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FAST THOUGHTS FROM JESSICA LEE

Saturday June 16th, 2007

"If you win through bad sportsmanship, that's no real victory." - Babe Didrikson Zaharias

I havent been actually racing for that long but I have been around racing and racers since before I could walk. I remember sitting on Troy Bayliss lap when I was about 5 years old discussing important race information (or so I thought it was important) and helping out with my dads road race team when I was around 10 .

Theres one thing I cannot stand; a dishonest person. Even worse is a dishonest athlete. Thank goodness that in our world of motorcycle racing we can boast that there are not too many cheaters, liars or fakes. Everyone understands all of the hard hours of of work and sweat put into each race. We all line up on the starting gate or grid and hope for one thing; the incredible feeling of winning and the checkered flag. We all work so hard for that one opportune moment to win that you wouldnt think that someone would ever try to spoil the fun, right?

Another thing I have learned from from being around racers so long is that a racer is one of the toughest people you will ever meet. True racers have this amazing ability to block out pain to compete and not just slide by, but make top 10 finishes with broken bones! Roadracers are especially known for this. For example, Nicky Hayden won the MotoGP Title last season with a badly messed up shoulder, Roger Hayden raced with a broken hand last year and if Im not mistaken, Mat Mladin raced in Australia with a broken back. Even just walking in these conditions seems hard to any normally sane person but to a racer it is all part of life. Motocross riders also race while broken but not as much mainly because there are more areas on a motocross track where a hard impact or drop could happen. Although, this year at Anaheim 1 Chad Reed raced with a broken shoulder.

I had my own racing while injured moment this weekend when I had to finish 2 practice motos, a qualifying, and a main event all with a shoulder that could barely hold itself together. Before and after my races I had my arm in a sling and ice on the shoulder. About a year and a half ago I dislocated my left shoulder and injured my rotator cuff. I was born with my whole left side of my body a little bit smaller than the right. This makes the left more prone to injury because the muscles are not as strong. A few weeks ago I felt my shoulder pop again and knew that I would have to get through a week of practicing and racing. Long story short, I was in incredible pain but somehow by focusing I got through my race weekend and won! My doctor says that he thinks I tore my rotator cuff and it is now slightly dislocated so we will be able to tell for sure after I have a MRA and a MRI on Tuesday.

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THE AUTHOR

Jessica "Motogirl" Lee is a 34 year old motocross racer and journalist. Born into a family of motorcycle enthusiasts and industry insiders, she has been riding and nurturing a passion for motorcycles from the age of four.

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