Jesse Pettis must have rubber in his bones.
They do break occasionally under the stress of being a pro motocross racer but he always seems to find a way to bounce back with rapid recoveries.
In the past year-and-a-half, the 17-year-old sponsored Kawasaki rider from Prince George has had four major incidents which put him on the sidelines, all related to his love for dirt bike racing.
His latest wipeout happened May 31 in Nanaimo. Pettis was three laps into his first MX pro class race when he hit some mud heading into a jump and came up short on a landing. His arm took the brunt of the impact and a broken radius left him in a cast for a month, out of action for six weeks.
Last October at an arenacross event in Chilliwack he missed his mark on the landing off a triple jump and broke both fibulas and both tibias, which left him in a wheelchair for the next month. In May of that year he broke his foot riding around the pits between races, which forced him to miss the entire summer race season. That came a few months after he suffered broken ribs and a concussion in a crash at another indoor race in Chilliwack.
But just like Evel Knievel, the daredevil in Pettis is undeterred by the pain that sometimes serves as a reminder of the dangers of his chosen occupation. Pettis got back on his 250cc horse a week ago and on Friday leaves for Quebec on a cross-country motorhome trip with his dad to rejoin the Canadian Motorsport Racing Corporation Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross National series.
"I started riding last Friday and it was a little sore to begin with but it's been getting better every time I ride," said Pettis, who qualified 12th for his pro debut in Nanaimo.
"I do heal up fairly quick, but to try to not get hurt anymore is the plan. I don't push it right when I get back on the bike, I make sure I'm good enough to ride and get the go-ahead from the doctor. It usually doesn't bother me being off for awhile."
Pettis will miss this weekend's national race in Richmond, Ont., but plans to enter the July 27 event in Deschambault-Grondines, Que. He'll also hit CMRC national stops in Moncton, N.B. (Aug. 3), Ulverton, Que. (Aug. 10) and Walton, Ont. (Aug. 17) before heading for home.
Although Pettis missed out on all the points in Nanaimo, Kamloops, Calgary, Regina and two Ontario events, he still has time in the four remaining races to carve his niche as one of the country's top rookie pro MX riders.
"No one likes to see [the injuries] but my sponsor is sticking behind me and they're pretty supportive about it, and we're trying to make the best of the year we have left," said Pettis.
"There's definitely more competition out east. Everybody's been in it for half a summer now but I kind of got the ball rolling and I know what to expect. This is pretty much my first round and I'm just going into it and I just want to get out of it safe and see how I do. I won't ride over my head."
The Prince George Motocross Association will host BCMA races Sept. 21-22 at Blackwater Motocross Park.
