5 Minutes With... Chad Reed
June 9, 2009 2:04pm | by: Steve Cox
Rockstar/Makita Suzuki’s Chad Reed has been slowly improving from week to week in his first run at the AMA Nationals since the retirement of Ricky Carmichael, even though he actually may have been getting worse with the illness he has been suffering from since just after Anaheim II. Still, despite throwing up in the second moto, Reed came from behind for a solid second place behind his teammate, and holeshot artist, Mike Alessi. We talked to Reed after the race to get the scoop on his sickness, and this interview was obviously conducted before Alessi was injured yesterday.
Racer X: You started out being sort of coy about “personal issues” after Glen Helen, and there was a lot of speculation about what that meant. But today in the press conference you finally clued us in that you’re suffering from an illness...
Chad Reed: Yeah, it’s hard to hide something that you’re this frustrated with, you know? I guess the hardest thing for me is that I always try to keep my mouth shut and just suck it up and go for it and say, “Oh, yeah, I’m just not riding good,” but I’ve taken a beating over the years from some of the fans who think I’m a bit of a whiner and stuff, and it’s just that there is reality, and I’m not well. I’m not feeling good. It’s been really hard. It’s a hard pill to swallow at the end of the day when I really believe that I’m riding really well and the bike’s great, and I feel that I can win races and get this championship, but then there’s the history of me not being that great at outdoors and whatever, so I feel like I’m fighting my own inner demons a little bit. I’m trying to just suck it up. The team knew, and I knew, and I’m working day and night on it, and it’s a shame. I dealt with it during supercross. It’s a carryover from supercross, and that’s what reall, really sucks, I guess, is that I don’t think I would’ve signed up for this thing [the outdoors] if I’d have known it was going to spill on over into this. It’s just so hard on my body, and I’m forever fluctuating weight, and I mean, hey, it wasn’t that hot for me, but still, it was pretty hot, and you need to get water and some food in, but I didn’t get to eat breakfast this morning. I woke up this morning already not feeling so good, and I had a banana, and I threw that up, so it sucks. You’re chasing your tail the whole time, and that’s not what I signed up for. I want to be in the thick of things, and me not putting laps together at the beginning of the race is really this. I just can’t fight. I need to just grind it out.
You’re saying you can’t get fired up before the moto and at the beginning of the race...
Yeah, I’m not fired up, and I can’t go at it the way I want to. I just have to wait for all the guys to wear out so that I can come on through and just ride my race and ride my speed. Luckily, it’s been okay, but it’s not what I want.
The craziest thing about this is that at the end of some of the motos, you’ve been putting in the fastest laptimes on the track, so yeah, you’re sick, but somehow you still go really fast...
And that’s why I feel really good about the season and the series, because I honestly think that some of the other guys are carrying some false confidence...
Like, “We’ve got this guy!” Like that?
Yeah, you know, I’m hearing some shit-talking and all this kind of stuff, and for me, when I get on top of this stuff, there’s no doubt in my mind that I’m going to go win races and start chasing down points. That’s what we’re here for. I’m comfortable on the bike, and the team’s been working awesome. We’ve made some really good changes, and today I made a stupid mistake by making some changes right before the first moto, thinking that the track was going to be one way, and it completely wasn’t in that direction, so I kind of struggled through the first moto, and I crashed, and then in the second moto, I went back on my settings a little bit and the bike was a little better. But I was really, really surprised I got second. I didn’t realize I was in second.
Chad Reed: Yeah, it’s hard to hide something that you’re this frustrated with, you know? I guess the hardest thing for me is that I always try to keep my mouth shut and just suck it up and go for it and say, “Oh, yeah, I’m just not riding good,” but I’ve taken a beating over the years from some of the fans who think I’m a bit of a whiner and stuff, and it’s just that there is reality, and I’m not well. I’m not feeling good. It’s been really hard. It’s a hard pill to swallow at the end of the day when I really believe that I’m riding really well and the bike’s great, and I feel that I can win races and get this championship, but then there’s the history of me not being that great at outdoors and whatever, so I feel like I’m fighting my own inner demons a little bit. I’m trying to just suck it up. The team knew, and I knew, and I’m working day and night on it, and it’s a shame. I dealt with it during supercross. It’s a carryover from supercross, and that’s what reall, really sucks, I guess, is that I don’t think I would’ve signed up for this thing [the outdoors] if I’d have known it was going to spill on over into this. It’s just so hard on my body, and I’m forever fluctuating weight, and I mean, hey, it wasn’t that hot for me, but still, it was pretty hot, and you need to get water and some food in, but I didn’t get to eat breakfast this morning. I woke up this morning already not feeling so good, and I had a banana, and I threw that up, so it sucks. You’re chasing your tail the whole time, and that’s not what I signed up for. I want to be in the thick of things, and me not putting laps together at the beginning of the race is really this. I just can’t fight. I need to just grind it out.
You’re saying you can’t get fired up before the moto and at the beginning of the race...
Yeah, I’m not fired up, and I can’t go at it the way I want to. I just have to wait for all the guys to wear out so that I can come on through and just ride my race and ride my speed. Luckily, it’s been okay, but it’s not what I want.
The craziest thing about this is that at the end of some of the motos, you’ve been putting in the fastest laptimes on the track, so yeah, you’re sick, but somehow you still go really fast...
And that’s why I feel really good about the season and the series, because I honestly think that some of the other guys are carrying some false confidence...
Like, “We’ve got this guy!” Like that?
Yeah, you know, I’m hearing some shit-talking and all this kind of stuff, and for me, when I get on top of this stuff, there’s no doubt in my mind that I’m going to go win races and start chasing down points. That’s what we’re here for. I’m comfortable on the bike, and the team’s been working awesome. We’ve made some really good changes, and today I made a stupid mistake by making some changes right before the first moto, thinking that the track was going to be one way, and it completely wasn’t in that direction, so I kind of struggled through the first moto, and I crashed, and then in the second moto, I went back on my settings a little bit and the bike was a little better. But I was really, really surprised I got second. I didn’t realize I was in second.
Were you not seeing the pitboard?
Yeah, I was delirious at that point. I was just praying for the end. I think on the second lap I started looking for the two-lap board! I was probably the closest that I’ve ever been in my entire career to pulling off, and I’ve never done that. My dad’s voice was in the back of my mind that anything can happen, and all my years of racing experience definitely kept me out there. Luckily, I was in second, but I wasn’t feeling good at all. I’ve heard people say that you win on your bad days, and when you look at it, as bad as I felt this weekend, I was better than last weekend. Last weekend, I went 6-3, and today we went 5-2, so...
So next weekend should be like a 4-1, I guess...
We’re improving. Weirdly enough, we’re improving, but I’m confident in my ability to get this thing done. It’s just a slow process, and that’s what’s frustrating, because I’ve been working on it for a long time, since supercross, so for me, that’s not acceptable. And once again, these are not excuses, I’m just searching for things.
Are you close to knowing what it is and how to fix it?
Yeah, I feel like it, you know? And the hard thing is that during the week, I make some headway, and then you come to the races, and you put so much more stress on your body at the races, and it really brings it out. It’s been tough. I think that the best way to describe it is that it’s your pride on the line, and you can’t give up. You’ve got to stay out there. I don’t like getting second any more than the next guy, but on a weekend like this, this is definitely an awesome result for us.
What about the weather? Because getting hydrated on a day like this is very important...
That makes it really hard, actually. It’s really easy to get dehydrated and weak on a day like this when you can’t eat or even really drink. I just really want to get a handle on this and start putting wins together because my team deserves it, my supporters deserve it, and I really think that I’ve got it in me. I just have to get past these things I’m dealing with. The team has made me not just a better rider, but a better person, and before that second moto, Mike [Gosselaar] knew I was sick and he actually didn’t even want me to race, and that actually means a lot to me because he is more worried about my welfare than my results. He’s almost like a father figure to me, and with him and RD [Roger Decoster] over there, it’s just a great thing, and I want to win just as much for them as for me.
Yeah, I was delirious at that point. I was just praying for the end. I think on the second lap I started looking for the two-lap board! I was probably the closest that I’ve ever been in my entire career to pulling off, and I’ve never done that. My dad’s voice was in the back of my mind that anything can happen, and all my years of racing experience definitely kept me out there. Luckily, I was in second, but I wasn’t feeling good at all. I’ve heard people say that you win on your bad days, and when you look at it, as bad as I felt this weekend, I was better than last weekend. Last weekend, I went 6-3, and today we went 5-2, so...
So next weekend should be like a 4-1, I guess...
We’re improving. Weirdly enough, we’re improving, but I’m confident in my ability to get this thing done. It’s just a slow process, and that’s what’s frustrating, because I’ve been working on it for a long time, since supercross, so for me, that’s not acceptable. And once again, these are not excuses, I’m just searching for things.
Are you close to knowing what it is and how to fix it?
Yeah, I feel like it, you know? And the hard thing is that during the week, I make some headway, and then you come to the races, and you put so much more stress on your body at the races, and it really brings it out. It’s been tough. I think that the best way to describe it is that it’s your pride on the line, and you can’t give up. You’ve got to stay out there. I don’t like getting second any more than the next guy, but on a weekend like this, this is definitely an awesome result for us.
What about the weather? Because getting hydrated on a day like this is very important...
That makes it really hard, actually. It’s really easy to get dehydrated and weak on a day like this when you can’t eat or even really drink. I just really want to get a handle on this and start putting wins together because my team deserves it, my supporters deserve it, and I really think that I’ve got it in me. I just have to get past these things I’m dealing with. The team has made me not just a better rider, but a better person, and before that second moto, Mike [Gosselaar] knew I was sick and he actually didn’t even want me to race, and that actually means a lot to me because he is more worried about my welfare than my results. He’s almost like a father figure to me, and with him and RD [Roger Decoster] over there, it’s just a great thing, and I want to win just as much for them as for me.