X men: broken bones, rock-hard abs and scarred faces … the hell men of motocross prove why it takes a lot more than kevlar to make it in this sport

Muscle & Fitness, August, 2005 by Joe Wuebben

RYAN HUGHES knows the answer. He started to figure it out after watching his dad, Bill, ride motorcycles in the desert near his hometown of Escondido, California, and his brother; Jeremy, compete in motocross in the late '70s. Young Ryno was reluctant to give up his dream of being a pro football or soccer player--until he won his first four races as an 11-year-old and was hooked. [??] Twenty-two years later, he's still riding professionally for Team ECC Honda in American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) races, has been since he was 16. Considering that motocross is arguably the most physically demanding sport in the world, this isn't normal. Riders aren't supposed to go until they're 32. Traveling 100 feet in the air off three-story high jumps, making hairpin turns at 30 mph, managing the "whoop" section--a series of oversized speed bumps that some describe as "five seconds of the most violent shaking you can imagine"--five days a week, 32 races a year, breaks you down. It hurts.

Case in point: two broken legs, a rod and two screws in one; no ACL in his right knee; three surgeries on each wrist, screws in both; compound fracture and torn tendons in his thumb, twice; broken collarbone, three times; dislocated shoulder; a collapsed lung; a lacerated liver; two cracked vertebrae; a broken jaw, mended with four screws and a plate. Let's just say the guy's sustained a few injuries.

And yet Hughes keeps going, his training as rigorous as ever. He lifts 2-3 days a week, not necessarily heavily but always intensely. Every now and then he'll go on a long bike ride with his buddy Floyd Landis, a teammate of Lance Armstrong's in last year's Tour de France, in which Landis finished 23rd overall. He also swims up to five days a week for a half-hour or so at a time. Oh, and he boxes occasionally, too, pounding away at a heavy bag, emulating the fitness level of boxers. All this on top of riding 30-minute moto sessions nearly every day

in sweltering heat, covered head to toe in riding gear.

So, yeah, Ryno knows the answer.

The question? You don't even have to ask. It's the first thing that pops into your head when you buy a bodybuilding magazine with a 260-pound behemoth on its cover only to open it and see six pages devoted to skinny guys from Southern California dressed in tattoos and body armor. What are these guys doing in MUSCLE & FITNESS?

CHADREED knows the answer, too.

It's part of the reason he managed to become the fourth-richest athlete in his native Australia, with an estimated 2004 income of $6.5 million. It explains why he bought a 65-acre ranch minutes from his home in Florida and put three custom-built tracks on it for his personal use, and why he has his own gym in his other home in. Temecula, California. The goal is to beat Ricky Carmichael, the Tiger Woods of motocross, winner of nine AMA 250cc titles since 2000 (250s being more powerful bikes than 125s) and the guy who just loves to remind everyone how hard he trains.

Reed's getting close. He won the 2004 THQ AMA Supercross Series ("supercross" or "SX" is a more obstacle-oriented track contained in a stadium, while traditional "motocross" or "MX" tracks are faster and reside in rural areas)--only Carmichael was out with a torn ACL. Since then, Reed's had his share of wins over the champ, like that come-from-behind victory in San Diego last February that RC seemed destined to win. Reed started off poorly--he was four, five seconds behind Carmichael for most of the race. Was three seconds down with three laps to go. Two seconds down with two to go. One second with one to go, then he passed RC on a turn on the last lap and grabbed the checkered flag. Great win and all, but Carmichael went on to win the season series, Reed coming in second. That's where it stands now: RC's No. 1, Chad's on his heels.

Closing that gap begins every Monday during SX season: an hour or two on the road bicycle at moderate intensity, followed by 45 minutes to an hour lifting weights to strengthen and lengthen the muscles, support recovery and minimize soreness from the previous Saturday's race; adding bulk for bulk's sake isn't the point in motocross. Tuesday, Reed rides anywhere from 2-5 hours on the motorcycle (not continuous--maybe 20 minutes on, 20 off), then returns to the road bike for another hour or so. Wednesday is much of the same--weights, ride, cycle--and Thursday is a travel day with some stretching. Friday consists of a warm-up on a stationary bike, then practice rides for a couple of hours on location at the new venue. Saturday being race day, Reed goes through two practice rides, a qualifier and, of course, the main event. Sunday, he travels home and rests, finally. Since Reed begins the MX series right after SX, this is more or less his routine 30-32 weeks out of the year.

JEFFSPENCER may not ride, but he knows.

When Reed's hulking Monaco rig pulls up to the pits at Qualcomm Stadium or the Georgia Dome on race day, Spencer's in it. He's the trainer, the guru, the injury prevention program, the injury treatment program, the man behind the answer. That seven-days-a-week grind of Reed's, well, Spencer, 54--a former Olympic cyclist with a master's in exercise physiology and a doctorate in chiropractics--has a lot to do with it, seeing that he designed it and all.