The rise and fall of an off road racer can sometimes be quick and painful. A number of competitors walk away licking their wounds never to be heard of again. However, a few like Nathan Kanney have the hunger and "Endurance" to put everything they have into the dreams they dream and stop at nothing to reach their goal.
GNCCRacing.com: Hey Nate! How's things going today?
Nate Kanney: It was a pretty good day actually. We had a bunch of rain yesterday and the tracks around here were all good today. I got some good riding in and of course, I was working to get the team press release together this morning. I was busy until about 1 o'clock tying up all the loose ends for that. Once I was done with, things seemed to get easy.
Photo By: WMR Photo
Kanney will push himself to the edge to be ready for the season opener.
The first stage after the crash at the Titan I was going to doctors and going through lots of therapy. Once that ended the medical bills started pouring in and I worked on getting that all squared away and wasn't too long after that I started packing my things up and getting ready to head out for the winter and start preparing for this year.
Did you have a lot to think about while you were rehabilitating?
Yeah. I couldn't do much but think. I had some pretty badly broken ribs and I was recovering from a collapsed lung as well so there for a while I was pretty much laid up. I couldn't do anything but think about how it didn't look good anywhere in the near future for myself. Then I started putting a lot of effort into getting my racing plans sorted out for next year. That's when I got in touch with WMR and started working out the plans to ride with them this year.
When did everything finally come together for you?
It wasn't until December actually before things started coming together and now here it is January 18th and we are finally getting out the press release. That may give you a little indication how much effort it took to get the whole thing dialed in and get all our sponsors lined up. It wasn't that easy.
Who is on the new team with you?
It's going to be myself and Chris Douglas. Chris is going to be riding the 4 Stroke A Class. There will be two of us on the team, but I am the only Pro.
Who is W.M.R. and what kind of support does the team have?
W.M.R. is a KTM dealer in Florida and they do motor work and full bike modifications. They are going to be building my bikes motors. I am back with Factory Connection who is doing my suspension again. It is a good welcome home for me since I was with them my whole racing life except for the years I rode Factory Husqvarna in Europe and Factory KTM in GNCC. Then I also have KTM support as well and the potential is there, and we are connected so to speak and when we start getting good results it is all going to pay off. I will be wearing Scott Riding Gear. I have been with them using the Goggles for a few years now and now the full gear deal and I am excited about that. I am happy with everyone, the whole team thing came together well and now that it over, I can really start to focus on my riding and training. I would have to say it was worth the effort.
Photo By: WMR Photo
It's go time for WMR Off Roads Nathan Kanney
I have to work really hard on that right now for sure. I have always been in really good shape. My father was taking me on sun up to sun down mountain bike rides when I was 8 years old. I am so thankful to him for doing that because I developed a pretty good base when I was young and I think that I have always maintained that and even pushed it to a higher level. It only helps so much though. Coming off an injury, you have to start at what seems like zero again. To go from being so fit to bed ridden for over a month and start over it might as well be zero because for you it is something you are not used to. I am not relying on that base; I am working pretty hard to be in better shape than I ever have before. If I get to a point where I feel like I was before I am not going to stop there, I am going to keep pushing.
I know you have always been full of confidence, but having so many folks jumping on the Nate Kanney Band Wagon so to speak give you an extra boost of confidence?
Yes. In some aspects, I think I have a ton more confidence than I did before. Now I have a team of people that are not really making money off what we are doing here. That means a lot to me knowing that the people that are helping me simply because they believe in me and they know that I can do it. There are points when you are on factory team where you can have a bad race and it just feels like everybody has given up on you. So to go to a new team where everyone is doing it because they believe in you it sinks in and you really feel like you can do it again.
What do you hope to accomplish between now and the start of the season at River Ranch?
I just want to get in the best shape I can get in and get to the first round fit and healthy without any injuries. I want to make sure that when the first race gets here that there is no looking back. I don't want to have to be going back and doing testing once we get rolling.
Photo By: WMR Photo
Nathan Kanney is on the fast track back to the top.
I want to win the championship. As long as I win the championship, I really don't care what happens. I certainly want to win as many races as I can but I don't want to be chasing the championship down to the last round. I want to be in a position where I can ride under control and to do that, it is going to take some really strong results in the beginning of the season.
Has your actual training program changed any for this year from years past?
It is definitely different this year. I have got a new program and added some new things to what I do to be ready. I have taken a lot of the stuff that I have always done and worked for me and added some new routines to it to make it better.
Do you feel any different this year heading into the season than in seasons past?
Yeah! I mean I need to win a lot more than I used to. I have got a house and I don't want to lose it so it's time to win.
As a factory rider is it easy to become complacent and be satisfied more so than when you are out here doing it all on your own?
I don't really think that it is. When you get on a team, you sort of have everything handed to you and you have every opportunity to focus on training. You don't have to worry about your bills; you don't have to worry about anything. You just focus on doing what you can do best. At least for me I never felt complacent I was always working. However, I will say now though there is more of a sense of urgency to win than there was when I was on the factory team.
I hear you have a few outside the industry sponsors that have jumped on board your program as well, who are they?
SUNY Canton is one of the State University of New York colleges and they have a great power sports program. I was happy to work out a deal with them and I will also be doing a leg of the Cannon Ball Run, which is a cross country motorcycle race on older motorcycles. I may get to use one of their old bikes which is really cool. I will probably do some speaking there as well.
Another non-industry sponsor is St. Lawrence Radiology and Dr. Mike Maresca who is a radiologist was a big help at getting me get back to racing this year. In addition, Multi-Craft Construction who is a mutual friend of mine and Dr. Maresca has joined in the support of the team. As well Planet Fitness who I hooked up with through Factory Connection and we are excited about them being a recognized and proven company outside of our industry.
How do you feel being able to put together a team like this during these obviously economically trying times?
I feel fortunate because things have gotten so tough and I feel lucky to have another crack at this. At the same time I kind of wish that round 1 was this coming weekend so I could start making some bonus money a little bit sooner. (Laughs)
Nathan it has been great talking to you today and I hope the best for you and your new team!
Thanks Rodney! I am just glad to be able to bust out this interview and the press release so everyone knows that I didn't die. (Laughs) It's one of those things where people are thinking "Nathan don't have a factory ride anymore so he's not racing." That is simply not the truth. I am here and going to be ready thanks to all the great support from friends and some new and old sponsors. I would really like to say thanks to Team manager George Pollard who will head up the team's efforts together with Kristian Ortiz. Kevin Schuler from Clockwork KTM will also be a big part of the team, assisting with the GNCC program team handling many of the duties at select National events. Thanks also to the sponsors like WMR, KTM, Planet Fitness, Clockwork, KTM Power Parts, Factory Connection, St. Lawrence Radiology, Scott USA, SUMY Canton, Twin Air, TM Design Works, FMF, Motofit, P3, Renthal,, Trail Tech, Rekluse, Motion Pro, Wiseco, Ride PG, Tire Balls, Dunlop, Cycra, Spectro and Multi-Craft Construction.
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