Nate Adams: Life, Injuries and a Possible Supercross Series

Interview by Whitney Dippold / Photos by Chris Tedesco

Nate headed home early from the last stop of the AST Dew Tour last weekend. His pesky broken finger got the best of him and unfortunately, kept him from qualifying for the final round. So, to make up for lost time, Nate and I decided to meet up at  local Mobil station to catch all you fans up on his life, injuries and a possible spot in the 2009 Supercross Series.

Read on, my friends!

How did you feel going in to Orlando Dew Tour?

I felt alright, I broke my finger in Salt Lake, so I knew it was going to be tough. I hadn’t rode my bike since Salt Lake either, So I kinda just went there to do a few jumps to pick up some last points and hopefully hold on to fourth overall. So, that’s what I did.

How is the finger and thumb holding up?

The thumb is all good now, that was earlier this year, so that’s all healed up. The finger though, I’m kinda regretting my decision to not have surgery. I think I should have had surgery to fix it and now it’s just taking forever. I broke it right behind the joint and the joint is just really seized up,  I can’t really bend it and it’s just real tender. I think two more weeks and I should be better.

So, recovery time is a couple more weeks and you should be good to go back on the bike?

I think so. Two more weeks will make it six weeks and that should be enough. I’ve broken other fingers, but this one, I think because its right by the knuckle is just taking forever to heal.

You’re free from surgery, right?

Yea, it was kinda either way. The doctor said I could either have it or not. I opted not to just because I’ve had so many surgeries over the last couple years. I think it was a bad decision though, I think I should have gotten surgery and it would have healed up faster.

Do you still have plans to ride in the 2009 Supercross Series?

That is definitely in the works. I’m trying to figure out what’s going on right now with Yamaha. I don’t know if I’m going to ride Factory Yamaha or Yamaha Troy or Star or just be under my own rig. You know, there’s a lot that goes in to it. Like, who’s going to do my motors and all that stuff, what team I’ll be under; all those little things. Also, I need to get my AMA license. If all those things fall into place I’ll definitely be doing it. Basically, that’s where I’m at right now. I don’t have any more Freestyle contests until December. So from now until January 1^st all I will be doing is riding Supercross and one Freestyle contest and that’s it. So, that’s the plan. I hope it works out; this stupid finger just needs to heal up (laughs).

Are your Supercross buddies helping you out a lot with training?

Well, I haven’t really been riding much lately since I’ve been dealing with finger injuries.  Hansen’s  been kinda in-between bikes, but I’m sure once I start riding, me and Hansen are tight so I’ll definitely be calling on him a lot to go out to the track with me and teaching me little things. You know, it just helps to have someone there who’s “been around the block” so to say, I guess. The whole thing is just different from freestyle. It’s a way different atmosphere and feeling and you know it’s just totally different. I’ll be calling on all my racer buddies:  Ryan Morris, Josh Hansen and Logan Darien once I start riding for sure.

To wrap it up, 2008 was a bit of a tough year for you. What are you most looking forward to in 2009?

2009, I’m looking for a lot less injuries and a lot more consistency. You know, this year I felt like my riding was consistent, I just had some crashes here and there and I think it was ill-timed, really. I’m kinda known as being consistent and this year I wasn’t and that really pisses me off. I want next year to be a really good year!

Here’s to it, Thanks Nate!

Definitely, thanks!