Motocross can be a painful sport, you not only have to spend many months working on the technical, physical and mental aspect of preparation and training but you have to avoid getting injured. While minor injuries do not halt your racing (such as the ones below) other can put you out for several weeks or months.
Once injured you still can get training other than on the bike which will allow you to come back to the best of your abilties much quicker.
Technically, you can still use visualisation techniques to avoid losing speed on the bike. You can practice this sitting on your motorcycle while injured, close you eyes, and visualise yourself riding around the track. If you keep track of your time lap, you can time yourself visualising yourself from high above and going through the track. Once your lap is completed, and if you are doing good visualisation, you should be within 1 to 2 seconds off your real time lap. Visualisation can help your technique if you practice it for about 20 minutes a day while injured (or non-injured as a matter of fact) and keep that speed up while not on the bike.
It is also very important to keep physically training while injured. The blood flow will help you 'repair' much quicker than sitting around. Training being injured will minimise the time it will take you to come back in form. If you have a broken wrist for instance, you will need to work on the muscle that will support you holding the bike such as your abs, your back and the inside leg muscles to better squeeze the gas tank to relax your wrist when you will be back training.
Mental preparation is a very long subject to write about. It builds upon visualisation and physical preparation, but most of all belief in your abilities as a rider. Some riders find motivation in competing against another rider, some other riders better themselves racing the track, and some others racing against themselves on race day. Pre-race preparation is the most critical and can take a lot of energy out of you if not dealt with appropriately.
Motocross is a challenging sport and it is not about being 'crazy' or having a 'no fear' attitude, it is about serious preparation.
Christophe Barriere-Varju
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