On Track Off Road No.183

colt nichols & reaching sx
West coast series and then got pushed to
East coast and only made three rounds
and ended up getting hurt again. I came
in very underprepared. Almost an identical
story of 2017 to 2018. Same thing - got
hurt in the off-season. Was supposed to
race West. Got pushed to East coast. Only
made three rounds and got hurt again.
It was a tough little period there coming
back from injury and kind of struggling
whenever I felt like I should be obviously
doing a lot better and at least competing.
That was very tough.”
That line between being a hero and hitting
the dirt gets pretty razor thin, especially
at the top level of the sport. It’s not easy
to judge. “Hitting the ground is part of our
sport, and that’s the part that sucks,” he
said. “That’s why I have so much respect
for a guy like Ryan Dungey or Chad Reed,
guys that have been in the sport for a
really long time and seem to always be
healthy and show up every single weekend.”
With experience comes wisdom. And it
seems to have been the extra boost that
Nichols needed. “You just have to be so
focused and sacrifice so much to really do
what you need to do,” he said. “There are
times you want to go out and do this or
that… even just being on your feet walking
around the mall, and you know you’re
going to ride the next day so you’re like,
‘well, it’s probably not a good idea. Maybe
I shouldn’t.’ Kind of save your legs for the
next day. Just some little stuff like that.
You just have to be so focused and understand
that what you want is going to take
all this sacrifice. I think that’s the hardest
part for young kids to realize, and even for
me. I hadn’t figured it out until recently. I
wish I could have figured it out earlier.