On March 23, it all came home to Reed once again, how quickly the sport can bite you. He crashed his JGRMX Yoshimura Suzuki at the start of the Seattle Supercross main event and suffered eight broken ribs, a broken scapula and a collapsed lung.
“These last two injuries have taken some time to come back from,” Reed acknowledged. “Even if I’d had these injuries in my mid-20s, I think the recovery time would have been similar. I broke my talus at the end of 2017. That’s just a tough injury to recover from because your ankle doesn’t get the blood flow. I have friends who had that same injury in their teens or early 20s and now they’re my age and it still bothers them.
“And then this last injury, I don’t care who you are or how old you are that doesn’t feel good,” he added. “But as I’m coming on the other side of it, nine or 10 weeks post injury, my state of mind and how I’m trying to get better and get back on the horse, nothing feels different. Though the last two injuries I’ve had were slower healing, I don’t put it down to my age.”
Despite the arduous road back to health and fitness, the gritty Australian has no doubts he’ll come back from this latest injury and race in 2020. In fact, Reed believes he’s in a better position in terms of job security than he’s been in for years. The primary reason is his on-track performance.
Before his injury Reed was riding great. He scored a slew of top-10 finishes and showed a glimpse of the old “Reedy” magic when he finished third at Detroit’s Ford Field.
During the post-race presser in Detroit, Reed talked about being at the top of his game at 37.
“It’s a relief for sure, massive relief,” he said, “but J.B. (Justin Brayton) has the record I really want (oldest race winner). I’ve got some steps to go.”
Those are the type of performances that prove Reed still deserves a ride with a top team.
“We’re in May and already I feel good about having a job in 2020,” Reed said. “I haven’t finalized that yet, but I feel good about it, I’m not sitting here wondering if I’m going to have a job next year. Suzuki’s got my back and JGR would like to keep me around, so I’m working hard to be better in 2020.”
One of Reed’s historic rivals, James Stewart, recently announced his retirement from the sport. Reed says the announcement made him both happy for James and sad at the same time.
“His legacy is amazing,” Reed said of Stewart. “Of all the hard times and brutal battles we had, I really appreciate those battles. It was always easy for me to get up and go to work on Monday mornings, because I knew James was working equally as hard. When I finally hang my boots up, I’ll have the comfort of knowing I raced against some of the baddest dudes of any era, with James being one of them.
“I think there’s a sense of closure for him. I feel happy for him, happy that he’s at a point where he’s ready to move on to the next phase of life,” Reed added. “He showed emotion right at the end. Knowing him so well, it made me sad and happy all at once. I think when it came to saying the words that he was done with professional racing; he couldn’t get those words out. He wanted to say I’m happy and I’m done, but when it came to actually putting that sentence together, there was something that wouldn’t allow him to say it.”
Reed concluded by signaling that he could be back on a track as soon as this summer.
“I don’t have to race until October with the Monster Energy Cup,” Reed said. “But I feel like I need some gate drops and some racing to be sharp for 2020. My kids just got out of school, so I’d like to spend a month enjoying time with them and then I’ll get back to work. Hopefully, I’ll be ready to race a few of the outdoor nationals toward the end of the season.” n