Justin Bogle Dealing with Lingering Epstein-Barr Virus

August 19, 2019, 6:30pm

Crawfordsville, IN IronmanAMA Pro Motocross Championship

And EBV (Epstein-Barr Virus) finds another victim in the pro paddock, with now Justin Bogle, who struggled mightily in the first moto at Budds Creek and then didn't line up for moto two, coming public with the news. Bogle, who won the Budds Creek National in 2017, sits ninth in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross 450 Class points but has not shown his customary flashes of speed this summer. In fact at Budds, he holeshot the first moto only to fade all the way back to 19th.

Bogle is in his first year with the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC-KTM-WPS team, and was originally a replacement in Monster Energy AMA Supercross for Benny Bloss, who missed the indoor season with a torn ACL. Bloss returned a few rounds into the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, but the team kept Bogle on as a third rider. Blake Baggett, who also rides for the team, is out of action for this weekend's Ironman National “due to a lingering sinus infection that eventually turned to a staph infection in his right eye."

As for Bogle, he explained his situation in a lengthy Instagram post today, which you can see below. Here's an excerpt of his post:

Earlier this year, back at the beginning of Supercross my body started to feel super fatigued and I was not able to recover from race to race. After having some blood work done we found out that the Epstein Bar Virus was active in me, and my numbers were off the charts. So how do you fix EBV, well you rest. Unfortunately for me, that was never a viable option. How does a fill-in rider take time off when I am trying to prove that I deserve to have a ride in the sport. Let me tell you, you don’t have that as an option. I had to back down my training and practice during the week to basically nothing at all, which is what I did to get through SX. In doing that the EBV number began to come down to moderate levels and my results in SX began to show that. Often in the last half of the SX series I would be on the board in timed practice and we won a couple of heat races with some top five finishes in the main. When the MX series started we knew it would be a struggle because I have been unable to ride any 35 minute motos all year. The only time I've ridden that long is at the races. Having won national motos and an overall, this is no way to be prepared to race the best guys in the world who are able to prepare themselves. Unfortunately, my EBV numbers are back and high once again, which really showed this past weekend in the heat of Budds Creek.

Bogle, who does not have a contract in place for 2020, still plans to race the Ironman National finale this weekend.

"Just know I am doing the best I can with the circumstances I'm dealt with right now," he said in the post.

Here's his full post:

View this post on Instagram
Hey everyone, I wanted to let all of you know what's been going on with me as my performances as of the last few races have been beyond embarrassing. Earlier this year, back at the beginning of Supercross my body started to feel super fatigued and I was not able to recover from race to race. After having some blood work done we found out that the Epstein Bar Virus was active in me, and my numbers were off the charts. So how do you fix EBV, well you rest. Unfortunatly for me, that was never a viable option. How does a fill-in rider take time off when I am trying to prove that I deserve to have a ride in the sport. Let me tell you, you don’t have that as an option. I had to back down my training and practice during the week to basically nothing at all, which is what I did to get through SX. In doing that the EBV number began to come down to moderate levels and my results in SX began to show that. Often in the last half of the SX series I would be on the board in timed practice and we won a couple of heat races with some top five finishes in the main. When the MX series started we knew it would be a struggle because I have been unable to ride any 35 minute motos all year. The only time I've ridden that long is at the races. Having won national motos and an overall, this is no way to be prepared to race the best guys in the world who are able to prepare themselves. Unfortunately, my EBV numbers are back and high once again, which really showed this past weekend in the heat of Budds Creek. I have been trying to manage this sickness all year in an effort to secure a job for next season, as I have to wait until after Ironman this weekend to really start the recovery process which we believe we have a good plan for. I have really enjoyed riding for @teamrmatvmc this year and I hope we can continue the relationship next year, because I know once I get healthy and having a year under my belt with this awesome group of people that I can be a threat next year for podiums and wins. Thanks for listening and I will see some of you this weekend at Ironman. Just know I am doing the best I can with the circumstances I'm dealt with right now. -JB
A post shared by Justin Bogle (@justinbogle19) on Aug 19, 2019 at 10:35am PDT
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