To some, motocross is a dangerous, back-breaking sport. Injuries often come to athletes, but injuries riding dirt bikes happen too often. To a few North Platte High School students, motocross is more than just a hobby.

Sophomore Braydon Hanna has only been racing for two years. Over that period, he has wrecked countless times, leaving with only a few serious injuries. “It’s not if, it’s when and how bad I wreck,” said Hanna. His first serious injury occurred when his front tire had clipped another competitor’s back tire. Hanna crashed, shattering his collarbone against his handle bars. After two days, Hanna said that he wanted to immediately get back out racing. “At first, it didn’t really hurt, but when I got into the pickup, I could feel every bump in the road,” he said.

Junior Eric Travis has been competitively riding dirt bikes since he was 13 years old. During that time, Travis has had two serious injuries. His first injury happened on a private track, towards the end of the summer of 2016. “I don’t even remember that morning. I don’t remember anything from that whole day,” said Travis about his concussion. “I can only remember bits and pieces from a few days after the wreck, but only a few chunks of riding my bike.” Travis’s doctors and parents put him on bed rest, which meant no motocross for the rest of the summer.

Travis’ second injury was when his bike failed to operate, and had no choice but to borrow one from another competitor. “When my bike blew up, I had to borrow another bike from this guy, and I guess I wasn’t used to his [bike],” said Travis. “I cased it, and I flew over my handlebars. I broke my gear with it too, but the bike that I borrowed was fine.” Unlike his first incident, he remembered everything that happened. Luckily, his MRI didn’t show another concussion, but had painful swelling in his arm for awhile. “They had to take an MRI, just in case, since my helmet was cracked,” said Travis.

Senior Tyler Ogden has been riding dirt bikes non-competitively for five years and has had his few shares of broken bones. “I’ve had scrapes and bruises here and there,” said Ogden. “My worst injury was when I was coming around a corner really fast, and I hit a post.” Ogden’s second major injury happened when he had wheelied and fell off, while cracking his head on a telephone pole. “I still get really anxious about riding again, even after all of the times I got hurt,” he said.
Although Ogden has never competitively rode dirt bikes, he rides to make himself feel better. “I ride to de-stress and have fun. Also, to keep the adrenaline pumping,” he said.
Motocross may be a risky lifestyle, but this bike riding trio has never given it up. “If it’s something that makes you happy, then just go for it,” said Travis. With every hit and broken bone, they will continue to ride.