Mike Alessi's Crash at Red Bud

For those of you not in the know, I love motocross. When I started riding dirt bikes something inside me just clicked. I had finally found something that was meant for me. I expect the feeling to be similar to a basketball player discovering a basketball for the first time. Even thinking about it brings a huge smile to my face.

A little more than a year after I started riding, I tore my ACL at a local MX track. My first BIG injury and the first time I was going to have surgery. The only thing I could think about was getting back to the track. So I went with a doctor that told me I could be back riding in 3 months. Well, a couple months later I was back on the bike...for 5 minutes. I had managed to get my foot caught on a tree root and my leg was yanked back. I heard a loud pop and felt the same pain as the first tear. I was pissed and frustrated which led to some tears. Luckily, I didn't tear the ACL again but it stretched. I went to a another doctor and this time I took the slower approach to riding again.

11 months after the initial injury, I bought another dirt bike(The old one had some bad karma...seriously). I was pumped to be riding again. Well about my third time back out to the track, I high sided and landed on my head. It really freaked me out. After all the commotion, I instantly made sure I had no pain in my leg. Then I went through making sure I could move all limbs. I'm super paranoid about neck injuries. Initially, I didn't think twice about stop riding. I had waited an entire year to ride again and I wasn't about to walk away. Two day later, I changed my mind. As much as I love riding dirt bikes, I'm not in the same mindset to bounce back from injuries. I'm not willing to go through another year of rehab for a hobby.

Three weeks after I bought the dirt bike I sold it. Since then I haven't thought about riding dirt. Kind of strange, it took landing on my head to clear some things up for me.

There is a reason I bought all of this up. I saw a clip from this weekend's AMA Motorcross Championship race and it gave me chills. It shows Mike Alessi crashing and then getting ran over by the rest of the field. It's one of the gnarliest crashes I've seen. Luckily, it looks like he is in good condition with two broken shoulder blades, a few ribs, and a concussion. Yes, I said luckily. He is still breathing and walking around.

At what point would you start asking yourself, Is the risk worth the reward? Mike Alessi just returned to racing from a broken coller bone.

For me, the great feeling I had riding isn't worth the injuries. But I don't rely on this type of thing for income. So I can't really answer it on that level. Maybe that's what separates the pros from everyone else. They are willing to hang it all out and not think twice. What do you think?


NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART