ANAHEIM, CA – Ken Roczen has had a rough ride over the past few years, to say the least.
In 2017, Roczen suffered a season ending compound fracture at the second Anaheim race after the bike took too strong of a rebound between jumps and sent the German rider over the handlebars. The next year at San Diego, Cooper Webb cut Roczen off at the corner just before the whoop section. The following turn, Roczen attempted to return the favor but under-anticipated the grip coming out of the turn as his Honda skipped out from under him. During the crash, his arm was caught in Cooper’s rear wheel and swing arm, ending his season with a dislocation of the metacarpals with torn ligaments.
And just last year, the 25-year-old rider suffered was fatigued during most of the season from a mysterious illness that affected most of his performance for both the Supercross and Motocross schedules. He still finished fourth in the Supercross championship. At Friday’s press conference, he shared that it was from a possible variant of the Epstein-Barr Virus. He feels it’s behind him, and is ready to tackle the 2020 season for his first 450SX championship.
“It was a super unique situation, just because there are so many different versions of (the virus), and this was like an inactive version,” Roczen said. “I had other things in my body that were super low and didn’t contribute with the whole energy system very well. It took a long time to get everything back into the positive range.”
It hasn’t all been about his injuries and illness, however. Trainer and brother-in-law Blake Savage was was paralyzed from the waist down after a motorcycle crash where he fractured C 5, 6 & 7 in his neck and lost feeling from the chest down.
“I’ve had to see too much of the negative side of the sport lately,” Roczen reflected.
But despite all of this happening to him and his team, Roczen believes they are all on the same page and headed in the right direction.
“It’s come back to training and nutrition, putting everything in motion to work towards the right direction,” Roczen shared. “It didn’t just take a week to figure it out. It took a long time to figure things out… I feel like we’re on the latest and greatest (program) with the people that’s around me. We’ve worked really hard just to get everything back to 100 percent.
“We have very good people on speed dial and having the consistency of blood panels being done to see if we’re moving in the positive direction.”
Roczen has had a very successful career on two wheels. The No. 94 Honda rider holds two AMA Motocross 450 championships, an AMA Supercross 250 championship, two German MX championships and the 2015 Monster Energy Cup winner. It’s the AMA Supercross 450 championship that has been missing from his already decorated resume. His 2020 resolution is to keep his focus on the long-term goal of a 450SX crown, and not letting emotions get the best of him despite his injuries and other events from past years.
“I’ve always been the guy that talks about having fun and doing these things because otherwise I’ll tip over if I’m too one-sided,” he said. “I take my job seriously, but at the same time I always try to have that happy balance.
“I’m still a true believer in that. (Another rider) like Chad (Reed) has found that with family and friends. It’s not that they don’t care about this as much, but they can remain positive and just go to the track, healthy and ready to go. I think that’s how I function when I’m at best and do a lot better that way.”
Riders usually face a physical battle, mental awareness, and emotional stability. For Roczen, he’s hoping all three align as he seeks his first 450SX championship.