Cycle News

Cycle News 2014 Issue 06 February 11 2014

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/258187

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"I want you to be brave today. I know you are hurting and every- thing inside wants to curl in a ball and cry or die. But here's the deal – you are not dying! This is not a career-ending injury. So get out of that hospital. Get to Dr. Reiman – and get to Brys. Every minute counts in making you better. This doesn't have to be season ending unless you let it. We have a championship to win and I'll be damned if I'm go- ing to let anything stop you or put you on the couch this season! I know it's going to hurt. But I promise the last two years hurt worse. Get up. Get moving." Chad Reed found that instant message on his phone when he woke up in a San Diego hospital on Sunday morning. It was from his wife, Ellie. It shows that mo- torcycle racers like Reed are a tough bunch. It also portrays just how important the families be- hind the racers are. In fact, they may even be tougher, especially the wives. I grew up in a racing family. And there may not be a tougher business. When someone makes a throttle fist and gives you the wide-open gesture before saying "this to eat" before shutting it off and saying, "this to starve," noth- ing can be closer to the truth. You win, the family thrives. You lose… well, not so much. Any husband and father worth a damn knows the pressure of providing for the family. It's what you do. But racing turns that up a notch. While we all go to work sick and maybe even injured, if we're not there tomorrow you can catch up the next day with more hours at the desk, etc. If Chad Reed misses Saturday night's Dallas Supercross, his chances of winning this year's AMA Su- percross title can fit in a thimble. Ain't gonna happen. That, my friends, is pressure. The Reeds win as a family, lose as a family and get hurt as a family. Like I said, I've been there, done that. And I've seen the role up close that mothers/wives play in the rac- ing career of their husbands. I recall being at a road race in San Remo, Italy as a kid. My dad crashed and hurt his shoulder in a race that wasn't a points- paying Grand Prix… but it was at those international races where you made the money because the "show-up" money was good. Chances are his collarbone was broken (he says to this day that it was just "tweaked"), but he didn't go to the hos- pital or a doctor because there was other stuff to be done. The van had to be loaded, the caravan (trailer) that we lived in had to be attached to the van's hitch, and we had to drive to the Isle of Man for the next race. You race, the family eats. You sit in Italy and sulk about your shoulder hurting and the cup- boards get empty quick. It was dad's left shoulder that was injured… you know how I re- member that trivial piece of infor- mation from my early childhood? Because the Ford Transit van (in British Racing Green, as I recall) was purchased in England and thus was right-hand drive – thus the driver drove from the right side. So my mom (or mum as she was then) sat on the left side of the van and shifted gears while my dad drove the mum-assisted van out of Italy and toward Calais, BY PAUL CARRUTHERS CN III CARRUTHERS SAYS FAMILY AFFAIR P120

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