He didn't really teach me how to ride, I just figured it out in my own. So i finally got on the bike and I was going but I didnt know where the brakes were. I tried to stop but I was headed straight for the fence. My dad was yelling “push the brake in!” and I kept looking down but I couldn't find it. I ran straight into the fence and broke my nose. We went to the hospital and I didnt need surgery but they had to pop it back into place and that was really painful. But I still wanted to ride. I never lost the excitement and I wasnt scared. 

About 4-6 weeks later, we went to an actual track called Elcho mx. It was about 30 minutes from where we lived so it wasn’t far at all. When we got there I geared up and went out to ride. This time i knew where the brakes were so I didn't have a problem stopping. After awhile I got the hang of things. I started riding more and getting better and better. We started going to the Millville super series. A series that goes on every year for amateurs and camp there all weekend. There was  practice on Saturday and race on Sunday. I started winning races in the 4-8 year old class. I was winning every race and I beat the guy that won Loretta lynns.

 My dad realized that i had a chance to go pro until one crash ruined it all. I was at millville the weekend before the Loretta lyns qualifer. I was racing 3 classes and was on my last moto. I got a 2nd place start to Wyatt Magrath and we were on this straight away. It was so dusty I couldn't see anything so I just held my throttle wide open and it got stuck. I flew over the burm and landed on the other side of the track. When i was in the air i was juist thinking and knowing that im going to get hurt so i closed my eyes. I woke up in the hospital with a broken wristed major concussion broken collarbone and a collapsed lung.  I wanted to quit dirtbiking while i was in the hospital. But when i got out i couldn't stop thinking about dirtbiking. But it taught me how dangeous it can be. And that evreytime you get on that bike you take a risk.

After I finally got over the fear of getting hurt, I started getting better again and was gaining my confidence back until the 95 ft triple at millville. I knew that if i didn't jump it i wouldn't have a chance at winning. So i did it in practice and i was getting it clean until the last lap. I went over the jump and hit a kicker. It bucked my back end up and my front end down. I nosed cased it, meaning I hit my front tire on the backside of the landing. It shot me up and over the bars into the side of this cliff. I ended up breaking my collarbone in the same spot and same side along with a major concussion. But i wasn't scared.  i wanted to come back stronger and i did. My Dad got me a better bike feeling better than i ever had on it. Riding at home all day feeling comfortable before that opener at Millville. We got there just like any other millville race and i went out for practice. That triple was still there and I knew i had to jump it. i was coming up to the hill and i backed out last second.  coming up really short, i bailed off of the bike. I ended up breaking my arm and hurt my knee. So that ended my season but i learned if i wasn’t scared of getting hurt then i had the most confidence in the world but it took me so much time and now i finally feel fast again.

 Im winning races went to loretta lynns and even got a contract with oakley ,fxr  ,alpinestar and so many others. And then a pro team finally reached out to me a couple months ago. Club mx factory yamah team said they wanted me. I was so excited because out of all the injuries and challenges i went through, i finally made it to the big league. But everytime i get on the bike i think of what happened but i’ve learned that getting hurt is temporary and people have it much worse. So i might as well give it my all. As i was saying before  the club mx team. The contract was 2 year ameture team, meaning that i’m only there on 125s, 125s are dirtbikes that are a big bikes but not the fastest. For example fastest to slowest. It goes 50, 65, 85, 125, 250, 450 and the 250s u can have a 4-stroke 125s you can its a 2-stroke. . But Yamaha 125s are slow,  so my Dad and I had a decision to make. And we said we would consider the offer when I get on the 250. So I'm still not on a team and have to pay for everything, but they said they would wait. Right now I’m still training and trying to be the best I can be. I think coming from where I started to now is a huge accomplishment. I don't think I would be where I am right now if it wasn't for those injuries. I’ve definitely learned that injuries are gonna go with motocross no matter what and if I'm scared of getting hurt then I’ll never be good. Motocross is what I want to do so I decided to just not think about getting hurt. That's the best way you can go about it, and thats what led me to where I am now. 


The author's comments:

it is true for a lot of dirtbikers


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