Thursday, November 8

Mike's Life

By MotoWorld.com Contributer

MW.com: Talk about the injury.

MC: I was just building some new jumps just to practice on and was starting to get more tricks down and all that. And while we were trying to get the film done I wanted to get some pretty gnarly jumps built. That was going to be the last thing we filmed for my video. We built three 95-foot doubles in a row with takeoffs on them that were pretty much like BMX doubles. I was always kind of pushing the limits on jumps and I hit the first one and everything went fine and I got that one down a bunch of times. I went to hit the second one and they were real close together and I didn't have time to falter around or anything so I hesitated just a little bit and didn't get on the gas quick enough. I was 35-feet up in the air coming down; I just tossed the bike away and splatted on the back of the landing and snapped my back. I rolled down the hill but when I was lying there I could feel that my back popped out because I didn't loose consciousness or nothing. The first thing I did was move my toes and I knew I wasn't paralyzed and that was a great feeling.

MW.com: Between lying there with a broken back and getting to the hospital must have felt like eternity.

MC: When I was lying there everyone was like don't move don't move but I was as calm as could be. I knew I was messed up so there was no reason to be flailing around acting stupid so I just lay there and let the paramedics do what they had to do. I knew my back was messed up because I could feel it all popped out and they put me on the board and put me on the helicopter and flew me down to Arrowhead Regional Center. That night they had me in surgery and put the two rods in my back and wired me all up and I had to get up and walk the next day. They did a real good job with me and got me recovered real well.

MW.com: How much pain was there for you to endure?

MC: The pain actually wasn't really bad. I think I had a lot of adrenaline in my system still, I could feel a big knot like someone gave me a big charley horse in my back. But there wasn't a lot of pain until I got into the helicopter and it started to set in about what was happening and then it started hurting real bad. I got to the hospital and I was lying there and it took them three hours before I got any pain medicine or anything. I was just there gritting my teeth because it started hurting bad. Finally I got some pain medication and it started taking the pain away and I was just lying there. You can't do nothing but lie on your back and feel pretty worthless.

MW.com: From the day it happened to now, how many times have you relived that crash in your mind?

MC: I think of the crash everyday that I can't ride. When I was laid up I bed I just thought, "What if I just didn't go at that time". Or "If I wouldn't have hesitated" but it happens and it's going to happen to anybody and it's going to happen to everybody when you're taking big chances like that - something is always going to happen. But yeah it always runs through my head and sometimes I wish I wouldn't have went for it but oh well.

MW.com: What about the rehab you've had to go through, it must have tested you mentally and physically?

MC: The physical I'm all there but mentally it really messes with your head a lot when you're not able to do nothing and seeing everybody out there riding and progressing and you're sitting here around the house doing nothing because you can't ride. I can ride a little bit on the tracks and stuff but it's not riding how I want to ride and it doesn't really get me motivated so just seeing everyone else progress and know what I have to come back and do. I've got to keep a good head about it but it's mentally challenging and it messes with your head a lot. It takes a lot out of you just thinking about all that stuff.

MW.com: During this time, having a close family like you do had to be good.

MC: I still lived with my parents when I crashed so I had a hospital bed there for like a month and all I could do was get out of the bed and go to the bathroom and stuff like that. So mom took care of me real well and just having a family that supports me in whatever I do is really good and them seeing me back riding is the best thing because they just want to see me happy. I wasn't too much of a happy camper being around the house and not doing anything.

MW.com: A lot of parents would be against their sons doing what you do but your family seems to have given you a lot of support throughout your career.

MC: My family is just incredible because I've grown up riding since I was a kid and the only thing that makes me happy is riding my bike and being successful at it and if that's what makes me happy they are 100 percent behind me. You can get hurt in a car accident or walking down the street or whatever because something could always happen and that's what I always thought that if I was going to get hurt I was going to get hurt on my bike. But they are cool with it as long as I'm happy - it's all-good.

MW.com: You touched on this before but when you got hurt a lot of people stuck by you. Not only your family but also sponsors like DC SHOES, which must have been a relief while you were recouping.

MC: Actually when I got hurt I hadn't signed my contract with NO FEAR and that was one of the first things I thought of when I was lying down there in the dirt. I crashed and I knew my back was broke but they came to the hospital and brought the contract with them and I signed it right there. It was a good feeling to know that I had sponsors that stuck by me but it's been about seven months now and you still think about it like are they still going to be there or are they going to pull out? And that's in my head everyday and if that goes I can loose all this so it's good that everyone is sticking behind me and I'll be back and hopefully I'll be able to prove to everyone that it was a down year and I'll be back.

MW.com: How confident are you that you'll be back to the level you were at before the injury?

MC: I feel confident. Every time I get on my bike to go ride I don't feel like I lost anything. When I ride a track, I'm attacking the track still and I go into the turns and I still jump all the jumps on the track and my timing is there. So I feel confident when I'm on my bike but when I'm sitting here around the house I don't feel confident at all. When I'm sitting not doing anything I feel worthless but when I get on the bike and know that I still have it then it makes me happy.

MW.com: When you where a kid did you ever think that you would accomplish what you have?

MC: (laughs) Naw, definitely when I was a little kid I just thought of riding motorcycles because it was fun. I always wanted to be someone you could look up to and have kids come up to me someday and get an autograph and stuff like that. It was a big dream of mine and to have it come true was a super big goal of mine. I watched guys like Rick Johnson and McGrath and Jeff Stanton and all them guys and now to be on the same level, not exactly the same level, but kids are asking for my autograph and all that stuff. It's a pretty cool feeling, it's pretty nuts but it's good.

MW.com: That must be a wild feeling to know that some kids has got your poster in his room and looks up to you.

MC: It's weird, it still hasn't hit me. It hits me but I don't dwell on it. It's cool when kids come up to you and say "Yeah man I've got your poster on my wall". But I don't sit there and think I'm a bad ass because they got a picture of me on their wall. I take it like "Oh, that's cool, that's nice". I just live my life. I have two different lives, I have my riding life and then when I come home I'm me. I don't bring my riding life back home and just talk about myself all the time. I'm not a person like that that talks about themselves because there are guys that all they do is talk about themselves but I'm not like that. I just go with the flow.

MW.com: You've earned enough money for this nice house, you have some cool cars and that's got to be a nice feeling being as young as you are.

MC: My biggest goal was just to get a nice place and have nice stuff. And once I started making money that was my goal was to have a nice house that I could call my own and have all nice stuff in it and to have a car and a truck, bikes and all that. I've got all that now. I've got land and it's good to be able to have all that. It was a big goal of mine and I've done it.

MW.com When you make a successful comeback what are you going to say to those that doubted you?

MC: It's definitely going to take me some time to get back but I don't think everyone has seen the last of me that's for sure. I've already got things in the works with DC SHOES for different kind of stunts to set myself apart from everything. That's kind of what I've been known for, doing different types of things and I've had a lot of down time so I've been thinking all kinds of different stuff I can do. I've got stuff in my head and it's just going to take me from when I feel confident on the bike to get it done and people will see. If they doubt me now, doubt me when I show you guys what's up.

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